-The Indian Express This comes even as Prime Minister Narendra Modi, addressing the 14th Conference of Parties to the UN Convention to Combat Desertification on Monday, mentioned that “we are focusing on ZBNF”. India’s premier academic body of agricultural scientists has hit out at Zero Budget Natural Farming (ZBNF), terming it as an “unproven” technology bringing no incremental value gain to either farmers or consumers. “The government should not needlessly invest capital...

-The Telegraph Below-normal and drought are the new normal. Since 2012 there has only been one normal monsoon. Monsoons follow their own patterns, unpredictable as they may be. In the past, certain periods, spanning a decade or sometimes two, have had higher frequencies of droughts and at the moment, we seem to be stuck in such a cycle. Between 1900 and the year 2000, there was one drought per decade. But...

  A recent press release by the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) shows that the declared minimum support price (MSP) for most kharif crops to be marketed in 2019-20 is at least 50 percent above the cost of production. The official information related to the newly declared MSP, which came two days ahead of the Union Budget presentation, gives the impression that the newly re-elected NDA government has kept its promise...

-Down to Earth Govt has made tall claims on NREGA implementation; but it is neither keen on providing dignified wages nor allocating adequate funds for the scheme The Union Budget for 2019-20 ignored issues of social security and employment and did not show any intent to boost rural India. The Budget tabled by Nirmala Sitharaman on July 5, 2019 was a disappointment for 13 crore rural households dependent on the Mahatma Gandhi...

-Business Standard He said India's food security was expected to sustain for a long time, as foodgrains production was growing much faster rate as compared to the population growth NITI Aayog member Ramesh Chand on Tuesday said public perception of growing harmful effects of chemicals in food cannot be addressed by organic farming or zero budget farming alone. Chand said the plant protection industry should play an active role in assuring consumers...