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Paddy makes comeback in cotton belt, may worsen Punjab water problem

It''s a story of one crop''s gain being another crop''s loss. In Punjab''s Malwa region, the traditional cotton crop is set to lose its hectarage...




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Central funds not benefiting us, say J-K small fruit growers

All''s not well with the horticulture industry in Jammu and Kashmir. Even as the state Government claims to have spent Rs 88 crore...




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Soyabean is new money plant for Jharkhand farmers

When Dayal Munda (45), a tribal farmer, first heard the name of Swarna Vasundhra, he never thought it would lead to a bumper crop.




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Baramati in High Spirits

With farmers turning entrepreneurs by forming companies through Special Economic Zones a wine company for the first time has invited farmers to become shareholders.




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Assam in grip of First Monsoon Fury

The first round of floods that hit Lakhimpur district in eastern Assam last week has already wreaked havoc on the farmers of that district...




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'List farmers for debt waiver soon''

FinanceMinister P Chidambaram on Thursday asked public sector banks to come out with a list of farmers...




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In West Bengal, early rains have farmers smiling

The early onset of monsoon and heavy downpour have brought good news for West Bengal farmers...




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Advance wheat yield pegged at a record 78 mt

All seems to be well on the farm production front. The Government will soon announce the fourth advance estimate of crop production for 2007-08...




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A lesson in rural economy regeneration

What is the spot-on way of regenerating our rural economy? Ask the 308 small farmers of Ghugial village in Hoshiarpur district...




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Mentha mints no money in parched Bundelkhand

Uttar Pradesh Government''s idea to introduce mentha (mint) -one of the most popular cash crops among farmers these...




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Grey days ahead for Kashmir''s saffron fields

Kashmir''s world-acclaimed saffron and its vast fields are fast dwindling, courtesy the poisonous dust emanating from nearby cement plants.




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Grape cultivation turns sour for Punjab farmers

Grapes have lost their allure for the farmers of Bathinda in Punjab, a region that is home to around 70 per cent...




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IIM graduate chooses to push green cart, build Brand Bihar

A vegetable vendor with an IIM degree under his belt - that''s 26-year-old Kaushalendra Prasad of Bihar who would rather...




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Valley''s cherry growers in the red

As the cultivation of season''s first cash crop, cherry, draws to a close in Kashmir, the growers are claiming...




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Going bananas, in the sugar belt

Tired of fighting for the statutory minimum price for their sugarcane, many farmers in Kolhapur district...




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Apple makes way for pomegranate in Himachal

Himachal Pradesh is famously known as the 'Apple State of India''. But the state is now clutching the title nervously...




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Punjab''s cancer belt finds antidote in its dense cover of neem

While Punjab''s Malwa belt is witnessing rising incidence of cancer - largely due to addiction to alcohol and tobacco...




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A ray of hope for Kerala''s granary

The Central Government has approved a Rs 1,840-crore revival package for Kerala''s Kuttanad region...




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Valley becomes vegetable basket

After acquiring a monopoly in fruit production and sale across the country, Kashmir is now set to become the vegetable hub...




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Fungal diseases crush hopes of tomato, capsicum growers

Tomato and capsicum growers of Himachal Pradesh have lost some 40 to 60 per cent of their yield to fungal diseases so...




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Bengal''s potato peeve: middlemen pocketing benefits of bumper crop

While farmers are selling potatoes for as low as Rs 1-1.50 per kilo to the middlemen, consumers are shelling out Rs 7-10 in the retail market.




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Season of misery in Kuttanad

Farmers in the Kuttanad region have been faced with a host of hurdles, ranging from sowing to marketing of the produce.




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Haryana village shows the way in conservation agriculture

Some say it began with the Mayans who used a stick to plant maize in unprepared soil while others trace it to ancient Egypt.




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No Stemming The Rot in Valley

Even as the national highway has opened, only a few trucks are plying with the result that fruits are not only rotting in cold storages but also in orchards. Losses so far: Rs 500 crore.




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Mangoes: Himachal''s cold clime springs a surprise

Himachal''s apple revolution, which spawned an economy worth Rs 1,500 crore, has its roots in the Kotgarh belt in the upper Shimla region, 82 km from here.




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Keeping off whitefly from mint

This tiny pest was ravaging mint crops until one day scientists found out how to deal with it.




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Almond Cracks record

This spring when unexpected heavy snowfall destroyed white blooms of almonds in Kashmir, a bumper harvest was the last thing on anyone''s mind.




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UP''s farming sector cries for reforms

In the very first year of the 11th Five Year Plan, the agriculture sector in Uttar Pradesh has suffered a setback...




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Himachal apple growers cash in on Amarnath land controversy

The Amarnath land row which prevented the Kashmir apple crop from reaching the wholesale market, proved to be a blessing in disguise for Himachal''s orchards.




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Terai gives Punjab farmers a lesson in banana cultivation

For a state that consumes nearly Rs 500 crore worth of bananas every year - one of the highest in the country...




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Gujarat farmers grapple with shortage of power, water

With less than normal rainfall, the farms in Gujarat are grappling with shortage of both power and water for irrigation.




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Intercropping is the way for Sugarcane Industry: UP Govt

The Uttar Pradesh Government has asked the sugarcane industry to adopt agro-techniques to boost productivity.




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It''s high time farm pricing got a booster dose

With the World Bank giving a call to shift focus on agriculture to tackle food crisis, data gleaned from Punjab's villages only add to its urgency.




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Now, a device with sensors for desired yield

Precision farming is set to invade Indian farms. IIM Calcutta and the Bidhan Chandra Krishi Viswavidalaya...




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Needed: tech pill for Himachal apple

Despite an annual turnover of more than Rs 2,000 crore, Himachal Pradesh''s apple orchards have witnessed a decline in the yield.




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Robo Kisan - the answer to an infected grapevine

Allahabad based agriculture scientist Anshuka Srivastava has developed a robot that would help farmers detect Downy Mildew, a parasite that affects grape cultivation.




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Winds of change

Punjab not only banned early sowing and reined in errant millers this paddy season but also relied on large-scale mechanisation.




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Agriculture losing ground to service sector in JandK

In a situation mirroring the change in the national economy, the tertiary sector in Jammu and Kashmir is fast threatening to overtake the primary sector.




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Flower Power

With govt''s thrust on floriculture, more and more people are taking to commercial cultivation of flowers in the Valley




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Successful monsoon promises rabi riches in Doon valley

While average rainfall figure for Uttarakhand between June and Sept stood at 1,199 mm, Doon valley received 2,240 mm




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TN paper unit woos Maharashtra for Banana stem waste

Two months ago, Kailash Thate, a young man with 10 acres of farmland close to the Ujjani dam, set up an agro-processing unit to extract fibres...




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Post-Flood, Assam set to make up for losses

Two waves of floods and an estimated damage of Rs 330 crore have not deterred the state from setting an ambitious agricultural production target for this season




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G B Pant university develops high-yielding bottlegourd, pea

One new variety each of three vegetables - bittergourd, bottlegourd and vegetable pea developed by the scientists of G B Pant University of Agriculture...




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As cross-LoC trade route opens, Kashmir fruit growers eye markets in the Gulf

On Tuesday, as a convoy of 12 pick-up vans carrying different varieties of fruits from the Valley crossed the Kaman Bridge, fruit growers lined up on the LoC to see off the vehicles.




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A farmer with A midas touch

Unlike other villagers for whom landing a government job was the ultimate dream, Bahadur Singh Verma of Saproon valley chose farming as a career for himself.




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A way to tackle papaya mosaic virus

The agriculture department is asking farmers to spray a dilute solution of groundnut oil on the papaya plant as soon as the symptoms of the disease appear. This 'treatment technique'' has been developed by Moradabad farmers




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Other ways of arresting the papaya disease

Earlier, sanitation of the field by removal and destruction of affected papaya plants was the only way adopted by the farmers to reduce the spread of the papaya mosaic virus disease. In some cases, losses were minimised by controlling the population of aphids.




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Himachal''s organic crop zone

Tucked away from Himachal''s prosperous vegetable and fruit belt, Pangi is yet to grab the spotlight it deserves for growing organic fruits and vegetables in abundance.




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61 years on, Dal''s lotus stem reaches Muzaffarabad

It has taken 61 years for the famous produce of the Dal Lake nadroo (lotus stem) - to reach PoK.




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New rice variety has come a cropper, say Jammu farmers

Developed after years of research by agriculture scientists, the much-hyped new RR-564 Basmati variety seems to have proven a failure in its first commercial utilisation in Jammu and Kashmir.