-Deccan Herald Buoyed by the incentives announced by the government, farmers appear to have taken up cultivation of pulses in a big way this year. New Delhi: According to the data released by the Agriculture Ministry, pulses acreage has increased 39% as compared to the same period last year. Sowing of coarse cereals and oil seeds has also increased but acreage of sugar cane and cotton has declined. The area under pulses cultivation was...

-Down to Earth Severe dry spells in Indian forests have hit the livelihood of more than 100 million people. But India simply does not acknowledge this drought For more than five months, residents of Jabarra village have been foraging the forests for minor forest produce (MFP). The forest in Chhattisgarh’s Dhamtari district is abundant with more than 200 types of forest produce and the district is known as Asia’s biggest trading...

-Frontline The inability to resolve pressing problems with respect to the production, distribution and availability of food is one of the important failures of the entire economic reform process. IN the fateful month of July 1991, when the devaluation of the Indian rupee presaged the introduction of a whole series of liberalising economic reforms, agriculture was very far from the minds of most policymakers and commentators. The immediate focus was on...

-The Times of India Bhopal: Reeling under drought sometime back, farmers in as many as 13 districts of the state are now bearing the brunt of floods and will have to resort to re-sowing of kharif crops. The farmers are now waiting for overcast sky to clear up so that the waterlogged fields become accessible for re-sowing. Before the deluge, the sowing was already late and kharif crops could be sowed only...

-The Hindu Business Line Acreage under cotton, oilseed cultivation still low but likely to improve New Delhi: With surplus rain recorded between June 30 and July 6, sowing of rice and pulses picked up pace with the total acreage under the two crops, since the beginning of June, exceeding last year’s levels for the same period. The sharp decline in acreage under cotton and oilseeds, however, resulted in lower acreage under all kharif...