The state agriculture department has selected three private companies to start a value chain development programme in 13 districts, where farmers will cultivate maize.

Agricultural research in India has hit a major roadblock in the last three years with several States deciding not to give no-objection certificates (NOCs) and Genetic Engineering Approval Committee

Finally, a diversification policy is in place with maize and cotton to be targeted as focus crops to help reduce the area under paddy cultivation.

State government is trying to decrease area under paddy

In order to give a fillip to maize research and cultivation in the state, the Punjab government has approved transfer of 100 hectares in Ladowal near Ludhiana free to the Indian Council of Agriculture Research (ICAR) for setting up a Directorate of Maize Research in the state. The step is likely to give a major thrust to the much-needed agricultural diversification programme in Punjab. This endeavour would also help in development of new hybrid and high-yielding varieties of maize, thereby contributing in improving farmers' incomes.

Hyderabad: Six people died and 23 were injured in different incideue to unseasonal rains, thunder and hailstorm since April 1.

The biotechnology industry's annual report "Global Status of Commercialised Biotech/GM Crops: 2012" by the International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-biotech Applications (ISAAA), which hail

Syngenta and Bayer, top producers of the pesticides blamed for a sharp fall in bee populations around the world, have proposed a plan to support bee health to try to forestall a European Union ban

Syngenta and Bayer, top producers of the pesticides blamed for a sharp fall in bee populations around the world, have proposed a plan to support bee health to try to forestall a European Union ban

For the first time in Andhra Pradesh, an exclusive action plan for agriculture envisaging an outlay of Rs 25,962 crore was presented in the state Legislative Assembly by agriculture minister, Kanna Lakshmi Narayana, on Monday.

The 2013-14 outlay for agriculture includes plan component of Rs 17,694.71 crore and non-plan component of Rs 8.267.41 crore. Supplementary to these proposed budgetary allocations, an amount of Rs 72,450 crore has been allocated under the agricultural credit plan.