The food subsidy is likely to touch a record Rs 50,000 crore (Rs 500 billion) in the current fiscal, nearly Rs 18,454 crore (Rs 184.54 billion) higher than Rs 31,546 crore (Rs 315.46 billion) in 2007-08.
Those who thought that good crops in the past few seasons made farmers better off need to think again. The truth is that most of them are worse off.
The apex body for farmers' organisations has stated in a representation to the government that even big farmers were worse off than the lowest-paid government employees. It has charged the government with discrimination against farmers vis--vis workers from other sectors.
Monsoon is back in almost all the rain-starved areas of the peninsula, Maharashtra and parts of Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh. As a result, there has been a dramatic change in the overall kharif crop outlook.
The launch of a genomics project will improve productivity of this multi-purpose domestic animal.
With the India Meteorological Department declaring 2007 the fourth warmest year on record since 1901, evidence of global warming on the Indian climate is crystallising. The annual mean temperature in the country was recorded 0.55 degree Celsius higher than normal
Nanotechnology can bring down farm production costs through precise and more efficient use of inputs.
Payments to farmers in the form of subsidies tend to encourage the production of food, fibre and biofuels, under-valuing the beneficial services that the farmers can render in fields such as carbon storage, flood control, water conservation and biodiversity protection. The farm sector can sequester and store over two billion tonnes of carbon in 50 countries till 2012, when the tenure of the present Kyoto pact on climate change comes to an end.
Foreseen climate changes are likely to affect food production in the country, cutting it down by 10-40%.
At least 10 states and the Union Territory of Chandigarh have identified more than 30 sites for setting up modern terminal markets in the private sector for trading in fruits, vegetables and other perishable farm produce.
India's agriculture will be badly affected by global warming, but timely action could help mitigate the impact considerably.
The rainfall pattern and the mean temperature in India have altered perceptibly due to global warming and these changes would become more pronounced in the coming decades.
Expected to be 95 percent of the long-period average.
There is a substantial possibility of the emergence of La Nina, the opposite of El Nino, which invariably has a positive influence on the monsoon.
If private trade is kept out of the market and farmers don't get higher prices, this year's bumper crop will be a one-time affair.
The agriculture ministry has projected the foodgrain production in 2006-07 at 209.17 million tonnes, the highest since 2001-02, when it touched a record 212.85 million tonnes.
The government should set up a dedicated fund to rescue Indian agriculture.
How locals of a remote village in Uttaranchal took the initiative to bring water to their fields.
The US on Tuesday said it was in favour of eliminating all trade distorting agricultural subsidies. However, it expressed disagreement with the Indian stand of protecting almost the entire agricultural market.
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