UNION MINISTER Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Friday announced that the Agriculture Ministry will launch a month-long campaign — ‘Khet Bachao Abhiyan’ — from June 1 to promote balanced use of fertilisers and encourage natural farming practices among farmers across the country. The announcement was made on the concluding day of the two-day National Kharif Conference, attended by agriculture ministers from 20 states. Gujarat Governor Acharya Devvrat, who is known for practising and advocating natural farming, gave a presentation on fertilisers and natural farming at the conference — perhaps the first occasion when a state Governor participated in the programme.

Austerity Mode

THE KRISHI Bhawan, which houses offices of several ministries such as Agriculture, Food, Rural Development, Fisheries & Animal Husbandry and Panchayati Raj, has switched to energy-saving mode following PM Narendra Modi’s appeal to reduce fuel consumption and conserve energy.…