The Indian Express

Efforts to market it as an Uttam Pradesh notwithstanding, UP or Uttar Pradesh, is for many, an “Ulta Pradesh” — a place where nothing works, except in reverse. Even more disdainful is “U Pay” — things can work, provided you grease the right palms.

ET Rise

Nabventures, a subsidiary of NABARD, Monday announced its maiden fund to back agriculture, food and rural start-ups. The fund — NABVENTURES Fund I — with a proposed corpus of Rs 500 crore has a greenshoe option of Rs 200 crore and has received an anchor commitment from NABARD, Nabventures said in a release.

The Times of India

The Indian Council of Agricultural Research-Central Institute for Cotton Research (CICR) has claimed that the pink bollworm infestation had reduced by 70% in the last cropping season (2018-19) in all the cotton growing districts pan India due to implementation of CICR strategies for prevention and control of the infestation. This year too, CICR plans to combat the pink bollworm attack by following previous year’s management practices. The institute will be holding a national-level meeting on May 17 in this regard.

The Hans India

Agriculture Department Special Chief Secretary B Rajasekhar said that high yield of paddy is possible through natural farming and it also helps in reducing pollution.

Financial Express

The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), which had estimated the Indian cotton production estimate for the 2018-19 crop year at 345 lakh bales (of 170 kg each), have now reduced their latest estimate by 20 lakh bales to 325 lakh bales.

Mint

The National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) Monday announced a ₹700 crore venture capital fund for equity investments in agriculture and rural-focused startups.

Business Standard

Nabventures, a subsidiary of NABARD, Monday announced its maiden fund to back agriculture, food and rural start-ups.

The fund — NABVENTURES Fund I — with a proposed corpus of Rs 500 crore has a greenshoe option of Rs 200 crore and has received an anchor commitment from NABARD, Nabventures said in a release.

The National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) is a development finance institution.

Qrius

You might not be able to stomach soybeans for breakfast, lunch and dinner, but the animals you eat do. Cultivation of the staple crop takes up an area five times the size of the UK, and 85% of that area is used for animal feed. Thanks to projected rapid growth in both world population and in the meat-eating global middle class, demand for soybean is set to grow 80% by 2050 – more than any other staple crop.

The Wire

India is a member of multilateral trade rules, the World Trade Organisation (WTO), since 1995. One of the WTO agreements, namely the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS), introduced the idea of intellectual property rights (IPR) on life forms as a global minimum standard.

The New Indian Express

Delay in setting up of paddy procurement centres coupled with the recent unseasonal rain has become a cause of concern for the farming community in the district. The district administration had declared to start rabi paddy procurement from May 1 with a target to purchase 26,800 quintal. Accordingly, the civil supply department had decided to open 13 procurement centres in 11 blocks. The delay in opening paddy procurement centres has been attributed to cyclone Fani.