NEWMAI NEWS
SHILLONG, Feb 2

Solan: CM Prem Kumar Dhumal today said the multi-crore Pandit Deen Dayal Kisan Samridhi Yojana Polyhouse project will boost production of off-season vegetables and floriculture.

He was addressing a public meeting at Kandaghat, after laying the foundation stone of the building of the Civil Hospital, to be constructed at a cost of Rs 2.44 crore.

Hamari Jamatia Posted: Jan 07, 2009 at 0126 hrs IST

New Delhi: Rocky terrain, infertile soil and negligible ground water

Jammu: Commercial cultivation of flowers is gradually picking up in Jammu and Kashmir. Around 100 women have come forward to set up their own flower farms following a drive by the state floriculture department to encourage them.

The department is also holding training workshops for the women to help them set up the farms.

While agriculture diversification in Punjab may not have been very successful on a larger scale, it is bearing great fruit at individual level.

Two representatives of the World Bank met the farmers at village Sunpura in Vidisha district yesterday and held discussions with them on issues pertaining to agriculture. They enquired as to what crops they take in which season, which variety of seeds they use, quantum of production, marketing of their produce and application of fertilisers and pesticides. The team was surprised to learn that a pioneer in wheat production Vidisha district has now taken to Basmati rice production and the farmers are getting attracted to orchards.

A Week back, the rising temperatures in the state had the farmers worried about sowing of kharif crop. Even horticulturists, especially apple and mango growers, were under immense stress over fruit size. But the moderate rainfall that has intermittently continued all over the state during the past three days has ended all their worries. Apple growers in Shimla, who have already suffered a loss of nearly 40 per cent due to a hail storm in April, have been relieved by the rain.

Nahar phoole nuhuai, kapau phoole huaba-the fragrant 20 inch long orchid with a tinge of delicate purple shade has immense import not only in the cultural front of Assamese society. The gorgeous flower also has an all pervasive impact in the psyche of the population. An entity that embodies the existence of an entire community, this orchid popular as Kapau phool in the State however has started taking the beating from the community itself that has been nurturing it so far.