-Financial Express Pritam Singh, who farms on 110 acres, including some land taken on lease, at Urlana Khurd village of Haryana’s Panipat district, has just sold his harvest of Basmati rice varieties — PB 1121 and PB 1509 — at the local mandi at Rs 3,800 and Rs 3,500 a quintal, respectively. Both the varieties, developed by the Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI), Pusa, Delhi, fetch farmers like Singh financial benefits in...

-Newsclick.in The intense, destructive fires that have dominated headlines in recent years are expected to become more frequent, even in places like the Arctic. Experts warn our response must shift toward planning and preparedness. Exhausted firefighters have been battling blazes in northern Argentina for weeks. Fueled by strong winds, little rain and dry conditions brought on by an unusually long drought, wildfires have already destroyed nearly 8,000 square kilometers (3,000 square miles)...

-TheWire.in Despite increasing allocated funds, the Union government has been unable to significantly improve penetration of crop insurance in terms of enrolled farmers and insured areas. India’s agriculture sector, which provides employment to more than 50% of the labour force and contributes about 17% of the gross domestic product, currently faces multiple challenges. Smaller land holdings, unfavourable climate changes events, dismal public and private investment, low monthly incomes, a high proportion of...

-Scroll.in Coal mining continues to flourish in the country but it is no longer a major source of employment. For four months in 2019, Umesh Kumar Saw protested against a new coal mining project that was sprouting up just 50 meters behind his home, threatening to gobble up three acres of his family’s agricultural land. But when the mining company offered him a job, he relented. His family gave up their land...

On February 18, 2016, India’s Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi launched the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana. After its launch, the PMFBY was implemented by 21 states during kharif 2016, whereas in rabi 2016-17, 23 states and 2 UTs implemented the same. The Central Government launched the PMFBY in the kharif season of 2016 with the intention to help farmers cope with crop losses because of unseasonal and extreme weather....