-Down to Earth Cattle ranchers sold milch cows at throwaway prices after incurring losses of about Rs 3 lakh in 5 months Mangatram Aane from Lokra village in Haryana’s Gurugram district had hopes of good income when he left his job with Hero Honda 15 years ago and started dairy farming. Initially, he fetched a good money from dairy farming, then he became a veterinary doctor. He felt that dairy farming had...
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No meat, more wheat: How tribal diets are changing in Madhya Pradesh -Taran Deol
-Down to Earth Poor financial conditions, reliance on public distribution system among factors that drove change, reduced dietary diversity There has been a dietary shift among the Bhil and Bhilala tribes of Madhya Prasesh’s Alirajpur and Jhabua districts over the years. Loss of dietary diversity, including little or no consumption of meat, as well as a change in their staple cereal, may impact the health and erode traditional knowledge of the tribals...
More »Chilli under attack: New thrips species destroys farms in 6 states -Shagun
-Down to Earth Farmers are being pushed to suicide amid market shortage Chilli farmers in Telangana’s Subakkapalli village, Bhopalapalli district, are living their worst nightmare. A new pest, black thrips (Thrips parvispinus), has destroyed over 40 hectares (ha) of standing crop in a matter of months. In Sidduri Ravindra Rao’s farm, the initial signs of the attack were reported in the first week of December last year. He increased the frequency of...
More »North India faces an acute fodder shortage, courtesy wheat crisis, climate change -Arvind Shukla
-Down to Earth Wheat straw is being sold at Rs 1,100-1,700 per quintal; it was being sold at Rs 400-600 per quintal last year Farmers across north Indian states are facing a shortage of dry fodder due to the wheat crisis, which in turn, has been primarily fuelled by an unusually hot March, according to farmers, agricultural scientists and experts. Many farmers chose to plant mustard instead of wheat this rabi season in...
More »India’s wheat ban knee-jerk reaction; could prove costly for farmers -Shagun
-Down to Earth The full impact of the wheat ban on farmers will be known only in the next few days, say experts India’s sudden decision to ban wheat exports with immediate effect citing food security may prove costly for its farmers. Many of them have held back their crop in the hopes of getting higher prices in the coming weeks. The impact of this decision is already being seen in wheat mandis...
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