Devkaran Malvi of Habidabad village has been less fortunate. Heavy rains brought down his yield from 15 quintals last year to less than 10,and he may not even recover the cost of cultivation.

On one side,fear of wipe-out by foreign arrivals. On the other,hopes of better infrastructure

India,world’s largest pulse producer and exporter,remains short of requirement; erratic monsion sends projected output below last year’s

Area under contract farming heads downward as govt looks at new policy for diversification

Late rains make Punjab opt for more basmati while Haryana moves towards paddy varieties with assured minimum support price

Khargone strives to outmatch Guntur,with help from Andhra

Their numbers had dropped but demand for milk and meat has stayed high as ever. Now,goat rearing picks up again

Area under the paddy crop has gone up to more than 2 lakh acres in 6 years; private firms coming up with processing plants

Govt efforts get a boost with NABARD deciding to increase credit for dairy sector

US-returned businessman sets up modern dairy farm,shares equipment and know-how with locals

Ties up with a Japanese agency to share and transfer knowledge,experience and technologies for soybean cultivation

But things may change for one of the largest potato belts of Maharashtra this year.

Inflammable pine needles that caused forest fires are now being used as bio fuel,giving Himachal Pradesh villages a source of income

Farmers are using innovative trench technique to grow the European vegetable they call ‘jugni’,and are earning a good profit; none of them aware of its real name

Long winter,hotter summer and lack of rain take a toll on the fruit

Manipur has discovered an entirely new variety of orchid,names it Ione Kipgenii; orchid gene conservation centre has also found 24 other species new to the state

Dairy Development Board of Punjab is promoting milk substitute for better growth of calves

With demand increasing and new schemes available for farmers,mushroom farming is picking up fast in Kashmir

In Punjab’s Roopnagar district,farmers with small landholdings are shunning costly chemical fertilisers and pesticides to grow wheat,paddy,maize and vegetables,using organic methods

Orissa plans to raise per-hectare harvest from about 8 tonnes to 33 tonnes in the next decade; to plant Grand Naine banana rhizomes over 1,500 hectares

After celebrating a record wheat production,Punjab is lagging behind in paddy cultivation. According to the Department of Agriculture,the deficit is 33 per cent as of now — almost two lakh hectares less than last year

NRC-Y is encouraging Brokpas to adopt scientific methods of yak rearing; training them on product diversification for better returns

High-density planting system of non-Bt cotton varieties aims to provide farmers with a ‘low-cost,low-risk and high-yielding’ alternative

Incessant rainfall and low temperatures have already caused 60-70% crop loss,likely to breed diseases too