-Business Standard Encourages states on short-duration and less of rain-dependent crops, pushes seed availability in case of re-sowing as IMD predicts deficit in rainfall this year Mumbai/ Hyderabad: With the forecast of monsoon rain revised downward, the Union ministry of agriculture has directed states to be ready with contingency plans. Earth Sciences Minister Harsh Vardhan said rainfall would be only 88 per cent of the long-term average from the 93 per cent expected...

-The Statesman Agriculture is the source of livelihood for nearly 700 million people in India, representing a huge workforce. More than half the GDP of the rural economy is based on agriculture. It is not just a profession but a traditional occupation, a way of life. Agriculture is characterised by small and fragmented land holdings. Small (up to one hectare of land) and marginal (more than one ha and up to 2...

-The Times of India MUMBAI: The state's production of pulses during 2014-15 is set to fall by as much as 64% and cereals by 30% on account of the drought and unseasonal rains over the last year which wrecked the kharif crop. Yields for the rabi or winter crop have also plummeted, raising concerns about the impact on prices. Maharashtra produces about 10% of the country's foodgrains. However, sowing over the last...

-The Hindu Business Line Agriculture development and food security form the foundation of manufacturing growth. Modi must realise this Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s exhortation ‘Make in India’ would make perfect sense till we realise that by ‘making’ he means manufacturing. But could it be that his focus on manufacturing may come a cropper if we do not ensure that agriculture is placed permanently on a sound footing? The history of the great...

-Business Today The father of India's green revolution, M.S. Swaminathan, is involved in the conservation and cultivation of millet. He tells Business Today why millet is important. Q. Why did millet vanish from our fields? Swaminathan: In the past, in agriculture, a wide range of food crops were grown. Gradually, with market-oriented agriculture, the food basket shrunk, not only in India, but all over the world. As wheat, rice, corn, soyabean, potato became...