-Livemint.com Farmers who opt for drip irrigation will be given loans at 2% rate of interest with a cap of Rs. 85,400 per hectare Mumbai: In a significant move, the Devendra Fadnavis government in Maharashtra on Tuesday decided to make drip irrigation mandatory for sugar cane cultivation over 3.05 lakh hectares in the state. Farmers who opt for drip irrigation will be given loans at 2% rate of interest with a cap...

-The Times of India CHANDIGARH: Haryana government is implementing a number of schemes to uplift the farmers through provisions of subsidies, increased productivity and marketing of produce to help them in making farming profitable. Agriculture and farmers' welfare minister OP Dhankar said on Thursday in a written reply to a question put up by INLD MLA Parminder Singh Dhull during ongoing budget session of state assembly here. The schemes having special provisions...

-The Tribune Demonetisation didn’t overly impact the sector, but devitalisation is a concern THERE has been a lot of speculation about the extent of damage due to demonetisation on agriculture. Small farmers suffered most because cash in hand means a lot to them. They were unable to pay for inputs like fertilisers, seeds and farm labour and experienced low demand for their perishable produce. The latest data from government’s agricultural ministry however...

-PTI The “war on drought” announced by Andhra Pradesh chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu has failed to yield the desired results, with groundnut crop output plummeting despite crores of rupees spent on providing water for irrigation. Scanty rain during July-August prompted the state government to declare a ‘war’ on drought by deploying thousands of rain guns to wet standing groundnut crops in 15 lakh acres in Anantapuramu district, 4.5 lakh acres in...

-Deccan Herald Water in India has now become a contentious issue due to rise in demand, climate change and growing mismanagement. With erratic rainfall and recurring droughts in 2012, 2015 and 2016, “water saving” has become a high priority for the governments. As the agriculture sector consumes 80% of freshwater in the country, micro-irrigation –  drip and Sprinkler irrigation – has been catapulted as a policy priority because drip and Sprinkler irrigation...