The Hans India

Farmers have been leaving no stone unturned to protect their crop from wild animals and birds in the district. Animals like wild boars and birds like parrots and peacocks have been damaging the crops including maize, groundnut, sunflower and others before they are harvested.

The Hindu

Geneticist M.S. Swaminathan has said that climate change demands anticipatory action from scientists and policymakers. Mr. Swaminathan was speaking at a consultation on climate change and food security on Monday at the M.S. Swaminathan Research Foundation, of which he is founder.

The Indian Express

Ahead of wheat procurement season, farmers in Punjab expecting a bumper crop this year fear huge losses because of the Centre’s decision of “zero per cent import duty” on wheat, which may lead to excess supply. In December last year, the Union government had announced zero import duty on wheat. As a result, around 55 lakh tonnes of wheat from countries like Ukraine and Australia will reach Indian ports in February.

Business Standard

India might become self-sufficient in pulses in the next two to three years, minimising the need for imports, Union agriculture minister Radha Mohan Singh said on Tuesday. Addressing the annual meeting of cice-chancellors and directors of agriculture universities, Singh said India is on course to become self-sufficient in pulses production. In 2016-17, India is expected to produce a record 20 million tonnes of pulses on the back of bumper kharif harvest and good rabi sowing.

Free Press Journal

A two-day seminar on ‘Crisis in Agriculture Sector in Rural India: Issues and challenges’ commenced at Madhya Pradesh Institute of Social Science and Research, here on Tuesday. In the opening session of the seminar, chief guest Rajendra Mishra, chief consultant of Planning Commission, Bhopal, said India had the largest agriculture land compared to other big countries like America and China. Due to different policies of the Indian government, the agriculture sector in India had seen immense growth since Independence.

Deccan Herald

The move to give a legal framework to contract farming is expected to boost the country’s agricultural sector. The Niti Aayog has prepared a draft bill which legalises the leasing of land and thus frees up tracts of land which now lie uncultivated for various reasons. The central government has supported the proposal. The draft is a model bill which governments can adapt to suit the particular circumstances availing in different states.

State Times

The father of green revolution and Nobel laureate ‘Norman Borlaug’ had said that in the next 40 years, farmers will have to grow as much food as they have in the last 10,000 years combined. This is because an increasing number of people on the planet will place greater demands on our resources, infrastructure from energy and transportation to basic foods and water needs. As such it will require new innovative solutions to satisfy the increasing demand of population. According to Lance Donny, the founder of startup On Farm systems, an agricultural data company, the history of agriculture can be studied under three phases.

The Hindu

Selection of crops and cropping systems based on seasonal climate forecast, integrated crop management using medium range weather forecast based in agro-met advisories and site-specific nutrient management using soil health cards are among the several steps recommended by Prof. Jayashankar Telangana State Agricultural University for increasing farmers’ income.