-The Hindu Increase productivity without compromising on Ecology: Swaminathan Sangareddy (Andhra Pradesh): Renowned agriculture scientist M.S. Swaminathan opined that the proposed loan waiver for farmers in both Telangana and Andhra Pradesh should not be like a patronage and instead it should bring them out of the debt trap. Addressing a gathering and later the media at International Crops Research Institute for Semi- Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) at Patancheru on Monday after being named ICRISAT...

-The Tribune Faridkot (Punjab): The Union Budget neglecting the organic farmers in Punjab and allocating Rs 100 crore for its development in the North Eastern states has left many organic farmers in the state despondent. To save fast-depleting table of ground water and avoid excessive use of pesticides and chemicals in agriculture in Punjab, the organic farmers in the state were expecting subsidy on the pattern of chemical based agriculture to give...

-Down to Earth As June ends, the monsoon, it turns out, is deficient by 40 per cent. Despite the forecast of its revival in July, it is a concern for India's rainfed areas that account for significant foodgrain production and also host the largest number of farmers in the country. More than 100 districts are officially "chronic drought-affected" areas. Why have we not been able to drought-proof them? On June 28 Prime...

-The Hindustan Times   Going by our Intelligence Bureau (IB) and some of the voices in the government, anyone asking for the protection of the country's forests, its rivers or its coasts is anti-national and destroying the country's economy. I have spent the better part of my life working to save India's natural wealth from the assault of development (largely in vain it often seems). I told successive governments that the hundreds of...

-The Hindu   Government policies, vagaries of weather drive them to the wall Anantpur (Andhra Pradesh): The agriculture scenario in the Anantapur district might well be on the path to irreversible damage if unchecked and acted upon with immediate urgency. Over 15 per cent of farmers are leaving agriculture altogether, if the statistics available with the Agriculture Department are to be extrapolated to the ground realities and understood in that context. Speaking to The...