-Press release of 4th All India Media Conference, dated 8 October, 2019 Udaipur, Oct. 8: More than 300 media practitioners, researchers, scholars and educationists from different states of India and from four foreign countries took a pledge to empower the underprivileged sections of society by ending the digital divide and create new opportunities to highlight the issues of common people, rural areas, landless labourers, malnourished children and Farmers affected by climate...

-The Indian Express The Maha Agri Tech project attempts to mitigate agricultural risks by using data anlytics to plug gaps. Launched in January this year, the Maha Agri Tech project seeks to use technology to address various cultivation risks ranging from poor rains to pest attacks, accurately predict crop-wise and area-wise yield and eventually to use this data to inform policy decisions including pricing, warehousing and crop insurance. When Farmers in...

-The Hindu Onion producers, however, have called an agitation, with one Farmers’ group threatening a strike if the export ban is not lifted. Onion prices in Delhi have dropped below the Rs.60 a kg mark in the retail market for the first time in two weeks, as the Central government’s measures, imposing stock limits and banning exports, took effect, cooling off the prices in most parts of the country. Onion producers, however, have...

-The Hindu Business Line The seeds regime should protect Farmers’ interests, says Alliance for Sustainable and Holistic Agriculture Hyderabad: The Alliance for Sustainable and Holistic Agriculture (ASHA) has called for a seed regime that would protect the Farmer’s right to breed, select, save, use, exchange, distribute and sell seeds. The regime should also encourage agro-diversity to ensure sustainable agriculture and resilience to climate change stresses. Referring to reports on the proposed amendments to...

-RuralIndiaOnline.org In Rayagada, Bt cotton acreage has risen by 5,200 per cent in 16 years. The result: this biodiversity hotspot, rich in indigenous millets, rice varieties and forest foods, is seeing an alarming ecological shift “Everybody is doing it. So we are too,” said Rupa Pirikaka, somewhat uncertainly. ‘It’ is genetically modified (GM) Bt cotton seeds, now easily bought at the local market, or even in one’s own village. ‘Everybody’ is countless other...