-The Telegraph Costlier food items carried inflation up to 7.55 per cent in May, and the price situation could get aggravated further by the government’s decision to raise the minimum support price of paddy, Oil seeds and pulses. However, the Cabinet Committee of Economic Affairs (CCEA) deferred a decision to raise urea prices because of opposition by some ministries. Inflation in May last year stood at 9.56 per cent. Overall food inflation rose to...

-The Economic Times The government has increased the minimum support price (MSP) for the kharif season in a range of 16% to 53% to motivate farmers and compensate for higher input costs but the higher purchase prices could stoke food inflation further.  The Committee on Economic Affairs ( CCEA) on Thursday raised the MSP of paddy by Rs 170 per quintal and those of Oilseeds like groundnut, sunflower seed and niger seed...

-The Hindu   Dr. Hillel has pioneered a method of bringing water to crops in arid land regions While leading nations of the world are engaged in conflicts over the entire range of physical resources, from rare earth minerals to Oil, this week the U.S. recognised the importance of a resource that matters much more to the vast numbers of the poor the world over — water. It was recognition of the importance of...

Science and technology hold the key to developing low-input, high-output agriculture. The challenge is to use new technologies creatively and to make evidence-based decisions on the deployment of new technologies. Crop breeding is carried out to meet two broad objectives: one, to increase yields of a crop per se and, two, to protect the yield potential by developing crops resistant to diseases, pests and environmental extremes.  Both yield-enhancement and yield-stabilisation are...

-Down to Earth WHO agency says there is compelling evidence to classify diesel fumes as deadly carcinogen along with tobacco, asbestos The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), a part of the World Health Organization, gives its scientific verdict that diesel engine exhaust can cause lung cancer in humans. In its report released on June 12, IARC has reclassified diesel exhaust from its group 2A list of probable carcinogens to its...