The 50-year-old farmer knew from experience that his onion crop was doomed when torrential rains pounded his fields throughout September, a month when the Indian monsoon normally peters out. For lack of modern agricultural systems in this part of rural India, his land does not have adequate drainage trenches, and he has no safe, dry place to store onions. The farmer, Arun Namder Talele, said he lost 70 percent of...

torrential rain over the past two weeks has damaged 20 per cent of the standing crops, and the loss has been estimated at Rs. 500 crore. Minister for Agriculture Umesh Katti told presspersons here on Thursday that crops about to be harvested were damaged in Chitradurga, Kodagu, Haveri, Shimoga, Chikmagalur, Mandya, Hassan, Gadag, Belgaum and Chickballapur districts. Crops such as jowar, paddy, maize, ragi and potato were damaged extensively in some...

The number of people killed in flooding caused by heavy rains across southern India continues to rise, with more than 200 confirmed dead, officials say. Millions of people have been left homeless in the Indian states of Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh as entire villages have been swept away. Rainfall has eased in the worst affected state of Karnataka but many farms have been destroyed. Officials say billions of dollars are needed...

Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh battled the fury of continued torrential rains and surging floodwaters Saturday, which claimed 194 lives and indundated vast swathes of land, rendering lakhs of people homeless. Rescue efforts were intensified, with troops backed by Indian Air Force helicopters shifting marooned people in both states to safer areas. While 161 people perished in the heavy rains that battered 15 districts of Karnataka, 33 people were killed in neighbouring Andhra...