-The Hindu Findings of study carried out in the Arkavathy sub-basin. Despite water crisis, farmers in villages around the Arkavathy sub-basin have been growing water intensive crops, according to a study by Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and the Environment (ATREE) published in the journal Irrigation and Drainage. The study, 'Adapting or Chasing Water? Crop Choice and Farmers; Responses to Water Stress in peri?urban Bangalore’, was a part of an extensive socio-hydrological...

-Livemint.com Merely putting the labour component of other projects in MGNREGA may not lead to any value addition There are several studies and reports that clearly show that the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) has accomplished its objectives to a large extent. Initially, this Government derided the programme as some kind of a dole—but it later acknowledged its role in rural development, if reluctantly. The chief ministers’ council in...

-Business Standard The total kharif crop acreage in UP now stands at more than 9 Mn Ha, including 6 Mn Ha of paddy and 1.7 Mn Ha of pulses Lucknow: Bountiful rainfall in arid Bundelkhand region of Uttar Pradesh has not only ended the drought spell of previous years but has also translated into the kharif acreage rising by almost 50,000 hectares this year. The area under different kharif (summer) crops across 7...

-The Indian Express It is important to evaluate the consequences of the Centre’s agriculture policy. With elections around the corner, it’s too late for a course correction of the farm sector, but it’s an opportune time to document the unintended consequences of half-baked policies for the next five years. Otherwise, the momentum of existing policies will continue to feed rural economic misery. Agriculture GDP growth plummeted just as India’s agricultural trade surplus,...

-PTI The letter invited the Japanese Ambassador to Gujarat for understanding the farmers' plight. Ahmedabad Farmers in Gujarat whose lands will be acquired for the Mumbai-Ahmedabad Bullet train have written to the Japan Government, alleging violation of the guidelines of the Japanese agency which is funding the project. The letter sent by the farmers asked the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), which is providing a soft loan for the Rs 1.10 lakh...