-Deccan Herald A novel technology-aided crop protection programme helps Farmers in Raichur combat pests and diseases. M A Siraj reveals the secret behind the healthy produce in Raichur. Information Technology (IT) is no longer the exclusive preserve of the city folk. It is making subtle inroads into farming communities of Karnataka. Those who saw the elitist bias in IT would be better off making amends if they thought an e-future only a...

-Outlook Muzaffarnagar (UP): A debt ridden farmer in Atrohana village in the district has allegedly committed suicide by shooting himself at his house, police said. Sanjay Tyagi (48), was depressed over the mounting debts that he had taken from a bank and as the bank officials were pressuring him to pay back the loan, yesterday he took to the extreme step, they said. The body has been sent for postmortem. Meanwhile, block secretary of...

-Outlook Jammu: Agriculture and Rural development bank Nabard today called for farmer-friendly policies and increase in investments to give boost to the agriculture sector in Jammu and Kashmir, which is the mainstay of the state. Asserting that nothing much has been done by the respective government after the land-to-tiller mega decision of former Chief Minister Sheikh Mohmmad Abdullah, a senior Nabard official said that there was a need for carrying forward the...

-The Week A revolutionary farming system is working wonders in Nalanda district Nalanda: If not for an agricultural technique known as SRI (system of rice intensification), Sumant Kumar of Darveshpura in Bihar's Nalanda district would have remained a faceless farmer. In 2012, with the help of the state agriculture department, he tried out SRI on an acre that usually bore only modest yields. It worked, and Sumant got a bumper harvest. An...

-The Hindustan Times Misunderstandings about the World Trade Organization (WTO) are pervasive. The media coverage of the recent WTO meetings at Bali has added to the confusion. The bone of contention was the government procurement of the food grains in India under the National Food Security Act. The final outcome is a stopgap arrangement that has bought the Indian government some time; most importantly, it does not have to undertake any...