RC recommendation on 27 pesticides
<p>This report is on the review of 66 pesticides under the Chairmanship of Dr. Anupam Varma. The main parameters emphasized by the Committee to review the products were uses approved under the Insecticides
Ministry Of Agriculture
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Gujarat ranked 8th in agricultural growth: Centre
GANDHINAGAR: Stage is set for chief minister Narendra Modi to inaugurate another annual Krishi Mahotsav drive on Tuesday amid cries of water scarcity. Despite claims of Gujarat being number one in agricultural growth, a report entitled "State of Indian Agriculture 2012-13" brought out by Union agriculture ministry recently has ranked Gujarat as eighth.
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Ready Storage for Food: Centre to Tell States
Law ministry asked if ordinance can protect entitlement envisaged in food bill The UPA government will write to chief ministers soon, urging them to be ready with enhanced grain storage facilities. The decision to build the political tempo for the national food security scheme comes a day after the budget session ended without passing the UPA government’s ambitious bill.
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More villages go dry, tanker demand soars
Authorities Deploy 136 Additional Tankers Pune: Shortage of drinking water has intensified in parts of Western Maharashtra with 1,026 villages in the four districts now dependent on tankers to meet
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Centre Okays 511 Crore for Drought, Flood-Hit States
An Empowered Group of Ministers (EGoM) on drought, headed by Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar, on Wednesday approved . 511-crore assistance for Rajasthan, Nagaland and Arunachal Pradesh – the states affected by floods and droughts in 2012. Further, an additional grant of . 256 crore was given to Maharashtra for rejuvenation of orchards. However, the high-level committee didn’t take a decision on extending the duty-free import of oil cakes for next six months, which is vital for steady availability and stable prices of fodder. The finance ministry is expected to assess the demand and supply situation of oil cakes in the country.
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‘Conflict of interest in expert panel on GM crops’
Plea to remove Agriculture Ministry’s nominee from panel The Coalition for GM-free India has urged the Supreme Court to “remove” the Agriculture Ministry’s nominee from the Technical Expert Committee (TEC) on genetically modified crops on account of alleged ‘conflict of interest’ in the matter of a PIL filed on Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs). The committee that was set up to advise the court on the technicality of whether the GMOs should be banned or not, has, in its interim report, recommended a 10-year moratorium on field trials of GM crops in the country till such time a proper regulatory system is put in place.
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Withdraw Biotechnology Regulatory Authority Bill, says D. Raja
The CPI leader, in his letter to Jaipal, cites “conflict of interest” Close on the heels of 17 MPs urging Science and Technology Minister Jaipal Reddy to withdraw from the Lok Sabha the recently introduced Biotechnology Regulatory Authority of India (BRAI) Bill, CPI leader D. Raja has also expressed “serious reservations” over the Bill, which provides for a single-window clearance mechanism for genetically modified crops.
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Climate change may reduce crop output by 18% in 2020: Pawar
"Climate change is projected to reduce timely sown irrigated wheat production by about 6% in 2020. In case of late sown wheat, the projected levels are to the extent of 18%," Pawar said in the Rajya Sabha. Climate change is likely to bring down the production of key foodgrain crops like wheat and rice in the country by up to 18% in 2020, Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar said today.
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Union ministry bats for GM crops in Western Ghats
Kerala, Karnataka Want Region Free Of Modified Crops Thiruvananthapuram: In contrast to the stand of the Kerala and Karnataka governments, the Union agriculture ministry bats for geneticallymodified (GM) crops in the Western Ghats area in its report submitted to the Kasturirangan committee. Both Kerala and Karnataka have already called for a ‘GM-free state’. The department of agriculture & cooperation under the Union agriculture ministry says in its report that there is no reason to enforce a restriction on cultivation of Bt Cotton in the Western Ghats region as there is no perceived threat to any form of biodiversity of tetraploid species present in the region.
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State to shift to demand-driven agriculture
Finally, a diversification policy is in place with maize and cotton to be targeted as focus crops to help reduce the area under paddy cultivation. Simultaneously, the government has decided to withdraw
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Centre grants 2,700cr to fight Maha drought
Mumbai: Chief minister Prithviraj Chavan has unexpectedly secured a whopping financial assistance of Rs2,700 crore from the Centre, as a result of which senior bureaucrats feel that there will be no shortage of funds to tackle the drought. “We are facing a worst-ever drought in 4,000 villages in 12 districts. Initially, we felt that it would be a difficult task owing to paucity of funds. However, in view of central assistance of Rs2,700 crore and our own budgetary provision of Rs2,000 crore, we will be able to tackle the unprecedented situation,’’ a senior bureaucrat told TOI on Tuesday.