Kashmir farmers upbeat with prospect of a bumper paddy cropOctober 7th, 2009 SRINAGAR - Paddy farmers in Kashmir are expecting a good crop following sufficient and timely rains. In Srinagar, farmers are happy with the bumper production.
Maximise food grain production in rabi season, says PawarSeptember 24th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar Thursday called for achieving higher food grain output in the rabi season "to compensate the production losses in the kharif season". Inaugurating a two-day conference on Rabi Campaign here, Pawar said: "The early meeting on rabi campaign will give a good opportunity to plan well in advance the steps needed to mitigate the situation arising out of the partial failure of kharif 2009."
The government is monitoring the situation "very closely" and will ensure standing crops are saved, he said.
Caterpillars damage paddy crop in JharkhandAugust 31st, 2009 PALAMU - First it was drought and now it is swarming caterpillars, which are adding to the woes of the paddy farmers in Jharkhand's Palamu district. The farmers in the region are worried as the caterpillars are devouring the paddy plants and have spread across acres of paddy fields, and it is feared that almost 60 to 70 percent of the crop have been damaged.
India has enough foodgrain reserves, says Kamal NathAugust 7th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Kamal Nath said on Friday that the country has enough foodgrain reserves even in the worst monsoon situation. Nath, however, expressed his concern over the adverse impact of poor monsoon on agricultural activity.
Lack of rainfall forces farmers to sow pulses instead of paddy in UttarakhandJuly 31st, 2009 KURIYA - Lack of adequate rainfall has affected paddy cultivation in Uttarakhand's Kuriya village, forcing farmers to sow soybean and other pulses instead of the more profitable paddy. The fields, normally inundated this time of the year and full of paddy saplings, are either lying barren or with pulses sown there.
Rs 1,000 crore-diesel subsidy to paddy growers: PawarJuly 31st, 2009 NEW DELHI - Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar has said that the government will provide Rs 1,000-crore subsidy on diesel to paddy farmers for irrigation during the on-going Kharif season in order to provide relief to growers in times of erratic monsoon. "One major decision which the government has taken in yesterday's Cabinet meeting is to extend a budgetary provision of Rs 1,000 crore for the support of the (paddy) farmers who are using diesel pumps," Pawar said on Friday.
Paddy cultivation down by 20 percent in AssamJuly 30th, 2009 GUWAHATI - Farmers in some parts of Assam are facing a tough time due to the delayed rainfall as, officials estimated, it could lead to a 20 per cent drop in the paddy crop cultivation. Rainfall was delayed in Kamrup, Sibsagar, parts of Jorhat, Golaghat, Nalbari, Goalpara and Dhubri districts.
No need to panic over inadequate rain, says PawarJuly 28th, 2009 NEW DELHI - There is no reason to panic over the inadequate rains in the country for the meteorological department has predicted good monsoon in August, Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar said Saturday. Replying to a special discussion on drought conditions in the country in the Lok Sabha, Pawar said except paddy crop, whose area of cultivation had fallen drastically, the figures for rest of the major crops in the country were comparable to the corresponding period last year.
Uttar Pradesh Govt to declare 20 districts as drought-hitJuly 25th, 2009 LUCKNOW - The Uttar Pradesh Government will declare 20 districts in the state as drought-hit. The decision was taken at a high-level meeting presided over by Chief Secretary A K Gupta on Friday night.
Paddy crops affected by delayed monsoon in Uttar PradeshJuly 23rd, 2009 KUSHINAGAR - With clouds nowhere to be seen on the horizon, farmers in Kushinagar of Uttar Pradesh are on their knees praying for the mercy of weather gods. Paddy fields here have begun to show signs of cracking with the crop wilting away under the harsh rays of sun.
Government will pay special attention to farming: PawarJuly 20th, 2009 NEW DELHI - The government would pay full attention to the farming sector this year as there is a serious drought situation in the country due to insufficient rains, Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar told parliament Monday. "In the last four years, we had good produce as there were enough rains.
Monsoon worries for paddy farmers in JammuJuly 19th, 2009 JAMMU - Paddy farmers in Jammu are a worried lot, as they fear their crops will wilt due to scanty rain during the monsoon season. The area under paddy cultivation in Jammu is over 100,000 hectares, out of which 15,000 hectares are rain-fed.
Delayed monsoon posing serious problem: PawarJuly 10th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Admitting that the delayed monsoon was posing a serious problem, the government Friday hoped the situation would improve soon. The problem is serious, Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar said during question hour in the Rajya Sabha, adding: I hope the situation will improve soon.
Pawar warns of draught like situation in North IndiaJuly 10th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar today warned that, North India facing drought-like situation, and states like Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Delhi might face serious problems due to scarcity of rains. Pawar, however, said the Ministry of Agriculture has prepared two contingency plans to face the situation arising from the failure of monsoon.
No drought-like situation, no cause for concern: PawarJune 28th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Brushing aside fears of a drought, union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar Sunday said that though the monsoon rains have been delayed this year, there is "no drought-like situation". "There is no drought like situation because of the delay in the monsoon and the losses would be compensated in the months of July and August...
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