-The Indian Express The government will take a call on the process to retrieve the money from the ineligible beneficiaries after August 31, when the scrutiny is complete. Bhubaneswar: The Odisha government has found that 2.66 lakh recipients of assistance under its Krushak Assistance for Livelihood and Income Augmentation (KALIA) scheme are not eligible for the benefit, Agriculture Minister Arun Sahoo said on Thursday. The government will take a call on the...

-The Indian Express High powered commitee for transformation of agriculture should reform restrictive tenancy laws, protect rights of landowners. Early in its second term, on July 1, the Narendra Modi government constituted a High Powered Committee of Chief Ministers for Transformation of Indian Agriculture. Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis was appointed the committee’s convenor. The Committee is supposed to submit its report within two months. Its terms of reference (ToR) pertain...

-The Indian Express Kurki is attachment of Farmers’ land by banks or arhtiyas/sahukars/traders (commission agents and private money lenders) in the event of non-payment of loan or debt. Two years after Punjab government notified a ban on kurkis or attachment of Farmers’ land by banks in the event of their defaulting on loan payments, several such cases are taking place daily across districts in the state’s Malwa region. Here’s why. * What...

-The Hindu Rice cultivation in Punjab, which thrived in the past due to the easy availability of water resources and free supply of electricity to Farmers, is under considerable strain now. Vikas Vasudeva examines how overexploitation has made groundwater not only scarce but also increasingly alkaline. Gurmeet Singh, 60, a tall land-owning Farmer in Bhattiwal Khurd village, which is located in Punjab’s Sangrur district, has yet again planted the water-guzzling paddy crop...

-The Telegraph Below-normal and drought are the new normal. Since 2012 there has only been one normal monsoon. Monsoons follow their own patterns, unpredictable as they may be. In the past, certain periods, spanning a decade or sometimes two, have had higher frequencies of droughts and at the moment, we seem to be stuck in such a cycle. Between 1900 and the year 2000, there was one drought per decade. But...