-IBNLive.in New Delhi: Expressing concern over the poor plight of farmers, Rural Development Minister Nitin Gadkari on Wednesday urged them to grow crops other than wheat and rice to come out of poverty. Farmers can earn more if they have diversification in crops that can be used for manufacturing ethanol, electricity, bio-gas among other products, he said. "Today, farmers' situation is very bad. We cannot get our farmers out of poverty if...

-The Hindu High tension electricity towers installed in fields render the land partially useless Hyderabad (Telengana): Mohd Burhan, a small farmer, is faced with a piquant situation. He has to marry off his daughter and all he has is a piece of land to meet the expenditure. Well, he is prepared to sell away his 10 guntas situated at Ibrahimpally near Chevella for the marriage. But there are simply no takers. A few...

-The Week Manorama Online Broken hearts float down the Bhakra Main Line canal. Broken by the endless struggle with the land, with the weather, with the creditor. Broken by broken promises, broken by the honour they lost, broken enough to kill themselves. And, at the sluice gate at Khanauri village they slow down, looking up with unseeing eyes. And, from the bridge across the canal, the beating hearts they broke look...

-The Business Standard Monsoon revival saves standing crop but fails to fill drinking water wells, triggering acute shortage in some areas Jhunjhunu/Nawalgarh: Just opposite the highway leading to the Jhunjhunu district headquarters lies the hamlet of Pratappura. It is indistinguishable from the thousands of small dwellings that dot the countryside, but for the chasm between the upper and lower castes in this Jat-dominated area. The divide has widened after the sole source...

-The Economic Times None of the standard explanations quite explain the rise in food prices India has seen: pronounced since 2006 and alarming after 2010. Drought and poor rains? The country has seen good aggregate rainfall in most of those years. Spike in global prices? Those were high in 2007-08, not now. Fragmented value chains that allow middlemen to grab large margins? The value chain has always been fragmented. Growth has slowed...