-Down to Earth Despite being a world leader in pulses production, India has been forced to import due to crop loss and seed deficit. The sharp rise in prices is only a symptom Rani Devi, 47, is drying chickpea (chanaa daal) in Kuite Khera village of Uttar Pradesh. She intends to use them as seeds in the coming rabi season (October to December), as she is facing acute shortage of seeds....

-Livemint.com Farmers’ welfare is a multi-dimensional issue, with the farm ministry playing a small but significant role Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s announcement to rename the ministry of agriculture to ministry of agriculture and farmers’ welfare may be symbolic, but is at the least a recognition of the stress in rural economy. The stress, particularly in the farming sector, is now all too obvious with the increase in suicides being reported in many...

-Business Standard CRISIL Ratings identifies four states and five crops at highest risk to deficient monsoon Within the next 40 days, the southwest monsoon will formally start retracting from the Indian mainland, ending its four-month journey over the country, pounding some parts with excess showers, but could leave almost 30 per cent of the country with deficient or less-than-normal rains, unless there is an abnormal pickup in the coming weeks. That looks highly...

-Deccan Herald India’s food grain output for 2014-15 fell by nearly five per cent owing to poor monsoon and untimely rainfall last year. The Fourth Advance Estimates of production of major crop pegged the farm output at 252.68 million tonnes – about 4.66 per cent lower than that of 2013-14. The farm sector is set for yet another year of low production as the weather office on Monday forecast 12 per cent...

-The Hindu Uzramma, supports decentralisation of cotton textile production chain to benefit farmers Hyderebad: Absence of affordable technology that can turn indigenous cotton into textile is one of the main reasons for cotton farmers’ suicide in the country, said Uzramma, a noted exponent of the handloom industry. Specific variant Delivering a talk on handmade fabrics and process organised at Jiddu Krishnamurti Centre here on Saturday, Ms. Uzramma said farmers are forced to grow only...