-The Telegraph   Bottle gourd shells, used to make traditional musical instruments like sitar and tanpura, are no longer grown by the farmers in Howrah, reports Amrita Ghosh West Bengal: Its not without reason that "shader lau..." is the most popular folk song in parts of rural Bengal, including Howrah. "Lau" or bottle gourd, as the folk song goes, turns a man into a vagrant as he eats its base and its top...

-MoneyLife.in India, the world's second largest food producer, is witnessing growing distress and declining confidence in agriculture as most small and landless farmers, with less of a stake, are found to quit farming The recent unseasonal heavy rains, thunder and hailstorms originating from unusually intense western disturbances from the Mediterranean interacting with the south-easterly winds from the Bay of Bengal have ravaged the due-for-harvesting chana, lentils and wheat in Madhya Pradesh,...

-The Hindu   Despite having Dhamanguda minor irrigation project, they could not access water from it Adilabad (Andhra Pradesh): Politicians are not the popular lot among the poor Adivasi voters holding the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) job cards in Adilabad district. As they feel that political leaders are responsible for their present pitiable state of utter poverty. "It's been ten years since the Dhamanguda minor irrigation was built, but we...

-The Business Standard Industry can lead in saving precious drops The bad news on water is known to experts, but not perhaps to most Indians. By some estimates, India will become water scarce in just about five years, and be a massive 50 per cent short on water in another 10. The country, therefore, needs to find better ways to use water. Is India Inc, in particular, thinking about this problem? The...

-Deccan Herald Mangalore: As the fish production in the country is not proportionate to its demand, there is a need to boost fish production and develop strategies for bridging the yield gap in fisheries and aquaculture, said Dr C Vasudevappa, Vice Chancellor, University of Agriculture and Horticultural Sciences, Shimoga. There is a need to enhance the production by tapping the water resources in the form of reservoirs and tanks. Speaking at...