-The Times of India NAGPUR: Talodhi, a village in Chandrapur district, is emerging as a centre for 'rice breeding' in literal sense. Two retired agricultural scientists from city, a big farming family from the village, the Poshattiwars, and some local farmers have joined hands in developing new genetically pure varieties from locally available varieties. It would not be an exaggeration if Poshattiwars and their team of farmers are called 'farmer scientists' as...
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Supreme Court says no to open field trials of GM crops
-The Economic Times The Supreme Court on Monday refused to ban open field trials on genetically modified crops despite a court-appointed expert panel recommending a 10-year halt on them. Hearing a public interest litigation filed by anti-GM food activist Aruna Rodrigues, a two-judge bench of the apex court instead invited views of all the stakeholders on the expert panel's report. Rodrigues had sought the court's intervention to stop the field trials until a...
More »Shift rice production from Punjab to eastern states: Experts-Sutanuka Ghosal & Rituraj Tiwari
-The Economic Times With reports of groundwater level going down in Punjab and Haryana, considered the rice bowl of India, scientists and analysts suggest its cultivation be shifted to eastern states which have better water resources. They say Punjab and Haryana should focus on Basmati rice, which is largely exported, and the eastern states should produce non-Basmati varieties for meeting the domestic demand. Talking to ET, Dr Swapan Kumar Dutta, deputy director general...
More »Micro irrigation answer to depleting ground water level: Sharad Pawar
-PTI Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar today said the ground water level in the country is decreasing and there is an urgent need to check this through encouraging micro irrigation. "The ground water table in the country has come down in the last few years and in order to check this we should work with technologies like drip and sprinkler irrigation, which minimises loss of water," Pawar said in his inaugural address at...
More »Government mulls setting minimum quantities for export of agri-commodities
-PTI To overcome inconsistencies in farm export-import policy, Food Minister K V Thomas today said the government is considering allowing a minimum level of quantity for export of select agri-commodities to help India become a stable player in the global market. "We are working on a mechanism to have a stable export-import policy on select agricultural commodities such as sugar, wheat and rice," Thomas said at the Kingsman 4th Indian Sugar Conference...
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