-PTI New Delhi: With an aim to save standing kharif crops from weak monsoon, the Centre on Thursday announced 50 percent diesel subsidy to farmers in places where rainfall deficiency was more than 50 percent as on July 15. The 50 percent subsidy will also be applicable to places as and when states declare them as drought-hit. The government also raised the subsidy ceiling to 50 percent on seeds in order to partially...

-The Times of India COIMBATORE: In light of the delayed southwest monsoon and severe rainfall deficit, agriculture experts have advised farmers to go in for short-term crops this year as they require less water. "We are telling them to move from their traditional crops and try short-term crops like pulses, millets, sunflower or maize," said K Velayutham, director of crop management at TNAU. Except for maize, the cycle for the other three...

-The Business Standard Centre keeps close watch, prays for rain revival; area under paddy, coarse cereals at 5-year low till now With the southwest monsoon's progress a worry, the Union department of agriculture is keeping a close watch on 38 districts across the country where the rainfall condition till June has been alarming and chances of drought are the highest. The assessment is based on rainfall in June and the first few days...

-The Telegraph The country's third driest June over a hundred years might have prompted the Union government to come up with agriculture contingency plans for around 500 districts but Bihar for one seems blessed in this field. In spite of 32 per cent deficient rainfall across the state in June, the overall sowing of paddy seedlings till July 1 stood at 2,57,660 hectares, substantially higher than the area of 2,31,000 hectares covered...

-The Hindu Focus on short-duration varieties, crop insurance plan Thiruvananthapuram (Andhra Pradesh): With the southwest monsoon playing truant, the government is working on a disaster management plan to help farmers tide over the possibility of crop failure and the consequent loss. The Department of Agriculture is focussing its efforts on the paddy sector, likely to be the worst affected by a poor monsoon. "With the initial monsoon spell tapering off, transplanting paddy shoots...