NewDelhi:The country will enjoy another bumper harvest in 2011-12, with an estimated 102 million tonnes of rice and 88 million tonnes of wheat projected as per the revised estimates of the Union government. But this could also create a problem of plenty for the government with the National Food Security Bill pending in Parliament, and the government unable to offload existing stocks to the states.

In an unprecedented move, the Bihar Government has decided to involve farmers in preparing the agriculture road map of the state for the next 10 years.
As per the decision of the Cabinet, the views of experienced and expert farmers would be incorporated in the roadmap, which is to be debated in the state legislature during the ensuing budget session.

“The state government is committed to implement the next roadmap on agriculture from April 1,” said Agriculture Production Commissioner Ashok Kumar Sinha.

PAU scientists warn that climatic changes may take a toll on various crops grown in the state. What is worrying Punjab Agricultural University (PAU), Ludhiana, is that the rise in the average minimum night temperature and the humidity level may not only harm agriculture, but also the ecosystem in the state. Senior officials today made a presentation in this regard before the university board comprising senior officials of the state agriculture, horticulture and other departments. Financial Commissioner (Development) Navreet Singh Kang was also present at the presentation.

Jorhat, Feb. 3: The National Aeronautics and Space Administration will help the tea industry study the impact of climate change on tea bushes. The additional vice-chairman of Tea Research Association, Prabhat Bezboruah, said the recently formed working group on global climate change would take help from Nasa to study climate change and its impact on tea bushes.

The second advance estimates of agricultural output released by the government on Friday projected another bumper harvest with foodgrain output pegged at a new record of 250.42 million tonnes during 2011-12 crop year as against the record 244.78 million tonnes the previous year. While the increased rice output in eastern regions has helped the country achieve this, the output of both the major crops — wheat (88.31 million tonnes) and rice (102.75 million tonnes) — is all set for a new record this year.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Friday urged states and Union territories to hasten reforms in the public distribution system (PDS) for the effective implementation of the Food Security Bill.

Inaugurating a two-day conference of chief secretaries of states and Union territories, the prime minister said, “I would urge you to pay urgent attention to end-to-end computerisation of the PDS. We should be in a position to effectively implement the Food Security Bill by the time it becomes an Act of Parliament.”

The National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) has introduced a Negotiable Warehouse Receipt (NWR) system to help farmers avoid distress sale of their produces.

In a statement here on Friday, NABARD chief general manager K.C. Shashidhar said the NWRs would enable small and marginal farmers with Kisan Credit Cards to avail post-harvest loans at concessional interest rates and store their produce in warehouses against warehouse receipts.