-The Financial Express How can the cotton and soybean farmers of Vidarbha and Marathwada supplement their incomes so they can get out of the trap of debt and self-engineered death? That was the theme of Union minister Nitin Gadkari’s ninth edition, four-day agricultural exhibition at Nagpur, called Agrovision, to which I was invited. A promising beginning has been made. In October last year, the National Dairy Development Board commenced operations. It...
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Maharashtra cotton farmers worry over pink bollworm attack -Nanda Kasabe
-The Financial Express Pune: This season, the increasing incidence of crop damage by pink bollworm in the early stages of cotton planting has evoked concern among farmers in Maharahstra. Even as the state government administration has asked farmers to remain vigilant on the pest infestation, industry people have raised concerns if farmers could afford the solutions required. Senior scientists at the Central Institute of Cotton Research ( CICR), Nagpur said that...
More »Failure of Bt cotton forces government to promote native seeds
-PTI NEW DELHI: With bollworm developing resistance to Bt cotton crop, the government has decided to promote cultivation of indigenous varieties of the crop in a big way this year. In 2015-16 crop year (July-June), there was a significant damage to cotton crop because of whitefly and pink bollworm pest attack in states like Haryana, Punjab, Rajashtan, Gujarat and Andhra Pradesh. Almost 90 per cent of the country's cotton cultivation area is under...
More »Need to give farmers an alternative to Bt Cotton: Maharashtra-Snehlata Shrivastav
NAGPUR: Bt cotton may have taken almost 99% area under cotton cultivation in Maharashtra but, looking at the diminishing profit margins, the state government is planning to evolve other options to the genetically modified variety of the crop. The government feels it will reduce cultivation cost and increase profitability and sustainability of the crop for the farmer. State agriculture minister Radhakrishan Vikhe-Patil has asked agriculture universities to develop alternatives to Bt...
More »ICAR forms panel to unravel mystery of Monsanto gene in ‘indigenous’ Bt cotton by Sandip Das
The Indian Council for Agricultural Research (ICAR) will set up an expert committee to look into patent violation issues concerning Bikaneri Narma, which was claimed to be the country’s first indigenous public sector-bred Bt cotton (genetically modified) seed variety. Bikaneri Narma Bt Cotton also promoted as ‘completely indigenous Bt variety’ was developed by Central Institute for Cotton Research (CICR), Nagpur, and University of Agricultural Sciences, Dharwad, along with Indian Agricultural Research...
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