Date:22/03/2005 URL: http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2005/03/22/stories/2005032201001000.htm

Back Ray of hope

Parth Sanyal

An aged farmer checking the quality of the sunflower seeds on his farm at Falta in West Bengal's South 24 Paraganas district, 60 km from Kolkata. The Union Government's policy of crop diversification has begun to pay dividends with more farmers taking to cultivation of oilseeds, mainly due to higher minimum support prices for crops such as sunflower. This year, sunflower production has been projected at 15.2 lakh tonnes against 12.1 lakh tonnes last year.