Food Crops

Bihar govt hires shooters to kill nilgais, wild boars to ensure crop safety

The Bihar government has hired 13 professional shooters to kill wild boars and 'ghodparas' or nilgais to save crops, a forest official said on Tuesday. Animal lovers have opposed the move and demanded that the government find a long term solution to the problem and not allow the killing of the animals. The state environment, forest and climate change department has sent the list of the professional shooters to the authorities concerned in all 38 districts in the state to use their services wherever required. Districts where these two animal species are found in large numbers include Muzaffarpur, Vaishali, Sitamarhi, Bhojpur, Sheohar and West Champaran, he said. There is no record of the number of nilgais or wild biars in the state. These two animal species move in herds and destroy acres of crops in a day. Farmers sit out all night to protect their ripening crops from them in some Bihar districts. Both ghodparas (nilgais) and wild boar are vermins and can be killed, but according

India's poultry industry seeks corn export curb to calm local prices

Domestic corn prices have surged, driven by high demand, increased exports and some damage to the crop following heavy post-monsoon rains

India says GM technology important for food security, import reduction

The environment ministry in October granted environmental clearance for indigenously developed GM mustard seeds, potentially paving the way for a commercial release of the country's first food crop

IMD forecasts warm winter, crop yields likely to feel the heat this year

Both the minimum and maximum will remain below normal in Southern Peninsular and Central India in these winter months.

Wheat acreage till Nov 18 up 15% YoY, record open market prices spur sowing

Centre refutes the assertion of artificial shortage of fertilisers in country

Wheat sowing up 15% to 10.14 mn hectares so far; pulses coverage dips: Data

Area sown to wheat has risen by 15 per cent to 101.49 lakh hectares while pulses acreage has declined in the current rabi (winter) season so far compared to the year-ago period, according to the Agriculture Ministry data released on Friday. Sowing of wheat, the main rabi crop, begins in October and harvesting starts in March-April. Besides wheat, gram and mustard are other major crops grown during the rabi season of the 2022-23 crop year (July-June). According to the latest sowing data, wheat has been sown in 101.49 lakh hectares till November 18 of this rabi season as against 88.46 lakh hectares in the year-ago period. The higher area under wheat has been reported from Punjab (7.18 lakh ha), followed by Rajasthan (4.24 lakh ha), Uttar Pradesh (2.59 lakh ha), Maharashtra (1.05 lakh ha), and Gujarat (0.67 lakh ha), data showed. However, the area sown to pulses remained lower at 73.25 lakh hectares so far this rabi season as against 76.08 lakh hectares in the year-ago period. Among .

Wheat exports double to $1.48 billion in April-September period: Govt data

The country's wheat exports more than doubled to USD 1.48 billion during April-September 2022-23 as compared to the year-ago period, the commerce ministry said on Wednesday. The exports stood at USD 630 million in the year-ago period. Though the government banned wheat exports in May, some shipments are allowed to meet food security needs of the countries that request for it. "Wheat export rose to USD 1,487 million in April-September 2022 from USD 630 million in April-September 2021," the ministry said. The global wheat supply has been seriously disrupted because of the Russia-Ukraine war. Both nations are major wheat producers. The ministry also said exports of agricultural and processed food products rose 25 per cent during the six- month period of this fiscal year. The overall export of Agricultural and Processed Food Export Development Authority (APEDA) products increased to USD 13.77 billion in April-September 2022 from USD 11.05 billion in the same period a year ago. For

UP eyes bigger pie of millet exports, plans to expand jowar acreage

Some of the major millet crops grown in UP are jowar, bajra, kodo and sanwa

Pulses, onion won't see price hike this year; have adequate stock: Govt

The all-India average retail price of onion has witnessed a significant decline of 28 per cent compared to last year

Kerala's agriculture startup launches end-to-end supply chain for bananas

A Kerala-based agribusiness startup has launched an end-to-end supply chain connecting banana cultivators, traders and exporters on a single platform. The start-up, Greenikk, has built enablement centres (EC) in the major banana producing agricultural-belts in Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka to provide farmers with production and marketing-related support, a release issued by it on Thursday said. "These ECs will provide the farmers with required supports such as finance, seeds, crop advisory, insurance coverage, agri inputs, including weather tips, and market connect, covering the entire gamut of production and marketing both inside the country and outside," it said. "Similar ECs are planned in other south Indian states of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana and further scaling across the whole of India," the start-up said. The platform would also help farmers to better utilise the organic waste that is left behind after the harvest, as manure and poultry feed, the release said. Such ..

Pakistan facing risk of fresh floods, more deaths as toll crosses 1,500

Although waters have started receding in some areas, authorities are worried heavy rains in parts of neighboring India could swell key rivers in Pakistan

Higher gas prices deepen Europe's fertiliser crunch, threaten food crisis

Russia's squeeze on gas shipments in the wake of Moscow's invasion of Ukraine is hurting industries across Europe

Global food inflation eases, but uncertain crops slow wider relief

Crop futures have retreated to pre-war levels, and the UN's monthly measure of food prices sank the most since 2008

Putin's Ukraine war has created a food crisis the world can still solve

The invasion has certainly delivered a series of shocks to global commodity markets that have threatened the food security of the most vulnerable countries, especially African ones

Heavy floods damage crops in China, leading to concerns over food shortage

Large swathes of crops including paddy have been destroyed by heavy floods in China, leading to further challenges to food security. The authorities have warned of more rains in the coming days

BS Number Wise: How consumption is set to outstrip food grain production

Consumption will exceed food grain production but the world is not on the brink of a hunger crisis

Mustard area jumps by 30% on high prices, shows data

Overall, rabi crops have been sown in around 26.06 million hectares till November 11, which is 21.43 per cent more than the area covered during the same period last year

Fencing farm risks

Ways must be explored to ensure reasonable returns

Govt procures over 20.9 mn tonnes of paddy this Kharif marketing season

Food Ministry said 209.52 lakh tonne of paddy has been purchased till November 8

DAP fertiliser crisis may pinch farmers, put pressure on govt finances

The severe shortage of a critical rabi season fertiliser is likely to pinch farmers and put pressure on government finances