-Down to Earth As allegedly fake pesticides prove ineffective in controlling pests, farmers resort to indiscriminate spraying After a series of farmer suicides in Odisha’s Bargarh district over pest attack, the state government finally acknowledged that there are nearly 200,000 hectares of area, on which paddy is grown, has been damaged across nine districts. According to farmers, spurious pesticides were in use which proved ineffective to control Brown Plant Hopper, which first...

-The Indian Express The transition from a regime of ‘downward stickiness’ to ‘upward stickiness’ has relevance beyond economic jargon. Here’s how Agricultural commodity prices in India have traditionally exhibited what economists call “downward stickiness” — resistance to any declines, while rising at the slightest demand-supply imbalance. That conventional wisdom may have been turned on its head by demonetisation. The tendency now is for prices to be increasingly “sticky upward”. The accompanying table (right)...

-ThePrint.in From mixing the stubble into soil, to making manure and use in the packaging industry, there are a lot of ways in which the problem of stubble burning can be solved. North-west India is currently in the grips of a poisonous smog, produced by farmers through paddy straw and stubble burning. The smog is affecting the germination and growth of crops, as well has having a harmful effect on human health. Farmers...

-Livemint.com Cash scarcity led to a spike in digital payments post demonetisation, but the trend reversed as remonetisation picked up pace New Delhi: Soon after demonetisation was announced on 8 November last year, it was projected as part of a broader push towards a cashless economy. Several ministers and government officials claimed that this would nudge Indians to rely on non-cash or digital payments. In the weeks and months following demonetisation, digital payments...

-The Financial Express Air pollution in Delhi has reached extremely hazardous levels, with grave health consequences. Blame has been pinned on paddy stubble burning in neighbouring states of Haryana and Punjab – in fact, it is one of the main causes for the dangerous air quality index levels in the national capital and surrounding areas. This usually happens ahead of the winter season. Stubble burning is essentially a common practice followed...