-Outlook Mumbai: Maharashtra government staff would contribute their one day's salary towards relief for hailstorm-affected farmers. The amount would be around Rs 200 crore and would be contributed by the around 15 lakh staff, G D Kulthe, chief advisor of Maharashtra State Gazetted Officer Federation, said. Unseasonal rains, accompanied by severe hailstorms have left at least 28 people dead and over 100 others injured across Maharashtra in the past 10 days, officials said. Several...

-The Times of India NEW DELHI: The Centre may announce relief package for farmers, who lost their standing crops in rains and hailstorm in different states, on or after March 19. Officials, who have been visiting Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Rajasthan to assess the overall loss to the farmers, will submit their reports to the Centre by March 19. The announcement will, however, be made only after taking permission from...

-Down to Earth Benefits of government schemes and policies go to big farmers, shows survey undertaken by CSDS on behalf of farmers' association A study by a premier social sciences research institute reinforces what policymakers and media have been talking about the past few years-that India is going through a deep agrarian crisis. The Centre for Study of Developing Societies (CSDS), based in Delhi, found that given an option majority of farmers...

-The Hindu     ‘Krishi Karman' award to be presented toMinister of Agriculture in Delhi Guntur: Andhra Pradesh may have been known previously as the ‘rice bowl' of the country, but the State is on course to becoming the ‘cereal bowl' of India. The State recorded the highest production of coarse cereals for the year 2012-2013 over the five preceding years and in recognition of this achievement, the Government of India has announced ‘Krishi Karman'...

-The Economic Times NEW DELHI: Farmers are being advised to protect standing potato, wheat and masur crop from weather vagaries. A dip in temperature and rains have resulted in pest and fungal infestations at some places across the northern and western India. Reports of yellow rust on wheat fields have been reported across the north Indian states. "We have detected yellow rust in wheat fields of Punjab, Haryana and Jammu," said Indu...