Pawar warns of draught like situation in North India

September 24th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Allaying fears of country falling short of rice supply, Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar here today said that there was sufficient supply to fulfill the needs. Pawar said, due to last year's good rice production, this year, the supplies were sufficient, but efforts would need to be made to increase the production.

August 27th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Congress President Sonia Gandhi has asked Agriculture minister Sharad Pawar to rein in the rising prices of sugar and ensure there is adequate stock of sugar in India. Pawar had fuelled fears of scarcity and shortage, saying that the forecast for the next season is not bright.

August 21st, 2009 NEW DELHI - Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar asked the State Agriculture Ministers on Friday to take immediate steps to provide relief to the drought affected areas. Addressing a conference of State Agriculture Ministers here, Pawar urged them to take steps to protect the interest of small and marginal farmers.

August 19th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Ahead of the assembly elections in Maharashtra, Union Agricultural Minister and the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) president Sharad Pawar on Wednesday ruled out the possibility of merger with the Congress Party. Pawar also termed the statements by some Congress leaders on the issue as cheap publicity.

July 24th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar said on Friday that a weak and erratic monsoon in various parts of the country may adversely affect the paddy crop, and added that the government is drawing a contingency plan to deal with the situation. "Contingency plans are getting operationalised in the areas where dry spell is getting prolonged," Pawar said, replying to a calling attention motion in the Rajya Sabha on the monsoon situation.

July 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.

July 11th, 2009 HYDERABAD - Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar on Saturday said that there was nothing to worry regarding availability of food grains in the country, as the situation would improve despite normal monsoon forecast. "Things should, however, improve as the Indian Meteorological Department predicted bountiful rains across the country in the month of August though the downpour would be less than normal this month," Pawar said.

July 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.

July 10th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Admitting that the delayed monsoon was a real and serious problem in north India, the government Friday hoped the situation will definitely improve. It is true that the whole country is worried about monsoon recession as on today, particularly Vidarbha, Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar said during question hour in the Rajya Sabha.

June 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...

May 25th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar on Monday took charge as Minister of Agriculture, Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution Pawar had previously held the posts of Defence Minister and Maharashtra Chief Minister. He convened a meeting of senior officials and took stock of the situation in the field of agriculture.

April 24th, 2009 MUMBAI - Samajwadi Party (SP) General Secretary Amar Singh on Friday said his party would support Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar as Prime Minister. "The NCP is expected to win at least 15 of 21 seats in Maharashtra.

April 15th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) supremo Sharad Pawar was in Panaji, but the party's Goa chief Wilfred D'Souza managed to give him the slip. D'Souza's 'inability' to accompany Pawar to the inauguration of the party's youth wing office and a subsequent press conference on the third floor of a building almost left the latter red-faced.

April 14th, 2009 PANAJI - Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar Tuesday refused to endorse Manmohan Singh as the prime ministerial candidate for the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) and said the allies will decide on the top post after the election results. Manmohan Singh was the Congress' choice for the post of prime minister and that need not mean he was the UPA's choice too, Pawar told reporters here.

February 3rd, 2009 NEW DELHI - India will need to ramp up its foodgrain production by almost 40 percent to meet the demand of burgeoning population by 2025, Food and Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar said here Wednesday. Speaking at a global conference on conservation in agriculture, Pawar said the demand for food would increase voraciously with rising population.