-The Times of India Ramesh Chand has spent over three decades in farm research and teaching agricultural economics and policy. He has now been appointed as a key member of the NITI Aayog to prepare a blueprint for the revival of the agricultural sector. In an interview to TOI, Chand talks about prices, rural distress, role of cutting edge technology and the need for state run institutions in the farm sector....

-Down to Earth Even as studies point out the use of these pesticides in food commodities, coordination gaps between concerned deparments have not been addressed In a scheme for monitoring pesticide residues in food commodities, the Ministry of Agriculture has found that 12.5 per cent of samples analysed contained non-approved pesticides. The 2014-15 annual report of the ministry's Department of Agriculture, Cooperation and Farmers Welfare contains data related to use of pesticides,...

-PTI The samples collected during 2014-15 have been analysed by 25 labs. New Delhi: In a major health hazard, the government has found residues of pesticides in a significant number of vegetables, fruits, milk and other food items collected from various retail and wholesale outlets across the country. Samples collected from organic outlets were also found having residues of pesticides. Residues of unapproved pesticides were found in 12.50 per cent of the 20,618 samples...

-Frontline As rural Karnataka reels under an unprecedented wave of suicides by farmers, the State administration looks on, unwilling to address the reasons that have rendered rural livelihoods fragile. DEATH stalks rural Karnataka. In the 41 days between July 1 and August 10, as many as 245 farmers committed suicide, an average of six a day; since April 1, 284 farmers have taken their lives. As a bewildered State government gropes...

-Livemint.com Effective policy changes at the state-level are needed as this is where the problem and its solutions lie—and not in a National Agricultural Market There have been many attempts at alleviating the pain of the farmer in India, be it natural calamities or market risks, but nothing seems to work, and the problems of farmer distress and indebtedness continue to grow. For some time now, there has been a focus...