-Hindustan Times The unconventional system of cultivation is considered useful in controlling weed, saving water and reducing crop lodging Chandigarh: Progressive cotton farmers in Bathinda district have taken to unconventional narrow raised bed technique. According to information, about 3,500 hectares in the district is under this system of cotton cultivation that is considered useful in weed control, saving water and reducing crop lodging. The state agriculture department has recognised the novel initiative taken...

-The Hindu Farmers should not panic because they are too few in number to pose any threat, say agriculture departments of both States Chandigarh: Presence of locusts in a few villages of Punjab and Haryana bordering Rajasthan has raised anxiety among farmers about their crops. The agriculture departments of both the States have asked the farmers not to panic as it was “not a serious threat”'. Experts believe that appearance of locusts in...

-The Indian Express All the farmers who faced criminal action for defaulting on loans say they were made to sign on blank cheques. “If you write about our plight, will the government stop banks from sending us to jail?,” asks Ujagar Singh. The 60-year-old from Jhumba village in Bathinda district is among scores of Punjab farmers who have been convicted or are facing trial in criminal cases of cheque-bouncing filed by banks...

-The Times of India In the next few days, India’s northern region, especially Delhi, is again likely to become among the most polluted places on earth because a vast number of farmers in Punjab and Haryana have decided to continue their annual ritual of setting fire to paddy straw. This has brought back the spectre of smog choking the region despite the Centre doling out more than Rs 1,000 crore to the...

-Down to Earth Much of the groundwater in Malwa, Punjab has chemicals exceeding permissible limits, putting children at risk of a blood disorder Groundwater in Malwa region of Punjab is unfit for drinking and irrigation, according to a study published recently in the Arabian Journal of Geosciences, the official journal of the Saudi Society for Geosciences. The study also warns that children in the region are highly vulnerable to methemoglobinemia, a blood...