-Newsclick.in The government has chosen not to intervene in the market prices of the seasonal crops, forcing farmers to deal with the debt and the crisis on their own. Despite the Maharashtra government’s farm loan waiver scheme to “settle” the agrarian debts of farmers, the number of farmers committing suicide in the state continues to rise. The state has witnessed a total of 696 farmer suicides in the initial three months of...

-The Indian Express Falling rates in March stumps industry in month synonymous with high prices. Pune: Since February, Deepak Pawale, who runs a poultry farm at Retavadi village in Khed taluka of Pune district, has been selling 45-day-old birds weighing 2-2.5 kg each at well below his estimated production cost of Rs 70 per kg. “The traders aren’t ready to pay higher rates, as they tell me that their sales have slowed down,”...

-The New Indian Express SANGAREDDY: Cotton farmers from the district, who were hopeful of a good yield and had planned to clear the debts, are once again disappointed. Thanks to the pest attack and seasonal changes, there was less yield of cotton crop this season.Farmers who are cultivating crops on leased lands in most of the villages in Sadasivpet mandal were disappointed with the low yield. In the last five days,...

-TheWire.in Examples from Jharkhand, Karnataka and other places make a strong case for kitchen gardens in more parts of the country. Pali Biruli lives in Gondamara, a tribal village in Saraikela district of Jharkhand. When we stepped into the courtyard of her home to have a glass of water, the beauty of the surrounding greenery surprised us. Within a small place. she and her family members had managed to grow papaya, mango,...

-The Times of India NEW DELHI: India has made good progress in its weather forecasting system but its benefits still elude farmers and other citizens as the country's capacity to predict extreme weather phenomena is restricted to the district level. The India Meteorological Department (IMD) will soon overcome its limitation by expanding its high-tech forecast facilities down to block level and extend its direct SMS alert system by adding 21 million...