-The Hindu Business Line But wheat planting begins on a strong note New Delhi: Tepid progress in the planting of pulses and coarse cereals has pulled down total Rabi sown area by 20 per cent till the weekend compared to the corresponding week in the 2017-18 season, according to data released by the Agriculture Ministry on Friday. However, the planting of wheat has begun on a strong note with acreage registering a 20...

-The Hindu Business Line Wheat sowing only major aberration New Delhi: The threat of lower soil moisture levels and delays in kharif harvests across States seem to be having an adverse impact on Rabi sowing. Most crops barring one or two saw lower acreage under planting till the end of the week, according to data released by the Agriculture Ministry on Friday. During the current Rabi season, farmers have planted only around 85...

-The Indian Express The decision to declare 112 talukas as reeling under severe drought came on a day when the Devendra Fadnavis government completed four years. Mumbai: The state government on Wednesday declared “severe drought” in 112 talukas of Maharashtra. Besides, 39 talukas were placed under “medium drought” category, taking the total tally of talukas to 151. There are 355 talukas in Maharashtra. The government’s drought-mitigation measures, which were scaled up from...

-The Indian Express First, it was low prices and, now, with soaring input costs, farmers may cut back on sowings Nashik/ New Delhi: During much of the current government’s tenure, Indian farmers have suffered from poor crop realisations, partly due to the crash in global agri-commodity prices after around April 2014 and aggravated by demonetisation and GST (goods and services tax) that have depressed sentiment in predominantly cash-based produce markets. One indicator...

-The Times of India NEW DELHI: The Centre is mulling bringing organic produce under the minimum support price (MSP) regime to promote pesticide-free farming in the country. At present, there is no support price for organic produce, except in Sikkim which approved it in May for horticultural items. The agriculture ministry recently discussed offering 20% higher MSP for organic farm produce over traditional (non-organic) produce and procuring a minimum 10% of organic...