The Sri Lankan government says it would promote organic farming as a precaution to prevent any threat that could arise from pesticides that may contain arsenic.

Agriculture Minister Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena has said agro chemicals containing banned substances would not be allowed to reach the local market.

However, Abeywardena has observed that organic fertilizer was a better option to chemi

Think organic. That is the message the state government is sending out to farmers with its promise of subsidies for those who opt for fertiliser and chemical-free farming.

Although a nominal budget of Rs 1.4 crore has been earmarked for the project to start with, officials said it could be increased depending upon the response.

Speaking to The Telegraph, state agriculture director T.

Two traditional rice varieties produced by the Singphos

Massive subsidy for Monsanto's hybrid maize seed
The Shivraj Singh Chauhan government recently formed a separate

Lottery to identify beneficiaries of the land improvement grant scheme
Not the vagaries of nature, but chance will play a major role to identify beneficiaries, who have applied for benefits of the State Government

District panchayat approves annual Plan

THRISSUR: Thrissur district panchayat will implement development schemes to the tune of Rs.78 crore this financial year.

District panchayat president K.V.

Health authorities groped in the dark in search of the source of the E coli infection with suspicions about bean sprouts being a potential carrier yet to be substantiated, as the death toll in Germany

The area under organic farming is increasing in Punjab with more farmers adopting this method to grow vegetables, fruits and cereals.

Officials of the Organic Farming Council of Punjab said they had registered farmers practicing organic farming on more than 5,000 acres in the state.

Aiming to promote organic farming, the government has partially relaxed restrictions on exports
of sugar, pulses and edible oils, produced without using chemical fertiliser and pesticides. The Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) has allowed exports of organic cooking oil, sugar and pulses upto 10,000 tonnes each per annum.