-IndiaSpend.com Punjab has amongst the highest use of fertilisers, pesticides and large machinery, including government support for chemical farming, making it difficult to transition to organic and natural farming. Chandigarh: When Ashok Kumar, 63, started doing organic farming on three acres of his farm in Sohangarh Rattewala village in Punjab's western Ferozepur district in 2012, the benefits of good health and a cleaner environment were foremost on his mind. Besides growing food...

-TheWire.in Science helped India feed itself. Now, there is a clear need for re-imagination for Indian agriculture to bring it in consonance with the ecological requirement of various regions. While we celebrate 75 years of India’s independence, there is one area of which we can justifiably be proud. Even though the green revolution has lately attracted lot of criticism for a variety of damages to soil, water and environment, there is no doubt...

-TheWire.in * In his independence day speech, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said natural farming and chemical-free farming can give a boost to self-reliance. * Because organic farming means less intensive agriculture, and in turn, decreased crop productivity, experts say India’s food security could be impacted. * Rather than a radical shift to organic farming, a middle path that combines conventional agriculture will suit the country best, they say. Kochi: “Organic farming is our duty,”...

-The Hindu Business Line The Centre should pay attention to fertiliser subsidy which is overshooting estimates by unacceptably large margins The economic crisis in India’s South Asian neighbours has turned the spotlight on fiscal profligacy leading economies on the path to ruin. While this has sparked debate on our States doling out freebies and subsidies, the fact is that the Centre too has some soul-searching to do on this front. Even as...

Door-to-door and village-to-village surveys carried out by researchers of the Department of Economics and Sociology, Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana detected a total of 9,291 suicides that were committed by farmers in six districts of Punjab during the period from 2000 to 2018. Situated in the Malwa region of Punjab, which is known for cotton farming and the prevalence of cancer among its population, Sangrur (2,506) witnessed the highest number of...