GREENING of citrus or huanglongbing disease affects oranges, kinnows, lemons and other members of the citrus family. The bacterial infection, characterised by yellow leaves and unripe green fruits, is difficult to detect. A recent study offers insight into how the disease might be detected early in sweet oranges. The disease …
Afrequent traveller to rural parts of northern India will find something odd about the roadside sights on a ride from Jaipur to Jobner, especially during late March. On the fields flanking the nearly 50-km stretch, bundles of freshly cut wheat signal the harvest season. But instead of the golden ears …
INDIA’S Genetic Engineering Approval Committee (GEAC) has rejected a request by University of Agricultural Sciences in Bengaluru to conduct trials on transgenic groundnuts for commercial development in difficult terrain. The university wanted to conduct trials for drought and salt tolerance. GEAC noted that transgenic groundnut expresses transcription factors— proteins that …
THE benign mychorrhizal fungi live in a mutually beneficial arrangement in the roots of most plants. They help the plant absorb essential nutrients like phosphorous and in return receive carbohydrates from the plant. But they do not bond with major food crops like rice. Swiss researchers recently claimed they can …
Exemplary agricultural research supported by good government policies has ensured food security in India. It is the right time to focus on micronutrient malnutrition in the country. Recently, Zn deficiency in diet especially of young children below 5 years of age has received global attention. Zn deficiency diseases in infants …
On the outskirts of Kathmandu, Siddhipur village has rediscovered the value of urine. More than 100 toilets in the village divert urine to farms, where it is used as fertilizer. It is not a new practice, though. The village was recycling urine before modern fertilizers were introduced. “In the past, …
India is the largest producer and consumer of pulses in the world. However, pulses production has been stagnant at between 11 and 14 million tonnes over the last two decades. Per capita pulses consumption over the years has come down from 61gm/day in 1951 to 30 gm/day in 2008. This …
Vitamin deficiency affects up to 50% of the world's population, disproportionately impacting on developing countries where populations endure monotonous, cereal-rich diets. Transgenic plants offer an effective way to increase the vitamin content of staple crops, but thus far it has only been possible to enhance individual vitamins. We created elite …
Significant increase in the growth of paddy plant parts was achieved by halving the urea used and pelleting the remaining with neem cake prior to application. Results on a non-averaged dataset showed significant increase in leaf length, number of leaves, number of panicles, number of tillers and greenness of leaves.
Much of what Indian agriculture is today is due to the work of state agriculture universities and deemed agriculture university like the Delhi-based Indian Agriculture Research Institute (IARI). The work for ushering in green revolution in the country began in 1960s with the support of the US Land Grant Universities …
The structure, water use, fertiliser intake, sucrose content, and the very nature of sugar production in sugarcane are likely to undergo major changes with the modern tools of biotechnology and genetic modification. Field trials of GM sugarcane crops for these traits are being undertaken in Brazil and Australia. Cane Technology …
Scientists have discovered an unusual elephant repellent, which they claim can save hundreds of acres of paddy farms from the invasion of pachyderms. ARC-11511 will keep away elephant herds from attacking rice plantations in the country. After everything failed to bring down incidents of elephants marauding rice plantations, especially in …
Coming right out of the agrarian crisis that has rocked their homeland, six farmers from Vidarbha, the eastern region of Maharashtra which has been in the spotlight for a spate of farmer suicides in recent years, think their brethren in Tamil Nadu have a good thing going. Dilip Jagtap, Vinayak …
The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs on Thursday gave its nod for continuation of the Social and Infrastructure Development Fund beyond 2007-08. This is to ensure that government initiatives in social and infrastructure development do not suffer for want of funds. The initiatives taken so far include upgrading 1,396 Industrial …
As part of a series of research collaborative programmes in the Indian scientific community, the Indo-Dutch relationship is all set to get a fillip in agri-biotechnology research. Union minister for science and technology Kapil Sibal will be signing a MoU on March 28 with the Netherlands government for scientific collaborations, …
Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal on Monday said that the State Government was committed to protect the interests of the fruit growers and deliver them best of the services to improve the quality and quantity of their produce to match global standards. Addressing delegation of people from Jubbal and Kotkhai …
Eminent agriculture scientist and former Vice Chancellor of the Tamil Nadu Agriculture University, Coimbatore, Dr S Jayaraj lamented that the registration of Geographical Indication (GI) crops in South India is very poor, though the scene in Karnataka is far better compared to that of the other southern states. He was …
Does putting full sets of clinical trial data in the public domain affect a company's commercial interest? It might. But does the public interest not outweigh this? Yes, because if the product is useless or harmful, there should be no commerce in it in the first place. The scientific study …
The agriculture department has embarked on a plan to upgrade the skills of the existing Adarsha Rythulu (ideal farmers) and expand the network. The department has drawn up plans to recruit another 1,300 ideal farmers soon. As part of this, the department has launched a six-day training programme for 657 …
