-The Indian Express As drought pushes up food prices, India must invest in new Irrigation methods The speculation on the delay of the monsoons and below-normal rainfall this year is not new to India. But the drought in the maize belt of the United States — that is, in the Midwest — was unexpected. The impact of the drought will be felt on wheat and soya bean production. This will eventually lead...
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Rs 20,000 crore swindled in Maharashtra Irrigation scam-Nauzer K Bharucha
-The Economic Times MUMBAI: Maharashtra's mega Irrigation scam, which strained relations between Congress and its alliance partner, Nationalist Congress Party ( NCP), is getting murkier. In another explosive revelation, TOI has learned that costs of 38 Irrigation projects in Vidarbha were increased from Rs 6,672 crore to Rs 26,722 crore by the Vidarbha Irrigation Development Corporation (VIDC). More shockingly, this mind-numbing 300% cost escalation of over Rs 20,000 crore was approved in a...
More »Switch from farm subsidy to farm investment-Ashok Gulati
-The Economic Times With a weak monsoon, farmers and farm labour, agri-investors and policy makers, everyone is looking up in the sky and praying for more water to pour. Farm analysts are debating whether this will lead to a drop of 16 million tonnes of foodgrain, as it happened in 2009, or 38 million tonnes, as it did in 2002. NCAER is projecting 20 million tonnes drop in grain production in...
More »Ministerial panel to meet again to discuss drought
-The Times of India The empowered group of ministers headed by agriculture minister Sharad Pawar is likely to meet again on Wednesday to discuss measures to counter the impact of spreading drought. The meet, the second in successive weeks, will take place after the India Meteorological Department officially announced a 15% deficit in rainfall for the monsoon season of 2012. Pawar has just concluded his first tour of drought affected states...
More »Grapes of theft in villages without water to drink-Jaideep Hardikar
-The Telegraph In the desert-like barrenness of brown around him, Suresh Mangsuli is growing grapes. As the rest of his drought-hit village thirsts for drinking water, he splashes his three acres of vines with over 10,000 litres a day. His huge farm pond is brimming, insured against seepage by a black polythene sheet stretched across its floor. Its water is pumped out to irrigate the vineyard through a network of drip pipes. Growing grapes...
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