-Livemint.com Pulses use less water per unit crop and also address hidden hunger The severe drought across India should hopefully help focus attention on the overuse of water in agriculture. A data analysis by Roshan Kishore in this newspaper last week showed that the average water footprint for five major crops—rice, wheat, maize, sugarcane and cotton—is far higher than global averages. At the root of the problem is a policy framework that...

-The Indian Express The suffering of millions does not create public outrage, much less government accountability. The people of India’s villages carry collective memories of centuries of calamitous losses of sometimes millions of lives in famines. Famines have been pushed into history, unarguably one of free India’s greatest accomplishments. But the same can’t be said about droughts, which continue to extract an enormous toll on human suffering. At least a third of the...

-The Times of India BANDA: In Uttar Pradesh's parched Bundelkhand region, one farmer is scripting a success story, and has set an example in a region ravaged by farmers' suicide and drought. Locals and activists are now approaching Prem Singh to find out how his practices have transformed his farm into a lush area. Bundelkhand, according to the estimates of NGO Parmarth Samaj Sevi Sansthan, has seen 113 farmers' suicides since January...

-Nezine.com Cultivation of the Early Ahu varieties of rice is helping many farmers in Assam to make better earnings Assam: In these times of drought and scarcity in many parts of the country, improved rice varieties are bringing hope to farmers in the Nalbari district of Assam. What makes it so special is the short duration that it takes to harvest. In the villages of Sungarbari, Galdighla, Adabari in Nalbari district, farmers are...

-Hindustan Times Parbhani: It took Pandurang Shinde three trips to the weekly Khandoba cattle bazaar in Parbhani, one of the eight drought-hit districts of Marathwada, to find a buyer for his pair of bullocks. After much heckling, he managed to sell his coveted pair at Rs 50,000, half the price at what the animals had cost him. The weekly cattle bazaar, held on Thursdays, at Parbhani taluka is packed these days, full...