Drought and disease have devastated life of coconut growers in the district. Rubbing salt into their wounds is the slump in price of copra and coconut.

Various diseases, including pest attack and stem bleeding, have ravaged crops on thousands of acres. Coconut trees in the rain-fed regions of Madhugiri, Pavagad, Sira and Koratagere have withered, leaving the distraught farmers in debt trap. The diseases have destroyed crop in and around 15 acres of plantation at Baragur in Chikkanayakanahalli taluk and scores of acres in Hosakere, Nittur, CS Pur hoblis in Gubbi taluk

The government is set to enact a law to protect the rich biodiversity of the country and also to safeguard Indian agriculture from bio-terrorism and inflow of dangerous pests from outside. The proposed legislation, Agricultural Biosecurity Bill-2012, is high on the agenda of the Union Cabinet for its consideration, which will meet on Thursday.

Confirming this, sources in the government said, the proposed legislation would be on the lines of similar law in place in New Zealand, Australia and the US. The legislation seeks to establish an authority to replace existing plantation protection advisers.

The International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (Icrisat) and the Department of Science and Technology (DST) recently launched a plant protection project to carry out a research on diseases and insect pests that cause huge crop loss.

Diseases and insect pests cause a crop loss of over $8.48 billion annually and this loss is likely to grow at least four-fold under the climate change scenario, an Icrisat official said.

The International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) and Department of Science and Technology (DST) of Central government recently launched a plant protection project to carry out a research on diseases and insect pests that cause huge crop loss. Diseases and insect pests cause a crop-loss of over USD 8.48 billion annually and this loss is likely to grow at least fourfold under the climate change scenario, an ICRISAT official said.

Growth rate declines to 6.06 per cent in 2011-12 from 18.44 in 2010-11

With steep decline in the growth rate of agriculture sector becoming a matter of concern, experts want the government to make concerted efforts in a focussed manner to reverse the trend in the coming years.

New Delhi Close to five crore farmers have availed of the benefits under the national crop insurance scheme, which aims at protecting farming communities against crop failures due to vagaries of weather, pest attacks and diseases.

According to the latest data released on Wednesday by ministry of agriculture, crop insurance claims worth of R22, 135 crore have been settled till now for 4.86 crore farmers mostly from Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Bihar and Karntaka.

Standing wheat crop has come under termite attack in several districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa where rainwater is used for irrigation purposes, according to officials of Directorate of Agriculture Extension.

The attack was feared to attain serious proportions, said a senior official, in case the ongoing dry spell in the province persisted for some more weeks.

Three more debt-ridden farmers committed suicide in Kerala in 24 hours till Monday morning taking the total number of farmers ending life due to financial problems in the past two weeks in the State to seven.

Farmers Kunhikrishnan (50) and KK Joseph (48) of Wayanad district committed suicide by hanging while Chandran of Palakkad district ended his life by consuming poison. All of them had pending repayments of huge loans taken from commercial banks for agricultural purposes.

Researchers on Sunday reported initial signs of success from the first release into the environment of mosquitoes engineered to pass a lethal gene to their offspring, killing them before they reach adulthood.

The results, and other work elsewhere, could herald an age in which genetically modified insects will be used to help control agricultural pests and insect-borne diseases like dengue fever and malaria.

Fatehabad: Despite a ban, farmers have been burning paddy straw on their fields with impunity after harvesting their crops.
Smoke emanating from the burning paddy fields is leading to environment pollution. Thick dark clouds of smoke can be seen in the clear blue sky pointing towards the gravity of situation.