Driven by trade interest, EU is pushing Endosulfan for POP listing Elimination of Endosulfan is expected to severely impact pollination and India’s farming India is today the second largest producer of Horticulture crops (fruits at vegetables) and annually produces over 215 million mt (2008-09 figures source Ministry of Agriculture). This is almost as much as India’s total food grain production of 235 million mt (2008-09 figures source Ministry. of Agriculture). India’s export...
More »SEARCH RESULT
Inflation: What’s stifling your veggies by Zia Haq
An innovative mechanism to save farmers from exploiting traders, which India implemented as a national model in the 70s, is now being blamed for rising vegetable prices. Agricultural produce marketing committees (APMCs) have become archaic and vegetables and fruits need to be taken out of these local market hubs, analysts say. “They have turned into platform for hoarders, rather than a buyer-seller platform,” farm expert Sompal, who was formerly union agriculture...
More »Bihar govt to promote organic farming by Parul Pandey
The Bihar government has launched an "organic farming promotion programme" for the cultivation of organic crops in all the districts of the state. The government has decided to develop 38 "organic grams (organic villages)" for which a sum of Rs 255 crore has been sanctioned for five years. Some of these villages are: Dahour (Patna), Sartha (Nalanda), Belsand (Gopalganj), Gaighat Jaata (Muzaffarpur), Rajapaakar (Vaishali) and Narpatganj (Araria). This programme is being run...
More »Plan for rail routes to link wholesale markets
The government is planning to launch a dedicated Horticulture rail transport system by March with an investment of over Rs 18 crore that will link the wholesale markets of the country. The aim is to reduce the wastage of surplus fruits and vegetables informed a senior official . "We have sent a proposal to the agriculture ministry for approval and are expecting to launch the trial run in two months, sometime...
More »We need profits, passion in farming by MS Swaminathan
In recent years, the agricultural growth rate has tended to be lower than the population growth rate. This year, the former is nearing the target of 4%. But we still have a very large percentage of undernourished children, women and men. Poverty and destitution also remain stubborn. The Indian food security enigma rises from the mismatch between the grain mountains and the hungry millions. What are the prospects for ensuring...
More »