Himachal Pradesh has now brought wheat and barley crops under an insurance scheme to protect them from adverse climatic conditions, an official statement said Sunday. The National Agricultural Insurance Scheme will cover wheat and barley crops too across the state during the 2010-11 rabi season, said the statement. Earlier, maize, paddy, potato and ginger crops were covered. Likewise, the government last year initially launched an apple crop insurance scheme in Shimla and...

The prospects of a bumper foodgrain yield during the monsoon have considerably dimmed as the threat of Cyclone looms large and heavy rains continue to batter several coastal districts. Standing crop spread over an estimated 2.83 lakh hectares (a little over 7 lakh acres), according to preliminary estimates, is under water in six coastal districts. The extent could be much higher after the assessment of the damage is complete. A cyclonic...

Union Minister of State for Agriculture K V Thomas today said impact of climate change on agriculture in India would be "far reaching" as a major chunk of population is dependent on it. "Due to high percentage of population dependent on agriculture, excessive pressure on natural resources and lack of fast alternatives, the impact of climate change on agriculture will be far reaching in the country," he said, inaugurating an...

Bangladesh is set to achieve a United Nations award this week for reducing child mortality rate nearly by two-thirds well ahead of the stipulated time-frame, UN officials said on Sunday. UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon will hand over the award to Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina during the UN summit on Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) in New York. Ban convened the summit of the MDGs on the sidelines of the United Nations 65th...

The Government on Thursday approved the Modified National Agricultural Insurance Scheme (MNAIS). Significantly, private sector insurers with adequate infrastructure and experience will also be allowed in the implementation of MNAIS. “With the introduction of the modified scheme, it is expected that an increased number of farmers will be able to manage risk in agriculture production in a better way and will succeed in stabilising farm income particularly at times of crop failure...