-The Times of India A staggering range of commonly used chemicals - from insecticides to plastic additives to some common medications - are likely to cause cancer even in very low amounts. This was the conclusion reached by a massive study involving 174 scientists from 28 countries -- including India -- who researched the chemical actions of these chemicals. The study says that it is possible the combined effect of many...

-The Hindu Suicides decrease with increasing farm size and yield, but increase with the area under Bt Cotton’. The cultivation of Bt cotton, a genetically modified, insect-resistant cotton variety, is a risky affair for Indian farmers practising rain-fed agriculture, according to a latest study published by California-based agricultural scientists in the journal Environmental Sciences Europe. Annual suicide rates of farmers in rain-fed areas are directly related to increase in Bt cotton adoption, say...

-Al Jazeera Falling into a debt-trap and besieged by bad weather, thousands of farmers are taking their own lives each year. Umbrale, India -  After days of hushed chanting that "the sky betrayed" him, Datatery Popat Ghadwaje, 42, committed suicide by ingesting insecticides at his grape orchard. Crushed under a $41,000 debt and a series of bank repayment notices, Ghadwaje of Umbrale village in the western state of Maharashtra finally lost hope...

-Livemint.com Delayed or erratic rains typically impact sowing and make farmers miss the application of agrochemicals, which the companies dread the most Stocks of agrochemical firms have reacted uncertainly after the forecast of below-par monsoon by the India Meteorological Department. While insecticides (India) Ltd and Dhanuka Agritech Ltd have held up well, gaining 1-4%, Rallis India and Excel Crop Care Ltd lost 2-3%. The mixed mood stems from the fact that the...

-India Today "The butterflies will show you the way to the farm." Farmer Sunil Gupta is not talking of mythical butterflies that will appear to guide me to the organic farm I am trying to locate amidst swathes of farmland, some lush with the standing paddy, some damaged in parts from last week's strong winds, others dotted with vegetable patches or freshly ploughed for the next crop. Can one tell an organic...