Effect of application of biofertilizers, Azospirillum, phosphate-solubilising bacteria (PSB) and arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi was studied in a factoral experiment on production of planting propagules (stumps) of teak in nursery. Seed germination was maximum in Azospirillum treatment followed by its combination with AM and PSB after two months.
Punjab Minister for Agriculture Ahmed Ali Aulkh has said that the government is giving priority to agriculture and is distributing 60,000 acres land on lease to the landless farmers, and priority will be given to agriculture graduates. "The government is also planning to start schemes for irrigation with a cost of Rs 7 billion," he added. He told a press conference in the Agriculture House on Friday that the government had allocated Rs 550 million for tunnel technology used in growing off-season vegetables.
Sukhdeep Kaur Nabha : With none other than the Prince of Wales eager to market the organic produce of some 30 villages here under his brand, Duchy Originals, it's return of royalty to Nabha in Punjab. The erstwhile princely state had its first brush with royalty way back in the year 1755 when Raja Hamir Singh established the state after declaring sovereignty by minting coins independent of the Mughals and the Afghans.
The president of Pakistan Kissan Committee Chaudhry Fateh Muhammad, Awami Jamhoori Party provincial general secretary Advocate Rana Muhammad Azam and district secretary Muhammad Zubair have criticised the government for ignoring agriculture sector in the federal budget. Addressing a meeting at Toba Tek Singh, they said that only DAP fertiliser had been subsidised while its prices were also not fixed, adding in this way the fertiliser producing companies could fix the prices of their own. They protested that during last few weeks, the rates of all sorts of fertilisers had shot up.
Most of the non-urea fertilisers including the organic which are sold in the market are highly adulterated, revealed a report of the Soil Resource Development Institute. The SRDI analysis report of the 2007-08 fiscal also said that the degree of adulteration in the fertilisers is in some cases up to 77 per cent. The farmers, who cannot discern the standard of the fertilisers, are being cheated by the unscrupulous private fertiliser producers who sell the spurious products in the market, experts said.
The Rythu Sadassu in Paloncha revenue division succeeded in achieving its goal for sustainable farming and expanding bio-agriculture. Farmers from 18 mandals including Aswapuram, Burgumpahad, Manuguru, Pinapaka, Kukkunur, Velie-rpad and Paloncha attended the meeting. The farmers decided to start bio-farming in 30,000 acre in the 18 mandals and they would not use pesticides and inorganic fertilisers.
The trains of camels are out here again in Muzaffargarh and this time not to entertain the public with their wrestling skills but to feed malnourished lands with their dung. The ship of dessert has now assumed a new role of mitigating farmers difficulties in the face of skyrocketing prices of DAP fertilisers and provides alternative fertilisers, Dawn has learnt. DAP fertilisers is touching all-time high Rs3,000 per bag which has forced farmers to look towards alternative fertilizers like cattle dung.
Night-soil (human waste) has been considered a valuable agricultural resource since ancient times. When handled safely, its use can contribute to reducing soil degradation and water scarcity in the areas like the Lahaul valley. Despite such known benefits its use is now decreasing with modernisation. Recognising this, the G.B. Pant Institute in India has been taking steps to promote the use of night-soil as one of the organic farming practices promoted in the region.
Many rural people in Tajikistan cannot afford to regularly buy products like fuel and agrochemical inputs. Instead, they rely on locally available yet increasingly scarce natural resources. One result is that large amounts of animal dung are used as fuel for cooking and heating. Simple modifications of local cookstoves are supporting rural communities to use local resources more efficiently, in the process improving soil rehabilitation.
Potassium release kinetics was investigated in soils drawn from plots of a long term fertilizer experiment that had been receiving different rates of K. Non exchangeable K release was higher in soils that were receiving organic and inorganic fertilizers than the soils not dressed with K. The amount of non exchangeable K release was faster initially and it slowed down afterwards.
