Women farmers play a crucial role in South Asia’s agricultural sector and contribute significantly, despite facing numerous challenges. The intersection of climate change, gender, and health can have disproportionate
President of Pakistan Kisan Movement (PKM) Chaudhry Ashfaq has appealed to President Pervez Musharraf to take actions against those officials who are exploiting farmers by creating fertiliser crisis. He expressed his views while chairing a Kisan meeting here on Monday. Farmers from different parts also attended the meeting and shared their grievances on the occasion. He said that farmers were very concerned over a possible fertiliser crisis badly affecting their community following the wheat and cooking oil crises.
Punjab government has reactivated and empowered Punjab Agriculture Research Board (Parb) in order to corporatise research on major crops by including private stakeholders in its decision making. Planning and development department sources told APP here on Monday that agri research system in the province is being improved to give impetus to the agriculture sector, which is pivotal to the economy and contributes about 54 percent to the gross provincial product.
Short supply of fertiliser is affecting cultivation of Irri-Boro and rabi crops in Sidr affected 11 district in Barisal region. Despite constraints and financial hardship, farmers in the region are making all out efforts to recover the losses caused by Sidr but their hopes are being dashed by fertiliser crisis. Sources at fertiliser monitoring cell and Barisal regional office of Agriculture Extension Department (AED) said only 6,290 tonnes of TSP and urea were distributed among dealers and 17,500 tons were in stock till Thursday last against the demand for 40,200 tonnes in the region.
About 25,000 hectares are turning into double-crop lands in Sylhet district this year with cultivation of Irri-Boro in the current season for the first time. Loss of Amon paddy this year compelled farmers to cultivate Irri-Boro on the vast lands left fallow earlier. Farmers in large number in Sylhet Sadar, Golapganj, Beanibazar, Kanaighat, Zakiganj and Jaintapur upazilas are bringing the lands under paddy cultivation to recoup crop loss due to floods.
In protest of Special Entertainment Zone being constructed in the area, residents of villages near Thane surrounded the Esselworld theme park on the outskirts of the city and prevented people from entering there, sources said on Monday. The zone spread over 1000 hectares and is being constructed in the Gorai-Manori-Uttan area in neighbouring Thane by Essel Infraprojects Limited, a subsidiary of the Essel Group.
Even as the Congress is battling the BJP Government within the State Assembly and outside over the "inadequate' relief package for farmers affected by the frost and extreme cold conditions in Rajasthan, the party is leading a large group of the victims this Thursday to meet Congress president Sonia Gandhi in New Delhi. The party's strategy seemingly is to extract some concrete announcements from the Centre in favour of the farmers in general and the frost-hit in particular.
Due to efforts undertaken by Madhya Pradesh government, 148-kg per hectare increase has been registered in farm productivity in the state during the last four years.
Solid proof: A farmer showing samples of crops, damaged due to poor supply of power and water, to BJP leaders during the Kisan Mahapanchayat in Bhopal on Wednesday. The Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister, Shivraj Singh Chauhan, announced a bonanza of relief for farmers at the Kisan Mahapanchayat (farmers' convention) organised at the Jamboree grounds here on Wednesday.
Chief Minister Shivraj Singh has announced waiver of the pending penalty on electricity bills of farmers, payment of their fifty percent pending electricity bills, arrangement for payment of electricity bills by farmers twice in a year, extension of benefit of Deen Dayal Upchar Yojana to farmers owning upto one hectare of land, additional bonus of Rs. 100 per quintal on procurement of wheat on minimum support price this year. The Chief Minister also announced to reduce the interest rate on cooperative farm loans from seven to five percent from April one next.
THE upcoming Union Budget should have a special focus on women and farmers. This message was conveyed by Congress chief Sonia Gandhi while speaking at a function in her constituency, Rae Bareli, on Wednesday, where she expressed certainty that finance minister P Chidambaram would "keep the common man's difficulties, especially faced by women and farmers, in mind while preparing the budget'. Speaking at a Bank of Baroda function to launch the 1,000th self-help group, Ms Gandhi was also quoted by agencies as saying that while 8-9% economic growth was not a mean achievement, real happiness would come when the common man's difficulties are wiped out. She added that health and education were keys for achieving real happiness. The comments are politically significant as many in the Congress have been saying much the same thing. At a pre-budget meeting with Mr Chidambaram recently, Congress leaders pointed out that 9% growth alone growth was unlikely to pay dividends for the party in an election year. They had asked the FM to focus on the
