The case of each areca grower who has taken loans from cooperative societies or banks will be studied individually to determine whether the farmer is genuinely unable to repay the loan. This decision was taken at a meeting of areca growers with Deputy Commissioner Subodh Yadav and officials of various departments on Thursday. Mr. Yadav made the suggestion after listening to a delegation of farmers, most of them members of the Karnataka...

As the World Bank and International Monetary Fund convene for their annual Spring Meetings here, soaring food prices are high on the agenda, prompting some analysts to fast-forward to 2050 and the question of how to nourish the mid-century's estimated world population of 8.9 billion people – the majority of whom will live in developing countries. "More poor people are suffering and more people could become poor because of high and...

While global outlook for rice production is adequate as of today, complacency of policy-makers worldwide in terms of making enough investments in agriculture has led to resurfacing of old diseases in addition to new ones threatening the gains made in this field in the past, according to R S Zeigler, director general of the Manila-based International Rice Research Institute (IRRI). Addressing the annual rice research group meeting held by Directorate of...

India still has a long way to go in achieving food and nutritional security, albeit the country has achieved record production with 5.4% growth in agriculture and allied sector. This was corroborated by Sharad Pawar, minister of agriculture and food processing, while addressing the National Conference on Agriculture for Kharif Campaign-2011 in New Delhi recently. "Record production with 235.88 Mt of foodgrains in 2010-2011 should not lead to complacency as we...

With the arrival of wheat in terminal markets, all is not well as the weather still hold the keys. The partly cloudy weather in two major wheat producing states, Punjab and Haryana, has the farmers worried. According to the Meteorology Department, Chandigarh — there are chances of light to moderate rainfall after a couple of days in few parts of Punjab and Haryana. Officials in Haryana Agriculture Department said rain was not...