Regions affected In Europe, there has been a fall in bee colonies since 1965. Unusual weakening and mortality was reported in 1998. France, Switzerland, Germany, the UK, Spain and Italy were worst affected. In the US, loss of bee colonies has aggravated since 2004. During 2006-2007, 29 per cent beekeepers …
Much like what happened last year, the FCI is unlikely to be able to procure the amount of wheat it needs to. This article is a sequel to the one published under a similar title a year ago (April 1, 2007). Unfortunately, the emerging scenario of a critical situation arising …
Governments across the developing world are scrambling to boost farm imports and restrict exports in an attempt to forestall rising food prices and social unrest. Saudi Arabia cut import taxes across a range of food products on Tuesday, slashing its wheat tariff from 25 per cent to zero and reducing …
Pandit Jawahar Lal Nehru, in his famous speech at Avadi near Chennai in 1955, spelt out the conditions for inclusive growth. He asked and I ask the same question
Lack of buying interest, inadequate storage spaced cited as reasons for the fall in prices. Post-harvest, potato prices have gone down sharply this year in the main growing areas, especially in West Bengal. The price of the
By curbing food exports, governments buy relief for consumers at the cost of lowering output Argentine farmers are among the world's most nimble and efficient. They need to be: few countries have been as badly governed as Argentina. Over the past 70 years it has often been the farmers and …
FOR some years now, the Budget speeches of the Finance Minister have been impressive exercises in the art of rhetoric, that is, of verbal persuasion without reference to reality. It has often been the case that the more P. Chidambaram talked about a particular issue in his speech, the less …
Rice production in the State is dwindling. Though there was a fluctuating trend between 2003-04 and 2005-06 in its production, the output of the item showed a sharp decline during 2006-07. Minister for Agriculture Pramila Rani Brahma stated this while replying to a question of Mission Ranjan Das (BJP) in …
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 …
The government is considering exporting potatoes to Bangladesh and selling them to Assam, Bihar, Jharkhand, Orissa and Karnataka to deal with the bumper production this year. Agriculture marketing minister Murtaza Hossain said the government had written to the Centre for permission to export potatoes to Bangladesh. "We are awaiting a …
Declining agricultural productivity and the increasing demand for foodgrains have emerged as a big challenge before the country. Barring a few states, the production level of agriculture in most of the states has either been static or gone down. In many cases, overuse of chemical fertilisers has adversely affected soil …
The finance minister's (FM) shrewd decision to waive small farmer loans may end up costing the nation much less than the Rs 60,000 crore earlier estimated. The FM says since many of the loans have already gone bad, the government will not be writing them off. While the waiver is …
The agricultural scene in Haryana, dominated by paddy-wheat rotation, is causing degradation to soil fertility and fall in the underground water level. This was stated in the economic survey tabled in the state assembly here today. It said the area under wheat and paddy crops crossed over 53 per cent …
The ongoing implementation of the National Food Security Mission (NFSM) in the State is expected to result in substantial increase in the area of summer paddy, and consequently, greater production. The projection for summer paddy extension is 3.75 lakh hectares as against the existing 3.13 lakh hectares (2006-07), an increase …
Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation plc of London, Export Finance and Insurance Corporation (EFIC) Australia and the Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Limited (HSBC), Colombo have agreed to provide US$ 16.1 mn for the implementation of the Sustainable Water Assistance Management Project Phase II. The project will be financed with …
Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi, while presenting his Budget for 2008-09 today proposed abolition of Value Added Tax (VAT) from rice, pulses, atta, maida, suji and besan. He also proposed removal of VAT from onion and potato. He said in his Budget speech that this would help the common people by …
Adopting the Pakistani pattern of maize cultivation has proved a boon for Punjab state farmers as they have doubled their production. In Pakistan, farmers sow the crop from east to west with the heaps at a distance of 24-27 inches and the plant distance of about 7-8 inch, as the …
There is no improvement in River Indus flows at Gudu Barrage and position has worsened with inflow in Indus at Tarbela being only 20,300 cusecs while Tarbela storage diminished and attained the dead storage level of RL 1369ft. A spokesman of Irrigation and Power Department described it a very serious …
Agriculture experts of South Asian countries have recommended the setting up of regional information centres to alert farmers in the area on movement of pests and spread of crop dieseas in the wake of climate change. A three-day meeting on Science-based Agricultural Transformation towards Alleviation of Hunger and Poverty which …
Speakers at a conference here have stressed the need for conducting more research on crop diversity to ensure food security. Speaking at different sessions of the concluding day of the three-day conference on Thursday, they called for effective strategies in this regard. The 6th Annual Scientific Conference was organised jointly …
