CACP’s chairman on why Indian agriculture is trapped in a cycle of mediocre growth and low productivity.

Ludhiana: With wheat production in Punjab reaching an all-time high, well-known agricultural scientist and Rajya Sabha MP Dr M S Swaminathan on Wednesday urged the state government to provide farmers with an additional Rs 100 per quintal over the Minimum Support Price (MSP) as was the case in Mahrashtra and Rajasthan. “This is what we call procurement price,” said Swaminathan while interacting with farmers.

Wheat procurement in Punjab has touched an all-time high of 124.65 lakh tonne. Out of the total procurement, government agencies have procured almost

Pointing out that higher fertiliser subsidy on urea has led to unbalanced fertiliser usage in parts of the country, Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar on Tuesday sought the support from MPs to incentivise the subsidy towards balanced fertiliser usage. “Initially, the government focussed on enhancing fertiliser usage. As a result, agricultural productivity was increased by 50 per cent with the help of fertilisers during the first Green Revolution. But now we find that the increased fertiliser usage is not witnessing commensurate productivity increase.

New Delhi Concerned over the adverse impact of fertilisers on soil and crops, government plans to reduce subsidy on them and divert funds to organic manures, bio-fertilisers, green manures and promotion of organic farming.

“During the first Green Revolution, productivity was increased by 50% with the help of fertilisers. But today balanced fertilisers are needed. Urea is being used by farmers in high quantity which is affecting productivity,” agriculture minister Sharad Pawar informed Lok Sabha on Tuesday.

Speaking about the need to increase food production to feed the growing population, India’s representative from the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), Dr Peter Kenmore, on Monday said that this has to be done in a sustainable manner and by crop intensification.

He was delivering the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development’s (Nabard) 30th anniversary lecture on “Future of Global Agriculture: Challenges and Opportunities for India”.

Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar on Saturday expressed reservations about the new Land Acquisition and Rehabilitation and Resettlement Bill, 2011, saying it would in particular pose hurdles in setting up industries and creating new dams.

The Bill was cleared by the Union cabinet in September and has now been sent to the joint legislative committee. Quoting provisions of the Bill, such as the promise to pay five times the market price of land acquired, returning 20 per cent developed land to the owner and job guarantee for next 20 years, Pawar said that the Bill would hamper development work in the country and state. The Bill also provides that there should be 70 per cent consent of land owners for the acquisition and the state can step in for the remaining 30 percent.

KOCHI: If all goes well, Kochiites will soon be able to savour quality-rich organic vegetables. ‘Zero Waste and Safe-to-Eat Vegetables’, a major project by the district administration in association with District Agri- Horticultural Society and the Vegetable and Fruit Promotion Council (VFPCK), will be inaugurated by Chief Minister Oommen Chandy on May 7.

In flood-hit fields in the Philippines, farmers are testing a hardy new variety of rice that can survive completely submerged for more than two weeks.

In Kenya's Kibera slum, poor urban families are turning around their diets and incomes just by learning to grow vegetables in sack gardens outside their doors. And in India, a push to help marginalised rural communities gain title to their land is leading to a significant drop in hunger.