Fragmentation of landholdings, decreasing crop yield and drought are the major challenges to the agriculture sector in Karnataka, Chief Secretary S V Ranganath has said.

The average landholding has nosedived to 1.55 hectares in 2010-11 from 3.2 hectares in 1970-71. The need of the hour is a technology that can help farmers owning small landholdings survive comfortably, he said on Wednesday.

Pune: The National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (Nabard) has proposed a credit outlay of Rs 79,451.58 crore for Maharashtra in the 2013-14 fiscal.

Health Minister V.S. Vijay inaugurated the scheme of planting 65,000 tree saplings in Vellore district in connection with the celebration of the 65th birthday of Chief Minister Jayalalithaa by planting 65 saplings on the premises of the Government Vellore Medical College Hospital (GVMCH) at Adukkamparai near here on Sunday.

P. Sankar, Collector of Vellore, presided over the function. H. Rajamohan, District Forest Officer, Vellore, K. P. Panneerselvam, Assistant Conservator of Forests, Vellore Division, Ravisankar, Dean, GVMCH, and P. Arunan, Resident Medical Officer, GVMCH, participated.

Lucknow: With a total of Rs 17,174 crore allocated for agriculture and allied sectors, UP budget-2013 is all set to shower some bounty on Uttar Pradesh’s farm sector.

At a time when the debate is on at the national level as to how to make agriculture an attractive proposition, Tamil Nadu has to offer at least two examples of young farmers who have realised that agriculture too can be rewarding.

Not only they are eager to chart a different path by going in for crops other than paddy but also ready to adopt less-practised and even costlier methods such as micro irrigation. Needless to say, they make efforts to acquire new knowledge in farming, even though they come from traditional agricultural background.

The excessive use of pesticides by farmers in India is hindering the country’s efforts to penetrate the global market for fruits and vegetables in a big way, according to Sreejith Aravindakshan from the University of Copenhagen, Denmark.

Talking to The Hindu here on Sunday, Dr. Aravindakshan, who was here to participate in the National Biodiversity Congress, said India’s horticultural exports to northern Europe were largely constrained by the inability of the smallholder-dominated production system to meet western food safety standards marked by low tolerance for pesticide residue.

Itanagar: Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Nabam Tuki has announced a massive development package for remote Anjaw district, bordering China.

Tuki accompanied by Union Minister of State for Minority Affairs Ninong Ering, Education Minister Bosiram Siram, Rajya Sabha MP Mukut Mithi and several of his cabinet colleagues announced a whooping Rs 20. 82 crores aids at Hawai, the district headquarters yesterday, official sources informed here today.