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Farmer-Industry Partnership: Pratibha Patil calls for stronger relations

President Pratibha Devisingh Patil on Thursday called for stronger linkages between companies and farmers through new business models designed to improve rural incomes and help agriculture take "another great leap forward". She was addressing the first meeting of the Committee of Governors on Farmer-Industry Partnership which met at .....

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Asia rice prices dip as India, Vietnam race for markets

Intensifying competition between Vietnam and India for a bigger share of the rice market made available by the drop in costlier Thai exports have pushed prices down around Asia. This is good news for billions of consumers of the staple across Asia, the Middle East and Africa, as global food prices eased last month but held at high levels with further scope to rise on .....

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Tirumala Milk to set up organic dairy farm

Plant to come up in Guntur with Rs 6,000 crore investment. Guntur-based Tirumala Milk Products Private Limited is set to establish a 20,000-milching animal farm to produce premium organic milk and milk products with an investment of up to Rs 6,000 crore in the next five years. Tirumala is now a Rs 1,100-crore dairy company from a Rs 25-lakh .....

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Grapes may not be sour for Maharashtra’s growers, wine makers this year

After a bleak 2009 and 2010, Maharashtra’s sick wine industry is hopeful of some recovery this year. The last two years saw the acreage of grapes being halved and almost 30 per cent of growers giving up on the wine variety of the crop for good. This year, however, the state looks set to produce 80 lakh litres of wine — from around 40 lakh litres in 2010. The overall production of .....