-PTI NEW DELHI: India is expected to harvest bumper crop this year based on estimates of higher food grains production in Kharif (summer sown) and hopes of better Rabi (winter) crop with enough water in reservoirs, Finance Minister P Chidambaram said today. He also said that the agriculture credit has grown by 12.1 per cent during April-August period of this fiscal. "On agriculture, we estimate this would be a very good year. The...

-The Economic Times That India has had an excellent monsoon is a given, as is the prognosis that it will more than double agricultural growth from the lowly 1.9% seen in the last fiscal year. The happy tidings on the farm front won't end there. The joy could actually multiply by the last quarter of this fiscal year because abundant rains will benefit the increasingly important winter rabi crop more than...

-Reuters NEW DELHI/MUMBAI: India looks set for bumper harvests of winter crops such as wheat, chickpeas and rapeseed in the wake of a strong monsoon that has left the soil moist and topped up reservoirs. The crops will follow bountiful summer harvests of rice and soybeans due to the rains, with New Delhi looking to boost agricultural growth to cool double-digit food inflation and revive a slowing economy as manufacturing struggles. With next...

-The Telegraph New Delhi: Swathes of eastern India resembled a gigantic overflowing bucket for parts of this week, with several areas flooded though the monsoon rainfall in the region till September was a staggering 28 per cent below average. Twelve of the region's 15 large river-fed reservoirs were brimming with water on Thursday night. Water levels in three of Jharkhand's five large reservoirs were above the full capacity although the operators, facing the...

-The Indian Express Death toll mounts to 25; government describes situation in Mayurbhanj and Balasore districts as "critical" Gopalpur/Srikakulam/Bhubaneswar: The death toll in calamity-ravaged Odisha on Monday mounted to 25 with four more persons perishing in several areas of the State in the aftermath of cyclone Phailin that triggered heavy rains and floods in some districts. The government described the situation in Mayurbhanj and Balasore districts as "critical". Relief and rescue operations have been...