-The Times of India KOLKATA: Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee may root for a hands-off policy on land acquisition, but her Cabinet approved acquisition of 64 acre land for a power project at Dalkhola in West Bengal's Uttar Dinajpur in May. Her political rivals are backing farmers protesting against the state government's land acquisition bid. Forward Bloc MLA from Chakulia Ali Imran Ramz has planned a Nandigram-like stir against the state government. "The...

-Outlook Maharashtra government today declared as drought-affected more than 6000 villages in Aurangabad, Pune and Nashik districts of the state. "A total of 6,250 villages, having Crop Yield less than fifty paise are drought-affected," Minister for Relief and Rehabilitation Dr Patangrao Kadam said, adding various measures like organising fodder camps and pressing water tankers into service to cater to villagers are being launched. Kadam said as many as 2,894 villages in Aurangabad district...

-The Indian Express Giving a pointer to the much-awaited Bill on land acquisition reforms, Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar on Tuesday said the government will not dilute the provisions which restrict the acquisition of multi-crop and single crop agricultural land for non-farming purposes. “We will ensure that acquisition of high-yielding farmland is not allowed for non-agriculture purposes. This is a serious issue and the government is concerned about it. One should not be...

-PTI The government should only in exceptional cases permit acquisition of farm land for non- agriculture purposes like setting up of industries and housing projects, Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar said on Tuesday. Mr. Pawar, who heads the Empowered Group of Ministers (EGoM) on Land acquisition bill, said there is a pressure on farm land because of rising population. He said the government would ensure agricultural land having high yields is not allowed for...

-Al Jazeera  Organic farming is the "only way to produce food" without harming the planet and people's health. Reports trying to create doubts about organic agriculture are suddenly flooding the media. There are two reasons for this. Firstly, people are fed up of the corporate assault of toxics and GMOs. Secondly, people are turning to organic agriculture and organic food as a way to end the toxic war against the earth and...