-Business Standard The plan will ensure effective distribution of resources from various schemes Bhubaneswar (Odisha): The agricultural directorate will prepare a resource allocation plan by end of March 2015, after consulting Odisha University of Agriculture and Technology (OUAT) and district planning committees. The aim of the plan will be to identify needs to develop farm products yield in each district such as planning to invest in soil preparation, crop diversification or irrigation...

-The Financial Express For the first time in a decade, India has experienced deficient rainfall in both the main south-west as well as the north-east monsoon seasons. According to data from the India Meteorological Department (IMD), the country as a whole received an average rainfall of 85.2 mm during October 1 to December 31, 33 per cent below the "normal" long period average of 127.2 mm for this period. That translated into a...

-Down to Earth It provides farmers with services to improve productivity and find better prices A non-profit based in Telangana, working on agricultural research and development, has launched a low-cost phone cum tablet computer-phablet-to benefit small holder farmers. "GreenPHABLET will allow information to be precisely targeted to individual smallholder farmers, helping them to purchase inputs at a lower price and get a better price for their produce. It will also link them to...

-The Hindu Economic diversification in rural India, involving the emergence and growth of non-agricultural activities, is considered an important means of increasing employment and per capita incomes, and improving standards of living. However, non-agricultural activities themselves are of various kinds differing in terms of productivity and the returns they yield. So while the development of some activities may point to rural dynamism, many others exist and grow because of the distress-driven...

-Down to Earth This has happened in past surveys also, say experts The figures in the 19th livestock census report and the recently released survey report by the National Sample Survey Office (NSSO) don't tally. While the census report that was released this September shows that number of sheep and goats stood at 200 million in the 2012-13, the 70th round of National Sample Survey showed a huge decline in their number...