In a major pro-farmer step, Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi has decided to release water from the Narmada dam for a fortnight from June 1 to help farmers in the command areas in central and north Gujarat districts to undertake pre-sowing operations. Water Resources Minister Nitin Patel said on Saturday that the government would release 2,123 million cubic feet water from the Narmada dam and the benefit would accrue to thousands...

India has large wheat stocks already yet policy dictates they increase. In states like Punjab, Haryana, UP and Gujarat prices have fallen and are below the minimum support prices. This is a policy-induced outcome. A safe game in grains is fine, given the global politics of grain trade and the great ability of Indian politics to subsidise the wrong man in the vote bank — but how safe is safe? The...

-The Times of India   Farmers of Kundagol and surrounding villages of Dharwad took out a procession at Tahsildar's office demanding adequate supply of BT cotton seeds here on Wednesday. The farmers came to buy cotton seeds at Raith Sampark Kendra at Cotton market from distant places, but the farmers were reportedly upset and expressed anguish over the insufficient supply of cotton seeds particularly Kanaka BT cotton seeds. Angry farmers, who...

-The Business Standard   Only anecdotal evidence has been available so far to back the assertion that there has been a sharp rise in agricultural wages. Now, field data bear out the trend. Collected by the Shimla-based Labour Bureau, these numbers show a roughly 50 per cent cumulative rise in rural labour wages in the past two years. The increase in Andhra Pradesh has been assessed at over 40 per cent...

It is the improper mode of application, violating the law and regulations, that is responsible for the apparent adverse toxic effects of endosulfan. FROM a scientific perspective, an extremely pertinent question in the endosulfan story is why adverse health effects similar to those seen in the villages of Kasaragod district in Kerala have not been reported from other parts of the country where the pesticide is used in much larger...