-The Hindu Importers seek exemption from stock limits The Centre on Tuesday declared that the 82,462.53 tonnes of pulses seized in various States under the Essential Commodities Act would be made available in the open market within this week to augment supplies and arrest further hike in the prices of tur and urad dals. Rate not decided There was no word, however, on the rate at which these pulses will be made available in...

-Hindustan Times Half a million people lost their lives to disasters over the last decade in Asia and the Pacific that was struck by over 1,625 disasters during this period, a UN panel report said on Tuesday, calling for a fundamental rethink to short-sighted approach to disasters in the region. The 2015 Asia-Pacific Disaster Report — Disasters without borders: Regional resilience for sustainable development — also stressed on the need for countries...

-Livemint.com State seeks Rs300 crore more for drinking water supply and Rs750 crore for waiving off interest payments on loans New Delhi: Madhya Pradesh has declared 35 out of 51 districts in the state as Drought affected and sought an initial central assistance of Rs.2,400 crore, indicating deepening rural distress. Karnataka, Maharashtra and Odisha have already declared parts of their state as Drought affected. Madhya Pradesh finance minister Jayant Malaiya and agriculture minister...

-The Hindu The system brought down input costs — two to four kg of seeds per acre against 30 kg needed for fertiliser-based, water-intensive farming A model evolved for applying traditional wisdom in farming has also helped in conserving indigenous paddy varieties that are under threat of extinction. The Biodiversity Rainfed Farming System, promoted by Rural Organisation for Social Education, a not-for-profit voluntary organisation, in four blocks of Pudukottai district of Tamil Nadu,...

-The Hindu The variety is locally known as ‘Damberasali’ SIRSI (Karnataka): Amid reports of paddy crops affected by a deficient monsoon in Malnad this year, a young farmer in Hakkalkeri near Bedasgaon in Mundgod taluk is cultivating a rare variety that is Drought resistant. Maryappa Choudappa Naik, a young farmer of Hakkalkeri brought 25 kg of ‘Raksha 10.5’ variety of paddy seeds from the Krishi Vigyan Kendra and noticed during the harvest that...