-The Business Standard   Say waiver will vitiate the loan recovery environment Bankers have requested the Union finance ministry to convince the Andhra Pradesh government to drop its proposed farm loan waiver scheme, at a time when a rise in loans turning bad is eroding the profitability of lenders, especially state-run ones. Telugu Desam Party chief Chandrababu Naidu, who is to take the oath of office as chief minister of Andhra Pradesh on Monday,...

-The Hindu   The much-awaited Southwest Monsoon, crucial to the country's economy, is expected to hit Kerala in the next 24 hours. But whether it will be bountiful or erratic and how it will impact the agriculture sector is not known. States have been alerted to be prepared with contingency plans for kharif (paddy) sowing. "Conditions are conducive for the likely onset of monsoon in Kerala in the next 24 hours. Today (Thursday) there...

-FAO FAO publishes first global study of forest genetic resources Rome - FAO today urged countries to improve data gathering and research to promote the conservation and sustainable management of the world's forest genetic resources, which are coming under increasing pressure. According to the first-ever edition of The State of the World's Forest Genetic Resources report, half of the forest species reported as regularly utilized by countries are threatened by the conversion of...

-The Telegraph   The European Union has banned the import of Indian mangoes as they failed to pass its stringent biosecurity regulations. Does India too need tougher biosecurity laws to protect its crops from pests and diseases? When a few pesky fruit flies tried to migrate from India, they ended up sparking a debate on the effectiveness of India's agricultural biosecurity laws and regulations. While some agriculture experts believe the laws are...

-The New York Times     Small-scale farmers in the developing world, using low-tech sustainable agricultural techniques, may just hold the key to ensuring global food security, writes Andrea Stone The challenge is huge but the solution may be small, very small. Faced with global warming and a population that will swell to 9 billion by 2050, a growing number of experts say that the way to feed the masses as climate change makes...