-The Hindu Business Line The declining response ratios due to excess spraying of fertilisers, which leads to wasteful expenditure on fertiliser subsidy, only leads to loss of key national resources Hyderabad: India is on the verge of a looming soil crisis which can potentially impact its agriculture in the near future, says a report. A third of the total 350 million hectares has already turned problematic. Soil is turning either acidic, saline, sodic...

-Press Information Bureau/ Ministry of Finance The Union Minister of Finance and Corporate Affairs Shri Arun Jaitley said that there is a need to conserve water, incentivize agro processing and promote balanced use of fertilizers in order to ensure higher agriculture productivity. The Finance Minister said that in order to achieve the goal of doubling the farmer’s income by 2022, there is need for better storage and marketing facilities for the...

-Down to Earth In the last one decade, it has also helped increase groundwater table by virtue of implementing a range of Water conservation measures. Once ridiculed by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the flagship scheme for rural employment, Mahatama Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS), has been praised by his own government for helping in increasing rural household income. It has not only helped in increasing groundwater table in the...

-Down to Earth The local administration in Jharkhand is undermining the decentralised scheme, created to enhance livelihood, manage natural resources and improve basic infrastructure in rural areas Yojna Banao Abhiyan (YBA) was an outcome of two government programmes – Mission Antodaya (Intensive Participatory Planning Exercise (IPPE-II)) of the Ministry of Rural Development, and Gram Panchayat Development Planning of the Ministry of Panchayati Raj. It gave an opportunity to newly elected gram panchayats...

-Livemint.com The draft guidelines propose to levy a new Water conservation fee based on quantum of groundwater extracted With the aim of completely changing the way groundwater is managed, the central government has proposed guidelines which stipulate that all industries, mining and infrastructure dewatering projects—whether existing or new—that draw or propose to draw groundwater will now need to obtain a no-objection certificate (NOC). The draft guidelines, reviewed by Mint, also propose to levy...