According to the Director of the Centre, Mr K. Thangvelu, the Central Sericulture Germplasm Resource Centre has intensified research on natural dyes, while popularising organic farming in sericulture for production of quality and eco-friendly silk yarn. Speaking at the inauguration of a rural silk weaving centre at Panjapatti near Dindigul, Mr Thangvelu said that Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Jammu & Kashmir have been doing well in sericulture.

Efforts are on to promote sericulture through self-help groups in the State. Funded by the Japanese International Collaborative Agency, the Phase II of the sericulture project is under implementation in Udumalpet and Gobichettipalayam. There is a need to protect the Indian silk producers from Chinese competition through anti-dumping duty, Mr Thangvelu added.

Courtesy: Bharat Textiles, 27^th Mar '04
(Website : www.bharattextile.com)

Exports of projects and agricultural products are likely to witness a major boost in the coming years. Exim Bank's chief general manager Shankarnarayan Rao, said that the middle-East is particularly being viewed as a destination for Indian project exports - knowledge-driven activities.

Exim Bank is trying to promote the agriculture potential through its special agri-business group, formed two years ago. Mr Rao was speaking on the sidelines of the 'CII Exports Summit' in Mumbai. The agri-business group of Exim Bank tries to assist the export of value-added products, based on studies conducted in horticulture, floriculture and ayurvedic products, in anticipation of the future demand.

Courtesy: The Financial Express, 26^th Mar '04
(Website : www.financialexpress.com)

Several states, including Uttaranchal, Sikkim, Nagaland and Meghalaya, are planning a total ban on the use of chemicals in agricultural operations. By declaring themselves totally "organic states", they hope to fetch premium prices from the domestic and export markets for their agricultural produce. This was revealed at the ongoing three-day national conference on organic farming organised by the Horticultural Society of India in collaboration with the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) and the Lucknow-based Central Institute for Sub-tropical Horticulture.

Agriculture Secretary Radha Singh pointed out that while Mizoram had already declared itself "totally organic", Sikkim would follow within the next five years. Uttaranchal has established an Organic Commodities Board to promote organic farming. Madhya Pradesh also has similar plans. The state government has identified about 3,300 villages where only organic farming will be practiced. Horticulture Society President KL Chadha said India was among the 39 countries where organic farming regulations were in place.

The country will also have to organise the production of organic inputs, such as compost, vermi-compost, bio-fertilisers, bio-pesticides, etc. for use in organic farming. The export of organically-grown products from India started recently. The global market for organic fruits is expanding annually by 15-30 per cent over the last three years. Its present size is estimated to be around $26 billion, or Rs 11,700 crore. Of this, India's share so far is only a negligible Rs 89.42 crore.

Courtesy: Business Standard, 25^th Mar '04
(Website : www.business-standard.com)

India has launched a $306,000 Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO)-aided project to improve apple production in the country. Faced with dipping yields and growing competition from imported fruits, the Indian apple industry is expected to benefit from the Apple Production Improvement Project (APIP) being set up in the hill states of Himachal Pradesh and Uttaranchal.

This was announced at a two-day workshop here last week by union agriculture secretary Radha Singh, who urged the state governments to provide all logistic support to the project. This is the centre's second attempt at reviving the apple industry. Some years ago the government had established an agricultural export zone, covering Shimla, Sirmaur, Kullu, Manali, Chamba and Kinnaur districts, with a five-year outlay of Rs.570.70 million with an eye on the markets in the Middle East and South East Asia.

Courtesy: www.keralanext.com, 23^rd Mar '04
(Website : www.keralanext.com)

Its easy time for the farming community. Agriculture Insurance Company of India (AIC) is likely to launch rainfall insurance next month onwards, for the forthcoming Kharif season. "We are likely to launch four to five kinds of rainfall insurance products for the farming community. To begin with, we attempt to provide this cover to approximately seven to eight states and a few districts under them," AIC crop insurance specialist K. Rao said.

The insured, in all likeliness, will have to opt from a whole-season cover, monthly cover, catastrophic cover or a yield-related insurance cover. The states which are likely to opt for the cover include Andhra Pradesh, Orissa, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh. For farmers, who belong to the hand-to-mouth earning bracket, vagaries of weather could prove to be quite devastating, said Rao.

The farmers will be covered for weather-related vulnerabilities for June, July, August and September. "However, the farmer will have to buy this cover before the commencement of the season. They will not be allowed to insure their crop while the season is on," said Rao.

According to sources, policies will be sold only till the month of May. While states which will insure themselves against the weather-related risks are not expected to provide any subsidy, Rao said, "The Centre has already given an in-principle approval to provide us subsidy."

Courtesy: Calcutta Telegraph, 21^st Mar '04
(Website : www.telegraphindia.com)

Cyclone Gafilo hit the Indian ocean island earlier this week leaving much of the Madagascar's rice, vanilla, manioc and other crops totally decimated. Madagascar exports an average of 1,000 metric tonnes a year of natural or 'pure' vanilla, representing about half the world market.

Prices for this valuable commodity shot up after cyclone Hudah hit the country three years ago leaving the food and beverage industry in short supply. In 2000 vanilla was sold for $50 a kilogramme, by last year prices reached an all-time high of $400-$500 per kilo.

According to ITC/UN Statistics the total global demand for vanilla is about 2000 to 3000 metric tonnes a year with the world market for vanilla beans highly concentrated in a few developed countries.

Courtesy: Food Production Daily, 17^th Mar '04
(Website : www.foodproductiondaily.com)

Indian cotton cultivation will witness a miracle of sorts if the farmers adopt a state-of-the-art Israeli technique that would propel the yield per hectare to as high as 97 per cent, according to industry experts. The textile commissioner has asked cotton advisory board (CAB) to prepare a report on this technique to take necessary steps towards its implementation in the country.

At present, India's cotton yield stands at just 45 per cent per hectare, which is far below the international standard whereas Israel has seen per hectare yield jump to the highest in the world at 97 per cent, thanks to the novel technique.

The rate of cotton production depends mainly on conversion of cotton flower into bowl, and in Israel this conversion ratio is the highest, because farmers take care of 'micro nutrients' deficiencies of cotton plants at growing stage itself. They conduct periodical laboratory test of the growing plants to detect deficiencies at early stage and compensate them, resulting in higher productivity.

Courtesy: The Financial Express, 15^th Mar '04
(Website : www.financialexpress.com)

The real gross domestic product growth is likely to touch nine per cent in 2003-04 based on better than expected performance of the agriculture sector, according to Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE). "The direct impact of incorporating a 14 per cent rise in agriculture in calculating growth would lead to a real GDP estimate of nine per cent in 2003-04," CMIE said in its monthly review (March) released here today.

The Central Statistical Organisation (CSO) has indicated a growth of 8.1 per cent for the current fiscal, which is broadly in line with CMIE's growth estimate of 8.2 per cent. However, it is likely that these estimates could undergo changes due to the Second Advance Estimates of the Agriculture Ministry which implies that crop production would grow by over 19.5 per cent as against the earlier estimate of 14 per cent, it added.

Courtesy: www.ndtv.com, 11^th Mar '04
(Website : www.ndtv.com)

The Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) has decided to develop transgenic varieties of 14 select crops. Transgenic rice will be developed for stem borer and fungal resistance. While transgenic sorghum and maize will be developed for stem borer resistance, transgenic pigeonpea and chick pea will be developed for pod borer resistance.

ICAR will also develop transgenic cotton for bollworm and virus resistance and transgenic brassica for aphid and drought resistance. It will develop transgenic tomato and brinjal for fruit borer resistance and the transgenic tomato will also be delayed ripening and virus resistance. A number of transgenic crops like soyabean, potato, banana and papaya will be developed for virus resistance. The transgenic banana will also be for fungal resistance.

Courtesy: The Financial Express, 10^th Mar '04
(Website : www.financialexpress.com)

India's publications on plant sciences have witnessed a boom in the last few years, outperforming several developed countries and pointing to a healthy growth in scientific research in this vital field. A country where agriculture plays a crucial role in the economy, India has shown the highest increase of 70 percent in its plant science publications between 1992 and 2002. This is well above world aggregate figures and ahead of countries like the US, Britain and Australia, said N. Raghuram, dean of the biotechnology department in Indraprastha University here.

In his article in the latest issue of Trends in Plant Science, Raghuram quoted the science citation index (SCI) to show that India, the US, Britain and Australia had accounted for nearly half of all plant science literature published in English in 2002. A mere four percent of this literature was from India, as against 29 percent from the US and nine percent from Britain. But India showed the highest increase of 70 percent in the number of plant science publications between 1992 and 2002, followed by Britain with 51 percent, Australia 46 percent and the US with 25 percent, the article said.

Courtesy: www.keralanext.com, 7^th Mar '04
(Website : www.keralanext.com)

Hyderabad, Indian scientists here have developed a high-yielding, disease-resistant variety of rice that is expected to benefit farmers in three southern states. This was done by applying DNA-marker technology that allowed the selection of disease-resistant genes for introduction in a high-yielding rice variety.

The premier biotechnology institute, Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB), in collaboration with the Directorate of Rice Research (DRR) has developed this variety of rice, a CCMB official Friday told. This is expected to benefit farmers in three southern Indian states growing a high-yielding strain, which is, however, susceptible to several pests and diseases.

The Samba Mashuri variety, also known as BPT5204, is famous for its high yield and excellent cooking quality and is cultivated in Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and other states.

Courtesy: www.keralanext.com, 20^th Feb '04
(Website : www.keralanext.com)