-Down to Earth Poor policy measures, rising input costs and limited market are affecting growth of organic farming in the country. India is home to 30 per cent of the total organic producers in the world, but accounts for just 2.59 per cent (1.5 million hectares) of the total organic cultivation area of 57.8 million hectares, according to the World of Organic Agriculture 2018 report. At the same time, most organic farmers are...

-Down to Earth Monsoon ditched them so bad that they stare at lowest rain deficit in 13 years This year, the north-eastern region of India has been witness to a series of weather anomalies. According to the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD), the eastern and north-eastern regions have together received 31 per cent less rainfall than normal in this south-west monsoon (SWM) season as on July 25, 2018. If the scenario does not...

-Down to Earth So far, rainfall in the Indo-Gangetic plain has remained deficient, with last week recording largely deficient rain Monsoon is yet to smile upon the states in the Indo-Gangetic plain, almost 45 days after it reached the country. States such as Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Punjab and Haryana recorded deficient rain (20-59 per cent below normal) from June 1 to July 11. Last week, between July 5-11, Haryana,...

-Down to Earth While the Modi cabinet claims that land rent is included, calculations suggest otherwise The Narendra Modi cabinet made a big ticket announcement of increasing the minimum support price (MSP) of 14 kharif crops on Wednesday (July 4). Farmer agitations all across the country in the past few months have been focused on demanding that MSP be increased so it is at par with 1.5 times the cost of...

-Down to Earth Much of the groundwater in Malwa, Punjab has chemicals exceeding permissible limits, putting children at risk of a blood disorder Groundwater in Malwa region of Punjab is unfit for drinking and irrigation, according to a study published recently in the Arabian Journal of Geosciences, the official journal of the Saudi Society for Geosciences. The study also warns that children in the region are highly vulnerable to methemoglobinemia, a blood...