To encourage cultivation of pulses, the Union government on Thursday increased the Minimum Support Prices by up to 33 per cent, but did not extend the favour to other kharif crops. The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs, chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, increased the Minimum Support Price of arhar by Rs. 700 a quintal to Rs. 3,000, of moong by Rs. 410 to Rs. 3,170 and of urad by...
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Cabinet to consider hike in MSP of rice, wheat by Rajeev Deshpande
In a move expected to boost rural incomes but which will also impact retail prices, the government is set to raise Minimum Support Price for the kharif season's rice crop from Rs 950 to Rs 1,050 a quintal while MSP for pulses is set to jump by between Rs 400-500. The rise in procurement price of pulses is seen as a significant bid to encourage cultivation of foodgrains that are...
More »Bottlenecks in organic farming by SS Chahal
Indian agriculture was mostly organic before the advent of the Green Revolution. However, the widespread adoption of nutrient-responsive and high-yielding varieties greatly promoted the use of inorganic fertilisers, weedicides and insecticides. The compulsion to grow more for food security has led farmers to overlook food quality norms and an indiscriminate use of natural resources. Based on three principal factors viz., mixed cropping, crop rotation and use of organic fertilizers, the National...
More »More farmers to opt cotton crop
The cotton growing area is expected to increase by at least 10 per cent during this season because farmers are getting Rs 3,200 per quintal while the Cotton Corporation of India has fixed the Minimum Support Price at Rs 3,000 per quintal. During last year, cotton-sowing area in Andhra Pradesh was increased to 34 lakh acre from 32 lakh acre. This year, it is expected to increase to 38 lakh acre....
More »Aruna Roy interviewed by Ajoy Ashirwad Mahaprashasta
Aruna Roy, the prominent political and social activist who spearheaded the campaign to institute the Right to Information Act in the 1990s, is an ardent critic of the anti-people and exclusionary policies of the first and the second United Progressive Alliance governments. A recipient of the Ramon Magsaysay Award for community leadership in 2000, she heads the Mazdoor Kisan Shakti Sangathana (a trade union of workers and peasants) in Rajasamand, Rajasthan,...
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