farmerdiary

[farmerdiary]

Delicious Kinnauri apples hit the markets running

The much-awaited Delicious variety of apples from Himachal Pradesh's Kinnaur district, known for their natural sweetness, colour and succulence, have hit the markets and are fetching remunerative prices in Delhi and Chandigarh, as also in Punjab and Haryana, a horticulture official here said.

"We are expecting production of over two million boxes (of 22.5 kg each) in the district," state horticulture director Gurdev Singh told IANS.

"A box of superior apple variety from Kinnaur is selling between Rs.2,200 and Rs.2,400 ($35-$39) in the Delhi market, which is 25-30 percent higher than apples coming from other districts," said Jai Chand, a trader at Narkanda apple market, some 65 km from Shimla.

view-source: Hindustan Times

[farmerdiary]

Kurinji brings smile on tourists' face in Ooty

Udhagamandalam: The Nilgiris hills is witnessing a new craze: the reason being the mass flowering of Kurinji - known as 'Strobilanthes Kunthianus' in botanical parlance - in Kinnakorai and Manjore areas of the hill resort.

And the tourists are making a beeline to the area to have a glance of the shrub that has caught their attention. ''I am delighted to have a glimpse of the Kurinji bloom as it is the first time I am seeing this flower," said M.Madhumitha, a tourist from Secunderabad, who visited Manjore only to have a look at the flower.

"In this year, not much blooming of this plant has been reported in other pockets of Nilgiris apart from Kinnakorai and Manjore areas. The full bloom of Kurinji is very short. Although it has no medicinal property, its honey is valued a lot," said an official of horticulture department, adding, "For rock bees, it's a source of nectar".

view-source: The Times of India

[farmerdiary]

Over 80% farmers in Haryana are debt-ridden: Study

PATIALA: Even as Haryana is going to elections amid political parties' claims about development, a recently published study in a reputed economic journal has revealed that over 80% farmers in the state are reeling under debt.

The study also exposed that nearly a same number of farmers are living below poverty line if one goes by the World Bank's definition of "moderate poverty", which means an earning of $2 per day.

A part of the study has been recently published in the latest issue of "Indian Journal of Economics and Development".

view-source: The Times of India

[farmerdiary]

Anne McIntosh: Collapse of dairy farming could be a rural disaster

LIKE others, I am alarmed at the recent fall in milk prices and the impact this sudden change will have on producers.

I am confident that the future prospects of the UK dairy sector are positive, but this depends on the Government and the dairy industry resolving certain issues.

Despite having one of the most efficient production systems in the world, UK dairy farmers are unable to cover their costs and dairy processors are outcompeted by imported products.

At the moment, there is no redress to this situation. I believe the current review of the Voluntary Code presents such an opportunity and I would hope that there may be the possibility of extending the remit of the Grocery Code Adjudicator (GCA) to include relationship between milk producers and processors.

view-source: Yorkshire Post

[farmerdiary]

8 Scientific Discoveries You Probably Didn’t Know Were Jamaican

The Citrus Ortanique

Ortanique is a natural tangor, a hybrid of the mandarin orange and the sweet orange, that was discovered in Jamaica. The name is a combination of “or” for orange, “tan” for tangerine and “ique” for unique. Most ortaniques are still grown in the parish of Manchester in Jamaica. Since this fruit thrives in altitudes of 100 feet or more, the cool climate and bauxite-rich soils are ideal for the growing of this crop. Efforts to grow the fruit elsewhere have failed to reproduce the distinctive flavor of Manchester-grown ortaniques.

Four Breeds of Cattle

The Jamaica Red, The Jamaica Hope, The Jamaica Black and The Jamaica Brahman were all cattle developed in Jamaica by Dr. Thomas Lecky.

According to the Jamaica Gleaner, “The cattle at the time [early 1900s] were descendants of animals brought by the Spanish and the British hundreds of years before. In general, they were slow to mature, grew on grass and water, had a low milk production and a low proportion of meat around the haunches and ribs. They were, however, champion haulers of carts and resistant to tick fever and other tropical diseases.”

view-source: Atlanta Blackstar

[farmerdiary]

Symposium organised under Krishi Mahotsav

Alirajpur : The farmers’ symposium was held in village Badi Sardi of Katthiwada development block on the 12th day of the Krishi Mahotsav. The symposium was meant to emphasis again the primary mantra of the Krishi Mahotsav to turn agriculture into a profitable occupation through amalgamating it with animal husbandry, horticulture, and fisheries.

MLA Nagar Singh Chauhan in his welcome speech said the next production will be auctioned directly in the mandi to benefit the farmers the most. The farmers were advised to obtain new technologies from the officers and scientists along with the Krishi Rath.

The agriculture scientist spoke about hybrid seeds, advanced agriculture machines, land and water conservation and enrichment techniques. He informed about the benefits of the soil testing and said that the farmers should use the fertilizers based on that.

Officers from animal husbandry department advised to uplift the animal breeding, and vaccination to increase the milk production.

Horticulture officers stated about less water using irrigation technologies like drip and sprinkler. Deputy Director Agriculture department K S Khapediya stressed on the fact that the Krishi Rath aims to establish direct conversation between farmers and agriculture scientists to spread the technical knowledge to remote places and solve the problems immediately.

The Project Director D S Morya , Nodal officer K S khare, In-Charge L S Charel and Senior Agriculture Development officer Vikram Rawat and Agriculture Specialists Tomar informed about new technologies to obtain increased production with the use of new technologies.

view-source: Free Press Journal

[farmerdiary]

The Chocolate Revolution: Central American Start-Up Seeks To Grow Sustainable Cocoa Production

We have a chocolate problem. And it’s not just about the impact it will have on our waists this Halloween. It’s even bigger than that.

Here are the top three most important things chocolate lovers need to know:

Smallholder cocoa farmers are underpaid and impoverished: Ninety percent of the world’s cocoa is produced by five million small-producer farmers in West Africa, Latin America, and Asia. These farmers are getting minimal pay, with the majority of cocoa farmers globally living on less than $2 per day. Farmer poverty is widespread, while big manufacturers are capturing the vast majority of profits from the nearly $100 billion global chocolate industry.

view-source: Forbes

[farmerdiary]

India farmers fight Coca-Cola as their groundwater disappears

Farmers in India fight Coca-Cola as their groundwater disappears at ten times the rate it used to; farmers blame the bottling line located less than a mile from their farms for depleting their water supply in area classified as "critical" for groundwater.

More than 15 years after local farmers began their odyssey to protect disappearing groundwater supplies against Coca-Cola, the water situation is more desperate than ever.

Savitri Rai, personally involved for the last decade, looks back on a history that includes not only the loss of groundwater for farming but also turmoil and trauma. She was even beaten by local police during a protest against groundwater extraction at a Coca-Cola plant.

view-source: Digital Journal

[farmerdiary]

Gujarat says no to field trial of GM food crops

NEW DELHI: Gujarat has joined 10 other states in saying no to field trials of genetically modified (GM) food crops.

In a major setback to the proponents of GM crops who generally used to cite Gujarat as an example for its liberal approach on transgenic crops, the state government has denied mandatory 'no objection certificate' (NOC) for field trials of food crops to multinational seed companies.

After getting a nod from central regulator, Genetic Engineering Appraisal Committee (GEAC), the seed companies had approached Gujarat government last month to get the required NOC for field trials of food crops like rice, wheat, maize, brinjal and mustard.

view-source: The Times of India

[farmerdiary]

Chandigarh lad wins National award for project on agriculture

CHANDIGARH: City lad Sayansh Jindal added another feather to Chandigarh's cap by emerging first in the Northern Region category of the National Level Exhibition and Project Competition (NLEPC) under INSPIRE award scheme for his research project related to agriculture. The event was launched by department of science and technology.

"I investigated the effect of magnets on the growth of plants. Saplings of the same type were planted in various pots with or without magnets near the roots. All conditions like soil, type of plants and sunlight were the same for all the pots. The growth of the plants was measured in terms of height for four weeks after which the data was analysed. The analysis of the study revealed that plants with magnets grew better than the plants without it," said Jindal.

"This method can go a long way in increasing crop production and providing food security," he added.

The competition was held from October 6 to 8 at Pragati Maidan in Delhi. All 16 award winning children (four national and 12 regional winners) were presented with awards at an award presentation ceremony.

The vice president of India, M Hamid Ansari interacted with the winners of the INSPIRE AWARD Programme for the year 2014 and encouraged budding scientists to carry on with their journey of curiosity and exploration.

The secretary, department of science and technology, K Vijayraghvan, senior officers of DST and a few former INSPIRE Award winners were also present on the occasion. Jindal is a student of city's St John's School in Sector 16.

view-source: The Times of India

[farmerdiary]

Teen farmer takes on drought to defy a trend of young farmers leaving the industry

"To be honest, I don't really care about school that much. Farming comes first."

Brittany Skyring is a teenage farmer, based at in the Mary Valley in south-east Queensland.

And she wouldn't have it any other way.

"It's in my blood and it's something I've always had to do, and something I love," she said.

"Growing up I’ve always wanted to stay on the land, but it's just very hard.

view-source: ABC Rural (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)

[farmerdiary]

Four make dairy farm of the year shortlist

AgriScot Scottish Dairy Farm of the Year assessor Gregor Colquhoun has selected four farms from which the final award winner will be selected.

They are: R&L Barron, Darrahill Udny (Ronald Barron) with 269 Holsteins; Hardgrove Farm Dumfries Ltd, Ruthwell, Dumfriesshire (Alistair Marshall) with 370 Holsteins; Wm Hamilton and Son, Meldrum, Blairdrummond (David Hamilton) with 643 Holsteins and T&C Owen, Potstown, Lockerbie (Tom & Gareth Owen) with 127 Holsteins.

This month Gregor, who is a member of the team from Dendoldrum Farm, Inverbervie, which has twice previously taken the top award, will visit all four farms to study everything from rearing, sire selection, practical management techniques, feeding and nutrition programmes and to view the cows.

view-source: The Courier

[farmerdiary]

Civil Services Main Exam 2013: Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Science Paper I

Candidates who are preparing for the Civil Services Main Exam in the forthcoming year, can find out which kind of questions were asked in this exam in the year 2013. Some questions from Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Science Paper I Main Exam 2013 are as follows:

1. (a) Describe mechanism by which animals adapt to cold stress. (b) Explain mammary involution. What changes are highlighted during this process? (c) Discuss the nutrient requirements of poultry f0r Meat and Egg production. (d) Describe factors determining efficiency of traits of economic importance in dairy animals. (e) What is meant by Cyber Extension? Discuss its application in animal husbandry and its importance in Indian contexy.

view-source: Prepsure.com

[farmerdiary]

Children's Agri Science Congress to be Held in Jan #indianagriculture via @farmerdiary

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Agri Friends in association with State Youth Welfare Board, various education and agriculture departments and other science agencies declared Alappuzha resident Mannar Laila Umma as the Children’s Agri Science Congress’ Brand Ambassador.

Agricultural Minister K P Mohanan declared Mannar Umma as the Brand Ambassador at an event held on Wednesday at Adhyapaka Bhavan here. State Youth Welfare Board vice chairman P S Prashant presided over the event. Proceeding to grow many vegetables and spices within two-and-a-half acres of agricultural land along with cattle, fish, goats, ducks and turkeys, Laila Umma’s efforts in family farming will prove an inspiration for students, said project coordinator S Jayaram and Agri Friends president D R Jose.

Along with a lot of vegetables from her garden, she had come to the event with her horde of domestic farm animals including a goat, four ducks and ten hens.

view-source: The New Indian Express

[farmerdiary]

Has India systematically underestimated minimum support prices?

A recent Mint story revealed a remarkable oddity about India’s agricultural yields. It showed that during the 2000s the farm yield data collected by the agriculture ministry from two different sources for the same crops varied significantly. The most outstanding case was that of cotton, where the yields differed by over 300%. The variance was less alarming in other cases such as paddy (20%) and soybean (16%). However, given that the acceptable level variance is just about 2%-3% between the two methods of yield calculation, double-digit differences are worth probing.

What complicates the matter further is that across the board, yields are higher according to the comprehensive scheme (CS) estimate as against the crop cutting experiment (CCE) estimates. This is a of crucial importance because while the CCE estimates are used to arrive at the yearly overall production figures, the CS estimates are used to calculate the minimum support prices (MSPs) for the farmers.

view-source: Livemint

[farmerdiary]

Get ready for a taste of Vizag apples!

Forget apples from Jammu & Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh, soon apples from Visakhapatnam district could give them a run for their money. Hilly areas of the district are emerging as a fertile ground for cultivation of apples, which have hitherto been restricted to orchards in the chilly climes of J&K, Uttarakhand, HP and Arunachal Pradesh.

The first seeds of apple cultivation were sown by chance by Bobbili Rambabu, a tribal from the Visakhapatnam Agency area, four years ago when he tossed a few apple seeds in the backyard of his house at Lambasingi, where temperatures are known to dip below 0 degree Celsius during winter. The trees have now borne fruit, alerting researchers to the possibility of growing this delicious fruit in Visakha Agency.

view-source: The Times of India

[farmerdiary]

Organic route

The use of chemicals in agriculture is rampant. Chemicals are used to supplement deficit elements to assist plant growth but farmers heavily depend on chemicals for all aspects of agriculture. Everyone knows about the harm caused by chemicals in agriculture to humans and the entire environment but this issue has yet to be taken seriously in Nepal. Despite the increasing trend of chemical use, reports of frequent outbreak of diseases causing total failure of crops frequently make rounds. Due to the use of such chemicals, people suffer from diseases like cancers. Therefore, the continuation of the present trend in agriculture is neither sustainable nor healthy. The soil will lose productivity due to the reckless use of chemicals and people will continuously fall ill due to the ingestion of chemicals in small amounts over a long period.

That is why people are attracted to organic products these days. Organic agriculture is the practice of producing crops without using chemicals. It has been found after rigorous research that local varieties of natural fertilizer are better than chemical ones and chances of disease to crops are reduced. Organic agriculture, thus, is feasible and sustainable. Since it utilizes more laborers, it can be a solution to unemployment problem in the country. The product utilizing local resources would be healthy and can be stored for a longer time.

view-source: myrepublica.com