-The Hindu Programme on integrated pest management Tuticorin (Tamil Nadu): Farmers were exposed to better management practices and basic techniques of soil testing at a programme on integrated pest management, organised by Agricultural College and Research Institute, Killikulam, in association with Ratan Tata Trust, Mumbai. Delivering the inaugural address here on Tuesday, N.K. Dhakshinamoorthy, Joint Director of Agriculture, Tuticorin, stressed the importance of biological control of pests in paddy crop in the Tamirabarani...

-Deccan Herald The National Crime Records Bureau's data for 2013 is out, and farm suicides are pegged at 11,772 -- not very different from the earlier years.Many activists point out how these figures are in fact under-reported. In a country where the cultivators' numbers are plummeting drastically as the Census 2011 data shows, this unabated trend of farm suicides is something that any government should take note of. The central aspect to this...

-The Times of India RAJKOT: Gulab Singh Budhel, a tribal living in Amreli's Luvava village, and his seven family members packed their bags on Wednesday to leave for Kutch in search for construction labour work. With a spectre of drought looming large over Saurashtra and crops having failed already, Budhel has no choice but to leave. "Survival is becoming tougher as no farmer is lending us money because of delayed monsoon and...

-The Hindu Select farmers to be trained on improved farming technology Madurai (Tamil Nadu): The Department of Agriculture has chosen to promote cultivation of minor millets to beat economic backwardness among the farming community in rain-fed Kalligudi block. The officials have identified 322 farmers and 78 farm hands as beneficiaries under the State Balanced Growth Fund in seven villages of the block. The State Government has allotted Rs. 23 lakh under the fund. "Select...

-The Hindu   With water becoming an important cost, and with climate change and soil degradation, the System of Rice Intensification offers disadvantaged farming households better opportunities A truant monsoon is in the offing, with El Niño weather patterns expected to bring about drier conditions. India has the world's largest area devoted to rice, a very water-intensive crop. This is a good time for giving impetus to "more crop per drop" practices, now...