-The Indian Express Yes, except that farmers suffer rules other businessmen never encounter Agriculture is said to be India’s largest private-sector enterprise, engaging nearly 119 million farmers (“cultivators”) and another 144 million landless labourers, as per the 2011 Census. It is even considered the most respectable business, going by the oft-quoted slogan “uttam kheti, madhyam vyapar, kanishtha naukri (supreme is farming, mediocre is trade and most lowly is service)”. But the exalted...

-Hindustan Times A ban on slaughter doesn’t automatically lead to a flourishing cow population, an HT analysis of government data has found, with states like Madhya Pradesh — where cow killing is outlawed — reporting a more than 40% decline in their numbers in rural areas over a decade. Between 2003 and 2013, at least nine states registered a significant decline in the ownership of cows by the rural households, according to...

-The Hindu Kerala: 'Vithu Muthal Vipani Vare Vishudhi' launched by Earth Care Foundation to ensure maximum price for farmers and toxin-free food for consumers. The Earth Care Foundation Trust, a non-profitable organisation working for spreading zero-budget farming methods, has launched a project ‘Vithu Muthal Vipani Vare Vishudhi’ in the district on Tuesday aimed at ensuring a steady market for the produces of registered natural farmers. Besides, the trust also aims at giving them...

-Economic and Political Weekly There has been a major change in the composition and mix of the cattle population in India. The proportion of male cattle has declined sharply as farmers do not fi nd it worthwhile to maintain bullocks to plough holdings that are becoming smaller and smaller. The composition of the milch cattle population too is changing. The proportion of the indigenous breed is falling and that of the...

-The Tribune Chief Minister pushes for crop diversification, says will provide farmers all help Chandigarh: Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal today said the state government would provide 50 per cent subsidy to farmers willing to rear cows for producing organic dairy products, besides setting up a board to sort out issues and requirements pertaining to organic farming. Addressing participants on the concluding day of the National Organic Farming Convention here, Badal said the...