-Down to Earth Faced with crop losses because of erratic rainfall and extreme weather, tribal farmers of Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh turn to bewar and penda forms of cultivation that keeps them nourished all times of the year, but government agencies are bent on rooting out these farm practices Hariaro Bai Deoria should have been a worried person this year-an untimely spell of rain late last October flattened her paddy crop, and...

-Down to Earth A Rajasthan village has cylindrical houses that help people cope with extreme weather events It is a chilly December evening in Barmer. The average minimum temperature has dropped to 5° Celsius in this sandy district of western Rajasthan, which borders Pakistan. But thanks to his house, Dayam Khan, a Manganiyar, one of Rajasthan's many communities of traditional musicians, does not need an electric heater or a stove to keep...

-The Indian Express Domestic workers in the state are meant to get minimum wage of Rs 5,000, health care benefits, scholarships for kids, life insurance. It's 4 am and Vasanthi B is already up. After years, it's now a habit, and she doesn't need an alarm to wake up to get her daughters Shweta, Shilpa and Shobha, aged 11, 9 and 7 respectively, ready for school. By the time they leave at...

-The Hindu What is it that spurs an individual to quit a Government job and take up farming as a full time profession? Or why does an MBA student be more interested to become a full time farmer than work in a company? "If the annual agriculture income is more than a salaried income, youngsters will take the plunge into it. Unlike the old adage that agriculture comprises only old people into...

-New Indian Express Kochi: You can hardly find an unused paddy field at Koodatham Poyil, a small village in Kayanna grama panchayat near Perambra, thanks to Samrudhi, a society of 21 members in the region which is on a mission to turn the village green by bringing the old glory of paddy cultivation back. Samrudhi was formed two years ago when the Krishi Bhavan encouraged farmers to get united to save...