-Down to Earth Farmers worldwide face existential threat as milk prices slump but dairy processing giants are making a windfall. Down To Earth travels to Germany, Kenya and several Indian states to take stock of the global crisis Call it the fallout of faulty farm policies of the rich or simply a demand-supply gap, dairy farmers across the world are crying for help as global milk prices slump. In India, the biggest...

-The Hindu What happened? At the end of October, the Maharashtra government declared drought in 151 taluks in 26 of 36 districts, mostly in the Marathwada region and in the north. Experts said rainfall had been below par in large swathes of the State and faulty water conservation methods had added to the problem. How serious is it? The total number of villages affected by the drought — though the government has not shared...

-Livemint.com Systematic analysis of groundwater conservation methods must be conducted to forestall the water crisis India’s over-exploitation of groundwater is contributing to—as stated by NITI Aayog—“the worst water crisis in its history”. Groundwater is one of the most important water sources in India accounting for 63% of all irrigation water and over 80% of the rural and urban domestic water supplies. In fact, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)...

-Livemint.com A government report says nearly 11,500 of Maharashtra’s 40,000 villages face water scarcity due to a combination of less than normal rainfall and consequent exploitation of groundwater Mumbai: The Maharashtra government on Tuesday declared a ‘drought-like situation’ in 180 tehsils , more than half the 353 of these administrative units in the state, in an acknowledgement of looming agrarian distress. Chief minister Devendra Fadnavis said after a cabinet meeting that his government...

-Mumbai Mirror The Modi government says it will double farmers’ real earnings by 2022, but so far, it has only delivered committees and reports. In early 2016, Prime Minister Narendra Modi promised to double farmers’ income by 2022, and the government subsequently set up an inter-ministerial committee led by Ashok Dalwai, additional secretary in the agriculture ministry, to prepare a roadmap. About two weeks ago, the committee submitted its fourteenth and final...