-Financial Express Water resources minister Nitin Gadkari said on Thursday it was practically difficult for sugarcane farmers in Maharashtra to abandon the water-guzzling crop and shift to other crops, as the latter are less remunerative. “I ask as a farmer. I will not undertake the sugarcane crop, you tell me what should I do…. The price of non-basmati rice is `13-14 per kg, which is peanuts and look at the price (escalation)...

-Livemint.com Currently water guzzling crops like paddy and sugarcane, which use up to 60% of available irrigation water, are cultivated in some of the most water scarce regions in the country, says the study New Delhi: India needs to realign regional cropping patterns with available water resources to ensure future sustainability of food production, a study released on Thursday said. Currently water guzzling crops like paddy and sugarcane, which use up to...

-Business Standard Nabard-Icrier study calls for moving high-water reliant crops like sugarcane in Maharashtra, rice in Punjab to other areas; Gadkari says not possible. With India staring at a looming water crisis, a new study on ‘water productivity mapping of major crops’ has called for putting a price on water used for irrigation to at least recover operating and maintenance costs of structures like canals. It has also called for an end...

-TheWire.in Pesticide poisoning is the leading method of suicide among both men and women in the country. It is also the method that is easiest to prevent – by banning and removing highly hazardous ones from agricultural practice through legislation. The ban on highly hazardous pesticides (HHPs) currently being discussed in India will not only protect the environment and improve the public health but will also achieve another rarely acknowledged goal –...

-Newsclick.in A fact check reveals the reality behind jaw dropping ‘achievements’ claimed by the BJP govt. in UP in full front-page ads in national dailies. On 13 June, Yogi Adityanath’s BJP govt. of Uttar Pradesh issued costly full page advertisements in national dailies with a slew of claims about how agriculture in the state has achieved unprecedented heights under the one-year old govt. the ads, adorned with smiling faces of Prime Minister...