will genetically modified plants give the farmer better profits? Results from a study published in the January-February 2008 issue of Agronomy Journal say no. The study shows that Bt cotton

Could record food prices be their own cure, spurring farmers around the world to lift production? A recent fact-finding trip to Kenya by Josette Sheeran, director of the United Nations World Food Programme, provided little evidence to support this view.

Breeders yesterday said retail prices of poultry will go up further unless farmers now move to restart farming at an increased pace. The warning came amid a slow recovery in the demand for poultry following the decline in bird flu spread. But many farmers remain reluctant in resuming farming with bird flu still haunting them.

Awareness, protests cut tobacco cultivation in southwestern districts Farmers say it destroys soil fertility Amanur Aman, Kushtia Tobacco cultivation in seven southwestern districts which got a big boost several years ago is declining due to awareness about its harmful effect on soil and health following protests and campaign and also because of farmers' need to grow more food. Farmers now say its cultivation decreases fertility and deposits harmful ingredients in soil.

Advice for those trying to solve the global food crisis: do not start from here. As governments across the developing world impose export bans on staple foods, further worsening the shortages on inter

BEIJING: The fear of failing to grow enough corn, wheat or rice to feed its people has spurred China into action this year, but Beijing may be doing too little, too late to overcome the powerful forces of urbanization. Just as global grain markets grapple with ultralow stocks and record-high prices, China is battling to stem the destruction of its arable land due to urban sprawl, the growing scarcity of water and the exodus of labor to its booming cities by directing tens of billions of dollars to rural areas.

Out on the American farm, the ducks and pheasants are losing ground. Thousands of farmers are pulling their fields out of the government's biggest conservation program, spurning guaranteed annual payments for a chance to cash in on the boom in wheat, soybeans, corn and other crops. Last fall, they took back as many acres as are in Rhode Island and Delaware combined.

As Prices Rise, Farmers Spurn Conservation By DAVID STREITFELD Published: April 9, 2008 Paul Devlin works at a bakery in Tampa, Fla. The bakery's owner said the price he paid for flour had doubled since October. Thousands of farmers are taking their fields out of the government's biggest conservation program, which pays them not to cultivate. They are spurning guaranteed annual payments for a chance to cash in on the boom in wheat, soybeans, corn and other crops. Last fall, they took back as many acres as are in Rhode Island and Delaware combined.

Growers and small farmers on Monday threatened to launch province wide agitation if merger of the Punjab Provincial Cooperative Bank Limited (PPCBL) into the Bank of Punjab (BoP) was not stopped forthwith.