-The Hindu Dehradun: More than 500 villagers on Saturday protested against the stone crushers who have been licensed to mine the agriculturally-rich region of Tehri district's Maletha gram sabha. The memorandum given to Chief Minister Harish Rawat, on Saturday, read: "The stone crushers working in the area will [be the cause of dust and health problems which will] result in migration of the population...here most of the people are completely dependent on...

-The Times of India AURANGABAD: At a time when all of Marathwada is reeling under a drought-like situation, Akola Dev, a small village with a population of 3,000 in the Jafrabad taluka of Jalna district has set an example by introducing efficient water conservation methods in its periphery. All the villagers have joined hands to implement water conservation methods, thereby enabling them to sustain on last year's rainfall. Moreover, the farmers in...

-Financial Chronicle The United Nations declared 2014 as the International Year of Family Farming (IYFF) to recognise the importance of family farming in reducing poverty and improving global food security. According to the UN, the IYFF aims to promote new development policies at national and regional levels that will help small holder and family farmers eradicate hunger through small scale sustainable agricultural production. Family farming involves about 500 million families consisting...

-The Hindu Business Line   Chemical-intensive agriculture has ravaged our soil quality. History tells us that the consequences could be catastrophic During the 86th birthday celebrations of the Indian Council for Agricultural Research, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that Indian farmers "deserve a standing ovation". However, he reminded the gathered scientists that it was not enough to sit in five-star seminar rooms and analyse why something could not be done; rather, they should...

-The Hindu Business Line Leaving aside a focus on warehousing and farm credit, the Budget has sprayed ₹100 crore across a clutter of schemes The new government's budget is marked by a fractured approach to the farm sector, where perhaps the most significant spend has been on irrigation, after the large allocation to farm credit. Credit push A sum of ₹1,000 crore sounds good if instead of large irrigation projects and canal networks, the...