Agriculture ministry data shows area under rice cultivation in Punjab this season reached a record high of 32.46 lakh hectares. Yet, the produce is lowest ‘since 2016’.
Farmers have complained of low yield & procurement issues with the Punjab Agricultural University-developed variety. Oppn says govt promoted it without proper yield testing.
Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann thanked farmers for accepting the ban and staying away from the water-guzzling paddy variety Pusa-44. But convincing them about the larger public good is a work-in-progress.
Haryana govt says farmers already being incentivised for sowing crops other than 'non-native' paddy. Farmers, though, point out wheat & paddy both came to the region with green revolution.
2009 law restricts the sowing & transplantation period of paddy to monsoon, resulting in delayed harvesting & purportedly less time to prepare the field for wheat, leading to stubble burning.
Stunting is being caused by Southern Rice Black-streaked Dwarf virus, which has previously led to yield losses in China, Vietnam & Japan, finds Indian Agricultural Research Institute.
Mystery disease cause for worry in high rice-yielding states of Punjab, Haryana, western UP, and Uttarakhand. Experts to rule out possible causes through DNA, RNA sequencing tests.
KCR was joined by farmer leader Rakesh Tikait and TRS MPs & MLAs at protest in Delhi. Amid chants of 'Jai KCR', Telangana CM taunted Piyush Goyal as 'Piyush Golmaal'.
For China, a replica Arleigh Burke-class destroyer is turning into a laboratory where PLA studies an adversary’s systems and rehearses actions required before a conflict begins.
The VD Satheesan govt has constituted a high-level expert panel to undertake a review of the board & recommend a restructuring roadmap to strengthen its long-term sustainability.
Ottawa has handed over execution functions of critical defence projects to a CEO-led organisation for reducing procurement timelines and making it solely accountable for outcomes.
Diljit Dosanjh-starrer Satluj doesn’t blame any political party or individual politicians. We only know the demographic in Punjab it’s bound to trigger the most.
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