-FAO   2013 third highest year on record for FAO Food Price Index Rome: The FAO Food Price Index averaged 206.7 points in December, nearly unchanged from the previous month, with a sharp increase in dairy prices and high meat values balancing out a steep decline in sugar quotations and lower cereal and oil prices. For 2013 as a whole, the index averaged 209.9 points - down 1.6 percent from 2012, and well below...

-The Alternative Parveen Kumar works in the farms of Uddhampur District, Jammu & Kashmir, where the Government has posted him on a project that allots about 100 to 200 hectares of land each to grow and train farmers in organic cultivation. Parveen grows wheat, Maize and pulses in the 100 hectares that he is in-charge of. Crops are chosen by the government after analysing the market demand in the area. Thus,...

-Deccan Herald A novel technology-aided crop protection programme helps farmers in Raichur combat pests and diseases. M A Siraj reveals the secret behind the healthy produce in Raichur. Information Technology (IT) is no longer the exclusive preserve of the city folk. It is making subtle inroads into farming communities of Karnataka. Those who saw the elitist bias in IT would be better off making amends if they thought an e-future only a...

-The Week A revolutionary farming system is working wonders in Nalanda district Nalanda: If not for an agricultural technique known as SRI (system of rice intensification), Sumant Kumar of Darveshpura in Bihar's Nalanda district would have remained a faceless farmer. In 2012, with the help of the state agriculture department, he tried out SRI on an acre that usually bore only modest yields. It worked, and Sumant got a bumper harvest. An...

-The Telegraph Nagpur: The Maharashtra government has given a slew of private companies permission to conduct field trials of genetically modified crops at state agriculture universities' farms, rejecting its dissenting agriculture minister's suggestion for a public debate first. Before this, no Indian state had allowed field trials of GM crops since October last year, when a Supreme Court-appointed expert panel recommended a 10-year moratorium on such trials - though the court has...