-The New Indian Express   RAICHUR: The rains have let down the farmers of the district who are unable to start ploughing or sowing, particularly in rain-fed areas. Of the three lakh hectares of cultivable area, sowing has not started in even a single hectare. Of the 1,64,950 hectares of rain-fed areas, 1,42,150 hectares are irrigated by Tungabhadra left bank canal (Tungabhadra river) and Narayanpur right bank canal (Krishna river), but thanks to the...

-The Telegraph   Supaul: A college graduate hailing from a farmers' family, Anil Kumar Yadav (32) roamed around in Delhi and Mumbai in search of a job only to return empty-handed, about three years ago. The very idea of getting engaged in the family's traditional vocation was "nightmarish" to him. Anil, a resident of Samda Chowk village under Basantpur block of Supaul district, around 350km northeast of Patna, today owns a spanking motorcycle,...

-Economic and Political Weekly   The manner in which the United Progressive Alliance government approved field trials of genetically engineered crops in the last few weeks of its term in office speaks poorly of its regard for the decision-making process. Shalini Bhutani (shalinibhutani@hotmail.com) is a legal researcher and policy analyst who has worked on agriculture issues. Manju Menon and Kanchi Kohli are independent researchers who have worked on environment regulation. Please click here to download the...

-PTI   Patna: Union Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh on Saturday said the central government was working on a new crop insurance scheme to help farmers tackle flood, drought and plant diseases in a better manner. He said it will be launched soon across the country, as the existing scheme has not proved to be beneficial to the farmers. Details will be unveiled during the Budget session of the Parliament, he added. Singh also...

-The Telegraph   New Delhi: Four activists claimed today that an Intelligence Bureau report that has named them for campaigning against genetically-modified (GM) crops appears to have been influenced by foreign organisations promoting GM crops. The activists, who have been campaigning either for tighter regulatory mechanisms for the assessment of GM crops or for a ban on the introduction of GM crops in India, said the IB report appears to support the introduction...