Draft Seeds Bill, 2019
The revised draft Seeds Bill 2019, which the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare placed in the public domain recently for suggestions and comments, seems to be a watered down version of a draft
Seeds
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Changing pattern of input use and cost of cultivation
This paper estimates and compares the paid-out cost of cultivation of wheat in India, the most state-protected crop, during the input subsidy regime of the 1970s and 1980s and after its abolition in the 1990s, when economic reforms were initiated. The study uses the valuable time series information collected as part of the "comprehensive scheme' of the ministry of agriculture.
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NTPC to set up 4,000 mw power plant in UP
Uttar Pradesh government has given its nod to the proposal of NTPC to set up a 4,000 mw power plant in Lalitpur district of the state. The state government would hold 30% equity in the plant and 75% of power generated would be used in Uttar Pradesh, Cabinet secretary Shashank Shekhar Singh told reporters. An MoU would be signed for the project soon, he said. The state Cabinet also decided to provide high-yield hybrid seeds to farmers at subsidised rates.
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Parties plan farm stir
Anantapur, June 24: All-party committee leaders have decided to organise a Jail Bharo agitation and lay siege to the agriculture department joint director's office on June 26 in protest against the alleged negligence of the Congress government in solving farmers' problems. Speaking at a meeting organised at the CPI office here on Tuesday, leaders of the CPI, CPI(M), Mana Party, BJP and Telugu Desam (TD) said that farmers were facing problems due to shortage of fertilisers, seeds and diesel.
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BRRI-Dhan 33 to be cultivated in Gaibandha to fight monga
Uddyog, a local NGO, in cooperation with IC-Leaf Project has taken up a programme side by side with the government to motivate the farmers to cultivate short duration BRRI-Dhan 33 in Gaibandha during the current T-aman season to eradicate monga (feminine-like situation). Under this programme, special measures have been taken to ensure timely supply of seed of BRRI Dhan 33, fertiliser and pesticides including other inputs to the farmers, sources said.
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Farmers get ready
Agricultural authorities have taken up measures to ensure proper supply of seeds and fertilisers following a recent directive from the Chief Minister, Dr Y.S. Rajasekhar Reddy, in both East and West Godavari districts. In East Godavari, paddy is expected to be raised in about 2.42 lakh hectares for the kharif. With the arrival of an early monsoon and resultant rainfall, farmers have started preparing the ground for taking up cultivation. A section of farmers have already started raising paddy nurseries, and by mid-July, transplantation will be taken up.
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CM tells banks to buy jowar seeds
Taking serious note of the farmers' agitation in Nizamabad which led to firing in air, the Chief Minister, Dr Y.S. Rajasekhar Reddy asked the AP State Seeds Development Corporation to raise the required bank loan and take over the stocks of fodder jowar seeds available in the district in consultation with district collector.
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Buddha says Govt, not individual, to blame for agri-crisis
Seeking to clear the air over his criticism of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee on Sunday said the Government and its policy-makers and not any individual were responsible for the crisis in the agriculture sector. "I am not blaming any person. I am blaming the Government. The Government and those who decide its policies lack foresight. It is because of their point of view that the country is facing such a crisis,' Bhattacharjee told a private channel.
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Bangladesh wants hybrid paddy, experts wary
Farmers in Bangladesh, an agriculture-driven economy, are in for an era of dependency on hybrid seeds. Following a large-scale destruction of the country's paddy crops in the previous season, the
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Seeds of Change
Cotton's resurgence signals the path ahead for meeting rising food demand. Adoption of simple farm technologies too can fetch higher yields.
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New threat from covert GMOs
The battles lines in the power struggle over seeds are shifting in Europe. Authorities are dropping plans to push US-led "first generation' genetically modified organisms (GMOs), so that European companies can develop "covert' GMOs and new "double-locked' seeds instead. In 2008, the Sarkozy regime will use the French presidency of the European Union to promote its own corporate-led agenda on these issues. It is becoming more important than ever that farmers assert their collective rights over seeds. Guy Kastler of the Peasant Seed Network in France explains. April 2008