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...

-Hindustan Times These women have come together to force the administration to give them designated work under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act. The scorching heat and glaring sun don’t seem to deter the spirit of villagers clearing weed and silt from a dry lake in Bevanahalli, Mandya district. Sowbhagya, one of the labourers, from the 75-member group is worried about completing the task assigned on time. “The authorities gave us...

-The Indian Express Drought for 2nd straight year leaves tribals of Attapaddy at lenders’ mercy, hits pregnant women’s health Attappady: At the sun-baked village of Nallasinka in Attappady, a frail woman is desperately scanning a pipeline that takes water to a private estate, looking for a leak that was once there. “It is five days since water reached our colony. Last week, we survived by collecting water that leaked out of this...

-The Hindu Business line Hyderabad: The chances of the El Nino phenomenon impacting the South West monsoon at its peak across India are 60 to 70 per cent, says Weather Risk Management Services (WRMS). El Nino, which refers to the formation of warm water undercurrents in the Pacific Ocean, has been known to have an adverse effect on global weather patterns and occasionally affect the rainfall during the Indian monsoon season. At the...

-The Economic Times ARIYALUR: Everyone else may love a good drought, but not the victims who stare at a dim future. As serious drought looms large over South India, farmers live in distress and despair fearing a steep drop in acre age and yields. There may have been a few temporary measures by governments to compensate the dam ages, but that may be too little too late. ET's team of reporters walked...