The Hindu

Joy Joseph, a farmer at Onpathekkar, visited the exhibition hall of the College of Agriculture, Vellayani, at Upputhara here as part of a 10-day village co-living programme organised by the final-year degree students, to seek advice on ways to control pest infection in his pepper farm. He also wanted to take up vegetable cultivation. After consultations, he realised that some pest control measures adopted by him were not effective, but harmful too.

PR Newswire The Telegraph Web India123 Press Trust of India IANS

Mr. Laxminarayana, MD AG Bio Systems, concurred with this, “Technology manifesting as product innovation can also solve some big problems for the Indian farmer.” In line with the forward-looking nature of the discussion, ThinkAg2030 also featured AgTANK, where curated budding AgTech startups presented their business model to an expert jury panel. The jury comprised of experts with diverse viewpoints an agri-scientist like NAARM’s Dr. Srinivas to an agri-industry voice like Mr. Subbarao Appemane from Mahyco to investors and startup ecosystem players like Yes Bank’s Mr. Gopinath Koneti, Springforth Investment’s Mr Pradeep Dhobale and ...

The Hindu

For 2016-17, state government had set a target of Rs 37,677.03 crore of crop loan disbursement out of which target of Rs 33,414.85 crore was achieved to 48.31 lakh farmers. Of the total loan disbursed, DCCBs had contributed Rs 12,777 crore, while nationalised and private banks had contributed Rs 16,671 crore and Rs 2,039.31 crore respectively.

The quint

In loamy soils, sorghum can be grown, whereas in black cotton soil and sandy loam soil, pearl millets can be grown. Finger millets can be best grown in porous, flight red loam and sandy loam soil. Sandy loam, clayey and alluvial soil is best suited for foxtail millets. Barnyard millets can grow in sandy loam to loam soil.

The Tribune

The anti-GM mustard grouping assured the path to commercialisation of India’s first genetically modified food crop will not be easy. Apart from protests by environmentalists, activists and states over the central biotech regulator GEAC’s recent nod to commercial cultivation of GM mustard, top BJP leaders are also propagating extra caution given the health and environment issues involved.

The Indian Express

The Centre and state together have allocated Rs 51,000 crore in the agriculture and irrigation sector in Maharashtra to make farmers self-reliant and agriculture sustainable. “While the state government has allocated Rs 26,000 crore for agriculture, Centre has provided Rs 25,000 crore for irirgation projects under the Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana (PMKSY),” Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said.

The Times of India

Agriculture minister Pandurang Phundkar on Monday stressed the need for supporting farmers to ensure that their income is more than the crop loan and other expenditure they incur while cultivating a crop. While addressing the inaugural session of the three-day joint Agriculture Research and Development Committee (Agresco) 2017 conference at Parbhani, he also highlighted the need for increasing the livestock.

Business Standard

Union Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh today unveiled a litchi processing unit in an effort to boost farmers’ income in Bihar, the top producer of the fruit in the country. The processing unit has been set up at the National Research Centre on Litchi (NRCL) along with Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC).

Business Standard

Arrivals of brinjal increased 94 per cent to 35 tonnes in Kolkata in the past two weeks. Supply of cauliflower jumped 128 per cent to 98 tonnes in Ahmedabad wholesale markets, the NHB data showed. “Vegetables like cauliflowers, okras and tomatoes are highly perishable and need protection from rainfall and excessive heat,” said a senior official at the Agricultural Produce Market Committee (APMC), Vashi. “In both cases, chances of spoilage increase. Farmers have had to dump their produce on the road when vegetables sell at prices lower than what they have invested. Hence, it is important that some money is realised even if it means vegetables are harvested early.”

Hindustan Times

Even as the area under wheat crop has decreased in Punjab, the state has recorded 11% higher yield in comparison to previous year and the highest production of crop in the past five years.

YourStory

Particles from a dust storm in the northern plains might have travelled to Kinnaur and mixed with the unseasonal snowfall, suggests Manmohan Singh, Director of the meteorological centre in Shimla, giving the dusty appearance. The jury is still out, but most agree that this rain shadow region is experiencing a drastic shift in its weather patterns.

YourStory

Particles from a dust storm in the northern plains might have travelled to Kinnaur and mixed with the unseasonal snowfall, suggests Manmohan Singh, Director of the meteorological centre in Shimla, giving the dusty appearance. The jury is still out, but most agree that this rain shadow region is experiencing a drastic shift in its weather patterns.

The Hindu Business Line Kerala Everyday

The area under cotton has increased by 27 per cent so far, at 11.24 lakh ha, from 8.84 lakh ha in the corresponding last year. In Punjab and Haryana, where planting of cotton is almost coming to an end, farmers are returning to the fibre crop, drawn by higher prices. “The prospects for cotton are better than last year and we expect the overall area to increase if the monsoon arrives on time and makes timely progress. So far, our sales have been good,” said B Ramasami of Attur-based Rasi Seeds, a major cottonseed player.

Business Standard The Financial Express

The world is about to be inundated with cotton as farmers take advantage of high prices to produce more and China floods the market with excess supply from its strategic inventory.

The Statesman

Currently, Bt-Cotton introduced in 2002 remains the only commercially cultivated GM crop in the country. In fact, India has the fifth largest area (with 10.8 million hectares) planted under GM crops, after USA, Brazil, Argentina and Canada. Bt has a built-in organic pesticide which has by and large reduced the use of insecticide spraying on many crops across the world, but the technology remains to be perfected and probably needs more research.

Business Standard India Finance News

Earlier this month, the Genetic Engineering Appraisal Committee (GEAC) gave its nod to the commercial release of genetically modified (GM) mustard In its usual discreet manner, the announcement was made unofficially, though within a few minutes the news was all over the place.

New Delhi Times

“We’re not trying to change behavior, we are looking to see what people are eating and we are just switching out to make that food more nutritious,” Postma said. Biofortified seeds are produced in a traditional manner, and they are not genetically modified. Seed distribution The seeds are distributed through seed companies and sometimes directly to farmers.

Nyoooz

According to officials, about 25 lakh agriculture connections were consuming power ranging from 2,500 MW to 3,500 MW depending upon the crop conditions. It has been estimated that establishing six 400 KV sub-stations, 12 numbers of 220 KV sub-stations, 21 numbers of 132 KV sub-stations, 30 of 33/11 KV sub-stations, 230 power transformers and laying 33 KV conductor lines for 689 km length would be taken up as part of the Government plan to ensure 24-hour power supply to agriculture sector.