PUNE: Weather scientists at the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology are studying high resolution climate projections over South Asian Monsoon region which is expected to contribute to future crop and water management and planning in India. The study undertaken is part of the World Meteorological Organization ( WMO) Coordinated Regional Climate Downscaling Experiment (CORDEX) for which Centre for Climate Change Research (CCCR) of IITM is acting as a nodal agency for South Asia.

Despite a series of measures initiated by the state government, there seems to be no end to suicides by farmers in the state. Unable to bear huge financial losses due to poor crop, mounting debts and other related reasons, 12 farmers have committed suicide in a span of two months this year and 184 lives were lost in 2011 alone reveal reports. The emerging pattern of suicides show that most of them have been committed after the Kharif and Rabi crops between October to December (42) and January-April (82) across all the three regions of the state.

JAIPUR: Preliminary study by civil organisations has shown that the state's special project of free distribution of hybrid maize seeds to farmers in the hopes of a rich harvest might have gone awry. The seeds have provided less than promised yields and, in many cases, they have not germinated.

The state government through funds from the National Agriculture Development Programme and Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana (RKVY) has been promoting hybrid maize seeds to the tribal farmers on a large scale since 2009.

Farmers advised to monitor the crop against yellow rust and frost. Cold waves prevailing over parts of Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, Maharashtra and some parts of western Madhya Pradesh are conducive for wheat production, which is in the booting stage now, say agriculture scientists.

Bangladeshi women farmers in rainbow-bright saris survey their flooded rice paddies with dismay: the rains have drowned the tender seedlings and, with them, their livelihoods. Climate change, ill-judged policies, protectionism, urbanisation and plain greed have all conspired to reignite Malthusian prophesies of a growing world population unable to feed itself.

Indian Agriculture Research Institute has developed four hybrid mango varieties which promise a yield three-four times higher than the existing varieties. This is likely to scale up mango production in the next 10 years without any additional input cost. The varieties named Pusa Pratibha, Pusa Peetamber, Pusa Shreshth and Pusa Lalima possess traits of popular varieties like Dussehari and Neelam.

GUWAHATI, Feb 2 – Agriculture Minister Nilamoni Sen Deka today said that the State was going to witness a boom in potato production with an expected yield of 1.90 lakh quintals from the high-quality seeds distributed by the Government. The expected production figure excludes the yield from seeds procured by farmers on their own. The Government had distributed 75,000 quintal seeds among the farmers with the objective of enhancing potato production.

A cultivable mycorrhiza-like fungus discovered by scientists of Amity University may prove to be a boon for vegetable growers of Himachal Pradesh as it has tremendously increased the crop growth and productivity. The scientists found that the fungus named Piriformospora Indica (PFSI) increased both the growth and productivity of cauliflower, capsicum and tomato vegetable crops in hill areas of the state.

Kerala, where farmers are faced with prospects of poor yield and low income, could well take cues from the success story of a farmer who is earning a net annual income of Rs. 3.5 lakh from two hectares land by adopting integrative farm techniques and optimum resource utilisation.

C. N. Narayana Hebbar (43), hailing from Bela in Badiadka Panchayath in the district has set himself as a role model for the cash-strapped farmers in the State thanks to the synergistic integration of enterprises and optimum resource utilisation.

NEW DELHI: Meghalaya will quadruple its rice production with a mission mode approach that too in a organic way in collaboration with the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), Chief Minister Dr Mukul Sangma who just returned from his visit to Philippines said.

Talking to The Shillong Times here, Dr Sangma who held detailed discussions with the experts in the IRRI said that efforts would also be on to minimise the losses while maximising the yield. Meghalaya has rice cultivation of both the highland and low land variety.