-Down to Earth Exceptional growth in agriculture and acreage in kharif season precipitate a crisis like never before for farmers   In recent times, agriculture made headlines for all the wrong reasons: Farmers quitting cultivation; the sector turning into a perennial loss-making enterprise; and the country’s official policy to downsize the dependence on agriculture to reduce overall economic hardship among the poorest of the population. Agriculture’s fast-declining economic importance reached such an extent...

-Down to Earth Several states have different levels of capabilities. Some states like Haryana and Punjab are historically in a better position to procure, while others like Bihar have limited capabilities Farmers’ protests about low harvest prices were a recurrent issue during the harvest period. A record harvest of paddy and other crops was expected during this harvest period. Market arrivals begin from October and end until December across India. Significant efforts from...

-The Indian Express Husk, bran, straw, stover, skin, molasses and bagasse are some of the agro-waste products obtained from rice, wheat, maize, millet and sugarcane. Farmers usually burn these waste products after harvest, often leading to massive air pollution as experienced in Delhi during winters. Pune: A new study has found that coating jowar, bajra, wheat and maize seeds with organic mixture derived from sugarcane residue increases the yield of these cereals. City-based...

-Business Standard Unemployment rate in the country will rise to a staggering 32.5 per cent, but will be higher in Sri Lanka at 37.8 per cent As many as 6.1 million young people (15-24 years) may lose jobs in India in 2020 if the containment of the virus takes six months (roughly till September), says a report by Asian Development Bank (ADB) and International Labour Organisation (ILO). India will be followed by Pakisan,...

-The Indian Express Farmers will need to be supported in perpetuity; they can never become atmanirbhar. The question is how best to support farmers such that India may become nutrition self-reliant Imagine, while constructing a multi-storey building the contractors discover the building foundation has begun to sink. It is scary, but wait. Now, imagine that even though the contractors know this, they simply decide to continue work rather than alter the plans....