-The Indian Express As the toll of human misery and suicide mounts, official estimates of farm losses due to unseasonal rains and Hailstorms in March remain controversial, with hasty downward revision. Since these estimates are largely notional, without validation from field visits, such revision smacks of deliberate fiddling. On March 24, the agriculture ministry reported that crops on 18 million hectares — about 30 per cent of the rabi crops —...

-The Hindu Agriculture a State subject, Central help supplementary: Minister The Maharashtra government has reported 257 suicides by farmers in the State between January and March this year resulting from the agrarian crisis. “The government of Maharashtra has reported that 257 farmers have committed suicide in the State due to agrarian reasons during the period January to March 2015,” Minister of State for Agriculture Mohanbhai Kundaria said in a written reply to a...

-The Hindu Irked Minister puts officials on notice; insurance companies to face action for the fiasco Lucknow: Laxity on the part of officials seems to have impeded the State government’s efforts to ameliorate the sufferings of over 13 lakh farmers who have suffered massive crop loss on account of unseasonal rains and Hailstorm in Uttar Pradesh. Thanks to official apathy, coupled with the slow pace of relief work, the distressed farmers have...

-PTI Leader of opposition in the Legislative Council and NCP leader Dhananjay Munde questioned the basis of the state government's report to the Centre, saying that on an average seven farmers were committing suicide every day. Congress and NCP on Monday slammed the Maharashtra government for stating in a report to the Centre that only three farmers committed suicide in the state following the Hailstorm and unseasonal rains in the last...

-HuffingtonPost.in NEW DELHI: A chilling humanitarian crisis is unfolding in Maharashtra, new government data shows. As many as 601 farmers, driven to desperation after crop damage due to unseasonal Hailstorm and rains, have killed themselves in the last three months alone — which amounts to almost seven farmer suicides a day, the Times of India reported. Vidarbha, from where Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis hails, accounted for the highest number of cases —...