President asks scientists to work towards doubling crop productivity

HYDERABAD: Calling for a â€œsecond green revolutionâ€� to enliven vast tracts of dry lands in the country, President APJ Abdul Kalam has asked agricultural scientists to work for doubling crop productivity in the next decade and to focus on value-addition, food processing and marketing. â€œBringing the benefits of green revolution to dry lands is the great challenge before us. Unless agriculture is developed in an integrated way by linking it with food-processing and marketing, it will not survive,â€� Mr Kalam said. The scientist-cum-President charmed a gathering of agricultural scientists at the30th anniversary celebrations of International Crops Research Institute for Semi-Arid Tropics (Icrisat) at Patancheru near here and shared his vision for agriculture with them. Chhattisgarh govt sets up grain banks RAIPUR: The Chhattisgarh government has set up grain banks in 235 villages, spread over seven tribal districts of the state. The grain banks have been set up in villages of Bastar, Sarguja, Korea, Kanker, Dantewada, Dhamtari and Raipur districts, state tribal welfare secretary, Serjious Minj told a departmental review meeting here on Friday. â€œOver 8,000 families would be provided one quintal of rice each as loan through these banks to save them from any starvation like situation,â€� he said and directed the officials for its proper implementation. Kerala to strike a fortune from bananas THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Kerala is hoping to carve a niche for itself in the processed foods market by churning out a range of banana products. Industry sources said food-processing companies in Kerala have developed a host of banana products including jam, wine, alcohol, sauce, biscuits, pickled candy and fruit bars. And banana fibre can be used to make handicraft items like bags, wall hangings, greeting cards and even paper, they added. India produces 16.8m tonnes of banana from an area of 470,000 hectares. Kerala contributes 700,000 tonnes of this from an area of 75,000 hectares. Tobacco farmers register high yields NEW DELHI: Tobacco farmers have been able to show considerable improvement in yield through better cultivation practices notwithstanding the drought. In spite of adverse weather conditions prevailing in the early stages of the crop in September this year, a farmer, D Nageswara Rao of Andhra Pradesh showed a record yield of 2,827 kg per hectare by adapting to â€œlab to landâ€� programmes. This was revealed here when 15 farmers from Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka were felicitated by the Tobacco Institute of India for cultivating quality tobacco in large quantities. Floriculture to push Jharkhand economy RANCHI: Growing markets for flowers in the country and abroad coinciding with diverse agro-climatic conditions prevailing in Jharkhand are all set to change the stateâ€™s floriculture business into a burgeoning industry. Traditional cut-flowers like rose, marigold, chrysanthemum, tuberose, and other flower varieties like dahlia, lupin, rajnigandha and a number of bulbous flowers and other exotic species that bloom in Jharkhand are finding many buyers both in the country and abroad. Besides domestic markets, the state has immense potential to carve a niche in Japan and European countries. EU to unveil global farm talk proposals BRUSSELS: The European Commission is expected this week to reveal proposals it will make to the World Trade Organisation (WTO) on liberalisation of the politically sensitive farm sector, diplomats said. The EUâ€™s contribution to the debate on how far to push liberalisation as part of trade talks launched in Doha last year will be key to the negotiations process as it, the United States and Japan are major players in the sector. Poor countries and aid groups say the huge subsidies handed out to farmers in rich nations and high barriers to trade make it impossible for them to get their share of the market.

President asks scientists to work towards doubling crop productivity

Calling for a “second green revolution” to enliven vast tracts of dry lands in the country, President APJ Abdul Kalam has asked agricultural scientists to work for doubling crop productivity in the next decade and to focus on value-addition, food ...

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