-Livemint.com Systematic analysis of groundwater conservation methods must be conducted to forestall the water crisis India’s over-exploitation of groundwater is contributing to—as stated by NITI Aayog—“the worst water crisis in its history”. Groundwater is one of the most important water sources in India accounting for 63% of all irrigation water and over 80% of the rural and urban domestic water supplies. In fact, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)...

-The TribuneDebt trap worsens; Govt must step in, says BKU leaderMansa/ Sangrur: With paddy production recording a decline of 10 to 15 per cent owing to untimely rains, small and marginal farmers are staring at misery, clueless as to how they will repay debts.Farmers owning less than 5 acres of land and those cultivating land on lease are torn between meeting the needs of their families and repaying outstanding debts,...

-Down to Earth17 clusters have been chosen in 8 states to roll out the pilot of Operation Green, a Central scheme aimed to contain annual price distress of tomatoes, onion and potatoes Nine months after announcing ?Operation Green? to provide the rightful price to farmer producers, the Union government has prepared guidelines to implement the operation. The scheme was devised to contain the annual price distress of tomatoes, onion and...

-The Hindu Farmers in Punjab continue to burn paddy stubble every winter despite a ban on the practice. Jacob Koshy and Vikas Vasudeva report on the compulsions that drive farmers to adopt this method of clearing their fields and the efforts by the State administration to wean them off it The highway to Bibipur, a hamlet about 50 km from Patiala town, cuts through acres of paddy. Some of the rice stalk...

-The Hindu Business Line Expectation of loan waiver causes farmers to stop payment against existing loans. They don’t buy insurance for the next season The Centre launched the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY) in January 2016. While crop insurance programmes in Indiahave been in place for more than four decades, interest among farmers about insuring their crops has been low, which is reflected in the modest coverage level. According to latest data...