With an average off-take of 2.8 lakh tonnes a month at the public distribution system, the stock will last for three-four months, says an official of the Tamil Nadu Civil Supplies Corporation, which looks after paddy procurement. This apart, agricultural workers are not available, a majority of them having migrated to the city for other employment. Samba procurement is almost over in the delta districts of Thanjavur, Tiruvarur and Nagapattinam, with direct purchase centres getting less...

Rice farmers were also able to take more time because of dry conditions and laser level their fields and use their tractors to prepare fields. If a farmer needs to plant quickly because of the weather, quality of rice could be lost when fields are also harvested quickly. In some years -- such as last year -- late rains in the season meant growers had to cut corners on field preparation and hustle to get their seed in the ground. In some years there is such a rush to get the crop into the...

Under the OVOP in Malawi, launched in 2003, some rural communities have set up a village food processing plant to produce jams, fresh juices, cassava bread and soya oil, or cooperatives that grow oyster mushrooms, while others have focused on products made from plants found in their area, such as baobab trees, or are even growing rice. A Japanese concept to help villages in Malawi focus their efforts on producing and marketing a single product has turned around the lives of rural dwellers....

He says rice is becoming a staple food in the country and its important the government encourage farmers to grow the crop locally instead of importing it. The Solomon Islands government and an advertising agency have provided equipment for some rice farmers. Sols government and an advertising agency provide equipment for rice farmers. PNG police minister warns cops against accepting favours from election candidates. India's post-coup Fiji stance labelled opportunistic. The Voice of New...

On its part, the government has decided to continue with its policy to rein in the rising prices through fiscal measures and import of food articles to ease the supply-side crunch. However, the government may have to do some tightrope walking as the wholesale prices of food articles, fuel, power and manufactured goods continued to rule firm. Although the fall in prices of some food articles such as moong, barley and sugar, among others, have come as a relief for consumers, staple...