-The Business Standard   The government needs counter cyclical policies to tackle vegflation, which has become a recurrent problem Somebody help. Narendra Modi and Arun Jaitley are held hostage, not by jihadists, recalcitrant opposition, international capital or the ever-erratic monsoon, but by faceless, nameless manipulators of Nasik, Navi Mumbai and Azadpur markets. The "raw" terror they have let loose resounds in the corridors of government as well as media power. Cutting to the chase,...

-The Hindustan Times   Faridkot: When it comes to paddy transplantation, the migrant labour from Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and some other states, contributes a lot to meet the acute labour crisis in the region. It is another possible reason that, perhaps, distracts the farmers from the direct sowing of rice (DSR), otherwise, if the migrant labour is not available for paddy transplantation, farmers may be forced to shift towards the technique. "A large...

-The Business Standard   How a law to conserve groundwater led to a better paid and better organised migrant workforce Ludhiana: For some years now, Punjab's fields have lain fallow through the searing dry heat of May; but come June's steamy humidity, small bands of lithe, slender men from Bihar fan out across the waterlogged paddy fields, transplanting rice saplings with fluid efficiency. Bihar's paddy planters have frequented Punjab since the 1960s when rice...

-The Hindu   VISAKHAPATNAM (Andhra Pradesh): A proposal is being made to help small and marginal farmers through the NREGS, Minister for Panchayati Raj Ch. Ayyanna Patrudu said here on Monday. A relief of Rs. 6,000 could be brought to a farmer by including agriculture operations like ploughing and sowing under NREGS and a proposal was being sent to the Government, Mr. Patrudu said while talking to reporters after reviewing the agriculture scene...

-Kractivist.org As Scroll.in's Mridula Chari and Harsha Vadlamani search for clouds along the west coast, they meet farmers who are attempting to return to a traditional system of alternating paddy and shrimp cultivation. Each year, Kerala's backwaters attract around 1.8 crore visitors to stay on houseboats, get lengthy massages and gawk at elephants. Few tourists realise that the placid backwaters are the site of a low-key battle - a battle to preserve...