Agriculture sector undergoes a historic change as livestock surpasses the economy of food grain Policy makers in India are finally acknowledging a structural shift in the agriculture sector they have been noticing for a decade. Economic contribution of livestock is today more than that of food grain crops. Traditionally, of the three components of the sector—crops, livestock and fisheries—crops drove the growth, and food grains are a major part of it....

ICAR, agricultural universities and state agriculture departments issue advisories, alerts Agriculture departments in northern Indian states have been put on high alert following the appearance of yellow rust disease in wheat crops in parts of Ropar district in Punjab and Una district in Himachal Pradesh. Yellow rust is a fungal disease which manifests as powdery yellow stripes on leaves. These stripes hinder photosynthesis, make the grains shrivel and stunt growth of the...

-PTI   The entire north India shivered on Monday as 11 more people succumbed to the cold sweeping the region pushing the death toll to 39. Dense fog and dipping temperatures threw normal life out of gear at several places as nine deaths occurred in Punjab and two in Uttar Pradesh since last evening. The death count from the harsh weather has risen to 30 in Uttar Pradesh where Fatehgarh with a minimum...

-PTI   More than 114.91 lakh tonnes of paddy has been procured by government agencies and private millers in Punjab during the ongoing kharif season till last evening, as against 120.81 lakh tonnes during the corresponding period of the previous year. An official spokesman here today said that out of the total procurement of 114.91 lakh tonnes of paddy, government agencies have procured 110.93 lakh tonnes (96.5 per cent) and private traders have...

-The Times of India   India's towns are worse than its villages when it comes to the child sex ratio (CSR), but its biggest cities are even worse. Against an overall ratio of 914 girls for 1,000 boys in the age group of 0-6 years, the urban ratio is 902 but the combined figure for cities with a population of a million or more is just 898. Look through the data for the...