-The Times of India NEW DELHI: The Madhya Pradesh government wants to turn the ravines of Chambal - a unique geographical feature once infamous for sheltering dacoits - into agriculture fields by levelling the twisting hillocks. Considering the undulating and barren topography, the task of levelling the mud ravines for agriculture seems stupendous, but chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Wednesday formally placed the proposal before the Centre when he met Union...

-Down to Earth The programme does not address challenges that farmers face in eastern states Farmers in Jharkhand have not derived significant benefits from the new Green Revolution programme initiated by the Centre in 2010-11, according to a report by non-profits working with the farmers in the state. The report claims that the government tried to implement the 1960s model of Green Revolution that increased agricultural production in Punjab and Haryana, without...

-The Hindu India's small farmers have been struggling for centuries now and they need social and governmental action to change their future Of India's 121 million agricultural holdings, 99 million are with small and marginal farmers, with a land share of just 44 per cent and a farmer population share of 87 per cent. With multiple cropping prevalent, such farmers account for 70 per cent of all vegetables and 52 per cent...

-Frontline The problem in rural India is not one of too much credit to poor households that leads to debt waivers that damage bank balance sheets, but one of inadequate access to credit from formal sources. IF Reserve Bank of India Governor Raghuram Rajan is to be believed, efforts to help Indian farmers by providing them with cheap(er) credit and relieving them of an unsustainable debt burden only harms them in the...

-The Hindu VIJAYAWADA: There is no need for farmers to commit due to debt burden, if they practise ‘zero-budget natural farming', said Subhash Palekar, organic farming crusader. Addressing farmers from 17 districts in AP and Telangana at a workshop on his model of farming, Mr Palekar said farmers could cultivate 30 acres profitably using farm yard manure generated by one cow or buffalo. The farmers did not need to invest money on...