-The New York Times BOLLIKUNTA, India - Latha Reddy Musukula was making tea on a recent morning when she spotted the money lenders walking down the dirt path toward her house. They came in a phalanx of 15 men, by her estimate. She knew their faces, because they had walked down the path before. After each visit, her husband, a farmer named Veera Reddy, sank deeper into silence, frozen by some terror...

-The Hindu There are obviously several dimensions to India's recent agricultural performance which Finance Minister P. Chidambaram in his budget speech termed as "stellar". A week before the budget, Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar had announced that foodgrain production is on course to touch a new record of 263 million tonnes, up from 255.36 million tonnes last year. The good performance is seen with regard to other crops too. Estimates of...

-Press Information Bureau (Ministry of Agriculture) With a production of 269 million tonnes in 2012-13, the horticulture sector has emerged as a major contributor to the food basket of the country. Horticulture production grew by more than 8% during the last decade. As compared to the production of 257 million tonnes in the previous year and 215 million tonnes about five years ago, there has been significant jump in the horticulture production,...

-The Hindu A farm whether in one acre or a few acres must encompass as many crop varieties as possible and also some animals to be remunerative. "Monocropping (growing only one crop) is now a fading practice among several farmers since they are realising that for their economic safety and better returns it is important to grow additional crops. "In some areas in Madhya Pradesh farmers grow a main crop in a...

-The Indian Express Renowned agricultural scientist and vice-chancellor of Punjab Agricultural University, Baldev Singh Dhillon wants farmers in other parts of the country Renowned agricultural scientist and vice-chancellor of Punjab Agricultural University, Baldev Singh Dhillon wants farmers in other parts of the country to learn from Punjab and Haryana experience and judiciously use groundwater and fertiliser, to avoid problems faced by these two states today. Dhillon spoke to Sandip Das on the...