When it was launched by the Centre 10 years ago, the Intensive Cotton Development Programme came as a ray of hope for cotton farmers in Punjab. The scheme was meant to enhance production through technology transfer, supply of quality seeds and educating and training the farmers — promising them a beautiful tomorrow. But 10 years down the line, the scheme has remained where it was for the cotton farmers, caught in...

Even as recent media reports caution that most fruits and vegetables are largely unfit for human consumption due to their high chemical content, pesticides continue to be used recklessly in the fields of Punjab. The ‘Granary of India’ constitutes 2.5 per cent of the total agricultural land in India, but consumes more than 18 per cent of the total pesticides used in India. Within the state the worst affected is the southwestern...

Antiquated food storage methods and technologies have been costing India dearly. The chairman of the Food Corporation of India (FCI), Siraj Hussain, admits that food worth Rs 50,000 crore is wasted every year. This comes roughly to 20 per cent of the total food produced by the country. Though this figure includes food that is lost in processing, packaging, transportation and even marketing, yet a substantial portion of it is lost...

The farmers who have decided to start bio-farming and other farmers who prefer to adopt local methods to reduce cost of farming should start preparations to make bio-pesticides. Soyabean and other main important crops of Kharif crops are attacked by several types of insects. Since the number of insects is very large, they should be controlled to save the crops. The bio-pesticides prepared to destroy these insects are made mainly...

Orissa will soon have an e-surveillance mechanism for Pest attack through use of scientific tools so that the farmers are benefited and remedial actions can be initiated by the agriculture department. “Scientists working under the Orissa University of Agriculture and Technology, must change their strategy and include climate change as their research focus area and also impact patterns to help farmers,” said agriculture production commissioner R.N. Senapati at state-level research council...