-The Free Press Journal Mumbai: Drinking water is an over exploited source for Cultivation of cash crops like sugarcane and BT Cotton, which has added fuel to the fire of the agrarian crisis in the state. Hence these crops need to be banned and replaced with food crops like oil seeds, pulses, maize and sorghum; this needs to be supported with state incentive and price protection, a state government task force...

-The Hindu Swathes of land lie unused; peasants migrate or take their own lives as the crippling water crisis shatters their hopes. BUNDELKHAND: On the night on March 27, Musru Prajapati was up as usual, keeping vigil in his field at Khurhand village in Banda, Uttar Pradesh. Three consecutive droughts, with bouts of hailstorms and unseasonal rains, had dented his morale. He wanted to defend whatever little crop he managed to grow...

-The Hindu Business Line The only way this story of the Indian farmer will change is if policymakers ensure better remuneration for them The peasant (in India) is born in debt, lives in debt, dies in debt and bequeaths debt. This is what Sir Malcolm Darling, a famous British researcher and writer, wrote in 1925 after studying the condition of undivided Punjab’s peasants. Had Darling been alive today he would have rephrased his...

-CivilSocietyOnline.com Bhubaneswar: Basanti Bhoi cultivates two gardens of betel leaves all by herself at Dhanahara village  in Odisha. A year or two ago, a woman farming betel leaves would have been unthinkable. An age-old tradition barred women from entering betel enclosures. But today women in the district can grow betel leaves and work as labour in a betel garden. It is a social revolution brought about by Radio Kisan, a community radio...

-TheHansIndia.com * Excessive use of chemical fertilisers on vegetables and fruits is causing cancer to the consumers * 4,500 farmers are cultivatingin 15,000 acres in organic zones of 10 clusters in 8 mandals Raptadu (Anantapur): The district is in for a major organic revolution with the department of Agriculture taking the lead and initiative to wean away farmers from excessive use of fertilisers and pesticides and the disastrous effects of chemical residues on...