Asia > Southern Asia > Agriculture

Agriculture in Southern Asia

  • India: Agriculture Is In Again

    INDIA, 2016/03/20 With the increase in allocation to the agriculture sector in Budget 2016, the Modi government has revealed a renewed tilt towards rural India. How this financial roadmap will lead to revitalizing agriculture and developing rural India will depend on the politics. Agriculture was a major winner in the Government of India’s Union Budget for 2016, announced on 29 February. The sector, which employs 49% of the work force but contributes only 16% to the GDP, received an 84% increase in outlays for the fiscal year ending 31 March, 2017. The allocation comes off a small base and is almost $7 billion at current exchange rates, or 2.25% of the total budget.
  • India minister praises Israel’s ‘more crop per drop’ farm model

    INDIA, 2015/05/09 The business of government is politics, but there’s a time to put politics on the shelf, according to Davendra Fadnavis, Chief Minister of the State of Maharashtra in India. “Everybody has to eat,” Fadnavis told The Times of Israel in an exclusive interview. “Israel’s agricultural and water technology is helping to satisfy global hunger. Who could disagree with that?” India’s strategy in the past has been to keep Israel at arm’s length so as not to aggravate its relationship with the Arab world and its large Muslim minority. But that strategy goes out the window when it comes to engaging with Israel for its agricultural technology. Israel and India have extensive ag-tech ties, with government-level projects to improve growing techniques for a wide variety of crops, to dozens of business collaborations between private companies.
  • Mauritius and India to Sign MoU in the Field of Cooperatives

    INDIA, 2015/01/16 A Memorandum of Considerate (MoU) will be signed by the Ministry of Business, Enterprise and Cooperatives and the Ministry of Agriculture of the Republic of India to enhance collaboration in the field of cooperatives. The MoU will provide for cooperation in areas pertaining to the regulatory framework for cooperatives inclunding cooperative development policies and strategies.
  • Livestock Sector Posts Good Growth in Recent Years

    INDIA, 2013/04/21 Planning and implementation of schemes relating to the livestock sector are likely to get a large boost in the 12th Plan. The Department of Animal Husbandry, Dairying and Fisheries has got apparoval for Rs. 14,179 crore from the Planning Commission under various plan schemes. In a major restructuring exercise, a number of existing schemes relating to animal husbandry are being subsumed in the National Livestock Mission. A sum of Rs. 2800 crore has been proposed under the Mission.
  • World Food Prices Decline For Third Month

    EUROPE, 2013/03/19 World food prices dropped for the third successive month in December, owing mainly to lower prices for cereals and oil-seeds, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) said Thursday.
  • Indian company invests in mung bean and sesame seed production in Mozambique

    INDIA, 2013/01/12 The Indian company Primus Agri Products Private Limited is investing US$3 million to commercially produce mung beans (Vigna radiata) and sesame seeds in Mozambique’s Nampula province, reports the Maputo-based daily Notícias. In this agricultural season 150 hectares have been prepared and sown with the two crops, company director Praveena Kumar told the newspaper, adding that the harvest will mainly go to Asian markets with high request for those products.
  • Punjab to waive market fees for fruit and vegetables

    INDIA, 2012/12/20 Taking a step forward in agriculture marketing reforms, Punjab may soon waive off market fees on fruits and vegetables, a move which iit is hoped, will benefit growers and consumers. The board of directors of the national agriculture marketing board has approved the abolition of market fees and has forwarded the proposal to the financial commissioner.
  • Urban spread into agricultural land could cost India dear

    INDIA, 2012/09/06 The loss of agricultural land to urbanisation, combined with insufficient planning for food supply lines, places severe constraints on next food security for India's growing people, a UN assessment released Monday warned. The assessment, which draws on contributions from additional than 123 scientists worldwide, states that India's growing urban clusters such as the Mumbai-Delhi industrial corridor are likely to transform entire regions, with significant impact on habitat and biodiversity.
  • Bangladesh's food grain imports fall sharply 2012-07-19

    BANGLADESH, 2012/07/19 Bangladesh's food grain import during July-April period of the outgoing 2011-12 fiscal year ending this month declined sharply by additional than 50 % year-on- year, said a central bank official of Sunday.
  • Food inflation in India

    INDIA, 2011/03/26 Food access is probably the majority urgent political issue in India today. This is not surprising as the country has experienced of the majority sustained periods of food price hikes since the early 1970s, at the same time as it was associated with massive socio-political unrest.