-The Economic Times   The latest forecast of the Met office suggesting a weakening of the south-west monsoon during the second half of the monsoon season is not cause for panic. It is the distribution of rainfall across space and time rather than the aggregate percentages that matter for the farm sector. The good news is that both the spatial and temporal distribution of rainfall has been satisfactory so far. A good reservoir...

Days after it was made public, the new land acquisition bill is facing resistance. While farmer’s unions and civil society groups want more — permanent rights over land,  even in case of a take over, prior consent of people even for public projects, state agencies and developers are unhappy over the restrictive nature of the bill. "As farmers, we would not like to part with our land but if required in larger...

-The Hindu   The Coalition for GM-Free India has expressed concern over the way field trials for genetically modified crops and seed production were being allowed in the State. At a national meet here, the Coalition wanted the government to disallow these trials as was done by States like Bihar, Orissa, Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala and Chhattisgarh. Cautioning against any move to revoke the requirement of State's no objection certificate (NOC) for any...

-The Deccan Herald   Agriculture Minister Umesh Katti has declared that the Government will not allow trials of genetically modified (GM) crops in the State. Speaking to reporters on Wednesday in Bangalore, the Minister said Karnataka had opposed Bt brinjal, and if media reports on Bt maize and Bt paddy trials in Bijapur and Koppal were true, the Government would oppose them as well. Katti said the State is firmly opposed to testing, research...

-The Hindu   The longstanding demand to correct anomalies in the Land Acquisition Act (1894) and check its misuse, and the impending Uttar Pradesh Assembly election have compelled the United Progressive Alliance government to come up with a much-improved piece of legislation. In speedily reshaping the proposed Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Bill, which has been placed in the public domain as part of a pre-legislative consultative process, Jairam Ramesh, the new...