Situation alarming: More than one-third population hit by drought   The country is facing severe drought for the second consecutive year. Conservative estimates from official sources show that over a quarter of rural habitations are facing drinking water scarcity. Although both India Meteorological Department and Skymet have predicted a more than normal rainfall during June-September, 2016, the water storage available in 91 major reservoirs of the country has declined from 22 percent...

-Business Standard The first two years of the Narendra Modi government were marked by big announcements that will take their time to materialise. The one sector that is unfazed by slogans is agriculture. The sector is crippled by back-to-back droughts coupled with a record fall in farm prices. A slump in global markets meant that agriculture exports, which could provide farmers alternative revenue, dried up. Agriculture and processed food exports from India...

-The Indian Express Punjab’s farmers are losing interest in planting new trees, with prices halving from their peaks. Jalandhar/ Ludhiana: Sandeep Singh Randhawa grew paddy and wheat on his 65-acre land at Talwandi Lal Singh village in Gurdaspur district’s Batala tehsil. That was till the late eighties, when he first planted poplar on the edges of his field. The returns encouraged him to expand the area under these trees — each...

-Business Standard Farmers face challenges to bring area under organic farming; organic food, however, may not be adequate to feed the growing population Organic food market in India is likely to treble in four years despite several challenges faced by farmers to bring additional area under natural farming. Currently estimated at $0.50 billion, the organic food market in India is estimated to jump to $1.36 billion by 2020, a study jointly conducted by...

-Business Standard Environmental activist and water expert Himanshu Thakkar tells Aditi Phadnis that India needs a comprehensive water-use policy immediately. * You are quoted as saying that India is in the grip of its worst hydrological crisis ever. Isn't that a bit drastic? After all, India has endured endemic water scarcity in many parts of the country for several years now. What makes you so pessimistic? I do not think it is statement...