Half the world’s 48 least developed countries (LDCs) can “graduate” out of their impoverished status within 10 years if they benefit from better targeted development aid, duty- and quota-free access for Exports and doubled farm productivity and school enrolment, according to a United Nations report released today. This is considered a bold objective, given that altogether there have been 51 LDCs since the category was created by the UN in 1970,...

Ever wondered what information the vast internet contains about alphonsoes? Not enough juice: just a list of Exporters and a scant wiki-page. To fill this gap came agropedia. A content farm, a search engine and an online meeting ground for farmers and agri cultural students, the agropedia is for all those who have a haphazard and fuzzy idea about food. It is also for those who want to make the internet...

A key government panel has warned that the country's overflowing grain bins will lead to a crisis if the government did not come up with a plan to dispose of the stored grain . The Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices (CACP) painted the grim picture in a presentation to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh last week. It said the Centre, which is the biggest buyer of grain in the country, was sitting...

Farmers with irrigated fields in Punjab and Haryana will start sowing cotton in a fortnight. Agriculture department officials estimate a 10% to 15% increase in acreage this season as cotton has become more lucrative than paddy, basmati and pulses. Government's paddy procuring agencies and basmati Exporters don't think that the staple's production will take a hit. "We estimate the area under cotton across the country to increase by 15% and prices will...

World Tuberculosis Day to be observed today 2 million people successfully treated annually through DOTS Tuberculosis (TB) remains one of the biggest threats to public health in the World Health Organisation (WHO) - South-East Asia Region, causing one death a minute. Although the total number of people affected by the disease has steadily declined in the last decade, there are five million people living with TB in the region — a third...