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Goa's latest paddy seed variety, which offers improved resilience against salinity, waterlogging, and crop lodging, is likely to be released for large-scale cultivation in the Kharif season 2026, state Agriculture Minister Ravi Naik has said. In a written reply in the legislative assembly on Friday, Naik said that the new variety is currently in its second year of on-farm trials and has already shown promising results in demonstration plots under the Minikit Programme. He was responding to a question by independent MLA Aleixo Reginaldo Lourenco. According to the data furnished by the Indian Council of Agricultural Research, Goa Dhan-5 was developed to build on the performance of earlier salt-tolerant varieties Goa Dhan-1 and Dhan-2 released in 2017, and Dhan-3 and Dhan-4 released in 2019, the minister said. Naik said that while the first four Dhan varieties are tolerant to saline conditions, Goa Dhan-5 stands out for its added resistance to waterlogging and complete or partial ...
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday said the 'Viksit Krishi Sankalp Abhiyan' provides a unique opportunity for farmers across the country to clear their doubts and ask questions to agricultural scientists who visit their areas during the campaign. Modi said this in a video message which was played at a programme held at the Odisha University of Agriculture and Technology and attended by Union Agriculture and Farmers' Welfare minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, Odisha Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi, scientists, farmers and others. Speaking on the 'Viksit Krishi Sankalp Abhiyan' which was launched on May 29, the Prime Minister said that the farmers across 700 districts of the country, will get the opportunity to clear their doubts when preparing to start kharif crop cultivation after the onset of the Monsoon. He said over 2,000 teams of agricultural scientists and experts will visit villages (from May 29 to June 12) in a mission mode as part of his vision of "Lab to Land" and the .
The Centre has fixed kharif rice procurement target at 485 lakh tonnes for the 2024-25 marketing year starting October and asked states to focus on increasing purchases of coarse cereals. In the current 2023-24 marketing year (October-September), the government procured 463 lakh tonnes of kharif rice. Paddy is grown in both kharif and rabi seasons. State-owned Food Corporation of India (FCI) is the government's nodal agency for procurement and distribution of foodgrains. Union Food Secretary on Friday chaired a meeting with State Food Secretaries and FCI to "discuss arrangements for procurement of crops in ensuing Kharif Marketing Season (KMS) 2024-25", an official statement said. Various factors impacting procurement such as weather forecast, production estimates, and readiness of states for procurement operations were reviewed during the meeting. "After deliberations, the estimates for paddy procurement (Kharif crop) during ensuing KMS 2024-25 have been fixed at 485 lakh tonnes
India needs to usher in Green Revolution 2.0 with a view to promote farming of less water-intensive crops such as pulses and oil seeds and discourage free power for the agri sector, economic think tank GTRI said on Thursday. There is a need to "promote less water-intensive crops like pulses, oil seeds, and vegetables that can significantly reduce water demand and the government can guarantee MSP (minimum support price) on these crops," the Global Trade Research Initiative (GTRI) report said. It said that awareness among farmers should be increased about adopting water-saving technologies such as drip irrigation, laser land levelling, training on water-efficient techniques and precision agriculture to improve water use efficiency. It also suggested ending free electricity for agriculture and introducing water pricing mechanisms that can discourage overuse and encourage conservation, besides educating farmers about the long-term consequences of unsustainable practices. These ...