As per July 20 figures from the Ministry of Agriculture, the overall area sown has increased by 1.7 per cent for all crops which includes cereals, oilseeds and cotton. The preliminary picture for kharif crops for seven-week period since June 1 when the monsoon ofically began, states that around 63 per cent of the normal area has been covered, an NCDEX release said here today. The area sown is a quick indicator of the likely agricultural output. To get an accurate picture, one would need...

Farmers May Further Cut Acreage 7/30/2007 4:39:00 PM ETRelated symbols: AGE Bloomberg By Shruti Date Singh July 30 (Bloomberg) -- Cotton rose to a one-week high in New York on speculation farmers will switch acres to other crops because of concern a World Trade Organization ruling may threaten U. Farmers May Further Cut Acreage 7/30/2007 4:39:00 PM ETRelated symbols: AGE Bloomberg By Shruti Date Singh July 30 (Bloomberg) -- Cotton rose to a one-week high in New York on speculation farmers...

Scientists aim to give farmers a little more breathing room in the future by breeding or genetically altering plants so that they need less water while producing the same amount of crops or more. He said company researchers are aiming to develop cotton plants that will produce as much cotton as traditional plants but with 20 percent less water. For example, Monsanto spends more than $2 million a day on breeding and genetic research to develop drought-tolerant plants, improve the quality of...

Consequently, cotton and lint production went down as well as local textiles and garments manufacturing, leading to the closure of several key industries in the sub-sector. The board's ginneries were sold to private entrepreneurs and marketing was decontrolled while prices of seed cotton were determined by supply and demand. Liberalisation opened the industry to private sector participation from production, ginning and marketing to input supply. Import liberalisation in the 1990s led to an...

By Sabihuddin Ghausi KARACHI, July 30: Textile tycoons in Karachi, Lahore and Rawalpindi wait anxiously for the much-talked about long-term textile policy as abrupt political developments and bomb blasts delay the presentation of a draft before the prime minister by Textile Minister Mushtaq Cheema. By Sabihuddin Ghausi KARACHI, July 30: Textile tycoons in Karachi, Lahore and Rawalpindi wait anxiously for the much-talked about long-term textile policy as abrupt political developments and...