New paddy varieties have been developed by the Bathalagoda Rice Research and Development Institute (BRRDI) to meet the fast changing climatic conditions of the country. This was revealed by BRRDI Director Nimal Dissanayake. He said the BRRDI had developed a 2½-month variety of rice which could yield five tons per …
If you are a farmer in India, chances of succumbing to a snake bite are greater than anywhere else in the world. While the country is one of the top destinations for medical tourism, in the case of snake bite casualties, we appear to be mired in the Dark Ages. …
Achanta, a small village in Andhra Pradesh, hit the headlines in 1967 with a record rice yield in the kharif or monsoon crop season. It was the time of the Green Revolution. N Subba Rao, a farmer from the village, harvested three tonnes of paddy from just one kilogramme of …
The Empowered Group of Ministers (EGoM) on Food on Monday cleared the crucial Food Security Bill, which seeks to entitle 75 per cent of the BPL (below poverty line) population and 50 per cent of the urban population to heavily subsidised food grains. It also lifted the ban on export …
THERE have been many indicators that global warming could be hurting the world food production, lowering yields and increasing prices. Turns out the warming of the planet over the past three decades has already led to a measurable reduction in crop production of wheat and maize. Researchers from Stanford University …
Wheat production in India, the second-biggest grower, may advance 6.4 percent to a record for a fourth year after favorable weather and high prices boosted planting, a government official said. Output may climb to 86 million metric tons in the year ending June 30 compared with 80.8 million tons the …
FAO forecast of generally tight situation for most crops and commodities over next 18 months. Consumers are unlikely to get relief from high food prices till December 2012, despite a modest increase in global foodgrain production. High and volatile agricultural commodity prices are likely to prevail for the rest of …
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee announced here on Wednesday her government's decision to increase the number of those to whom rice is being made available at Rs. 2 a kg.
Collector C.Munianathan chairs coordination committee meeting NAGAPATTINAM: Over 4.24 lakh family card holders would be entitled to the free rice proposed for distribution through the public distribution system, as promised by the Chief Minister in her election manifesto. A coordination meeting in this regard was conducted here under Collector C.Munianathan …
CHENNAI: The scheme of free distribution of 20 kg rice to beneficiaries under the public distribution system (PDS) will come into force on June 1. At present, rice is given at Re. 1 a kg to those who are entitled to receive the commodity. As per the existing norms, rice …
A mango that resembles an apple or smells like grapefruit. A mango that shrinks, but does not rot. But for the conservation initiative of a farmer in Karnataka’s Mandya district, such fruits would have been part of folklore. “These trees bear Tipu Sultan’s mangoes,” says Syed Ghani Khan of Kirgaval …
CHECK LAND SHARKS ASAD RAHMANI, director Bombay Natural History Society The Government of India should enact a wetland conservation act, on the lines of the Forest Conservation Act, 1980. But it should also consider the views of people dependent on wetlands. Millions of acres of village, semi-urban and urban wetlands …
Something is stirring in paddy fields across India. New seeds, new crop management techniques and newly minted food security policies are about to hit the countryside. Not all of the changes that are being forged in Krishi Bhawan, headquarters of the Union agriculture ministry, in the top-flight research institutions across …
Jai Sri is a common greeting in the Koraput countryside these days. A Paraja tribal woman working in her fields, a passing motorcyclist driving through the rutted lanes, a teacher heading for his school, they all greet each other and visitors with a Jai Sri. It has nothing to do …
ABOUT 100 farmers in Karnataka destroyed a paddy field where multinational seed major DuPont was conducting field trials for genetically modified (GM) rice in collaboration with University of Agricultural Sciences Bangalore. The police have arrested 12 farmers for vandalism and trespassing. The trial was on about a hectare field at …
The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) has certified the controversial rice variety PAU-201 as fit for human consumption. The fate of 400,000 tonnes of rice, costing Rs 4,000 crore, was hanging in balance for more than a year; Food Corporation of India (FCI), the Central procurement agency, and the …
THE Kerala Cricket Association’s plan to build a stadium designed to international specifications at Edakochi has run afoul of environmental laws. The state forest department has filed a first information report in a magistrate’s court saying the cricket association (KCA) has destroyed mangrove trees in preparation for the construction work. …
CHHATTISGARH “It was a crazy time and we took great risks,” said Alok Shukla. “Sometimes I shudder to think what would have happened if we had not succeeded. We would have been facing audit questions the rest of our lives.” Shukla was referring to his challenging time as food secretary …
