-The Hindustan Times Nalgonda/Warangal: Dasari Ramulu, 45, and Polaboyina Pochaiah, 35, are two of the 348 Telangana farmers, who committed suicide since June 2 when Telangana became a state. The reasons behind their decision are not unique - crop failures due to poor rains and a nonexistent irrigation system and debt burdens. The debt-to-death arithmetic is simple: Each attempt to get water through bore wells costs Rs. 1 lakh and cotton seeds...

-Outlook Ahmedabad: The Gujarat government's greenhouse farming initiative has proved to be ineffective as many farmers have incurred losses due to crop failure after adopting the method, according to Bharatiya Kisan Sangh (BKS). According to BKS officials, Gujarat unit, almost 90 per cent crops cultivated under the greenhouses have failed in the northern parts of Gujarat. "To address the issue, we had held a meeting with more than 200 farmers, mostly from north...

-The New Indian Express   HYDERABAD: In a much-awaited relief to the cash-starved Andhra Pradesh government, the State Level Bankers' Committee (SLBC) on Tuesday reportedly agreed to accept its offer of upfront payment of 20 per cent outstanding crop loans of eligible farmers. The SLBC has constituted a sub-committee to look into proposals made by the Andhra Pradesh government on the modalities of crop loan waiver scheme and after a thorough discussion, finally...

-The Hindu Increase productivity without compromising on ecology: Swaminathan Sangareddy (Andhra Pradesh): Renowned agriculture scientist M.S. Swaminathan opined that the proposed loan waiver for farmers in both Telangana and Andhra Pradesh should not be like a patronage and instead it should bring them out of the debt trap. Addressing a gathering and later the media at International Crops Research Institute for Semi- Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) at Patancheru on Monday after being named ICRISAT...

-The Times of India   AMRITSAR: The first budget presented by Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government has deflated the expectations of farmers who were looking for 'achhe din' ahead. With a major chunk of farmers reeling under debt, famers and their leaders were disappointed on finding that the finance minister's speech was silent on measures to address the crucial issue of farmer suicides. "In Punjab, the state government's official figures put the farmers'...