Incessant rainfall and low temperatures have already caused 60-70% crop loss, likely to breed diseases too

High-density planting system of non-Bt cotton varieties aims to provide farmers with a 'low-cost, low-risk and high-yielding'' alternative

NRC-Y is encouraging Brokpas to adopt scientific methods of yak rearing; training them on product diversification for better returns

After celebrating a record wheat production, Punjab is lagging behind in paddy cultivation. According to the Department of Agriculture, the deficit is 33 per cent as of now almost two lakh hectares less than last year

Orissa plans to raise per-hectare harvest from about 8 tonnes to 33 tonnes in the next decade; to plant Grand Naine banana rhizomes over 1,500 hectares

With demand increasing and new schemes available for farmers, mushroom farming is picking up fast in Kashmir

Dairy Development Board of Punjab is promoting milk substitute for better growth of calves

In Punjab''s Roopnagar district, farmers with small landholdings are shunning costly chemical fertilisers and pesticides to grow wheat, paddy, maize and vegetables, using organic methods

Manipur has discovered an entirely new variety of orchid, names it Ione Kipgenii; orchid gene conservation centre has also found 24 other species new to the state

Long winter, hotter summer and lack of rain take a toll on the fruit

Farmers are using innovative trench technique to grow the European vegetable they call 'jugni'', and are earning a good profit; none of them aware of its real name

Inflammable pine needles that caused forest fires are now being used as bio fuel, giving Himachal Pradesh villages a source of income

But things may change for one of the largest potato belts of Maharashtra this year.

Ties up with a Japanese agency to share and transfer knowledge, experience and technologies for soybean cultivation

US-returned businessman sets up modern dairy farm, shares equipment and know-how with locals

Govt efforts get a boost with NABARD deciding to increase credit for dairy sector

Area under the paddy crop has gone up to more than 2 lakh acres in 6 years; private firms coming up with processing plants

Their numbers had dropped but demand for milk and meat has stayed high as ever. Now, goat rearing picks up again

Khargone strives to outmatch Guntur, with help from Andhra

Late rains make Punjab opt for more basmati while Haryana moves towards paddy varieties with assured minimum support price

Area under contract farming heads downward as govt looks at new policy for diversification

India, world''s largest pulse producer and exporter, remains short of requirement; erratic monsion sends projected output below last year''s

On one side, fear of wipe-out by foreign arrivals. On the other, hopes of better infrastructure

Devkaran Malvi of Habidabad village has been less fortunate. Heavy rains brought down his yield from 15 quintals last year to less than 10, and he may not even recover the cost of cultivation.

As bamboos flower in Arunachal, rodents multiply and destroy cardamom crops

Paddy harvests coming at a high cost, state prepares blueprint for shift towards other crops

Drip irrigation growing year by year in Maharashtra, bringing rich rewards to farmers and helping save water

Beekeeping and its promise attract an advocate, a coffee maker and other professionals in Punjab

A projected honey output over 500 tonnes, 7,500 beekeepers and growing, with 29,850 bee colonies between them. Beekeeping has been catching on in Jammu and Kashmir

Tractor sales pick up; govt promotes use of implements, launches schemes for machines on rent and at subsidy

Lahaul potato finds a favourable market this year but farmers keep looking at other options

Having drawn up a plan to diversify from paddy, Punjab''s challenge is to find a way to market fruits and vegetables, especially when they come in a glut

Its consumption puts other states to shame, govt sets out to boost production with training but struggles with marketing outside

In Damla, he began cultivating on his ancestral property of two acres and found it was his true calling.

Can withstand big retailers but need to compete: world wholesale market union

Churah valley, site of a flower revolution, aims to diversify to exotic roses

In a first for India, 10,000 farmers in Punjab are experimenting with sugarbeet over 10,000 acres spread across three districts.

To break monopoly of state-run markets, encourage direct procurement

Madhya Pradesh farmers fare better after picking up tricks of the trade from Punjabi settlers

How to prepare soil for next crop without burning field

Organic by default, rich in nutrients, bao-dhaan gets bulk order from California

Punjab imports cattle semen doctored to produce only female calves

The pomegranate, believed to have originated in Iran, has for ages thrived also in India, which accounts for half the world''s production, yet farmers'' responses have varied from state to state

Laser levellers catch Punjab farmers'' fancy, help save water, fertiliser, power

Weightiest boll comes up by accident, gene source for strongest fibre by design, both at Nagpur''s cotton research institute

Kashmir warms up to cultivation of its countless medicinal plants

Says horticulture booming alongside agriculture, but not all are convinced

Encouraged by CBRTI director M T Wakode, Vivek, 28, applied for a credit-linked subsidy scheme under the Prime Minister''s Employment Generation Programme.

Hives of the wild rock bee are no longer burnt by beekeepers in Melghat, who have learnt scientific techniques and are extracting enough to export