To make judicious use of irrigation water, the Punjab government has launched a mega project costing Rs 36 billion titled “Punjab Irrigated Agriculture Productivity Improvement” under which drip & sprinkler irrigation system would be installed on 120,000 acres along with improvement of 9000 water courses for which farmers will be provided huge subsidy.

Approximately 3000 Laser Land Levelling Units would also be provided on subsidized rates to farmers for land levelling under the project. This was disclosed by Secretary Agriculture Punjab, Muhammad Mushtaq Ahmad.

The Maharashtra Government is planning to adopt the ‘Brazil pattern’ for boosting cotton yield in the State.

“It wants to boost productivity from 475 kg per hectare to 600 kg per hectare,” a senior Maharashtra Government official said.

Brazil, in spite of having just 14 lakh hectares of rain-fed land for cotton cultivation, produces about 1,495 kg of cotton per hectare. The global average is 745 kg per hectare.

The model is based on high density cultivation practices where, at times, about one lakh shrubs are planted in a one acre area, the official said.

Says it would prefer basing its estimate on crop cutting method and not bale press method proposed by textiles ministry

The Union ministry of agriculture has rejected the draft Cotton Trade (Development and Regulation) Bill, 2012, proposed by the textile ministry for streamlining output estimates for the industry. The agri ministry says it would prefer to continue basing its estimate on what is termed the crop cutting method and not the bale press method as proposed by the textile ministry in its Bill.

Twenty-three suicides reported in Adilabad district since November 2011

In a scenario dominated by Bt cotton, only those farmers in Adilabad seem to be safe and happy who have practically given up cotton cultivation. Many farmers, especially those with smaller holdings, are finding the economics of Bt cotton to be really deadly. Some 23 suicides by cotton farmers have been reported in the district since November last year. In a majority of these instances, the farmers were caught in debt traps.

Ahead of the presidential elections NCP chief and Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar on Wednesday got his way, with the government yielding to most of his demands regarding export policies for agricultural items. Early last month, the key UPA ally had shot off a letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to register his protest against the government sidelining his suggestions on export policies for key agricultural and allied items like cotton, sugar and milk-products.

Barely 24 hours before Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is scheduled to reconvene a meeting to discuss policies on export of farm products and storage of grains, the government has conceded another major demand of Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar by allowing export of caesin, a value-added milk product.

“Export of casein and casein products has been moved from the ‘prohibited’ to ‘restricted’ category. Export of casein is now permitted under licence,” an official statement issued tonight said. The government had banned exports of casein and milk powder in February last year, following a fall in the domestic supply of milk.

The government today lifted the ban on cotton exports and allowed fresh registration for the cotton marketing year ending September 30, based on the revised production estimates provided by the Cotton Advisory Board (CAB).

Committee to review demand-supply situation after three weeks to prevent abnormal rise in prices

The commerce ministry has decided to lift the ban on export of cotton and allow traders to apply afresh for registration. The ban was lifted barely hours before Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was scheduled to chair a meeting on export of farm products, including cotton. However, the Prime Minister’s meeting was later postponed.

New Delhi The government is set to lift a ban on fresh cotton export registration, although efforts to resolve the controversial issue amicably by putting a cap on further shipments eluded a consensus on Sunday, a day before the meeting convened by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to discuss farm exports.

While agriculture minister Sharad Pawar is pitching for the complete removal of ban on fresh export registration in the year through September, finance minister Pranab Mukherjee and commerce and textile minister Anand Sharma are in favour of allowing fresh licences up to two million bales to balance the interest of farmers with textile mills, sources said.