-The Hindu An enriched soil has withstood the vagaries of monsoon and a depleting ground water table to provide an enviable sugarcane yield in a farm in Puliangudi of Tirunelveli district in Tamil Nadu. Sustained attention given to soil health using organic inputs has enabled V. Antonisamy reap 65 to 70 tonnes of sugarcane per acre in his farm. Explaining the methodology adopted to enhance soil quality, Mr. Antonisamy, who has been...

-The Hindu Suicides decrease with increasing farm size and yield, but increase with the area under Bt Cotton’. The cultivation of Bt cotton, a genetically modified, insect-resistant cotton variety, is a risky affair for Indian farmers practising rain-fed agriculture, according to a latest study published by California-based agricultural scientists in the journal Environmental Sciences Europe. Annual suicide rates of farmers in rain-fed areas are directly related to increase in Bt cotton adoption, say...

-Business Standard Spread of irrigation, rise in drought-tolerant seeds have come as saviour, says study The southwest monsoon might have made a good start, but its future looks bleak, with many models predicting a let up in showers around the first week of July. The picture for north-west India, the country's premier paddy-producing region, looks gloomier with most weather forecasts predicting below-normal rains in the region this year. However, how far will...

-The Hindu TIRUCH: A farmer of Erakudi in Uppliyapuram block has shown the way in increasing cultivation using greenhouse. She has been cultivating 1,000 square metre area under the greenhouse concept. N. Vijayasanthi, the farmer, had set up the greenhouse at an estimate of Rs.11 lakh which included a subsidy of Rs. 4.50 lakh. “It was a great opportunity for us in utilising the greenhouse concept with the cooperation of the Horticulture...

-Hindustan Times In all the heat being generated by the government’s amendments to the land acquisition law, the tribals are being left out in the cold. In his Mann Ki Baat broadcast Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed himself to “My dear farmer brothers and sisters”. He did not include the tribals. Perhaps farmers are in the spotlight because the tragedy of farmers’ suicides gives the opposition an emotive issue to raise in...