-The Hindu Filmmakers Kavita Bahl and Nandan Saxena on their award-winning documentary "Candles in the Wind" which chronicles the struggles of the widows of the Green Revolution in Punjab As calls for a ‘second green revolution' begin to be heard, it is important to examine the legacy of the first. In Punjab, the laboratory of the revolution, the experiment seems to have gone wrong - water tables have declined, agriculture has become...
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Over 3 lakh bonded labourers work in Rajasthan
-The Times of India JAIPUR: Babu Bhai, a sahariya adivasi in his 50s, spent 24 years of his life as a bonded labourer at Umrao Singh's farm at Chainpura in Kishanganj, Baran district. His father had died when he took a loan of Rs 3,000 and that led to his bondage with no reprieve. When his brother died, Umrao Singh did not let him attend his brother's funeral as he had...
More »Punjab farmers try religious route to shun pesticides -Alok Gupta
-Down to Earth Ask religious institutions to grow organic crops and accept organic crops as donation for langars In Pandori Ragsangh village in Amritsar, farmer leader Gurlal Singh takes a large sip of hot milk and asks fellow farmer, Jagdish Singh, about the "poison." "This year, there is too much of poison," Jagdish replies. It takes a while to understand that the farmers are discussing lethal pesticides used to grow wheat....
More »Agriculture ministry readies plan to deal with poor monsoon -Vishwa Mohan & Dipak Kumar Dash
-The Times of India NEW DELHI: The government is ready with a contingency plan to deal with below normal rains this monsoon with a series of steps including diesel subsidy for farmers in the rain-deficient districts, crop Loans at lower rates and release of foodgrains to deal with a possible shortage. Amid reports of below normal rains, the agriculture ministry presented the plan for 500 districts during a meeting called by Prime...
More »Maharashtra's insurance scheme for orchard owners draws angry protests-Aparna Pallavi
-Down to Earth Too high a premium for too little cover Maharashtra government appears to have learnt no lesson at all from the hailstorms that lashed the entire state in March this year, and yet again lashed several districts in May, if its new decision to include three orchard crops - orange, sweet lime and guava - in its Weather Based Crop Insurance Scheme (WBCIS) on an experimental basis during the current...
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