Crops

Production of potatoes is projected at 59.57 million tonnes in 2024-25 which is almost 4.4 per cent more than the same period last year

The government has set a conservative wheat procurement target of 30 million tonnes for the 2025-26 rabi marketing season, sources said. The lower procurement target comes despite the Agriculture Ministry aiming for a record wheat production of 115 million tonnes in the 2024-25 crop year (July-June). For the 2025-26 rabi marketing season starting April, the minimum support price for wheat has been fixed at Rs 2,425 per quintal. The procurement target was set following discussions with state food secretaries, the sources added. The Food Corporation of India (FCI) and state agencies conduct wheat procurement to ensure farmers receive minimum support prices and to meet welfare scheme requirements. In 2024-25, government wheat procurement reached 26.6 million tonnes against a target of 30-32 million tonnes. While this exceeded the 26.2 million tonnes procured in 2023-24, it fell short of that year's 34.15 million tonne target. Wheat procurement in 2022-23 was just 18.8 million tonnes

A final decision will be taken by a group of ministers in Prime Minister Narendra Modi's administration, which will then ask the Securities and Exchange Board of India to lift the curbs or extend them

With the weather expected to turn cold in north India and a forecast of mild showers, it should augur well for the standing crop

The Crop Care Federation of India (CCFI) on Thursday urged the government to reject patent evergreening for agrochemicals, arguing that such a move would harm farmers and local manufacturers by creating monopolistic market conditions. The industry body criticised a newly formed government committee examining data protection provisions for agrochemicals, claiming it would unfairly benefit multinational corporations and importers at the expense of domestic producers. CCFI Chairman Deepak Shah, in a statement, said extending patent protections beyond the standard 20-year period would lead to overpricing and reduced accessibility for small and marginal farmers. "The government should protect the interest of domestic manufacturers and farmers," Shah stated. The federation highlighted that between 2010 and 2022, while 62 new pesticide molecules were patented in India, only 27 were commercially launched. Of the remaining 35 products, their patent periods have already expired. Citing a 20

The Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC), Mumbai, has introduced eight new high-yielding, climate-resilient varieties of wheat, rice and oilseeds, it said on Friday. Developed using radiation-based mutation breeding techniques, these non-GMO crop varieties are set to "revolutionise" agriculture across India, the BARC said in a statement here. The new varieties -- five cereals and three oilseeds -- are tailored to diverse agricultural conditions and were launched in collaboration with state agricultural universities. Speaking at the launch, Ajit Kumar Mohanty, Secretary of the Department of Atomic Energy (DAE) and Chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission, highlighted BARC's significant contribution in enhancing farmer incomes and boosting food and nutritional security. Vivek Bhasin, Director, BARC, called these varieties a "boon for farmers" due to their early maturity, disease resistance, climate resilience, salt tolerance, and higher yields compared to existing options. India's

After Punjab, Haryana received Rs 1,081.71 crore, Uttar Pradesh was allocated Rs 763.67 crore, the NCT of Delhi Rs 6.05 crore, and ICAR Rs 83.35 crore from the total Rs 3,623.45 crore

UP, with India's largest cultivable land area of 16.6 million hectares - over 80 per cent of which is irrigated - currently imports hybrid seeds primarily from Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh

UP, with India's largest cultivable land area of 16.6 million hectares - over 80 per cent of which is irrigated - currently imports hybrid seeds primarily from Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh

India's foodgrain production reached a record 332.22 million tonne in the 2023-24 crop year ended June, driven by bumper wheat and rice output, the agriculture ministry said on Wednesday. The final estimate for 2023-24 shows an increase of 2.61 million tonne from the previous year's 329.6 million tonne, the ministry said in a statement. Rice production touched a record 137.82 million tonne, up from 135.75 million tonne in 2022-23. Wheat output also hit a high of 113.29 million tonne as compared to 110.55 million tonne the previous year. However, pulses production declined to 24.24 million tonne from 26.05 million tonne and oilseeds output fell to 39.66 million tonne from 41.35 million tonne. The ministry attributed the decline in pulses, coarse cereals, soybean and cotton production to "drought-like conditions in southern states, including Maharashtra and prolonged dry spell during August especially in Rajasthan". Sugarcane production decreased to 453.15 million tonne from 490.53

Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan to meet farmers' groups every Tuesday to hear grievances; expects higher kharif output despite surplus rains

Though the state has surpassed the paddy sowing target, it is yet to achieve the overall kharif crop sowing target for the season even as the sowing has come to a halt

Rowe talks about Syngenta's strong presence in India for a long time

There is a need to adopt improved farming practices and advanced production technologies to raise productivity and output in the long term to be able to reduce dependence on import

The good news is that the areas under arhar, groundnut, soybean, and cotton are more than their five-year average

Scientists used CRISPR-Cas9, a precision gene-editing technique, to create a variety of risotto rice potentially resistant to Pyricularia oryzae, a pathogenic fungus which leads to rice blast disease

The government targets shipments of Rs 50,000 crore annually

The monsoon onset over Kerala is likely to be on May 31, with a model error of plus/minus four days, the India Meteorological Department said

After research comes agriculture extension activities which give the second best return on investment at 7.40 rupees for every one rupee invested

Over 47 per cent of small farmers got higher rice yields through the direct seeded method, shows study