-Down to Earth Group has 1,750 farmers says pollution from industries has reduced them to poverty and political parties in power ignored their repeated pleas Ninety-five-year-old V Ammayappan is just back home from hospital after a kidney surgery. But this farmer from Melapalayam village in Tamil Nadu's Karur district is determined to cast his vote on April 24 when elections to Lok Sabha will be held in his state. He speaks with...

-The Telegraph Shillong: The National Green Tribunal has ordered a stop to rat-hole coal mining across Meghalaya and it observed that neither the government nor the people were benefiting from "illegal mining" except the "coal mafias" while warning against illegal transportation of the mineral. This is the latest instance that a national authority has intervened in the traditional and unscientific form of coal mining that has been the order of the day...

-The Hindu   Empty plastic bottles turn into drip irrigator in homes Salem (Coimbatore): Abandoned empty plastic bottles are considered a serious threat to the environment. But at the Green Park Avenue Apartments near the New Bus Stand in Salem, residents have found out a novel utility for such bottles by using them for drip irrigation. These bottles are not only helping the residents of 168 houses to save close to 4,500 litres of...

-The Business Standard   Had late winter rains not damaged some standing crops in northern states, India would have had record foodgrain production of 263 million tonnes (mt) in 2013-14. Whatever the loss of rabi crops, the good southwest monsoon allowed India to record the targeted growth of four per cent in production. However, a good season should not distract us from the reality of the farm sector's vulnerability to major shocks...

-The Hindu   ‘51 Wayanadan Karshika Vijayagathakal' released KALPETTA (Kerala): ‘51 Wayanadan Karshika Vijayagathakal,' a book on 51 farmers who have scripted success sagas in farming activities in the district, written by N. Anilkumar, Director, M.S. Swaminathan Research Foundation, and Joseph John, a scientist with the Foundation, was released by N.S. Sajikumar, District Development Manager, NABARD, at a function here recently. The book details the innovative agriculture practices, which are economically viable and ecologically...