agriculture news

agriculture News, Video News

Communities Urged to Grow Food to Deal With High Food Prices
The Department of Agriculture is advocating communities to use fallow land to grow food to help deal with the issue of high food prices in the country.
2008-12-03 15:07:24
Agriculture Sector in Crisis
As the Liberian government is deeply striving to piece together strategies through the Poverty Reduction Strategy PRS of how to reduce the high rate of poverty amongst its citizens, Liberia's Agriculture...
2008-11-08 02:41:21
Talks Impasse 'Threat to Recovery Bid'
THE ongoing political impasse in Zimbabwe posed a threat to regional plans for the country's economic recovery, especially in the fragile agriculture sector, foreign affairs director-general Ayanda Ntsaluba said yesterday.
2008-10-26 09:36:12
Approaches to Rural Reform
The interests of farmers have been markedly expanded and are better protected, and the mode of development for agriculture and rural areas has been completely changed
2008-10-00 00:00:00
Eritrea: Eritrean Development And Investment Bank Extends 50 Million Nakfa in Loan in 2007/2008
The Eritrean Development and Investment Bank extended a loan amounting to 50 million Nakfa in 2007/2008 to a number of citizens engaged in agriculture...
2008-10-24 18:12:22
NDA will disrupt LS on price issue
By ASIT JOLLYChandigarhOct. 18: The Shiromani Akali Dal chief has said his party and other NDA constituents will create a &ampquot;hungama&ampquot; in Lok Sabha over the UPA governmentÃ¢Â€Â™s refusal to roll back petrol and diesel prices and what he described as an &ampquot;insipid&ampquot; Rs 50 bonus for paddy farmers.Mr Sukhbir Badal told reporters on the sidelines of a massive political rally in Goindwal Sahib near Amritsar that the governmentÃ¢Â€Â™s refusal to reduce indigenous petroleum product prices despite the sharp fall in global crude oil prices was like a &ampquot;mean joke&ampquot; on people and would fuel further inflation during the festival season.Similarly attacking the meagre bonus announced for this seasonÃ¢Â€Â™s paddy crop, Mr Badal warned that consistently non-remunerative support prices for food grains could very soon begin to threaten IndiaÃ¢Â€Â™s food security.And echoing his father, Punjab chief minister Prakash Singh BadalÃ¢Â€Â™s attacking speech from the dais, the young Akali Dal chief said, &ampquot;a change in guard at the Centre is more than overdue now.&ampquot;Though familiar, chief minister BadalÃ¢Â€Â™s rhetoric has abruptly assumed a distinctly electoral hue. &ampquot;Congress governments at Delhi have always been prejudiced and still continue to ignore PunjabÃ¢Â€Â™s legitimate demands pertaining to agriculture, economic issues, the industry as well as inter-state issues,&ampquot; he said.Also reiterating a very sore point that has PunjabÃ¢Â€Â™s farmers agitated, the chief minister said, &ampquot;this is for the first time that the Centre has announced a paddy support price which is even lower than that recommended by the Commission for Agricultural Costs &ampamp; Prices. And to add insult to injury, they have now announced a bonus of just Rs 50.&ampquot; Mr Badal was at pains to convince his largely rural audience that just about everything pertaining to farming costs and grain prices was controlled by Delhi.Ã‚Â
2008-10-18 19:00:00
MANANTHAVADY KERALA
NAT29National/Media/TechnologyA community radio for tribal people in KeralaMananthavady Kerala, Oct 7 IANS A community radio, which will cater to a large number of tribal people and small farmers in Mananthavady in the Wayanad district of Kerala, will start service from here in December.The radio is an initiative of Wayanad Social Service Society WSSS, a non-government organisation NGO formed by the Catholic Diocese of Mananthavady. Wayanad is a hilly district in north Kerala with sizeable tribal population.According to John Choorappuzhayil, a priest and secretary of WSSS, the community radio is the first of its kind in Kerala. "The radio will be of help to the society to take its activities to the people."The WSSS works in the field of farming, education and micro-finance."In the farming area, we are focused on spreading organic farming practices. We provide support in the field of education and agriculture for tribal people here," said John.The community radio will be an FM service designed to cover an area within 10 km radius from Mananthavady.The WSSS functions in about 50 tribal colonies spread across seven village panchayats. It has 2,600 farmers as members in organic farm clubs and many thrift societies, known as self-reliance groups, which function as people's bank."Our members are marginal farmers. They find it difficult to attend the society's training programmes as they have to skip farming activities. With the commissioning of the radio, they can listen to the programme from their home," John added.The radio station is being set up at cost of around Rs.3 million.--Indo-Asian News Servicejm/pb/dg282 Words07101511
2008-10-07 06:00:09
THRISSUR
ECO20Economy/ScienceKerala Agriculture University denies pact with MahycoThrissur, Oct 6 IANS The Kerala Agriculture University KAU Monday denied reports that it has entered into an agreement with Maharashtra Hybrid Seed Co Mahyco to provide it with the germplasm of indigenous rice varieties.KAU director of research D. Alexander told IANS: "Though the company has approached us for the germplasm, we did not provide it." Mahyco is a company associated with the multi-national agribusiness firm Monsanto.A television channel in Kerala reported that the rice research station has entered into an agreement with the Mahyco to supply around 50 varieties of seeds conserved at its Regional Agriculture Research Station at Pattambi near here without the knowledge of the state government. The research centre conserves a large variety of indigenous rice varieties.The report added that KAU has agreed to make its fields available to experiment the 'terminator seeds' developed from the germplasm provided by the university.The state government has not yet reacted to the media report. --Indo-Asian News Servicejmk/sj/vt179 Words06102116
2008-10-06 11:02:12
China's Milk System "Out Of Control"
China's agriculture minister acknowledged that the country's milk-gathering system was "out of control" and led to abuses that put contaminated dairy products in stores across Asia, sickening some 54,000 babies and killing four.
2008-10-06 05:27:28
Gujarat experts to prepare rehabilitation plan for flood-hit Bihar
NAT17National/DisasterGujarat experts to prepare rehabilitation plan for flood-hit BiharPatna, Oct 6 IANS A team of experts from Gujarat will help the Bihar government prepare a strategy for rehabilitation of flood victims, which will be on the lines of the assistance plan following the 2001 Gujarat earthquake, officials said Monday.The team of experts from Gujarat would reach here Tuesday."The team will spend 10 days in the flood affected areas of five districts to study the ground conditions and plan a strategy for rehabilitation," an official of the state disaster management department said.The team will deliver its presentation at a programme of the Bihar Institute of Public Administration and Rural Development BIPARD here.According to sources in planning and development department, the visiting team comprises of officials who were involved in rehabilitation work in the wake of the 2001 earthquake.Disaster Management Minister Nitish Mishra said rehabilitating over three million flood victims was "a herculean task"."The state government plans to adopt the rehabilitation pattern used for victims of the tsunami as well as Gujarat's earthquake," he said.Last month, a team of Bihar officials, led by the development commissioner, visited Gujarat to to study the model of rehabilitation and reconstruction post-earthquake.Later, the team also visited tsunami-affected Tamil Nadu for studying the rehabilitation schemes and preparing a plan for the flood victims.The state government will also be helped by the UN Development Programme UNDP for rehabilitation and reconstruction in the flood-affected districts."A UNDP team has completed a field survey to assess the damage by the flood and it will submit report to the government soon," an official said.Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has demanded Rs.89.23 billion $2 billion from the central government for the rehabilitation of the flood-hit people in September.In August, the prime minister had termed the Bihar flood a national calamity and sanctioned Rs.10 billion for relief efforts. He also announced the release of 125,000 tonnes of food grains for flood victims.More than three million people were rendered homeless and over one million cattle were affected by floods as the Kosi river changed its course following a breach in an embankment upstream in Nepal on Aug 18.The shifting river engulfed large swathes of Bihar, India's second most populous state. The floods have claimed over 191 lives, according to official estimates. However, voluntary agencies fear the number could be in thousands once all bodies are recovered.Officials said 993,992 people have been evacuated to safer places till date. About 370,000 people have taken shelter in over 300 relief camps in flood-affected areas.The state agriculture department has estimated that standing crops in 175,000 hectares of land have been destroyed in Madhepura, Supaul, Saharsa, Araria and Purnea districts.Officials engaged in the rescue and relief operations said most flood-affected, homeless people were now living on high-rise places like embankments and highways apart from overcrowded relief camps set up by the government and NGOs.An official said the state government had prepared a preliminary report on damages caused by the flood. "But the real assessment of damages and losses will come to light after floodwaters recede fully by the second week of October," the official said. --Indo-Asian News Service ik/sh/dg581 Words06101351
2008-10-06 04:00:09