The fertiliser ministry may seek more funds from the finance ministry to meet its subsidy obligations as it needs more than the allocated amount to take care of the rising subsidy bill, a top official said.  "We have already received 17,700 crore in addition to the budgetary allocation of around 50,000 crore. But we still need more funds, and the amount will be finalised in consultation with the finance ministry," said...

-The Business Standard Govt policy is warping farm output mix The crop output estimates for 2011-12 put out by Krishi Bhawan last week – even while projecting a record foodgrain output that would cross the 250 million-tonne mark for the first time – reveal some worrisome inter-commodity imbalances as well. The harvests of wheat and rice – both of which are facing the prospect of a glut with the official grain coffers...

Observed changes in rainfall patterns and increased temperatures, particularly in the North-Eastern region, are the major projections on which Indian agriculture scientists are pegging their “mitigation and adaptation” plans in the farm sector in the absence of definitive long-term and area-specific data on climate change. Acknowledging that in India the “climate system is extremely complex and poorly understood in terms of extent, timing and impact”, Indian Council of Agriculture Research (ICAR)...

In the summer of 2009, farmer Ramesh Dhumale was excited when he got to plant about a kilo of seeds of what was pitched as the country’s first indigenously developed genetically modified (GM) cotton. At Rs 200 a kg, the seeds were far cheaper than the Rs 1,500-2,000 that the other GM cotton seeds cost. But the biggest plus was that the farmers could use and reuse the seeds from successive...

India is likely to see record foodgrain production in the current year on good rains, the second advance estimate of the agriculture ministry showed on Friday. Output of total foodgrains comprising rice, wheat, coarse cereals and pulses was seen at 250.42 million tonnes (mt) in the July-June crop year of 2011-12, up 2.3% from the year-ago 244.78 mt, the data showed. This is significant as the optimistic projection comes just ahead of...