Biotech to improve yield than terminate seeds
The undue popularly given to terminator genes of multinational corporations has shrouded the real worth, relevance and applications of biotechnology in a developing, agrarian economy like India.
News
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US soyabean growers try changing Indian dietary habits
US soyabean companies, trying to promote the "goodness of soya", are targeting Indian, a country where the 'sky is the limit' in terms of market potential, according to an official. At first sight,
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Hope beckons on the horizon of an rid land
With close to 10 per cent of Gujarat's total land area of 188 lakh hectares being cultivable wasteland, the prospect of growing crops on such land has often been experimented with. One such
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Gujarat to set aside 10 l ha. for corporate farming
The Gujarat Government has decided to set aside between seven and 10 lakh hectares of unutilised land for corporate farming. Disclosing this at a seminar on 'Corporate farming vis-a-vis contract
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J & K to de-monopolise pesticide marketing
The Jammu and Kashmir Government is planning to open retail outlets of pesticides through the State Agro-Industries Development Corporation (SAIDC) and J & K Horticulture Produce and Marketing
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Arable land in M'shtra increases
The land under irrigation in Maharashtra has increased by six per cent, from 14 to 20 per cent of the total land, during the last four years, according to the Maharashtra irrigation minister, Mr
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Farmers forum to conduct 'kisan vartalaps' in all states
The Farmers Parliamentary Forum has decided to organise a state-wise 'kisan vartalap', with the objective of having direct interaction with farmers in a bid to know and understand their problems and
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N Korea sets potato revolution amid crisis
The 'potato revolution' was launched five months earlier by Kim Jong-il in the rugged northern region, where streams of refugees have fled across the border to China with horrific tales of hunger and
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Rhone-Poulenc's Rhobio in joint gene maize project
Rhobio, a joint venture between French drugs group Rhone-Poulenc and research firm Biogemma, said it had signed a research deal with Celera AgGen to seek out new maize genes. The three-year
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Rs 400 cr scheme to raise milk output
The government has prepared a Rs 400 crore scheme to revamp the infrastructure for cattle breeding through artificial insemination. The scheme will help enhance the country's milk production, which
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Adviser backs consumer choice on GM foods
The head of a government advisory panel on genetically modified (GM) foods has hotly denied she thought Britons were too ill-informed to be given the choice over whether to eat them. "I refute that
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Rs 3,500 cr paddy rotting in Punjab
Huge stocks of paddy worth at least Rs 3,500 crore are rotting in different parts of Punjab with some rendered unfit for human consumption. The stocks date back to the 1992-93 procurement season.
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India helps others to promote milk
India, which recently overtook the US to become the world's largest producer of milk, is helping other developing countries promote their dairy industries. The Indian experience of lifting milk
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Foodgrain production set to surpass 200 mt this year
India will achieve a record foodgrain production of over 200 million tonnes this year with increases in oilseeds, onions and potatoes against a shortfall last year that lead to sharp price
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Supermarkets in move on modified food
Seven European supermarket chains have formed a consortium to eliminate genetically modified crops and derivatives from their own-label food products. The initiative has been led by J.Saibsbury, the
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US proves fertile for GM crops
While Europe questions the merits of plant genetics, the technology is spreading rapidly on US farms. Take corn, which last year according to the National Corn Growers Association, about 16m acres
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Fear on the farm
Many of Thailand's 17 million farmers-by far the largest segment of the nation's workforce-are already loaded with debt. And the future looks bleak. With major reservoirs at half their usual
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Ultimatum to Brussels on milk reform
Four European Union countries threatened to force through full liberalisation of the union's milk market next year unless other governments agreed to its reform. The warning came as EU farm
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Tomato price fall in Assam drives farmer to suicide
Abdul Matlib, a small farmer in Central Assam's Nagaon district, committed suicide last month because after vegetable prices crashed in the market he could not retrieve his investment and repay the
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Huge uncultivable land in coastal belts may be brought under rice output
A huge uncultivable land in the coastal belts of Bangladesh may be brought under rice cultivation using a newly invented technology. Under the new method, along with basal dose of nitrogen,