With pulses going off the menu of poor people in the country, scientists from across the country gathered at Palampur Agriculture University (PAU) to mull over the issue. About 250 scientists deliberated on the steps that could be taken to increase the yield of major kharif pulse crops in the country in a three-day conference held in the university. While addressing the scientists in the conference, Tej Partap, Vice-Chancellor, said several...

A Tribal Development Fund (TDF) of NABARD covered 4000 families in four horticultural projects sanctioned in the state of Jharkhand during 2008-’09 and 2009-’10. Mr. K V Thomas, the Union Minister of State for Agriculture informed Rajya Sabha the other day on May 7, 2010, the last day of the budget session of the parliament in reply to an un-starred question from the member Mr. Parimal Nathwani. Mr. Nathwani had...

The glitter of growth has added little sparkle to the lives of many peasants and rural workers. Deprivation, discrimination, and disadvantage dominate the everyday lives of large sections in rural Andhra Pradesh, an important new study*finds.  Village studies highlight features of society that are often overlooked and overshadowed by macro-studies of the economy. A recent study presents extraordinarily rich, unusually detailed and intensely disturbing data on agrarian relations, livelihoods, economic...

A State-level agricultural services extension campaign was launched at tribal-dominated Asawata village in Pratapgarh district of Rajasthan on Saturday with a call made to the farmers to get the benefit of seed and fertiliser supply as well as the soil tests. State Agriculture and Animal Husbandry Minister Harjiram Burdak, inaugurating the campaign at the Government Secondary School in the village, said 4,800 quintals of seeds would be distributed free of cost...

Farmland struck by infestations of bugs following widespread adoption of Bt cotton made by biotech giant Monsanto.  Scientists are calling for the long-term risks of GM crops to be reassessed after field studies revealed an explosion in pest numbers around farms growing modified strains of cotton. The unexpected surge of infestations “highlights a critical need” for better ways of predicting the impact of GM crops and spotting potentially damaging knock-on effects...