Category: Uncategorized

: Karnataka’s big coffee planters, reeling under years of labour shortage, are enjoying a welcome respite this harvest season as migrant workers arrived in sufficient numbers to meet the demand even as coffee prices have hit a record high this year, offering a financial cushion to growers after years of challenges. For the past five...

The Punjab Government has formally rejected the Centre’s draft policy on agricultural marketing, asserting that it is an attempt to bring back the “contentious” provisions of the three farms laws repealed in 2021 after a year-long protest by farmers. The State Government noted that since agriculture marketing is a State subject, the Government of India...

Endorsing the use of hybrid seeds to increase crop production and reduce import dependency, Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister P.K. Mishra said here on Wednesday (January 8, 2025) that hybrid research has to produce products that have higher productivity than open-pollinated seed varieties. Inaugurating the three-day National Symposium on Hybrid Technology for Enhanced Crop...

The Union government on Friday (December 20, 2024) has increased the Minimum Support Price (MSP) for copra for the 2025 season. Approved by Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA), the MSP for milling copra of fair average quality will be ₹11,582 per quintal, an increase by ₹422 from ₹11,160 per quintal in 2024. It will...

The North Eastern Tea Association (NETA) has hailed the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA)‘s recognition of tea from the plant Camellia sinensis as a healthy beverage. On December 19, the FDA issued a final rule to update the “healthy” nutrient content claim to help consumers identify foods that are particularly useful as the foundation of...

After tractors and farm equipment, drones are now transforming the way farming is done in India by offering solutions to several challenges faced by farmers today.  With a fleet of about 7,000 drones deployed in this sector, the Indian agricultural drone market, currently valued at $145.4 million, is expected to reach $631.4 million by 2030,...

GUWAHATI A February 26 gazette notification making it mandatory for producers to sell 100% of their dust teas through public auction was against the government’s much-vaunted policy of ease of doing business, a body of tea planters and producers said in a letter to Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal. The North East Tea Association...

Potato traders of West Bengal threatened to go on strike on Tuesday (December 3, 2024) if the State government does not lift restrictions on selling to other States. West Bengal recently re-imposed curbs on selling potatoes to neighbouring states in an effort to control the prices in the local markets. Potatoes are retailing at ₹35-40...

GUWAHATI A Sikkim-based university, focussing on industry-immersive education, has collaborated with the North East Cane and Bamboo Development Council (NECBDC) to promote bamboo-based startups and drive innovations in the bamboo industry. “The partnership entails establishing incubation centres to support such start-ups and research and development centres to scale up bamboo-based solutions and advance sustainable harvesting...

Amid complaints and protests by farmers’ organisations in Punjab that paddy procurement from the State has been delayed, the Centre said on Saturday (November 9, 2024) that the Food Corporation of India (FCI) and the State agencies have procured 120.67 lakh metric tonnes (LMT) paddy from the State. Watch | What is Minimum Support Price?...