-The Tribune Rural debt doubles to Rs 80,000 crore in 7 years | Most deaths reported in Bathinda, Mansa, Muktsar Chandigarh: With the rural indebtedness in Punjab’s predominant agrarian economy touching Rs 80,000 crore, each rural household in the state is under a debt of an average Rs. 8 lakh. Or simply put, 89 per cent of the 10.53 lakh households in Punjab are under debt. This also shows how rural indebtedness in...

-The Indian Express According to the agriculture ministry’s second advance estimates of crop production for this year, total foodgrain output will surpass the previous all-time-high of 2013-14. India’s production of foodgrains and oilseeds is expected to hit record levels in 2016-17 on the back of a normal southwest monsoon and a decent winter, which would more than offset the impact, if any, of demonetisation. According to the agriculture ministry’s second advance estimates of...

-The Indian Express Unlike most other pests, this one typically strikes very late, when the paddy crop is already 80-90 days old and in the final grain-filling stage. Hot and dry weather raises the chances of Whitefly attacks, as Punjab’s farmers discovered for cotton last year. This year, it is humid and warm conditions, particularly in September, that has put paid to their hopes of a bumper paddy harvest. The villain: an...

-The Indian Express Paddy growers in the poll-bound state suffer huge losses from unanticipated insect pest attack. Jalandhar: For Punjab’s farmers, fortune always seems to smile on the other side. Last year, it was the Whitefly sucking pest that ravaged their cotton crop. This time round, it’s the brown plant hopper (BPH) that has caused significant yield and price realisation losses for paddy grown in large swathes of the state. And there...

-Hindustan Times Chandigarh: Thanks mainly to the largesse of 10,000 tubewells and mass switch from Whitefly-shadowed cotton, Punjab’s paddy yield is going to be an all-time high of 186-lakh tonnes. What could be worse. The experts are worried that this non-native crop may bring “momentary respite” to farmers but “spell doom for Punjab”. Paddy — never grown over 30-lakh hectares or 94-lakh acres before — has eaten into the area of other...