News from India

India agriculture minister to visit drought states Indian Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar will lead a team to drought-affected areas in four states from Aug 1 to 3 to assess the rain deficit and wate... Crops, houses washed away in flood-hit villages Uninterrupted torrential rains for the last three days, followed by flash flood in many villages, including Ghatanji and Arni tehsils of the tribal do... Indian trade talks stuck on dairy A free trade deal between New Zealand and India is in trouble, with the eighth round of negotiations stalling on dairy products, the Economic Times in... India frets over delayed monsoon damaging crops Cracked earth. Failing harvests. Drying streams and sinking hopes. Indians have grown increasingly desperate waiting for the long-delayed deluge of... Campaign to check quality of farm inputs begins The state agriculture department has started a special campaign to check the quality of agricultural inputs being supplied to farmers for the kharif s... India stares at drought amid poor monsoon Many states across the country are now reporting deficient rainfall this year, and the government might have to announce a drought within a fortnight.... India to curb hoarding amid weak monsoon India, the second-biggest grower of rice, wheat and sugar, will review its export rules and consider curbing the amount of food crops that traders can... New-age agriculture, in the balcony and the backyard In the mad jumble of a city that is Chennai, residents are attempting to make up for the balding green cover by opting for plants which arrange themse... Gas drilling in US lifts bean farmers in India Sohan Singh’s shoeless children have spent most of their lives hungry, dirty and hot. A bean farmer in a desert land, Singh could not afford anything ... 8-hour relief for power-starved famers in Bihar Here's some good news for millions of power-starved farmers in Bihar. The state government has directed the Bihar State Electricity Board to ensure at... Mining boom hits Goa's fields of gold The increase in mining activity has had an adverse impact on Goa's agricultural production and has brought down the state's gross value of agricultura... Monsoon revives, drought fears diminish India's monsoon rains were above average in the past week for the first time in the current season, the weather office said, as the downpours resumed ... Weak rains reduce sales of agriculture input cos 30% Farm input companies are feeling the pinch of deficient monsoon rains with sales plunging 30%-50% for the season. Scanty rains would aggravate the sit... Delayed rains to hit agriculture output Late onset of monsoon in Gujarat is likely to adversely affect state agricultural output this year, senior officials monitoring the agricultural scene... Leopard may not be killing cattle Even as the scare continued in Mahapura village near Vadodara over the presence of a wild animal - that many thought was a leopard - the forest depart... Land reform will create new class of landlords The proposed amendments to the Karnataka Land Reforms Act, 1961, will create a “new class of landlords” in the villages and further marginalise the pe... Run up in cotton futures likely Cotton sowing has fallen from 1.5 million hectares to 1.3 million hectares for the kharif season 2012-13, according to the Union Ministry of Agricultu... India to export 2 million tonnes of wheat Faced with a shortage of storage space, the Indian government Tuesday approved export of two million tonnes of wheat at a base price of $228 per tonne... As crops rot, millions go hungry in India Every day some 3,000 Indian children die from illnesses related to malnutrition, and yet countless heaps of rodent-infested wheat and rice are rotting... Govt denies damage to stored foodgrain The Uttar Pradesh government on Thursday said there is no damage to foodgrain stored in godowns and the first wheat stored in open areas would be lift... Foot & mouth disease a worry for PTR cattle Officials of the Palamu Tiger Reserve (PTR) are concerned about the herbivores of the forest following reports of cattle deaths because of food and mo... Madhya Pradesh government to provide soil health cards to farmers The Madhya Pradesh government has decided to make available free soil health cards to the farmers. MoU has been signed for the purpose between agr... Rice output may slip below 100 million tonne if rain fails to pick up The country's total rice output may fall below the 100 million tonne (MT) mark in the 2012-13 crop year (July-June) if monsoon fails to pick up in the... India's 2012 ethanol output likely to rise 29% The country's ethanol production is likely to increase by 29 per cent to 2,170 million litres in 2012 on the back of higher sugar production, says a l... Birsa Agricultural University hails grain production milestone Jharkhand has produced 68 million tones (MT) grains, a milestone achieved due to the efforts made by Birsa Agricultural University (BAU) in a bid to m... State should consider settlement with Tatas Agriculture minister Rabindranath Bhattacharya today said that the government needs to explore all options to resolve the Singur land impasse, includi... Marketing strategy varies for each agricultural product Marketing every agricultural crop (not just rubber) requires a system that would respond to changes in the market and this requires to be looked at th... Excess rainfall a boost to kharif crop With the district receiving more then average rainfall, farmers are busy in agriculture works during the ongoing kharif season in Krishna district. Fa... Gujarat’s agricultural land is up for grabs! A farmer from anywhere in India can now purchase agriculture land in Gujarat. Terming a Gujarat government policy, which prohibits farmers from other ... The challenge of doing agriculture Climate change is threatening agriculture in Punjab and Madhya Pradesh leading to mass migrations. Barrenness is spreading in large swathes of land an... African countries invite Indian investment in agriculture African nations like Zambia, Ethiopia and Mozambique invited Indian investors to invest in various sectors, especially in agriculture, saying this has... India hopes to revive mango export to Australia this year India is preparing to export irradiated mangoes to Australia, four years after being granted market access, in a move that traders believe could reviv... Potato prices to remain firm in coming months in West Bengal Potato prices are expected to remain firm for the next few months in West Bengal. Prices have gone up by almost 34% for regular variety of potato over... Check black marketing of seeds & manure, minister tells agriculture department State civil supplies minister and guardian minister of Gondia district Anil Deshmukh has directed the officers of agriculture department to appoint fl... Government ensures quality seeds for Kharif season Even as monsoon plays waiting game with the north and north-western parts of the country, the government has geared up for cultivation in this kharif ... Technology needs to reach farmers, says Birsa varsity VC Underlining importance of extension technology in maintaining sustainable agricultural development, Birsa Agriculture University vice-chancellor M P P... MP Agriculture Min in mining row In a state where illegal mining is rampant a top minister is now in the dock for his alleged involvement in stone quarrying in the Panna District. Bri... Pickup in sowing likely this week as rains return PUNE: A pickup in sowing is expected this week in major parts of the country due to a revival in monsoon rains. Kharif sowing lags behind by 50% to 70... State agriculture dept initiates ‘dryland farming’ mission The water scarcity faced by 15 districts in the state this year, leading to crop failures, has made the government rethink about the way farming is ca... Right practices can transform agriculture KOCHI: Investing in agro-ecological agricultural practices, backed by the right technology, balanced against traditional wisdom would help ensure food... Climate change adversely affecting agriculture JAIPUR: Climate change, the greatest global challenge, is already a reality for the farmers of Rajasthan. It is increasing the pressure on already sca... Inflated agriculture budget THE Punjab’s agriculture budget has turned out to be the way, it should not have been — a pack of contradictions, which are too glaring to be missed b... Govt lifts skimmed milk powder export ban The government, to improve the finances of dairy firms and help milk producers, has lifted the ban on exporting of skimmed milk powder. The governm... Monsoon rains may delay crop planting Monsoon rains have stumbled again after a late onset and been confined to a narrow coastal belt for six days, delaying crop planting and giving jitter... Agriculture Ministry monitoring monsoon Agriculture experts and officials are closely monitoring the advance of the southwest monsoon, which is crucial not only for the important summer khar... Govt targets 6% annual growth in agriculture The agriculture sector, which was allegedly neglected over the last couple of years, may see a ray of hope as the government has decided to increase t... Gov't targets 6% annual agricultural growth The agriculture sector, which was allegedly neglected over the last couple of years, may see a ray of hope as the government has decided to increase t... Heat wave hits poultry industry The heat wave sweeping the State has taken a heavy toll on the poultry industry in East Godavari district. Over 20 lakh birds have died in hundreds... India set to become leading beef exporter India will soon be the world’s leading beef exporters, says United States Department of Agriculture Foreign Agricultural Service report. Gangs target mango orchards Bacchubhai Singh, a farmer in Velpara village of Pardi taluka, has started plucking alphonso and kesar mangoes much before they actually ripen. And, i...