Scientists at the National Research Centre on Mithun (NRCM) at Jharnapani in Nagaland have broken new grounds by carrying out a successful embryo transfer, leading to the birth of the first ever mithun calf through this method. Mohan, as the newly-born calf has been christened, was delivered by a healthy female mithun on May 12 after she played the role of a surrogate mother.

HENGBUNG (MANIPUR), May 22 – The Director General of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) Dr S Ayyappan has announced plans to initiate schemes to enhance profitability and productivity to bring back the people by making agriculture prestigious and profitable. He also promised that the Krishi Vigyan Kendra (KVK) at Hengbung village in Manipur’s Senapati district would be equipped with a seed processing unit to supply quality seed to the needy farmers in the region.

Sohra, May 18: Nimbus may be liberal while showering blessings on Meghalaya, which is deemed to be the “home of the storm cloud.” But when it comes to Sohra (Cherrapunjee), the generosity gets lavish. But the lavishness, which can be converted into “wealth” by way of attracting tourists, can also turn out to be a “bane” especially for struggling farmers as agricultural production has been severely hit in the past several years.

Union Minister of Environment and Forests Jayanthi Natarajan has said that the research and extension activities carried out by the Indian Council of Forestry Research and Education have positively helped in meeting the livelihood needs of the rural poor, tribals and those living in the fringe forests and facilitating opening of interface with Panchayati Raj institutions in the country.

She said this while speaking at the 20th meeting of the ICFRE Society at Paryavaran Bhawan, New Delhi.

SHILLONG: “Farmers should be ready to learn new technologies to become competent,” said Dr Mukul Sangma, Chief Minister of Meghalaya.

“Technology linked farming activities are being promoted in the State to make farming more attractive and remunerative. To be rich in farming, we need to learn new technologies, which should be supported by government interventions like market availability, credit availability, etc.,” said Dr Sangma while inaugurating the ‘Tribal Farmers in Climate Resilient Agriculture’ programme at Cherrapunji on Friday.

Research organisation encourages new agricultural adaptation strategies

Shillong: Taking cognizance of the drastic change in the ecology of Sohra, agricultural scientists of the Indian Council of Agricultural (ICAR) Research Complex for NEH Region are now trying to conduct research and studies on the agricultural products of this area while encouraging people to adopt different agro-eco activities.

BHUBANESWAR: In a major boost to sustainable agriculture technology for soil management, the Agriculture Department has proposed to establish 20 new soil testing laboratories in the State. There are 11 such labs at present. Separately, the Odisha University of Agriculture and Technology (OUAT) has also decided to set up another 20 soil testing laboratories in its Krishi Vigyan Kendras (KVKs) under the 12th plan.

the cultivable land in the country has come down to 182.5 million hectares during 2009-10 compared to 182.7 million tonnes during 2005-06

Agriculture experts expressed concerns over shrinking of farm land by nearly 0.2 million hectares and suggested enacting strong legislation to stop shifting of land for non-farming purposes. According to government statistics, the cultivable land in the country has come down to 182.5 million hectares during 2009-10 compared to 182.7 million tonnes during 2005-06.

With hundreds of schemes and thousands of crores dedicated to agriculture failing to substantially improve the condition of farmers as also to meet the rapidly changing demands of end consumers, the Maharashtra government has initiated a Private-Public Partnership (PPP) for Integrated Agriculture Development (PPP-IAD) project under the World Economic Forum’s (WEF) “New Agriculture Initiative”.

India's first genetically engineered (GE) drought-resistant rice variety has been developed in the eastern Indian city of Kolkata.