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Rice exports likely to surge on bumper output

Rice exports from India, the world’s second-largest producer, may more than double this year on a record crop and as importers seek alternatives to expensive supplies from Thailand, a shippers’ group said. Shipments, including aromatic basmati rice, may total six million tonnes (mt) in the year ending March 31, compared with 2.2 mt a year earlier, said Vijay Setia, president of the All India Rice .....

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Bihar, Gujarat shortlisted for setting up vegetable clusters

The Centre has shortlisted seven states, including Bihar and Gujarat, for setting up vegetable clusters to ensure the uninterrupted supply of products even in times of crisis. The other states chosen for the establishment of clusters are Andhra Pradesh, Haryana, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra, sources in the Agriculture Ministry said. "The seven states have been shortlisted for review on .....

3.   

Scientists working on genome sequence of high yield pulses

In order to arrest the increasing dependence on imports and to ensure farmers and other stakeholders get rich benefits, research institutions such as ICRISAT (International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics), ICAR (Indian Council of Agricultural Research) and other agri research agencies with the Union agricultural ministry’s support are working on genome sequence of pulses which not .....

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A new wild ginger discovered from the evergreen forest of Western Ghats of South India

Intensive botanical explorations for taxonomic studies on the members of the ginger family (Zingiberaceae) in India by V.P. Thomas and M. Sabu of the University of Calicut, have resulted in the discovery of an interesting species of Amomum (Cardamom) from Silent Valley National Park on the Western Ghats of Kerala. The study was published in the open access journal PhytoKeys. The ginger family consists of 53 genera and .....