-The Times of India NEW DELHI: The country received just over a third of its normal rainfall this winter, leaving a 63% deficit in January and February that raises the spectre of water scarcity in the coming summer ahead of the monsoon. Of particular concern will be the large rain and snowfall deficits in the hill states of J&K, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand, which feed rivers flowing into the plains of north...

-Livemint.com Centre is soon going to issue a revised set of guidelines to address current challenges faced by the crop insurance scheme, says Ashish Bhutani, joint secretary at the agriculture ministry New Delhi: The prime minister’s flagship crop insurance scheme, which has seen an impressive rise in coverage and sum assured since its launch in 2016, is facing a number of challenges that are delaying claim settlements for farmers, a senior agriculture...

-Scroll.in The ‘Plastic Man of India’ has found a way to reuse plastic waste and to make durable roads. A 73-year-old retired chemistry professor from the Thiagarajar Engineering College in Madurai was on Thursday named as one of the 73 recipients of the Padma Shri, the government’s fourth highest civilian honour. Rajagopalan Vasudevan is known as the “Plastic Man of India” for devising an innovative way of disposing of plastic waste...

-Down to Earth Government reports say 2004-14 had the highest agriculture growth that has fast slipped back to near-zero growth despite Normal Monsoons and bumper yields The National Democratic Alliance government is scrambling to rescue the agriculture sector from a crisis never seen before. On January 10, Prime Minister Narendra Modi met over 100 economists in a first ever such interaction. Agriculture, rural economy and unemployment dominated the discussions. Modi’s promise of...

-The Pioneer Is Odisha in the grip of climate change adversity? This looks apparent when for last three consecutive years, i.e., 2015 to 2017, the State keeps recording a condition of excessive to mildly dry even during the monsoon period of June to September. Moreover, the State has recorded wet conditions only during the cyclone or heavy flood years during the period 2009-2017. Sample this: According to the available data with Met...