-The Hindu   Agriculture is a profession of patience. Apart from the time, labour and financial investment, passion is an important attribute to be successful. "An optimistic attitude is what sets successful farmers apart from the usual herd. Because a method might fail once, twice or even several times, but the grit and determination to continue trying the same can prove to be rewarding after some time. Mr. C. Jayakumar a jamun grower...

-Mail Today   New Delhi: And this dread scenario could well unfold, with the Met prediction of a below-normal monsoon on Monday being underlined by Earth Sciences Minister Jitendra Singh who admitted that the forecast is of below-average rainfall. Precipitation in the June-September period is expected to be between 90 and 96 per cent of the long-term average, added the minister. What he didn't say was that the India Meteorological Department...

-The Times of India   NEW DELHI: Plants make food from carbon dioxide in the air, using energy from sunlight. So, if carbon dioxide levels in the air are going up due to climate change, plants should be making more food, right? Wrong, says a new study published last week in the science journal Nature. According to the study conducted by a team of US, Australian and Japanese scientists, carbon dioxide emissions are...

-The Hindu Business Line     A set of technologies that deals with production and marketing constraints can work wonders Indian agriculture faces herculean challenges today; yet, the near- and the medium-term outlook on agriculture and agri-businesses seem bright. Growing urbanisation and changing food habits, malnutrition plus declining areas under foodgrain pose a big threat to food security. Agriculture and food production are strongly influenced by international trade, credit availability, development co-operation, climate change and environmental...

-Down to Earth   District known for farmers' suicides has shallow soil depth which has very little capacity to retain water; report recommends switch to traditional millets, oilseeds Around half of the soil in Yavatmal district of Maharashtra, known both for suicides and for Bt cotton, is unsuitable for cotton cultivation, says a recent report from the National Bureau of Soil Survey and Land Use Planning (NBSS & LUP) at Nagpur. The report,...