-The Indian Express Uttar Pradesh farmers have taken well to direct benefit transfers, though there are doubts if it can be extended to fertilisers. Akhilesh Yadav’s government in Uttar Pradesh is turning out to be a pacesetter in implementation of direct benefit transfers (DBT) to farmers. Farmers in UP got Rs 28.60 per quintal from the state government for the sugarcane they supplied to mills during the 2014-15 crushing season. The payments, totalling...

-Business Standard Drop in wheat acreage evidence of stress in agriculture Chandigarh: Two consecutive drought years have led to rural distress in the food bowl states. At some places, this has become even worse due to the attack of the white pest. Sahiblal Shukla, a farmer in Chitrakut in Uttar Pradesh , who has spent his lifetime in ploughing fields says that, “farmers in Bundelkhand area of the state may soon pack their...

-The Indian Express The reality of rural distress is sinking in only now for policymakers. There can be no better illustration of the vagaries of the weather than Chennai’s streets being inundated with water and the second India-South Africa cricket test in Bangalore suffering washout due to rains, even as drought stalks much of the country. That really is the case today, with Tamil Nadu, Kerala, southern and coastal Karnataka, Rayalaseema...

-The Times of India NEW DELHI: Nearly half of the country's 676 districts are in the grip of drought due to deficit monsoon rainfall, but most of the affected states have so far not even approached the Centre for assistance after doing their ground surveys. Since agriculture is a state subject, the states' casual approach may not only adversely impact farmers who have already lost their kharif (summer) crops due to less...

-The Indian Express Extended dry spell hits rabi plantings on top of failed kharif crop Bhopal: Madhya Pradesh, an agricultural success story of the past decade, is bracing itself for a rough time this year, with deficient rains resulting in the failure of the kharif crop and also putting a question market over sowing in the ongoing rabi season. The state, in recent times, had emerged as the country’s second largest contributor of...