n. International prices of all cereals have declined in recent weeks on good prospects for the new season and developments in other markets, including the strengthening of the United States Dollar and weakening crude oil prices. The Planning Commission of India has recently projected that agriculture and allied sectors in India would experience a robust growth rate of five per cent in 2010-2011 from 0.2 per cent during last year. World pro...

The main objectives were to ensure a steady supply of quality seeds, to preserve traditional seeds and to create a shield against long and recurrent droughts. These women hardly knew that they were setting up an example for the marginalized farmers in the rest of the country when they figured out that their modest ‘savings account’ at the village level grain bank also worked as a gene bank of traditional crops.

. And worse, many of those payments were made to themselves or to their close relatives. Now the district administration has decided to recover that amount from the erring panchayat office bearers. During his tour to the Jharni panchayat the District Collector of Dungarpur Purna Chandra Kishen found many irregularities in the implementation of NREGS works. Then he sent two teams for technical and accounts related investigations.

lready cleared by the Union Cabinet, the new Bill will replace the present Seeds Act (1966) if given the Parliamentary nod. (See the link below for the Draft Bill and proposed amendments) The government has also circulated an amendment to the Bill, ostensibly under pressure from the farmers’ and civil society groups but the amendments do not alter the basic character of the bill.