-The Hindu Cheaper combine harvesters have replaced expensive farm labour but leave behind stubble Bali Ram, a 39-year-old farmer from Kaimla village in Karnal, around 120 km from Delhi, did not burn the paddy stubble in his fields this year for fear of being penalised. Despite the extra cost, he decided to plough his land with a tractor to get rid of the plant stalks. However, he conceded that most of the villagers...

-Hindustan Times Parbhani: It took Pandurang Shinde three trips to the weekly Khandoba cattle bazaar in Parbhani, one of the eight drought-hit districts of Marathwada, to find a buyer for his pair of bullocks. After much heckling, he managed to sell his coveted pair at Rs 50,000, half the price at what the animals had cost him. The weekly cattle bazaar, held on Thursdays, at Parbhani taluka is packed these days, full...

-The Pioneer Local crop varieties are resilient but ignored Recent reports that well-known plant scientist Debal Deb has found a traditional rice variety in West Bengal that contains silver and has medicinal properties, has aroused public interest. Who knew that a rice grain, or for that matter any plant variety, could naturally assimilate the precious metal from the soil? The discovery is a humbling reminder of the many mysteries that nature continues...

-The Hindu Right-wing groups oblivious to the plight of hapless abandoned animals in Rajasthan. Jaipur: Amidst the increasing right-wing fanaticism over cow reverence, Rajasthan, with one of the largest cattle numbers in the country, has few takers for sick and abandoned cows. In an act to impose cow reverence, in November, a plastic cow installation at the Third Jaipur Art Summit was removed after some right-wing groups found the art “disrespectful to the...

-The Times of India YAVATMAL: The first thing that strikes you about Dahegaon village is its run-down and abandoned bullock-carts. They can be found lying outside most huts, with their paint peeling off, almost frozen in time. The animals which used to operate the carts are no longer there. Nearly half the village of 5,000 people sold has off its bullocks over the last few months, says sarpanch S M Balki. The...