-The Hindu Bengaluru: After slump in prices and harassment from moneylenders, the farming community now faces another hardship – failure of kharif crops owing to severe drought. About 26 per cent of the sown area has withered owing to scanty rainfall in more than 20 districts of the State. Already nearly 200 farmers committed suicides owing to indebtedness and other reasons in the last four months in the State. The South-West monsoon being...

-The Indian Express It is necessary to rescue public policy from its elitist bias, bring agriculture to its centre There is seldom any Independence Day speech where the prime minister, from the ramparts of the Red Fort, does not thank the jawans and kisans for their heroic role in securing our borders and ensuring food security. This year is unlikely to be different. Recall Lal Bahadur Shastri’s famous slogan, “Jai Jawan,...

-The Indian Express These are the root causes of agricultural distress. Farmers need better irrigation and access to markets. Speaking at the foundation day celebrations of the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (Nabard) on July 12, Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said that there were reasons to smile on the economic front as India remains a bright spot, despite the global slowdown. He talked about the 7-8 per cent...

-The Times of India AHMEDABAD: Inadequate rains and farmers selling land to make way for industries to be one of the main reasons that have led to Gujarat's farms yield to be lower by 71 lakh tones in 2014-15. This was revealed last week after the state agriculture department sent production estimates for 2014-15 to the central government. Gujarat's cultivation area for rabi, kharif and summer crops went down by 32.42 lakh...

-The Indian Express From pulses in Karnataka to soyabean in Madhya Pradesh, basmati paddy in Haryana to Groundnuts in Gujarat, hedging their bets. Please click here to read more. ...