-Hindustan Times India’s back-to-back drought is likely to end in winter with the weather department predicting higher-than-normal rainfall between October and December in the southern part of the country and normal rains in the rest, boosting prospects of the winter harvest. The rabi, or winter-sown, season is vital since it accounts for nearly half the country’s total food output. The forecast eases worries about water shortages in the nation’s 89 nationally important...

-Scroll.in While Punjab looks to rescue its cotton farmers, a dozen suicides are reported from MP due the failure of a crop that once brought unprecedented prosperity to its farming community. Hailed three decades ago as a miracle crop that brought about unprecedented prosperity to millions of Madhya Pradesh farmers, soyabean has turned into a fatal cause of agrarian distress in the state. Over a dozen debt-ridden farmers have either committed suicide...

-Livemint.com Drought declaration can provide farmers relief through compensation for crop damage and restructuring of loans New Delhi: Even though the monsoon ended with a 14% rainfall deficit, with nearly half the country’s districts facing a shortage of over 20%, states are delaying declaring a drought that could provide immediate relief to farmers by compensating for crop damage and restructuring farm loans. The June-September monsoon, which irrigates over half the country’s farm...

-Business Standard Thirty-two farmers have committed suicide in the past three weeks in the Anantapur district of Andhra Pradesh. Since its birth as a new state, Telangana has recorded 1,269 suicides. Hyderabad: The Hyderabad-based Centre for Sustainable Agriculture (CSA), estimates farmer suicides in Andhra Pradesh in the past 20 years (1995-2014) at 38,000. Experts and policymakers are convinced the two states are facing prolonged Farm distress. Suicide by farmers unable to handle crop...

-PTI The govt would also increase monthly widow pension from Rs 500 to Rs 2,000 in the families of farmers who had committed suicide Haveri (Karnataka): Providing succour to distressed farmers, the Karnataka government today announced waiver of interest and penal interest on crop loans from cooperative banks for the current fiscal and hike in compensation from Rs 2 lakh to Rs 5 lakh to families of farmers who had committed suicide. The...