In a landmark decision, the Union rural development minister, Mr Jairam Ramesh, today announced that the flagship scheme MG-NREGA would be made more agriculture focused. “At least 28 new work lists out of 30 suggested by the Planning Commission member Mihir Shah committee is agriculture based. We will have the major recommendations for NREGA-2 implemented from April 1, 2012,” Mr Ramesh told reporters after receiving the report from Mr Shah. He,...
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Farmers oppose cut in natural gas supply to fertiliser units
-The Business Standard A proposed move by the Centre to slash natural gas supplies to phosphorous and potash-based (P&K) fertiliser manufacturing units has seen a number of farmer bodies, agro-experts and scientists raise a howl of protest. The move could seriously impact Soil Fertility, which in turn could hit food production in the country, they warned. Nutrients in soil are necessary to increase overall productivity of agri-commodities to help meet the country’s...
More »Soil erosion increasing global warming threat: UNEP
-Reuters Global warming will get worse as agricultural methods accelerate the rate of soil erosion, which depletes the amount of carbon the soil is able to store, a United Nations' Environment Programme report said on Monday. Soil contains huge quantities of carbon in the form of organic matter. which provides nutrients for plant growth and improves Soil Fertility and water movement. The top metre of soil alone stores around 2,200 billion tonnes of...
More »Punjab may make going tough for Food Security Bill by Urmi A Goswami
The Centre's National Food Security Bill could face some hitches, irrespective to which party forms government in Punjab as both the Congress and Akali Dal-BJP have promised to diversify agricultural production by moving towards cash or commercial crops. The poll promise by political parties to influence Punjab farmer to also grow crops other than wheat and paddy gives further weight to agriculture minister Sharad Pawar's warning that implementation of food security...
More »Centre dares to talk of 40% hike in urea price amid polls by Deepshikha Sikarwar
The government plans to raise prices of urea, the most widely consumed fertiliser in the country, by a steep 40%. The move, necessitated by the government's mounting subsidy burden, is a test of its political courage as it comes just ahead of elections in five states. Farmers in India use about 28 million tonne of urea annually, of which 6-8 million tonne is imported. The uptrend in prices of imported urea...
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