-The Hindu   A welter of problems may be in store for the country These are testing times for the Narendra Modi government in the farm and food sector: the south-west (June-September) monsoon is delayed, deficient and weak; kharif sowing, much of which is rain-fed, is lagging by over 17 per cent over last year; rising food prices are pushing up inflation and pulling down growth. Right now the prices of only perishable...

-Mail Today     India is staring at the spectre of a possible drought as the progress of the monsoon has been abysmally slow, with authorities saying cumulative rainfall across the country has been 45 per cent below the average for this period. Reason: the El Nino effect is adversely affecting this year's monsoon, say weather experts. The India Meteorological Department (IMD), in its latest report, has highlighted the weak and delayed onset of...

-The New Indian Express   KARIMNAGAR: With a weak monsoon predicted for this season by weather officials, farmers who want to prepare for Kharif are in a fix. Upland area farmers in Husnabad, Illanthakunta, Sircilla, Bheemdeverapalli, Elkathurthy and some other mandals are facing a miserable situation as they have to depend on rain god and borewells in the absence of irrigation facility. Those farmers in other areas and depending on canals, local tanks...

-Reuters NEW DELHI: About a quarter of India's land is turning to desert and degradation of agricultural areas is becoming a severe problem, the environment minister said, potentially threatening food security in the world's second most populous country. India occupies just 2 per cent of the world's territory but is home to 17 per cent of its population, leading to over-use of land and excessive grazing. Along with changing rainfall patterns, these...

-DNA   Gadag: Rajendra Shirol, a farmer from the drought prone Gadag district, has found a way to find some respite from the increasing temperature. He has cultivated an Ayurvedic herbal crop `Ashwagandha', botanically known as ‘Withania somnifera.' He has been encouraging about 100 farmers in the Gadag and Koppal districts to sow the seeds of Ashwagandha, that can grow in plenty, despite the scarcity of water, infertility of land, hot temperature and...