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India: Walnut production likely to jump 50% to 45,000t

India’s walnut production is expected to rise by 50 per cent to a record 45,000 tonnes in the 2011-12 marketing year, but adverse weather conditions could hit output by 20 per cent, says a USDA report. The country produced about 30,000 tonnes in the 2010-11 marketing year (August-July), the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) said in a report. “However, adverse weather conditions could always lower the crop estimate by 5-20 per cent, as reflected in last .....

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Indian Minister Asks for Food Security Cooperation with Iran

Visiting Indian Minister of Water Resources Pawan Kumar Bansal stressed that Iran and his country enjoy a strong cultural affinity rooted in their history, which has provided the two states with a great potential for cooperation in various sectors, including food security, irrigation and water resources management. The Minister of Water Resources Pawan Kumar Bansal represented India at the 21st ICID Congress on 'Water Productivity towards Food Security' and 8th Micro Irrigation Congress on .....

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Agriculture Ministry proposes hike of Rs 115/qtl in wheat MSP

The Agriculture Ministry has proposed a hike of Rs 115 per quintal in the minimum support price (MSP) of wheat to Rs 1,285 per quintal to cover rising farm input cost and encourage farmers to increase acreage. Yesterday, Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar had said that MSP of rabi (winter) crops, including wheat, would be taken up in the next meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA). According to sources, the ministry has circulated a CCEA note among .....

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Kashmir’s organic farms: 32,000 hectares and growing

Farmers in J&K have been doing farming without the use of chemicals on approximately 32,000 hectares of land across the state since long. But now with the growing demand for organic produce around the globe, the state is keen to take up the practice on a much larger scale. The Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agriculture Sciences and Technology (SKUAST) has recently enlisted more than 200 farmers who already .....