The year 2008 was calamitous on many fronts for the State. Silver lining was the agriculture sector. The vagaries of nature did not deter the farming community from reaching its goal.

Notwithstanding the series of calamities visiting the state year after year since 1998, Orissa has been able to attain self-sufficiency in foodgrain production, particularly in rice.

Conceding that the State Government has failed to supply seeds in time to the farmers under Calamity Relief Fund (CRF), State Agriculture Minister Pramila Rani Brahma today blamed the revenue department for the sorry state of affairs.

Srinagar: Even as Kashmir loses thousands of hectares of its agricultural land to urbanisation, there is, yet, a silver lining. Paddy production has hit a record-breaking high due to the use of high-quality seeds and fertilisers.

The government

The farmers had to sell their paddy out of sheer distress, for not getting facilities to sell their produce in government- stipulated prices of Rs 900 a quintal. At a time like this, the unscrupulous traders are charging exorbitant rates for fertilisers in Midnapore East and West districts.

The crash in global fertiliser prices has been India

Indian substandard non-urea fertilisers are being smuggled into the country in a large scale posing a serious threat to the agriculture as their use will cut production drastically, DAE officials, importers and dealers said.

NABARANGPUR: Spectre of a drought-like situation haunts farmers in this predominantly tribal district due to insufficient rains during the recent kharif season. Being an agrarian district, 90 percent population here depend on agriculture for their livelihood. Bereft of irrigation facilities, the farming community largely depend on rains for agriculture.