-The Telegraph New Delhi: A month has gone by since the Supreme Court issued directions to tackle drought but it is "business as usual" for the Centre and the affected states, civil society organisations have said. Worse, government intervention is even less than what it used to be in colonial times, they said. A quarter of the country is drought-hit at present. On May 11, the apex court had pronounced the Centre guilty...

-Business Standard Large green patches, apart from recorded forests, to get protection. Clarity to help industry In a move that is expected to have far-reaching consequences for protection of forests while ensuring ease of doing business for mining sector, realty sector and industry, the Union environment ministry has defined what constitutes a forest under the Forest Conservation Act 1980 (FCA). The legal definition, pending since 2006, will help in identifying areas where development...

-TheWire.in Agriculture in the state needs a new paradigm, one that acknowledges the scarcity of interlinked resources and the costs of their use. Recently, experts from Punjab Agricultural University advised farmers in the state to reduce the area taken up by the cultivation of basmati, predicting a crash in basmati prices due to huge carryover stock. Last year, the state produced 18 million tonnes of paddy and contributed a record 9.4 million...

-Hindustan Times The government could move away from large hikes in support prices for farmers, agriculture minister Radha Mohan Singh hinted on Wednesday, signalling a key farm policy shift aimed at rationalising subsidies and taming inflation. The minister said some people thought the “only way to shore up farmer income is through minimum support prices”. “Wrong. This alone won’t do unless farmers diversify their activities into livestock, kitchen gardens, fishery etc. That’s our...

-Livemint.com New Delhi: Back from a walk through drought-affected parts of the country, Yogendra Yadav, political scientist and co-founder of non-profit Swaraj Abhiyan, speaks on state compliance of Supreme Court orders, a booming private water market in Marathwada, and why farmer movements are weakest at a time when agrarian distress is at its peak. Edited excerpts from an interview: * You just came back from a trip to Bundelkhand and Marathwada. What...