-Livemint.com Farmers across the country choose cotton and sugarcane over rain-fed pulses like arhar and moong which saw a collapse in their wholesale prices in 2016-17, shows data New Delhi: Following a collapse in wholesale prices of rain-fed pulses like arhar and moong over the past six months, farmers across India have reduced planting of these varieties, data on Kharif sowing released by the agriculture ministry on Friday shows. Simultaneously, farmers have...

-IANS Dubbed the Kadwanchi model, the watershed project has given farmers year-round access to water. Jalna: When massive crop failure and farmers’ suicide afflicted the Marathwada region in Maharashtra during the 2012-16 drought, farmers in three villages of Jalna district were not much concerned about the lack of rainfall. A watershed project had obviated their need to look at the heavens every season. Enough water was available in the 1,888 hectares area comprising...

-Livemint.com Maharashtra farmers continue with their protests despite assurance from chief minister Devendra Fadnavis of a debt waiver by October New Delhi: The fifth day of the strike by protesting farmers in Maharashtra on Monday witnessed unprecedented visuals of milk tankers being ferried to state capital Mumbai under heavy police cover. Not long ago, before the monsoons arrived last year, rail wagons transporting water to severely drought-hit districts in the state were...

-The Pioneer While the Government has done its bit to boost the output of pulses, it has done little to check the nexus between politicians and grain traders For several decades, production of pulses in India has fallen substantially short in terms of consumption. This persistent deficit has led to intermittent bouts of spike in prices as imports (needed to plug it) have often come after lag and have failed to reach...

-Livemint.com Experts say a government-sponsored pledge loan scheme could still help Maharashtra tide over the tur crisis and provide relief to farmers Could Maharashtra government and the Centre have mitigated Maharashtra’s tur (Pigeon Pea) crisis by facilitating and encouraging pledge loans? Yes, say farm sector experts, bankers, warehouse industry officials and former government officials. Pledge loans are loans secured by farmers from banks against their farm produce deposited at a warehouse. Timely government intervention...