-The Hindu The new system is less labour-intensive, requires less input and less seed Warangal (Telengana): Agricultural scientists in the district have introduced and popularised ‘aerobic system of rice cultivation' wherein a farmer can directly sow the seed like any other crop. The system is less labour-intensive, needs less input and less seed. At a demonstration programme held at Reddypuram on Sunday, a local farmer's crop which was grown using the ‘aerobic system'...

-PTI In August last year, Parliament was informed that Maharashtra had witnessed 37 farmer suicides due to agrarian reasons The number of farmer suicides in Maharashtra is higher compared to other states in the country, Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh said today. "As compared to other states, farmers suicides are maximum in Maharashtra," Singh said without disclosing the details, on the sidelines of a book launch here. Asked about the reasons for growing...

-IANS West Bengal: In a bid to preserve indigenous rice varieties of India, the West Bengal government has proposed setting up a rice museum to showcase 'folk' varieties of rice, a scientist said Wednesday. Proposed to be set up at the Agricultural Training Centre at Fulia in the state's Nadia district, the unique repository will display over 300 samples. "In the institute's bio-diversity conservation farm, we are maintaining, growing, distributing and characterising over...

-The Financial Express The proposed MGNREGA changes can help plug the leakages and enhance agriculture productivity There is good news about the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee (MGNREGA) scheme. Recent press reports reveal that the rural development minister, Nitin Gadkari, has instructed lowering of the mandatory share for unskilled wages in total expenditure from the current 60% to 51%. He has also directed, quite rightly, that 50% of the expenditure be...

-The Third Pole Cities and villages in India will soon run out of potable water if current trends continue, warns senior water official India's groundwater tables are plunging at an alarming rate with reserves in some states dwindling to critical levels, according to the latest report from the Central Ground Water Board (CGWB) - the apex body under the Ministry of Water Resources. Over 16% of the country's groundwater resources are ‘over-exploited' -...