Hindu BusinessLine

India’s agriculture sector is heading to embrace the world of genomics where plants and animals are examined and assessed at their DNA or genetic level, K. Ramasamy, Vice-Chancellor, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, has said.

State Times

Although India is the third largest producer of food and second in vegetable and fruit production in the world but its share in the global agricultural market is around 2 per cent. Agriculture in India is said to be the gamble in the monsoon but now the gamble in the market to sell the agricultural produce is another emerging problem for the Indian farmers.

One India

As Indian agriculture continues to remain highly dependent on Monsoon, these ‘natural shocks’ have severe consequences for farmers. The Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY) was introduced for lowering the risk exposure of farmers and providing them income security.

The Hindu

“Village-level farmers’ groups have been formed and accounts opened for each group in Primary Agriculture Cooperative Society concerned so that the subsidy entitled for cultivation of each crop can be paid in the groups’ accounts directly. The block-level committee will monitor the functioning of the groups and take measures to rectify their functioning,” Mr. Kanagaraj said.

Economic Times

Haryana Science and Technology Minister, Anil Vij, said that improved varieties of strawberry and salvadora plants would be developed in the Centre for Plant Biotechnology, Hisar, to facilitate the farmers. These high-quality, tissue culture-derived plants would be made available to farmers next year.

DownToEarth

Rising temperature affects flowering and leads to pests and disease buildup. Flood and excess rain over a short duration of time cause extensive damage to crops. Extreme weather events have caught attention of agrarian experts and scientists alike and they are now focusing on natural farming to arrest the impacts of climate change.

ET Markets

A sudden surge in the cotton futures price in the country caught market participants by surprise due to overwhelmingly bearish fundamentals. There is a sufficient available stock in the country coupled with reports of higher acreage estimates in India and world on anticipation of normal weather forecast in the cotton growing countries.

India Today

Tweaking and replicating the farming best practices of the Jewish state in his own farmland, he is now laughing all the way to the bank. It is like a dream come true to Patidar and gratitude runs deep for the initiatives in agriculture and farming taken by the Rajasthan government.

Business Standard

In a press conference held here, it also said that on May 15, a delegation of AIKS had met Union Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh and submitted a memorandum with a set of demands. “One of our demands was that privatisation in the field of crop insurance be stopped,” a AIKS official said

The Hindu

“Village-level farmers’ groups have been formed and accounts opened for each group in Primary Agriculture Cooperative Society concerned so that the subsidy entitled for cultivation of each crop can be paid in the groups’ accounts directly. The block-level committee will monitor the functioning of the groups and take measures to rectify their functioning,” Mr. Kanagaraj said.

The Hindu Business Line

Currently, about eight companies, including ICICILombard General Insurance, HDFC-ERGO General Insur-ance, IFFCO-Tokio General Insurance, Reliance General Insurance, provide insurance under the scheme. “Private insurance companies are very happy with this scheme as it brings them high returns,” he said. The farmers’ body, affiliated to the Communist Party of India, demanded that such profit realisation should be checked.

Down To Earth

While speaking at the Natural Farming Summit hosted by the Sri Sri Institute of Agricultural Sciences & Technology Trust (SSIAST) in Bengaluru from May 9-10, B. Venkateshwarlu, former director at International Central Research Institute for Dryland Agriculture (CRIDA), Hyderabad, said, “Climate change affects all the three aspects of food security: availability, access and absorption. When production decreases, availability of food decreases. Climate change hits poor the most. They don’t have income to buy the food, so their access to it is affected. This, in turn, has an impact on health and affects absorption.”

The Shillong Times

The Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday approved the setting up of an agriculture research institute in Assam, to help spur growth in north eastern states. Briefing media on the Cabinet decisions, Union Minister Piyush Goyal said the government had plans to bring a green revolution in the north-east region and the new Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI) in Assam would “play a crucial role in bringing a second green revolution” in the country.

KNN

The Government Is looking for ways to ensure a balanced growth for both the agricultural sector as well as the industrial sector in Poducherry, also there a mechanism for the upcoming GST is well in place Kiran Bedi, Governor, Puducherry, said. She said that special importance is being given to these two sectors considering the role these sectors play in employability and contribution to the economy. Bedi also spoke of the upcoming Goods and Services tax (GST) saying that her Union Territory is all set for the roll out of the new tax regime. There is proper IT infrastructure in place that will supplement the needs of both consumers as well as the entrepreneurs in the region, aiming ...

Millennium Post

In a bid to give an impetus to farm and farm-based industries in North Bengal and significantly widen markets for entrepreneurs, the Department of Industry, Commerce and Enterprises (IC&E) in collaboration with various other departments will hold a two-day agro business synergy – Focus North Bengal — on May 18 and 19 in Siliguri. The state government is conducting the conference in collaboration with the Confederation of Indian Industries (CII) and Food and Agriculture Centre for Excellence (FACE). It may be recalled that Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee during her visit to Alipurduar and Cooch Behar earlier this month had requested the members of different chambers of commerce to attend the two-day meeting.

Yahoo News The News Feed DNA Reuters

A transatlantic row over possible risks to human health has prompted investigations by congressional committees in the United States, and in Europe has forced a delay to a re-licensing decision for Monsanto’s big-selling Roundup herbicide.

The Economic Times

India’s regulator for genetically modified organisms, Genetic Engineering Appraisal Committee, has declared the GM Mustard strain developed by Delhi University’s Centre for Genetic Manipulation of Crop Plants to be safe for commercial introduction. Environment minister Anil Madhav Dave will take the final call, making the decision inherently political.

The Hindu Business Line

This refers to ‘GM mustard deserves the green signal’ by G Chandrashekhar (May 17). Although GM technology may appear to be beneficial, the biological effects on humans after long-term consumption needs to be considered deeply. We have to also see if it’s been widely employed in other countries and what the adverse consequences are. The extent of research on the long-term consumption of GM food needs to be examined thoroughly. Genetic modification involves modification of the structural formation of the product and the reaction of such modification on the human biological system is important to consider.

The Times of India

KVM executive director Umendra Dutt said they would hold a public protest on May 19 at Sector 17, Chandigarh against the GM mustard. “GM mustard is expected to be approved by the Union environment ministry in the next few days. It is potentially harmful for human health, environment, and is against the welfare of the farmers. Due to these concerns, we have decided to air our voice against it,” said Dutt.

Live mint The Financial Express

Civil society groups opposing approval to genetically modified (GM) mustard on Wednesday met Union environment minister Anil Madhav Dave and urged him to reject the GM mustard commercialization application. The group threatened nationwide resistance in case the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government approved it.

The Times of India

GM crop footprint in India is all set to grow once the govt gives its final nod to GM Mustard, a variety grown by a Delhi University institution. It would be a strong push for genetically modified variants of food crop, which have been fiercely opposed by farmer bodies, food experts and activists, including the right-wing think tank Swadeshi Jagran Manch, an RSS affiliate. Since 2014, eight states, all BJP-ruled, have conducted BT crop trials.

The Financial Express

Based on their bad experience with GM cotton flowers towards which bees were seen to avoid going, last September, beekeeper associations from across India protested Jantar Mantar the promotion of GM mustard, fearing a drop in honey production if mustard goes the GM way, as 60% of Indian honey (of which 40% is exported) is of mustard origin.

MINT

Last week, the environment ministry’s regulator, the Genetic Engineering Appraisal Committee (GEAC), cleared the commercial release of genetically modified (GM) mustard, leaving it to the government to take a final call. If approved, it will be India’s first food crop developed using transgenic technology, 15 years after Bt cotton was released to farmers. The technology is safe and versatile, said Deepak Pental, innovator of the transgenic mustard variety and former head of Delhi University’s Centre for Genetic Manipulation of Crop Plants where the research took place.

Deccan Herald The Economic Times The Statesman The Financial Express

As farmers prepare fields for kharif sowing, the government is considering increasing the minimum support price (MSP) of cotton by Rs 160 per quintal, to Rs 4,320 for the 2017-18 crop year beginning July. It is also planning to promote Bt cotton variety developed by the government research body ICAR and expects increased area coverage

First Post India Today The Shillong Times

GM mustard is the second genetically modified food crop after Bt Brinjal that has obtained all required regulatory approvals and reached the environment ministers table for clearance. “GM crops affect farmers as they end up relying on companies who supply the seeds, thus giving no scope for reproduction of seeds,” said a German native, living in India for seven years and associated with an urban farming company