-The Indian Express According to experts, June has been a good month for the state, with farmers speeding up sowing. However, absence of rains towards the end of June, mostly in Marathwada and Vidharbha regions, had harmed the crops during the crucial growth phase. Pune: AS MAHARASHTRA reported more than 90 per cent sowing, moisture stress is now threatening the survival of standing crops in various parts of the state. As per...

-The Indian Express Agriculture education is in a poor state. ICAR must be revamped Although autarky on Indian farms is a distant dream, as the 71st year of Independence dawns, penury-ridden farmers are still committing suicide by the thousands— a consequence of decades of short-sightedness, while economists and scientists are still equating food sufficiency to farmer sustainability. The occasion merits introspection on the core issues of farmers’ distress. We must begin at the...

-PTI New Delhi: Foodgrain output in the ongoing 2017-18 kharif season is likely to surpass last year’s record of 138.04 million tonnes due to higher acreage and a good monsoon for the second straight year, Agriculture Secretary Shobhana K Pattanayak said today. So far, more than 80 per cent of the sowing of kharif crops — paddy, pulses, oilseeds, cotton, sugarcane and jute — has been completed and planting will continue in...

-The Times of India blog A reply by Water Resources minister Uma Bharti  to a Lok Sabha question on groundwater depletion foregrounds tough trade-offs facing India’s policymakers. According to Bharti, an assessment of groundwater resources and usage showed that 16% of 6,584 assessment units in India are “overexploited.” A table which accompanies her reply provides state-wise data. Here, Punjab stands out for the magnitude of overexploitation. If 16% of assessed units in India...

-The Financial Express Pune: This season, the increasing incidence of crop damage by pink bollworm in the early stages of cotton planting has evoked concern among farmers in Maharahstra. Even as the state government administration has asked farmers to remain vigilant on the pest infestation, industry people have raised concerns if farmers could afford the solutions required. Senior scientists at the Central Institute of Cotton Research ( CICR), Nagpur said that...