When I met organic farmer John Fennessy, who has been cultivating his farm at Sulekunte, Bangalore, for the past three years, I felt I was learning a valuable lesson in life. Having sold some of the first produce from his four-acre farm ‘Hamsa' at the Flea Market recently held at Jaaga, a proud John shared some very insightful thoughts about life as an organic farmer .“I believe we must, as responsible...

Safar Ali Mollah, 18, a paddy farmer, committed suicide by drinking pesticide at Kalitikuri village under Bhatar police station area on Friday night. Only three days ago, Bhabani Porel (45), paddy farmer of Chanduli village under Burdwan Sadar Police Station area committed suicide by hanging from a tree. Safar was unable to sell paddy crop at the Minimum Support Price (MSP) stipulated by the state government which landed him in a...

Sehal Sagar village in Rajasthan has won the national water award instituted by the water resources ministry Nestled in Rajasthan’s bone-dry Tonk district, Sehal Sagar village boasts of lush green fields, wells full to the brim and healthy cattle. The surprise transformation has been possible because the village follows rainwater harvesting and develops its pasture land. Sehal Sagar has an elaborate network of ponds, canals and chaukas which ensure that every drop...

-The Hindu   MSSRF signs MoU with Marg Limited Food inflation could not be tackled in a generic way but has to be broken down and examined commodity by commodity, said M.S. Swaminathan, agricultural scientist. After signing MoU with Marg Limited on a partnership to provide knowledge connectivity to empower rural communities, Prof. Swaminathan said it was the price of vegetables, pulses, oil seeds, potatoes, onions and fruits that were climbing up and not...

-The Sentinel Assam   Cluster of villages across Barak Valley have been threatened by erosions of various rivers crisscrossing the zone. A good number of villages have been completely or partially wiped out by the swirling and surging waters of Barak, in particular, during heavy floods. Reports about the fate of such villages have appeared in the media time to time and continue to hit the headlines. The state government and its...