Growing specialty crops is the perfect way to turn your gardening skills and knowledge into extra income.

Unlike commonly grown crops like grain and vegetables, specialty crops are not widely grown and bring higher prices for growers. It’s not unusual to find growers earning as much as $60,000 per acre with these unique cash crops.

All of the 10 specialty crops listed in this article are easy to grow and produce above average income from a small plot of land. Best of all, most of them can be grown without working full-time. If you can spare just a few hours a week, and a few hundred dollars for seeds or seedlings and supplies, you can grow any one of these profitable plants. Here are ten specialty crops worth growing:

1. Lavender. Lavender farming can produce above-average profits for small growers, as it is such a versatile crop. The fresh flowers are sold in bundles or used for lavender oil. The flowers are also easy to dry, for sales to florists and crafters to make wreaths and floral arrangements. Lavender is also used to make value-added products such as sachets, herbal pillows, aromatherapy products and skin care products like soap. That’s the charm of growing lavender…nothing is wasted.

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NGT dissatisfied with reply of ministry in water pollution case

SRIGANGANAGAR  / Not satisfied with the reply of the Forest and Environment Ministry on the subject of continuous water pollution in the canals of Rajasthan by Punjab, the National Green Tribunal (NGT) had summoned the department secretary to appear in the court. Accordingly, Rashid Hussain, joint secretary appeared before the NGT on behalf of the Forest and Environment Ministry and said that the post of the chairman had been lying vacant since long. He further said that the process of appointing a new chairman had been completed but the opposition party was challenging the appointment in the court. 

Although, the dispute is now settled said the joint secretary later. However, the tribunal did not agree with this contention and directed Hussain to fill the vacant post of the chairman before January 13, which is the next date of the hearing. The tribunal also inter alia directed the ministry to file a “better affidavit” clearly mentioning as to how and when would they take remedial steps to check and control continuous water pollution by Punjab. During the previous hearing, the legal advisor of the Central Pollution Control Board submitted his reply which did not satisfy the NGT. As the board failed to present its case satisfactorily, the NGT summoned the secretary of the ministry to submit a reply. It is believed that this assertive action by NGT will speed up the case. 

During the hearing of this case, Manish Meena, councillor for petitioners, zila pramukh Shobha Dudi, up-zila pramukh Shabnam Godara , former upzila pramukh Hanumangarh Panchayat Samiti, Rajendra Prasad said that in Punjab, chemical industrial waste which is dangerous to human life gets mixed in large quantities in the Sutlej and Vyas rivers, which are a source of water supply for the other rivers of Rajasthan. In Kala Sanghia, Phagwara, and Budda drains, industrial waste of leather and other industries and filthy sewage water of over a dozen cities are thrown into rivers which are hazardous for about two crore inhabitants living in Hanumangarh, Sriganganagar, Churu,

Modi returns after Nepal visit

New Delhi / Prime Minister Narendra Modi returned late on Thursday night after a three-day visit to Nepal. In Nepal, he held bilateral talks with the Nepali leadership during which some agreements were inked. He also attended the two-day 18th SAARC Summit that concluded Thursday. He attended a banquet dinner hosted by Nepal President Ram Baran Yadav before emplaning for New Delhi.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi held talks with Nepal Prime Minister Sushil Koirala on key strategic issues. Both India and Nepal agreed to sign 10 agreements, which includes a pact on USD 1 billion assistance to Nepal. A number of issues were discussed, that included defence and security. The meeting between Modi and Koirala lasted for nearly more than half hour. Speaking on the bilateral ties, Narendra Modi said, “When we trust each other, we can move forward very quickly.”

India and Nepal today signed the Motor Vehicle Agreement under which permit would be given to vehicles to ply on designated routes in each other’s country. They also inked three twin-city pacts between Kathmandu-Varanasi, Janakpur-Ayodhya and Lumbini-Bodh Gaya. The 10 agreements signed between the two countries include, MoU on training at Nepal Police Academy, MoU on Tourism, MoU Traditional Medicines and MoU on Youth Exchange. A MoU was also signed on a project development agreement over the 900 megawatt hydro-electric project on the Arun river in Nepal.

Vasan Revives TMC in TN

TIRUCHIRAPPALLI (TN): Over a decade after its merger with parent party, G K Moopanar founded Tamil Maanila Congress (TMC) was today revived by his son and former Union Minister G K Vasan, weeks after he quit the Congress.        

"Our aim is to ensure a prosperous Tamil Nadu and a strong India.  And to achieve this aim, and with the blessings of (veteran leader late K) Kamaraj, we are today reviving Tamil Maanila Congress founded by Moopanar," he declared emphatically at a public rally here.   

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App donates to charity every time you hit snooze

This app called iCukoo takes the guilt out of endlessly snoozing your morning alarm clock. It turns perpetual laziness into a good thing. Every time you hit snooze on your morning alarm, iCukoo donates money to charity. Finally you can feel you're doing something worthwhile when lazing in bed realising your train is in ten minutes and you haven't made a packed lunch yet...What is it? An alarm clock app that lets you donate money to charity. How does it work? The app lets you choose the charity you wish to donate to, the length and interval time of your snooze, and the amount you wish to give 'per snooze'.If you snooze the alarm the app takes note. When your snoozes have added up to £1 it will text you asking if you want to donate that amount or let more snoozes accrue. iCukoo is currently only available on the App Store but is coming to Android soon.

This unique invention lets you sleep where you want

A New York student - who loves a nap - created this wearable piece of material to sleep in. 

I f you've ever felt like a quick power nap during the daytime then before you finish writing your Christmas wish list you might want to see this. A New York student has come up with a novel idea that allows people to sleep where they want. Simply lift the Nutshell over your head like an extra large hood, and cocoon yourself in the comfort of your own portable sleeping pod. It's as simple as it sounds and if Eden Lew has her way, she's going to become rich from the idea.

The eccentric inventor explained how she came up with the concept when she was thinking about food - or eating slowly. She said: "I threw out a sandwich wrapper and began to think about topics related to food, lunch and time. "A fellow classmate introduced me to the Slow Food movement, which I started to interpret a little differently. "As a student I'm always looking for the quickest meal to avoid stopping my workflow.

I decided that if I'm going to spend five minutes or less eating a lunch, then I might as well use that five minutes to take a mental break. "Thus the Nutshell was created to block out distractions and to focus on eating and thinking." Simple really.