Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi has sought the intervention of Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar and Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee to ensure smooth flow of PDS items to Assam to arrest price rise of essential commodities.

The central government missed all the red flags that pointed to a sugar shortage for almost a year, generated sharply varying estimates of cane production, and kept prices artificially depressed from October 2008, leading to a situation where sugar prices in Delhi, at about Rs 50/kg today, are likely to only rise further.

THE DECISION earlier this week by the Cabinet Committee on Prices with regard to sugar, rice and wheat, pulses and edible oils will, at best, have more of a psychological impact than anything else. On sugar, for instance, the problem is demand and supply, and prices are unlikely to go down unless supply is increased or demand is curbed.

The government will soon come out with an exhaustive manual for practical management of drought mitigation and relief measures.

The Agriculture Ministry is cautious about projecting a bright prospect for the Rabi crop, saying much would depend on the weather situation in the coming months. Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar told reporters on Wednesday on the occasion of 81st Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the ICAR that he would rather wait and watch than jump to conclusions.

The government has decided to set up two institutes to deal with the impact of climate change on Indian agriculture. Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar said the government was in the process of setting up the National Institute on Biotic Stress Management and Indian Institute of Agricultural Biotechnology under the Indian Council of Agricultural Research.

Gargi Parsai

NEW DELHI: Small and marginal farmers would be the worst sufferers of climate change, Union Minister for Agriculture and Food Sharad Pawar said here on Wednesday.

The State Agriculture Department is targeting an annual growth rate of 2 per cent by 2011 for which a number of technological interventions are being initiated. The current growth rate for agriculture is 1.2 per cent. Revealing this at a press conference today, Agriculture Minister Pramila Rani Brahma said that

THRISSUR: The Central Government is not proposing to ban the use of controversial insecticide endosulfan in the country, said Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar. He was talking to reporters on the sidelines of a function held to inaugurate the pilot project for replantation and rejuvenation of coconut palms on the main campus of Kerala Agricultural University, Vellanikkara, on Sunday.

Thrissur: Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar said on Sunday that the Centre will not prohibit the use of Endosulfan as an expert committee that studied health problems allegedly caused by the pesticide did not recommend its ban.