Media Monitor
Agriculture Industry
The Canadian who Pioneered Farm Research in Mysore Stateedit
On a rainy day in June 1946, the then minister of agriculture MA Sreenivasan convinced the Representative Assembly -in session at the Town Hall -that it was time to build an agricultural college in Bengaluru. Syllabi were drawn and Mysore University affiliations were secured.
Should agricultural income be taxed?edit
The recent discussion on taxing farm income is nothing new. This kind of thinking was doing the rounds even in British India, when as early as 1925, a committee was set up to assess the feasibility of taxing agriculture income. The most famous attempt in post-Independence India was the K.N. Raj committee report of 1972, which also examined feasibility and implementation issues. The Kelkar task force report of 2002 estimated that 95% of the farmers were below the tax threshold.
Board of Bayer CropScience recommends final dividendedit
Bayer CropScience announced that the Board of Directors of the Company at its meeting held on 24 May 2017, inter alia, have recommended the final dividend of Rs 17 per equity Share (i.e. 170%) , subject to the approval of the shareholders.
ChemChina raises $20 bn for Syngenta deal via perp bondsedit
ChemChina has raised $20 billion in perpetual bonds and preferred shares to finance its acquisition of Swiss seeds maker Syngenta, according to a regulatory filing by the state-owned Chinese company. ChemChina has restructured the financing of its Syngenta deal to take on more equity and reduce its short-term debt burden, but will still have nearly $20 billion in loans to refinance within 18 months, the filing shows.
J&K agriculture minister launches e-plant clinicsedit
Hanjura called upon the trained plant doctors to conduct awareness programmes at village level to educate the farmers about various plant diseases along with the measures for keeping their crops safe against various diseases. The Minister further asked CABI experts to collaborate with the agriculture department and SKUAST-J (Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology of Jammu) to find solution to the menace of locusts (migratory grasshoppers) which cause damage to the crops in the Zanaskar valley in Kargil.
Global Genetically Modified Seeds Marketedit
Genetically modified seed companies profiled in this market include Monsanto, DuPont, Syngenta, Dow, and Bayer are among the major suppliers of genetically modified seed. On the basis of its comprehensive research, Lucintel forecasts that the corn seed is expected to remain the largest segment due to increase in demand of bio-fuels, growth in demand of food and feed, and increase ethanol production.
Efforts on to cull population of nematode in soiledit
Measures to reduce the nematode population in soil is being taken up on a war-footing by the Department of Nematology, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University here. The soil nematode population can be reduced with organic additions such as farm yard manure, de-oiled cakes, press mud, green manure and green leaf manuring to the soil, a university release said. According to M Sivakumar and S Subramanian, professors at Department of Nematology, sufficient organic amendments to the soil would help control their population.
Cropping Monsanto’s patent rights -Vivian Fernandesedit
The agriculture ministry is not reconciled to the grip which Monsanto has on the Indian cottonseed industry owing to the immense preference for its patented, genetically-modified (GM) bollworm-resistance traits. On May 16, Additional Solicitor-General Tushar Mehta intervened in a dispute between Monsanto and its biggest (now divorced) sub-licensee, Hyderabad-based Nuziveedu Seeds. He made written submissions on behalf of the government, a week after hearings on the matter had ended.
Climate change will adversely hit rice productivity, say Indian scientistsedit
Experiments done in Tamil Nadu show that elevated temperature will have a negative impact on rice productivity, even nullifying the positive effects of higher level of carbon dioxide. Researchers at the Coimbatore-based Tamil Nadu Agricultural University conducted a study on rice which is a staple food for most people in the region.
‘Plant Factories’ Churn Out Clean Food in China’s Dirty Citiesedit
Yet China is reluctant to unleash genetically modified foods into its grocery stores. The government doesn’t allow planting of most GMO crops, including pest-resistant rice and herbicide-resistant soybeans, especially as an October survey in the northern breadbasket of Heilongjiang province showed that 90 percent of respondents oppose GMOs. China will carry out a nationwide poll on the technology next month.
Pink pineapples are here thanks to scienceedit
Yes, that means the flesh of the pineapple is pink not yellow. The FDA approved the fruit for consumption back in December 2016 and assured consumers that the pink colour, though created through genetic modification, is totally safe to eat. In fact, it makes the pineapple taste even better. Pineapple plantations like Del Monte Fresh and Dole Plantation cur-rently grow the fruit, which has been spotted in tropical spots like Hawaii and Jamaica
Canada’s Agrisoma inks partnership with Uruguay for cash crop Carinataedit
“This partnership is a shining example of how foreign governments and Canadian business can work together to find sustainable farming solutions that address consumers’ increasing demand for healthy food production and renewable energy,” stated Rodolfo Nin Novoa, minister of foreign affairs, Uruguay. Under this new deal, both parties anticipate significant economic and rural benefits from production of Carinata in Uruguay as a non-food crop, that can be made into low-carbon bioand aviation fuels as well as nutritious, genetically-modified organism(GMO) free animal feed.
GM mustard row: Hasty call on genetically modified crop could spell disaster; govt must consider long-term effectsedit
The Union government in an affidavit submitted to the Delhi High Court last year made a candid admission: “Pink bollworm, a major pest to the cotton crop, has already developed resistance in the last two-three years; farmers are a worried lot having sown Bt cotton seeds purchased at a high price.”
Nath Bio-Genes says co’s non BT cotton ‘Surbhi’ in suspension list by Maharashtra govtedit
GM mustard row: Hasty call on genetically modified crop could spell disaster; govt must consider long-term effectsedit
Five years ago, the Manmohan Singh government had faced a similar dilemma, when opposition to its decision to introduce Bt Brinjal had reached a crescendo. The then environment minister, Jairam Ramesh, had held a public hearing on the objections raised by the social activists and had found merit in them. On the basis of the objections, he had subsequently deferred the decision.