-IndiaSpend.com Even as the rural employment programme provides low wages, it is a source of income and opportunity for women who have few other avenues of work in rural India and face barriers in migrating out of the village for work Rajsamand, Rajasthan: The year that Chanchal Kumari was born was the year of the drought in Rajasthan--2002. For two years, the state had a severe water shortage--no water for drinking or...

-Down to Earth Lowest amount of rainfall in the last decade; climate change to blame, says Met Paddy cultivation in Jharkhand this Kharif season has taken a huge hit, with most farmers expecting a meagre yield. Monsoon 2022 saw a massive deficit in rainfall — the lowest in the last 10 years.  “I doubt I can harvest even a kilogramme of yield this year,” Mahendra Prasad told Down To Earth. The farmer in...

-Down to Earth The production of the allium has doubled in the last decade; Chinese, Iranian garlic with larger cloves in greater demand, say farmers There have been several calls to allow garlic export after several video clips on social media showed farmers from Madhya Pradesh throwing out or burning their crops, allegedly over low prices of the allium.  One clip making rounds showed the crop being dumped into a river, while another...

-ThePrint.in In 5 east UP districts, where rice is primary rain-fed crop, the overwhelming sentiment is despair. For most, planting has been delayed by over a month, which means a drop in yield. Hardoi, Rae Bareli, Barabanki: From a distance, the sight of cattle grazing with abandon in a lush meadow appeared like that default desktop screensaver — a serene landscape spanning over a hundred acres, the deep green of the fields...

-India.Mongabay.com * Millets are being revived in the state of Odisha, on a large scale under its flagship Odisha Millets Mission. Millets grow well in dry zones as rain-fed crops and are considered low-duty crops. * The revival is helping women farmers in the tribal districts of the state to enhance their livelihood opportunities and become financially independent. * In Mayurbhanj, the third most populous district in Odisha, the number of women farmers...