-The Hindu Business Line The Karnataka government’s efforts to popularise millet cultivation seem to be yielding results, thanks to a rising consumer demand based on awareness about healthy alternatives. Krishna Byre Gowda, Karnataka’s Agriculture Minister, cited drought, climate change and erratic monsoon as the driving factors for popularising millets such as ragi, jowar and bajra. These are less water-intensive crops compared to paddy or sugarcane and a shift to millet cultivation will help...

-Livemint.com The agriculture ministry has estimated foodgrain production at 134.7 million tonnes for the 2017-18 kharif crop season, 2.8% lower than last year New Delhi: Production of kharif crops this year is likely to be lower than last year, the agriculture ministry said in its first advance estimates, with the only exception being sugarcane. Production of foodgrains such as rice, pulses and coarse cereals is likely at 134.7 million tonnes in 2017-18, about...

-The Times of India Farmers can't keep them, traders don't want to buy them, and gaushalas are full. The result: Havoc on farms and roads. Sunday Times travels across the country to find out how the population of stray bovines is becoming a ticking time bomb. The problem of stray cattle is not new in India, but in the last few months, it has reached alarming proportions. According to 2012 data from...

-TheWire.in Private moneylenders are a major source of loans across the region, and with the collapse of banking in rural areas, their role has only grown. Baliram Kadpe is critical of the Maharashtra government. “Farmers do not get the minimum support price [for their crops, from the state],” he says with concern. “And it is tedious for them to acquire crop loans.”  Kadpe believes if the state ensures that farmers have access...

-Livemint.com Karnataka govt has stopped the sale of paddy seeds in some districts hoping to get farmers to switch to ragi and jowar among other coarse grains Bengaluru: Following a lukewarm response to its promotional efforts, Karnataka has resorted to more forceful measures to get farmers in the Cauvery command area to switch from cultivating water-intensive crops such as paddy and sugarcane to drought-tolerant millets as part of a plan to stabilize...