As climate change intensifies, it is imperative for policymakers to address the escalating loss and damage it inflicts on vulnerable communities in developing countries. In India's Maharashtra state, these impacts are forcing rural families into life-altering decisions and migrations to work in sugarcane fields, where exploitative practices by contractors, including …
The first ‘satellite remote-sensing laboratory’ of the country was inaugurated on Tuesday at the crop reporting services centre functioning in the agriculture extension division office. Agriculture Secretary Ahmed Bakhsh Narejo inaugurated the lab established in collaboration with the Pakistan Space and Upper Atmosphere Research Commission (Suparco) and the Food and …
RAA massive sugarcane cultivation programme has taken by the Directorate of Agriculture Extension (DAE) in the three districts of Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) region in the current season, reports BSS. The DAE found that the cash crop, which has a high demand in the region and outside, could yield good …
Weather conditions in various countries and political tensions in the Black Sea region have made food markets more volatile, FAO reports in the new Food Outlook. In its first major forecast for 2014, FAO puts cereal production at 2 458 million tonnes (including milled rice), down some 2.4 percent from …
There’s now a 70% chance of El Nino crimping monsoon, shows Oz forecast The threat of El Nino, which can disrupt crucial monsoon rains in India, has increased significantly, according to international forecasters. That puts agricultural production — particularly that of paddy, sugarcane and pulses — under a cloud and …
Crisis caused by hailstorms, rain turns a poll issue As many as 38 farmers have committed suicide in the State over the last month, after hailstorms and unseasonal rain, official figures show. North Maharashtra alone has reported 16 cases. “We have called for details to scrutinise whether the suicides have …
The State of Sustainability Initiatives Review 2014 provides a bird's-eye view of market and performance trends across 16 of the most prevalent standards initiatives operating across ten different commodity sectors. The Review represents one small effort toward strengthening our understanding of how voluntary sustainability standards are developing over time, both …
Leaving direct taxes untouched, Finance Minister P. Chidambaram today slashed excise duty on cars, SUVs and two-wheelers, and capital goods and consumer durables to boost manufacturing and growth. Presenting the Interim Budget for 2014-15, he also provided service tax exemption for storage and warehousing of rice like it was done …
The Punjab Seed Council (PSC) approved 39 new verities of different crops for cultivation including 15 Bt cotton, 6 rice, 2 wheat, 1 sugarcane, 2 gram, 3 citrus, 4 peach, 3 flowers and 1 variety of each potato, tomato and turnip. A spokesman of the department said on Monday that …
The Punjab Seed Council has approved 39 new verities of different crops for general cultivation. The new varieties included 15 Bt Cotton, six rice, two wheat, one Sugarcane, two Gram, three Citrus, four Peach, three flowers and one variety of each potato, tomato and turnip. The approval was granted in …
The four-day-long incessant rainfall has damaged a huge amount of sugarcane plantation in the district. The continuous rainfall during the Dashain festival caused damages to sugarcane farming in Laxminiya, Belgachhi, Bijalpura, Hattilet, Ramnagar, Pashupatinagar, Kisannagar, Bhangaha and Aurahi VDCs in the district. With the damages, sugarcane farmers have faced huge …
The early rains of the 2013 monsoon ended the drought in Maharashtra. But the long-term problem remains. A combination of measures is required to tackle the issue.
Not a month passes without farmers on fringes of Erode’s forest area complaining to the district administration at the periodic grievances day meetings about sufferings they undergo due to the havoc caused by wild animals to their standing crops. Crops Sugarcane, turmeric, banana and tapioca crops that the farmers of …
Mahottari district is in the grip of a severe drought in contrast to the torrential rains that have lashed the rest of the country. The Natural Disaster Rescue Committee, Mahottari has urged the government to declare the district as “drought affected” and provide relief to the farmers since they have …
The agricultural research system has developed 24 crop varieties of barley, cotton, oilseeds, sugarcane and pulses in one year which were approved and released for production to ensure food security in the country. Ministry of National Food Security and Research, while enumerating the measures taken to promote agricultural sector, on …
Industries Minister opens additional class rooms A bagasse-based cogeneration power unit of 15MW capacity will be set up at the Moongilthuraipattu Cooperative Sugar mill, according to P. Thangamani, State Industries Minister. Addressing a meeting of the sugarcane officers during his visit to the mill on Saturday, the Minister asked the …
Forest protection policies potentially reduce deforestation and re-direct agricultural expansion to already-cleared areas. Using satellite imagery, we assessed whether deforestation for conversion to pasture and cropland decreased in the lowlands of northern Costa Rica following the 1996 ban on forest clearing, despite a tripling of area under pineapple cultivation in …
The 2012 drought in Maharashtra's Marathwada region was mainly the result of lack of good water governance and poor operation of watershed development and irrigation projects. A policy that restrains sugar cane cultivation and modernises all types of water resource development works will go a long way in ensuring that …
A section of women self-help groups growing vegetables at Bahour in Puducherry had switched to organic fertilizers due to the growing demand for organically grown crops. But the transformation to eco-friendly practices was not complete as they had to bank on chemical pesticides. Their wait ended with the state bio-control …
After almost a decade, the Jharkhand state seed subcommittee released nine high-yielding varieties of rice, groundnut, soya bean, sugarcane and chickpea crops, following a notification by the Government of India last month. These are resistant towards major diseases and pests. The release got a final nod from the committee chaired …
The number of farmers suicides declined to 346 in 2011 from 565 in 2006 in Vidarbha region The government today said 228 farmers committed suicide in Vidarbha region of Maharashtra because of agrarian distress during the April-January period of 2012-13 fiscal. "The number of farmers in the six identified suicide …
