Agriculture

PM Modi deposited about Rs.19,500 crore under the PM-KISAN scheme to over 9.75 crore farmers and interacted with the recipients across the country virtually on August 9. So far, nine installments amounting to Rs 1.57 lakh crore have been transferred to the farmer families under the scheme, the government data revealed. The scheme was announced under the Union Budge of 2019 which has benefitted around 11 crore farmers. 

To limit the use of plastic and soil in agriculture and to negate environmental crisis, ten management students from Universal Business School (UBS), Mumbai, initiated "Project Roop"- a project to upcycle plastic bottles and use them in "hydroponic" farming. Reportedly, India alone generates 4,059 tonne of plastic waste every day. Hydroponic is a horticulture process where plants are grown in nutrient-rich water than soil.

A study published in Nature Geoscience has revealed that around 64% of the world’s total arable land is exposed to pesticide pollution. The report, assessing 168 countries, stated that one-third of the areas surveyed are at high risk of pollution caused by 92 chemicals used in pesticides. Including 'food bowl' countries, Asia accounts for largest polluted lands, especially from China, Japan, Malaysia and Philippines. Alarmingly, 34% of the… read-more

The Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA) has removed the word 'Halal' from its ‘Red Meat Manual’. APEDA said while earlier classification was done to meet the requirements of Islamic countries, the removal will cater to requirement of importing countries/importers. The issue surfaced after a furore by Hindu and Sikh organizations, which claimed that the contentious word has led a loss to their business… read-more

The Himachal Pradesh government has planned to cultivate the nearly extinct ‘red rice’ over 4,000-hectare land. With this, the government aims to produce nearly 40,000 quintals of nutritious rice annually. The step was initiated as the sowing area of red rice continuously declined due to farmers shift towards cash crops and high-yielding varieties. However, Agriculture Minister Virender Kanwar said, “With growing health consciousness, and… read-more