-Hindustan Times In August this year, whiteflies -- a notorious pest -- bumbled through vast tracts of Punjab’s Cotton fields, destroying a sizeable chunk of the crop in the state. These insects, which slurp on juicy, tender bolls, seemed to have inflicted heavy losses, sparking a serious farm crisis in India’s agricultural powerhouse in a decade. A back-to-back drought meant farmers grew more Cotton, a hardy crop that requires less water to...

-The Times of India BATHINDA: "It was just like the Japanese air strike in the film, Pearl Harbour," said Naresh Kumar Lehri, a seed and pesticide dealer at Singho village in Punjab's Bathinda district. "They appeared out of nowhere and left a trail of destruction." Lehri was referring to the devastating attack by whitefly, a common pest, on the Cotton crop in Punjab's Malwa region this year. It has affected about two-thirds...

-The New Indian Express MYSURU: His origins speak of hardship and hard work. Farmer Puttaiah, son of a bonded labourer, who has been invited by the state government to inaugurate Dasara festivities, is, however in the limelight today as he has been a symbol of self-sufficiency and hope for fellow farmers. Of his childhood, Puttaiah says, “My father Karaiah, a bonded labourer, worked for Rs 100 per annum with landlords in K...

-The Hindu YADGIR (Karnataka): It looks like Narasappa Kotriki has pulled a rabbit out of his hat. The marginal farmer from Tipadampalli village in Yadgir district, who suffered crop loss, has found rearing rabbits quite profitable. When he fell into bad times, he purchased 100 rabbits (70 male and 30 female) with Rs 1.2 lakh. He spent another Rs. 2.8 lakh for other infrastructure — cages for the rabbits and a shed...

-Business Standard India’s growth in agriculture and allied activities has struggled to reach the targeted four per cent average a year in the first three years of the 12th five-year Plan because of a host of factors. The below-average farm growth is widely expected to deepen the crisis in the farm sector. In an interview with Sanjeeb Mukherjee, newly-appointed member of NITI Aayog and eminent agriculture economist Ramesh Chand  said over-reliance...