The Congress has accused the Bharatiya Janata Party-ruled States of not properly implementing the Centrally-sponsored welfare schemes in their respective areas. Even the flagship programmes of the United Progressive Alliance government such as the Horticulture Mission, the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan and the National Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGA) were ridden with corruption and mismanagement in BJP-ruled States, the party said.

More than 5,000 herbal homegard enshave been developed in remote tribal villages covered under Madhya Pradesh Rural Livelihoods Project(MPRLP). These herbal home gardens have come up in Dhar, Jhabua, Barwani, Mandla, Dindori, Anuppur, Shahdol and Sheopur, an official release said. Developed under the country cooperation fund of United Nations Development Programme, the purpose is to conserve bio-diversity and revive indigenous knowledge system among the tribal communities.

This case study reports findings from survey, workshop and focus group activities with smallholder horticulture growers in Senegal as part of the Food & Fairness project conducted by PAN UK and PAN Africa during May 2005-Jan.2008.

Edible forest fruits have immense potential for export since they are produced purely organically by nature and the question of use of agrochemicals for their production does not arise. Kendu is one such edible forest fruit, which has been used as fresh table fruit and in dried form for centuries mostly by tribals.

Generally, the mention of the world tribal gives vivid images of indigenous people living amidst dense jungles, and using a variety of forest resources for their sustenance. Such ecosystem people who enjoy the bounty of nature are the fortunate ones, as there are others who are not so lucky.

It is said to be the only place in the world to house the mother plant of citrus-Indica (orange). And for this, the world's first citrus gene sanctuary was established in this reserve. Now, the Union Ministry of Forests and Environment has forwarded the nomination of Nokrek Biosphere Reserve in Garo Hills of Meghalaya for UNESCO recognition on the world network of biosphere reserves. Foresters say that forwarding of the nomination implies that the Nokrek Biosphere Reserve is admitted to be a pristine area and a biodiversity hotspot.

With fruit production in Kashmir static, the Kashmiri growers have asked the state and central government not to acquire horticulture land for any official purposes. They are also not satisfied with recent rent hike by the defence ministry. The growers fear that acquiring of the horticulture land for official purposes will reduce the fruit production in the state. Jammu and Kashmir is the only state in India that has around 2.75 lakh hectares of land under the horticulture. The major portion of this land is used for the cultivation of fresh fruits especially apples.

Loss Due To Bad Harvest Timing, Lack Of Storage For a country reeling under an unprecedented food crisis, here is an alarming figure: India losses Rs 55,600 crore worth of crops each year after harvesting. This has been admitted by the government before the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Agriculture.

Almost 3,000 mango trees in the regions of Dhari, Chalala-Gir were destroyed in the last few days. Badly affected, either by the failure of crops, diseases spreading in the crop, poor price for their produce or simply the ageing of the trees, the owners of these mango orchards decided to say goodbye to the kesar mango forever and in the process have made the green banks of the Shell river which flows through Gir look barren.

Abdul Aziz distributing fruit saplings as Bangla New Year gift at his nursery at Shaliabaha village in Ghatail upazila. Photo: STAR Every Pahela Baishakh (Bangla New Year), a large number of people including women and children come to the house of Abdul Aziz for fruit saplings. He gives away those for free as his New Year gift.

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