The budget comes in the backdrop of an emerging global food crisis, caused partly by extreme weather events in some major food producing countries including China, and partly by escalating petroleum price arising from the battle for democracy in the Middle East. It also comes in the wake of continuing food inflation.

In a push to acquire a pro-farmer image for his government, Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa on Thursday proposed to slash the interest rate on crop loan up to Rs 3 lakh from 3 to one per cent and offered to replace farmers' pumpsets at public cost in a phased manner.

But in the bargain, the chief minister proposed to impose additional tax on the common man.

Sri Lanka government has roughly estimated that the recent round of floods have caused a damage worth of 50 billion rupees to the economy while affecting over 1.2 million people of 18 districts.

Minister of Disaster Management Mahinda Amaraweera says that thousands of acres of cultivations, around 450 small and big irrigation schemes, at least 75,000 cattle and many thousands of poultry and oth

ISLAMABAD (February 08, 2011) : Federal Minister for Food and Agriculture Nazar Muhammad Gondal on Monday said devastating floods caused severe losses to the economy and destroyed over three million bales of cotton resulting in a cumulative loss of about 1.5 percent to GDP.

Sri Lanka Minister of Agrarian Services and Wildlife S.M.

DINDIGUL: Compensation to the tune of Rs.49.07 lakh for the loss of major crops was so far disbursed to farmers who had insured their crops under weather-based insurance scheme in the district, according to S.

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