-The Economic Times PUNE: Although India is known the world over for its basmati rice, there are hundreds of local non-basmati varieties that are rich in taste and aroma but still not known to urban consumers. Maharashtra is likely to be the first state to take steps for branding and marketing of these varieties. Maharashtra, a major producer of pulses but not so known for rice, has recently floated a tender to...

-The Hindu In a region of poor yields, a gritty woman farmer succeeds even in years of crop failure. But high costs are depleting Vidarbha's success stories "I am the farmer, he did no farming. He only moons over his cattle, he loves those cows (even if they yield just a litre of milk each). Men hang around the village, women are in the fields." Leelabai is speaking of one of Yavatmal's most...

-PTI NEW DELHI: Riding on strong easterlies, monsoon made a grand entry today in the national capital even as seasonal rains covered the entire country one month in advance. South-west monsoon, which kept its June 1 date with Kerala, made rapid progress across the country bringing bountiful showers all along and giving relief to most drought- hit regions. The monsoon onset in Delhi today was also a fortnight in advance as the normal...

-The Times of India NEW DELHI: Marginal farmers in Maharashtra are battling another cruel drought. In Vidarbha, droughts have become an annual feature. Absence of irrigation and efficient watershed management make small farmers even more vulnerable. Although schemes such as the Mahatma Gandhi Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA), Swarnajayanti Gram Swarozgar Yojana or the Indira Awaas Yojana are not viewed as adaptation policies, many agree they play an important role in making...

-The Business Standard The latest suicide in Vidarbha underlines the need for flexible loan repayment norms for farmers Is it better to give compensation to dead farmers, or to provide loans and insurance to those who are alive? In the case of a majority of cotton farmers in Maharashtra, who are struggling against shrinking land size, production costs and debts, there is neither credit or insurance when alive nor compensation on death. Farmers caught...