-The Hindu Business Line A Budget for agriculture A Budget is, generally speaking, a poor instrument for correcting food inflation. But this one conveys a clear intent to target the economic roots of the malaise by addressing supply side concerns. It also takes a long-term view of issues affecting the sector, transcending short-term production concerns. On the demand side, the simple economic response of reducing consumption can hardly apply, without compromising on nutrition....

-RuralMarketing.in/ i9media Organic farming is the mantra for prosperity of Naga women, and these hardworking women farmers have proved that they can be successful enterpreneurs. Women in the northeastern state of Nagaland traditionally enjoyed a high social position, within their family as well as in the community. A strong prevalence of patriarchy has ensured that they are not just kept away from key decision-making, but they are barred from inheriting ancestral...

-The Deccan Chronicle Kollam (Kerala): Kulasekharapuram, a small panchayat on the border of Kollam district is all set to implement the United Nation's call to observe 2014 as International Family Farming Year, raising the slogan of self-sustainability in food production. The panchayat has two villages, Adinad and K.S. Puram and as many as 12,230 families in 23 wards. The agricultural office of the panchayat had identified the fact that extensive cultivation alone...

-The New Indian Express HYDERABAD: To preserve indigenous seed varieties and also promote organic farming, the state bio-diversity board will soon open over 110 seed banks across the two states. With the requisite budgets sanctioned for this pilot project, the board is all set to start the programme in the coming weeks. The concept is inspired by the activities of a Karnataka-based NGO which was able to do the same in a...

-The Hindu Focus on short-duration varieties, crop insurance plan Thiruvananthapuram (Andhra Pradesh): With the southwest monsoon playing truant, the government is working on a disaster management plan to help farmers tide over the possibility of crop failure and the consequent loss. The Department of Agriculture is focussing its efforts on the paddy sector, likely to be the worst affected by a poor monsoon. "With the initial monsoon spell tapering off, transplanting paddy shoots...