-Livemint.com Environment minister Prakash Javadekar says extreme rainfall events are highly localized and part of the natural variability of the Indian monsoon system New Delhi: Union environment minister Prakash Javadekar has admitted that there is a rise in the frequency and intensity of extreme rainfall events in the last 40-50 years in India, but doesn’t think the phenomenon is linked with climate change. He was responding to a query raised in...

-FirstPost.com This Firstpost series that began with highlighting how private water sellers are doing sound business in the midst of severe economic downturn in the water-parched region; the toothless laws, lack of enforcement and ineffective irrigation network which has led to the exploitation and depletion of water levels in the dams; crop failures triggering farmer suicides; the region’s sugarcane addiction, and climate change manipulations affecting the agricultural produce, provides a vantage...

-The Pioneer Local crop varieties are resilient but ignored Recent reports that well-known plant scientist Debal Deb has found a traditional rice variety in West Bengal that contains silver and has medicinal properties, has aroused public interest. Who knew that a rice grain, or for that matter any plant variety, could naturally assimilate the precious metal from the soil? The discovery is a humbling reminder of the many mysteries that nature continues...

-The Hindu Hyderabad: The National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development has said that there were no instances of suicide by farmers in areas where the bank supported watershed programmes. Addressing a press conference highlighting the performance of Andhra Pradesh regional office of the bank on Monday, its chief general manager Hairsh Java said the bank released a grant of Rs.175 crore for 166 watershed projects in AP last year and 154...

-The Times of India Rice varieties that could grow during droughts or floods, tolerate saltwater, and carry distinct aromas or medicinal benefits - India has lost 1.10 lakh such traditional rice types. Some fifty years ago, these varieties abounded in the country, which is striving currently to ensure food security for all. Now, however, only 7,000odd local varieties remain and not all are grown. A traditional variety of rice is passed from...