horticulture news

horticulture News, Video News

Committee to recommend setting up of horticulture training centre
â€˜Mechanisation in farm sector need of the hourâ€™
2008-12-04 03:25:34
Rs 15 cr irradiation facility planned in Hyd
The state horticulture mission, Andhra Pradesh, and the Acharya NG Ranga Agricultural University, are chalking out plans to set up an irradiation unit in close proximity to the international...
2008-10-28 03:07:20
Horticulture seminar
HYDERABAD: FAPCCIis conducting a seminar on â€˜Post Harvest Infrastructure in Horticulture â€“ Incentives and Investment...
2008-10-27 06:05:15
Sixty percent increase in Budget to boost agriculture production
New Delhi, Oct 17 ANI: Government has launched a series of schemes and programmes to substantially increase agricultural production in the country.Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar informed the Rajya Sabha in a written reply today that there is sixty per cent increase in the Budget for the agriculture sector in the current fiscal, as compared to the last. "The National Food Security Mission and the Horticulture Mission, the Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana have also been launched," Pawar said. "A comprehensive credit package has also been announced to address the concerns of distressed farmers apart from focusing on irrigation facilities to bring more land under cultivation," he added. An amount of 25 thousand crore rupees has been earmarked for the purpose in the current plan. ANI
2008-10-17 08:00:00
Himachal Pradesh sells 20 mn apple boxes
BUS19Business/BusinessHimachal Pradesh sells 20 mn apple boxesShimla, Oct 15 IANS The apple season in Himachal Pradesh is almost over with more than 20 million boxes having been transported out of the state so far.The season, which started nearly three months ago, will continue for a few weeks more."Almost two crore 20 million cartons have been sent to various markets across the country," horticulture department director Gurdev Singh told IANS Wednesday.Each carton has 25 kg of apples, he said."More than 14 lakh 1.4 million boxes of apples from the Chango, Ribba and Namgiya valleys in Kinnaur district and Hurling in the Spiti subdivision have been transported. This time we have estimated the total production in Kinnaur alone to be around 16.5 lakh 1.65 milion boxes," said the department's deputy director S.S. Mehta.This is slightly less than last year's record two million cartons sent from Kinnaur district.Singh said in the coming weeks, more than 2.5 million boxes of apples from the across the state would reach the markets.However, with the arrival of the fruit from neighbouring Jammu and Kashmir, the demand for the produce from Himachal has come down, with prices too falling.Said Ram Singh Negi, a trader at the wholesale fruit market in Solan, 55 km from the state capital: "Now a 25 kg box of royal apples, which was selling at Rs.1,000 to Rs.1,050 last month, has come down to around Rs.700."He attributed this to the arrival of apples from Kashmir.Himachal Pradesh is known as the 'apple bowl of the country', with the fruit accounting for about 40 percent of the total area under fruit cultivation in the state.More than 200,000 families are engaged in apple cultivation, 90 percent of them being small and marginal farmers with an average holding of less than 0.6 hectare.Besides apples, other fruits such as pears, peaches, cherries and plums are the major commercial crops of the state.--Indo-Asian News Servicevg/ank/tb360 Words15101613
2008-10-15 07:01:09
Himachal IAS officer arrested in disproportionate assets case
NAT48National/Politics/CrimeHimachal IAS officer arrested in disproportionate assets caseShimla, Oct 8 IANS A senior IAS officer was arrested Wednesday from Haryana, in connection with a disproportionate assets case, the police said. The Himachal Pradesh vigilance bureau had grilled Subhash Ahluwalia, along with his wife, Meera, a number of times since the Bharatiya Janata Party BJP government came to power in January this year about his sources of income. Ahluwalia had been the private secretary to former chief minister Virbhadra Singh."The bureau arrested Ahluwalia from his residence in Panchkula town in Haryana this afternoon Wednesday. He Ahluwalia will be produced in a Shimla court Thursday," I.D. Bhandari, additional director-general of police vigilance told IANS."Ahluwalia had failed to satisfy us the bureau regarding his bank accounts totalling Rs.10 million, his orchards in Shimla district and flats at Panchkula, Kansal near Chandigarh and Gurgaon," Bhandari said.The bureau had also asked details from Ahluwalia about any foreign remittances received by him from his children, who are working in the US.Sources in the bureau said during the recent raids at Ahluwalia's residence, a lot of documents, including several fixed deposit receipts, bank papers and shares were found. A laptop and desktop computer were also seized.The bureau has laid its hands on 18 bank accounts in Ahluwalia's name.Meera Ahluwalia, who was the principal of a leading girls' college in Shimla, was also accused of availing foreign jaunts at the expense of private companies while holding a government job.But Bhandari said: "So far no case has been registered against Meera".However, the bureau has recommended to the state government that there should be an inquiry about her foreign travels to various countries, including the US and Thailand.During the previous government, Ahluwalia remained private secretary to the chief minister for over four years.He is the third person who was occupying influential position in the previous government to be grilled by the vigilance bureau.Earlier, former horticulture minister Singhi Ram and former chairman of the state school education board B.R. Rahi were booked by the vigilance bureau in a forged mark sheet case involving Singhi's daughter.Reacting to Ahluwalia's arrest, Virbhadra Singh said: "His arrest has proved that the government is hell-bent on settling personal vendetta". Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumla said: "Corruption would not be tolerated at any level".--Indo-Asian News Servicevg/ak/dg425 Words08101913
2008-10-08 09:00:00
Contingency plan for Bihar's flood-hit farmers
NAT15National/Disaster/EconomyContingency plan for Bihar's flood-hit farmersPatna, Sep 25 IANS Cultivating mustard in areas with sandy soil and sowing paddy instead of wheat are some of the suggestions in the contingency plan for flood hit Bihar prepared by India's top agriculture research body. With the Kosi river overflowing its banks and flooding large swathes of Bihar, the Patna based eastern zonal centre of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research ICAR has evolved a plan for farmers to deal with the crisis. Unlike other rivers that bring fertile silt, the Kosi river brings with it coarse sand and gravel that make the land barren.“We have submitted a plan to the state government for timely action,” an official at the ICAR centre here said.The ICAR's plan suggests adopting a graded approach to different types of post flood contingencies. It has also recommended measures to maximise yields of regular crops like wheat, maize and sugarcane in the flood affected areas.According to the ICAR centre, farmers should cultivate pulses in the time available before the rabi crop in areas where sandy or loamy soil has been left behind.Cultivation of mustard would be the right option in areas which have sandy soil but are likely to see floodwater draining only after a while.The plan suggests that farmers sow a special variety of paddy instead of wheat if the waters fail to recede completely by rabi season.Agriculture scientists said the Kosi waters are receding but the damage wrought on agriculture land would be known only after the waters drain out completely. The possibility of vast farmlands turning barren looms large as the Kosi river, which changed course over four weeks ago killing over 50 people and affecting over 3.1 million people, is leaving behind a trail of sand in fertile soil.The state agriculture department has estimated that standing crops in large parts of Madhepura, Supaul, Saharsa, Araria and Purnea districts have been destroyed."The standing crops including paddy, maize are gone, there is no chance of their survival," an official said.M.A. Khan, director of ICAR in Patna, is busy with his team of scientists to study the damage. "It will be difficult to say how much damage the floods have caused until the waters recede fully." He said productivity loss due to large agricultural lands turning into sand dunes could be obviated to an extent by using quality seeds.Farmers would have to diversify into horticulture to bridge the loss of incomes, Khan added.With fears that a large amount of sand had accumulated on agricultural land in the flood-affected districts, the government plans to begin soil testing from 25 samples collected from affected villages. "This will tell us the ground reality whether the farmlands will turn barren or if agriculture will be possible," Agriculture Minister Nagmani said here.Over 3.1 million people and nearly one million cattle have been affected by the floods triggered by the Kosi river following a breach in an embankment upstream in Nepal Aug 18. Nearly 300,000 houses are believed to have been damaged.--Indo-Asian News Service ik/mj/jg 560 Words*25091444
2008-09-25 05:03:08
Agriculture Leadership Awards announced
New Delhi, Sept 12 ANI: The names for the National Agriculture Leadership Awards have been announced for this year by the National Committee which functions under the Chairmanship of Haryana Governor A. R. Kidwai. The Life Time Achievement Award for this year went to three outstanding personalities for having served the Indian agriculture system for over four decades each, which positively impacted the growth in India's farm sector, created newer opportunities and contributed to overall rural prosperity. They are Dr. V. Kurien, Dr. K.L. Chadda, and Dr. R.S. Paroda. Dr. V. Kurien, who is known as the pioneer of the White Revolution in the country and the architect of Operation Flood, for organizing milk producers under cooperative system and later created National Dairy Development Board NDDB, which helped milk farmers substantially. Dr. K.L. Chadha is known as the Pioneer of Golden Revolution in India, who provided leadership to horticulture development in India through shaping policies, building institutions, disseminating knowledge and energising the system for employment and entrepreneurship opportunities in horticulture sector, which benefited millions of farmers in the country. Dr. R.S. Paroda is known for his transformational role in Indian agriculture system, having headed Indian Council of Agricultural Research ICAR as its DG, which witnessed rapid growth in farm sector, building of agriculture institutions of international repute and forging international cooperation. A scientist par excellence and an outstanding administrator, he also played global roles in Food and Agriculture Organization FAO and Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research CGIAR systems, which helped farmers and agriculture around the world. The Agriculture Leadership Awards have been instituted by "Agriculture Today", the national agriculture magazine, published by Centre for Agriculture and Rural Development from New Delhi. Andhra Pradesh has been selected for Leadership Award as the best performing State in agriculture by the Agriculture Leadership Awards Committee.The award ceremony will be held on September 19 at the Taj Palace, New Delhi, as part of the Agriculture Leadership Summit, which is being organised under the chairmanship of eminent agricultural scientist M.S. Swaminathan. ANI
2008-09-12 10:00:00
Govt decides to set up horticulture varsity at Bagalkot
Read full story for details
2008-08-22 04:18:54
Hines Horticulture files for bankruptcy
HORTICULTURE Nursery firm petitions for bankruptcy&ltp>&ltmap name="google_ad_map_Avytusu11YQddiDAqOhjHHWNOs8_">&ltarea shape="rect" href="http://imageads.googleadservices.com/pagead/imgclick/Avytusu11YQddiDAqOhjHHWNOs8_pos=0" coords="1,2,367,28"/>&ltarea shape="rect" href="http://services.google.com/feedback/abg" coords="384,10,453,23"/>&ltimg usemap="#google_ad_map_Avytusu11YQddiDAqOhjHHWNOs8_" border="0" src="http://imageads.googleadservices.com/pagead/adsformat=468x30_aff_img&ampclient=ca-ca-tribune_news_html&ampchannel=latimes_news&ampoutput=png&ampcuid=Avytusu11YQddiDAqOhjHHWNOs8_&ampurl=http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-briefs21-2008aug21,0,7346806.storytrack=rss"/>&ltimg src="http://feeds.latimes.com/~r/latimes/business/~4/370506288" height="1" />
2008-08-21 07:00:00