-The Times of India NEW DELHI: India is likely to have the highest ever production of horticulture crops, including fruit and vegetables, in the 2016-17 crop year, ending June. The total production is estimated at 295 million tonnes, 3.2% higher than in 2015-16. The estimate shows that 2016-17 will be the fifth straight year when India's horticulture production will outstrip that of foodgrains. The foodgrain production for 2016-17 is estimated at 273.38...

-DNA Death of tribal kids during Monsoon period when their parents don't get work has been a major issue since past many years. Maharashtra Chief Secretary Sumit Mullick on Wednesday held a core committee meeting to review the ongoing measures to prevent death of infant in the tribal areas. He directed health, women and child development and tribal departments to take necessary precautions for preventing various diseases whcih occur during the Monsoon. Additional...

Much to our surprise, a careful relook at the newly released estimates on farm production from the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare would reveal that the foodgrain production during the rabi season is likely to fall by almost 1 million tonne between 2013-14 and 2016-17. Please see chart-1. Amidst the celebration of a bumper harvest in the ongoing crop year, it needs to be explained why the rabi foodgrain output...

-Frontline Low prices following a bumper crop and the State government’s inability to procure much of the yield leave tur farmers in Maharashtra in a quandary. DROUGHT or abundance, farmers seem to be perpetually doomed in Maharashtra. The most recent crisis unfolding in the agrarian segment is the crashing prices of pulses, particularly tur dal, and the inability of the State government to procure the entire crop. Adding to the problem...

-The Hindu Business Line In the Cauvery delta’s worst drought in 140 years, a padyatra brings home the harsh realities of how Tamil farmers are living on the edge and what sustains their resilience A farmer sells his sugar cane to the local public sector sugar mill, where he is mandated to sell his crop. Instead of paying, the factory hands him a slip of paper. Eighteen months pass by and he...