crops

Disappointed farmers protested outside Tahsildar's office in Lambi, and held officials hostage, on March 28. The farmers were demanding relief for cotton crops, which were damaged due to pink bollworm. Although the magistrate and officials assured farmers to organize a meeting with higher officials, they held Tahsildars and Patwaris hostage. The hostages were released by police late at night. In addition, an FIR has been registered against… 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

Agriculture Ministry on September 4 reported Kharif acreage reaching new record of 1,095 lakh hectare. Ministry cited 8.4% above-par monsoon and timely pre-positioning of crops as the major reasons. Coupled with the recovery in global food prices reported by FAO's price index, presumably, farmers may overcome the distress. Reportedly, the World Food trade subsided due to the lockdowns imposed in most countries to limit the coronavirus spread… read-more