-The Telegraph New Delhi: Rahul Gandhi today asked the BJP "not to play politics with farmers" by waiving loans in Uttar Pradesh alone as agrarian distress was a national crisis and the Centre should come up with a "national" response. Although Rahul described the Uttar Pradesh government's decision as a "step in the right direction", he alleged inaction by the Narendra Modi government by tweeting: "I am happy the BJP has finally...

-Livemint.com The discourse in the state treats all farmers—small, medium, big, irrigated and rain-fed—as a homogeneous entity, ignoring differences in the severity of their problems Sharad Pawar breached an unwritten rule of Maharashtra politics. Recently, he spoke about the woes of small farmers, albeit those in the irrigated belt. He regretted that a sugarcane farmer of barely two acres of land is often viewed as a rich farmer and that too, rather...

-The Financial Express There is by now substantial agreement amongst analysts that a strategy for dal production which ensures supplies and a reasonable degree of self-reliance is sorely needed, and the country cannot go from one crisis to another without a well-worked-out policy. However, the discussion is flawed on its assessments of what governments can and cannot do and on the lack of a short and medium strategy to enhance production....

-The Hindu With crops hit by drought and the TO-1057 seed, our reporter visits Narayangaon, among the country’s largest tomato growing regions, and finds farmers struggling to cope with the failed harvest but still faithful to the fruit Last week, the grey rain clouds over the Sahyadris seemed full of promise. A few light showers, and colour was slowly returning to parched leaves and the dry earth was beginning to yield again....

-Business Standard Environmental activist and water expert Himanshu Thakkar tells Aditi Phadnis that India needs a comprehensive water-use policy immediately. * You are quoted as saying that India is in the grip of its worst hydrological crisis ever. Isn't that a bit drastic? After all, India has endured endemic water scarcity in many parts of the country for several years now. What makes you so pessimistic? I do not think it is statement...