-The Hindu Business Line State govt package is inadequate, unfair and not quick enough, says farm sector Chennai: “When there is no water to drink, what can we say about irrigation?” asked K Venkatesan, a farmer near Vridhachalam. Whether canal dependent or bore well irrigated, all crops have withered, he said. Insurance compensation and the disbursement of the State government’s relief package have to be expedited, said farmers’ representatives. Farmers have to be fully...

-The Financial Express Kochi: Drought and high temperatures in the plantation regions of Kerala are likely to cause irreparable damage to the crops. Association of Planters of Kerala reports that the plantation sector is facing one of the worst drought conditions in last 115 years and crop production had reduced by 30% in tea, 14% in rubber, 60% in cardamom and 40% in coffee. Most of the agri-commodities are highly monsoon sensitive...

-The Hindu Business Line Foodgrain output down 28.7% as paddy area shrinks Hyderabad: In the recent numbers released by the National Crimes Records Bureau (NCRB), Telangana stood second only to Maharashtra, with 1,400 farmers and farm labourers ending lives in the year 2015-16. The State had accounted for nearly 10 per cent of all 12,000 farm suicides reported that year. The latest numbers gathered by the Telangana government corroborated the serious distress in the...

-The Hindu Business Line Bengaluru: Farmers in Karnataka, like their counterparts in other states who have been impacted by the drop in prices and cash shortage triggered by demonetisation, have another problem to contend with — crop loss on account of the failure of rains. It has been a kind of a triple whammy for farmers in the region. Besides being forced to reap a lower kharif output on account of a...

-Livemint.com To increase farmers’ enrolment in the PMFBY, the Karnataka government started deducting compulsory insurance premiums for almost all crop loans disbursed Bengaluru: The Karnataka government’s initiatives to enrol more farmers under the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bhima Yojana (PMFBY)—to ensure continued Central assistance to help mitigate the economic impact of Deficient rainfalls and resulting crop damage—seems to have paid off as the number of enrolments in the state during the Kharif...