-The Hindu Business Line Mumbai: Cotton output is expected to increase 4 per cent to 34.5 million bales (of 170 kg each) in the cotton year ending September on the back of sharp rise in yield. However, the acreage under cotton has dropped 11 per cent to 10.84 million hectares (12.29 million hectares). The yield per hectare is expected to increase to 541 kg from 459 kg, according to the second advanced...

-The Indian Express Only a couple of weeks ago, gaurakshaks impounded a consignment of eight indigenous Gir breed cows that Jadhav had sourced from a farmer in Gujarat’s Amreli district. These animals, whose milk fetches a premium, are currently being housed at a gaushala (cow shelter) near Amreli. Pune: On August 14, Sandeep Jadhav joined protestors outside the Ahmednagar district collector’s office raising voices against the apparently growing attacks on gaurakshaks...

-Livemint.com Rainfall in the entire country in August has seen a deficit of 23% so far, according to IMD data New Delhi: A patch of red signifying deficit rains, cutting across the length of India from Haryana in the north to Kerala in the south, is threatening to worsen farm distress, shows rainfall data from the India Meteorological Department (IMD). The June to September south-west monsoon which irrigates over half of India’s crop...

-The Indian Express The consolation this time, though, is the surplus showers during June and July. It has resulted in the cumulative rainfall for the four-month southwest monsoon season (June-September) being only 4.3 per cent below normal till August 16. New Delhi: The current month is turning out to be the driest August in eight years. The country as a whole has received 25.6 per cent less area-weighted rainfall during August 1-16...

-The Hindu Business Line A recent book shows how a cocktail of indebtedness, masculinity and consumerism acts as a trigger. For those who have wondered whether indebtedness can be the sole factor driving farmers to take their lives, here is a book that introduces much needed nuance and complexity to the debate. Nilotpal Kumar’s book, based on a study of 22 suicide cases in Ananthapur district (accompanied by a fascinating ethnographic study...