It is difficult to practice organic farming in France as our farms are large, manpower is limited, and our farming is mechanised farming. Moreover, the consumption of vegetables in our country is low. That’s why, we enjoyed our training period in India ... in Pune. And we tasted guavas and papayas for the first time in our life and that too organically grown!”   This is the reaction of four undergraduate students from France who were in Pune for the last two weeks to study organic farming here, as a part of their academic curriculum.   The four second-year students from an agro-development engineering school in Cergy in France visited organic farms in village Salo Malo in Pargaon taluka in Pune district. “It was truly a learning experience for us,” said Gonzague Pelenc, , Emilie Repplinger, Coralie LeRoux and Maxime Malet after getting to actually work in the farm.   “Organic farming was entirely new for me, as we do not have it in our country.

It is difficult to practice organic farming in France as our farms are large, manpower is limited, and our farming is mechanised farming. Moreover, the consumption of vegetables in our country is low. That’s why, we enjoyed our training period in India ... in Pune. And we tasted guavas and papayas for the first time in our life and that too organically grown!”   This is the reaction of four undergraduate students from France who were in Pune for the last two weeks to study organic farming here, as a part of their academic curriculum.   The four second-year students from an agro-development engineering school in Cergy in France visited organic farms in village Salo Malo in Pargaon taluka in Pune district. “It was truly a learning experience for us,” said Gonzague Pelenc, , Emilie Repplinger, Coralie LeRoux and Maxime Malet after getting to actually work in the farm.   “Organic farming was entirely new for me, as we do not have it in our country.

MUMBAI: The Maharashtra Government has decided to fund educational expenses of children from over four lakh farmers' families facing financial troubles, in six Vidarbha districts.   "With a view to encourage the children of farmers to complete education, the government has sanctioned Rs 14.18 crore for their educational expenses by choosing 4,34,291 families in Vidarbha who are facing extreme financial crisis", a senior official from School Education Department told PTI. The students of standard I to XII from Amaravati, Akola, Yavatmal, Buldana, Washim and Wardha districts would get complete fee waiver, and Rs 500 per year to purchase textbooks, notebooks and other educational material apart from the regular scholarships, the official said.   The initiative has been taken after the Narendra Jadhav panel appointed by the government in 2007 to probe the farmers' suicides, recommended to provide educational facilities to the children of the farmers in suicide-prone areas.

Father of green revolution, MS Swaminathan has outlined the importance of integrated rural farming to improve the status of farmers and said that it is they who hold the key to food security of the nation. He was speaking at the 43rd Foundation Day of BAIF.   Speaking about the green revolution in which farmers from Punjab were in the forefront, Swaminathan said that there needs to be an ‘evergreen’ revolution by farmers who are responsible for guarding our seed sovereignty by preserving traditional seeds.   Referring to the National Food Security Bill, the panel for which is headed by UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi, Swaminathan said that the nation is slowly moving from a charity-based approach to rights-based approach.   It is the farmers who can give the citizens the right to food, and the food security of the nation lies in their hands.

NEW DELHI: The Lok Sabha was adjourned till noon Monday following protests by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Samajwadi Party members against the killing of two farmers in police firing in Uttar Pradesh's Mathura district.   Soon after the house assembled, the opposition members moved towards Speaker Meira Kumar's podium and raised the issue, shouting slogans against the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) government in Uttar Pradesh.   The speaker then adjourned the house till noon.   Two people were killed when police fired at farmers protesting inadequate compensation against acquisition of land in an area bordering Aligarh and Mathura districts. Land had been acquired for the 165-km long Yamuna expressway between Noida and Agra.