-Down to Earth While northeastern states are the most hit, Andaman & Nicobar Islands gained maximum forests India may have lost 2,511 sq km of prime forests, says the latest Forest Survey of India (FSI) report released on Friday, December 4. Prime forests are classified as very dense and mid-dense with canopy densities of at least 70 per cent and 40 per cent respectively. On the other hand, the report stated that India has...

-The Indian Express Vidarbha’s farmers have escaped the worst of drought this year and hope to gain from high arhar prices. Wardha (Maharashtra): About 95 km from Nagpur and to the left of National Highway-7 leading to Hyderabad is a 14-acre farm that is now the cynosure of many eyes. This field, at Daroda village in Hinganghat tehsil of Wardha district, radiates only green with no traces of white or brown dots —...

-Hindustan Times India, the father of the nation famously said, lives in its villages, or, as many call it, Bharat. There is no doubt that a great shift is underway: As 600 million move out of rural areas over the next 35 years, India will need about 500 new cities. But unless Bharat offers a fraction of the hope that ushered in Narendra Modi’s era, the ongoing urban transformation of India...

-The Hindu Business Line Agriculture Ministry reviews soil health card scheme New Delhi: Central teams will be sent to Uttar Pradesh and Odisha to assess drought situation, the Agriculture Ministry said on Tuesday. The Ministry said it had received representations from the two States and teams were being dispatched immediately. Karnataka was recently sanctioned ₹1,540 crore. For Chhattisgarh, the Ministry has recommended ₹1,387 crore. At present, Central teams are visiting Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh, a...

-The Hindu Telengana: Empowered by disciplined thrift activity for close to two decades now, a group of enterprising women members of the Self Help Groups (SHGs) are charting a new course by entering male dominated domain of marketing agriculture produce directly to the processors. The effort has paid off with the farmers in at least 10 mandals of Nizamabad and Adilabad district benefiting a lot. Thanks to the encouragement by Gram Abhyudaya...