-Business Standard IWMI supported them financially for purchase, installation of pumps and solar panels by funding Rs 40 lakh so far Ahmedabad: With the help of Colombo-based International Water Management Institute (IWMI), six Gujarat farmers have formed world’s first solar power cooperative society to sell surplus power generated from solar water pumps installed at their farms. After conducting a successful pilot project of connecting farmer with the grid at Anand district of Gujarat,...

-The Times of India BANDA: In Uttar Pradesh's parched Bundelkhand region, one farmer is scripting a success story, and has set an example in a region ravaged by farmers' suicide and drought. Locals and activists are now approaching Prem Singh to find out how his practices have transformed his farm into a lush area. Bundelkhand, according to the estimates of NGO Parmarth Samaj Sevi Sansthan, has seen 113 farmers' suicides since January...

-The Hindu Business Line Villagers are turning entrepreneurs by renting out their solar lamps Ibrahimpur duli village in Uttar Pradesh’s Faizabad district is on the electricity grid. But the power here is erratic. “It comes only at night around 9 or 10 pm with frequent shut downs,” says 54-year-old Ram Lallan who along with his wife Kusma Devi runs a solar enterprise to offer off-grid technology solutions to consumers in the region. The couple...

-The Hindu Prem Singh’s farm has plenty of water, fruit-bearing trees, and organic products BANDA (U.P.): In the parched, brown landscape of Uttar Pradesh’s Bundelkhand region, where hundreds of distressed farmers have taken their lives in the past few decades or have been forced to migrate, Prem Singh’s farm is an exception. In the fabulous green farm, there is plenty for everyone: abundance of water-bodies for animals to drink from, many fruit-bearing trees,...

-The Free Press Journal Mumbai: Drinking water is an over exploited source for cultivation of cash crops like sugarcane and BT Cotton, which has added fuel to the fire of the agrarian crisis in the state. Hence these crops need to be banned and replaced with food crops like oil seeds, pulses, maize and sorghum; this needs to be supported with state incentive and price protection, a state government task force...