-The Hindu   Agriculture Department reports drop in use of fertilizer in the past two years Mysore: Ahead of a new cropping season in the district, data furnished by the Department of Agriculture here shows decline in the use of fertilizers in the last two years. According to the department, Farmers were expected to use 1.65 lakh tonnes of fertilizers, including non-urea fertilizers and urea, based on the area of cultivation in the previous...

-The Hindustan Times   Chandigarh: The government of Punjab has decided to offer a subsidy of 4,000 per acre to motivate Farmers to shift from the water-guzzling coarse rice variety (paddy) to the traditional cash crop cotton. In the crop diversification plan, the government has decided to initially support 1,500 acres in Abohar, Fazilka, Malout, Maur and Muktsar. CM Parkash Singh Badal cleared the plan on Monday. The subsidy is for purchasing hybrid...

-DNA   Farming is considered a patriotic enterprise, and nearly half of India's labour force is engaged in agriculture and allied activities. Almost everyone believes that in the election season, political parties should pledge to aid this patriotic endeavor to feed the nation. But, farming is a risky profession, and agricultural products form only 14% of India's total produce. After the economic reforms, the growth in agricultural GDP has averaged only 3.4%. Even...

-DNA   Muzaffarpur (Bihar): Some 30 kms away from Bihar's Muzaffarpur, in Moshari block, peasants sit around a common hookah at a village chaupal after an exhausting day. They sign Maithili folk songs and relating stories of Raj Kishore and Tasleemudin, legendary Naxalite leaders who took on local landlords in the 1960s. This region, along with Naxalbari in neighbouring West Bengal, was the centre of bloody clashes, forcing socialist leader Jai Prakash Narayan...

-The Hindu   PDS needs cannot be met from open market Bidar (Karnataka): The State government is forced to consider other options for procuring millets for distribution under the public distribution system (PDS) as it could not meet the requirements from open market. It is estimated that 30,000 tonnes of jowar and 25,000 tonnes of ragi are needed for distribution under the PDS along with rice every month. However, only around 14,000 tonnes of...