-DNA Reintroduction of oil seed and pulses which require less water is must, govt told Mumbai: To curb the growing number of suicides, Maharashtra government should ask farmers of 14 suicide-prone districts to adopt the Sikkim-pattern non-chemical farming. This suggestion has come from the committee which was appointed by the government to look into the vexed issue. The report filed by the committee said that the rain-sensitive cash crop in these 14 crisis...

-TheHansIndia.com The ongoing drought is fuelling distress migration from districts in Telangana, a trend that was witnessed in the early 2000s. The severe drought conditions for the second consecutive year have led to crop failure, mounting debts, chronic unemployment and failure of the NREGA scheme, especially in the districts of Mahbubnagar, Medak, and Adilabad, forcing large-scale exodus of farmers and others.   The fruits of a people’s movement and the world’s largest anti-poverty...

-The Telegraph Patna: The warm winter that took Bihar by surprise could hit the rabi crop hard with experts estimating an over 13 per cent drop in agriculture production during the season. The fall in production, the experts fear, could lead to distress among farmers and also contribute to inflation in food grain, pulses and oilseeds. "We are estimating production of around 52 lakh tonnes of wheat this rabi season in the state....

-The Times of India Ramesh Chand has spent over three decades in farm research and teaching agricultural economics and policy. He has now been appointed as a key member of the NITI Aayog to prepare a blueprint for the revival of the agricultural sector. In an interview to TOI, Chand talks about prices, rural distress, role of cutting edge technology and the need for state run institutions in the farm sector....

-The Economic Times PUNE/NEW DELHI: Pulses will likely remain beyond the reach for many in 2016 as well. Even though a fresh kharif crop has started arriving in the market, whole beans of tur (pigeon pea) cost twice as much as last year because the output is expected to be smaller. Government agencies that entered the market to create a buffer stock for next year are finding it tough to buy tur because...