-Livemint.com At least 150 villages in Karnataka have already qualified as drought affected, with more being added as rainfall continues to be deficient, according to a Cabinet minister Bengaluru: The Karnataka government could well be on its way to declare the state as drought-affected after nearly two months of dry spell, according to two people familiar with the move. At least 150 villages in the state have already qualified as drought affected,...

-The Hindu Business Line Bengaluru/ Chennai: The disruption of road transport between Karnataka and Tamil Nadu over sharing of the Cauvery river water in the past few days has impacted the movement of commodities such as onions, poultry products, turmeric, tea and tomatoes, among others. This has resulted in the price of perishables, mainly onions, falling as the new crop has started reaching markets in Southern Karnataka. “Onion prices are down by...

-Livemint.com Radha Mohan Singh says the monsoon this year has been well distributed with 5.3 million hectare more area planted that could see a record production of foodgrains New Delhi: After two years of drought and declining crop production, a record foodgrain production on the back of a well distributed monsoon is expected in 2016-17, agriculture minister Radha Mohan Singh said on Thursday. While pulses production could touch 22 million tonnes, up...

-The Hindu Business Line Hyderabad: Bayer’s takeover of Monsanto for $66 billion could trigger tremors in Indian agriculture. Stakeholders worry that the global consolidation will narrow choices for farmers. The merger will propel the merged entity into a leading player in the seed sector. Through their subsidiaries and joint ventures in India, the two firms will garner a major share in paddy, Maize, vegetables and cotton and agrochemicals. “It will lead to concentration...

-The Hindu Business Line The cropping pattern in Karnataka has seen a lot of changes in the last one decade with farmers giving thrust to crops such as sugarcane and arecanut. This has resulted in the decline of area under cultivation of crops such as paddy and ragi. In addition, TN Prakash Kammardi, Chairman of the Karnataka Agriculture Price Commission, told presspersons in Mangaluru on Tuesday that nearly six lakh hectares of farm...