-The Times of India NEW DELHI: Changiram, a farmer from Kota's Darbheeji village, had sown his four-hectare land with wheat, investing around Rs 80,000 in seeds, fertilizers and labour. He expected to earn around Rs 4 lakh. But unseasonal rains and hailstorms in March damaged more than 70% of his crop, leaving him insolvent and staring at a bleak future. Changiram's plight mirrors that of tens of thousands of farmers across the...

-India Today "The butterflies will show you the way to the farm." Farmer Sunil Gupta is not talking of mythical butterflies that will appear to guide me to the organic farm I am trying to locate amidst swathes of farmland, some lush with the standing paddy, some damaged in parts from last week's strong winds, others dotted with vegetable patches or freshly ploughed for the next crop. Can one tell an organic...

-The Hindu Reviving the Farm Income Insurance Scheme could be the best tool for small and marginal farmers to fight falling prices in an increasingly globalised marketplace. Data from the recently held National Sample Survey Organisation (NSSO) survey show that close to 60 per cent of rural households are dependent on agriculture for their livelihood. More than half of them are at risk of defaulting on their debts with either banks or...

-Frontline NAIB SINGH hanged himself a fortnight ago in the land he had been tilling for five years at Bareh village in Mansa district of Punjab. He had hoped for a successful rabi wheat crop, but unseasonal rains reduced him to further penury. The 25-year-old left behind a debt burden of Rs.10 lakh for his family. His mother, Mahinder Kaur, does not know whether to mourn her son's death or lament...

-Princeton Institute for International and Regional Studies World-renowned journalist P. Sainath has returned to Princeton to teach two courses, beginning this week, in the Program for South Asian Studies. The former rural affairs editor of The Hindu and award-winning "reporter" - he prefers the term to journalist - has devoted his career to telling the stories of India, uncovering the truth of social problems, rural affairs, poverty and the aftermath of...