-Livemint.com The Met dept has decided to simply replace the word ‘drought’ to describe poor rainfall with ‘deficient year’ and ‘large deficient year’ New Delhi: There will be no more droughts in India. Since it can’t control the weather but can control language, the state forecaster India Meteorological Department (IMD) has decided to simply replace the word “drought” to describe poor rainfall with “deficient year” and “large deficient year”. What appears to be...

-The Telegraph New Delhi: A high-level panel is set to propose legalising the leasing of farmland in all states, a practice now banned in many states as a perceived legacy of the zamindari system. If it's legalised, people unable or unwilling to till their farmland - or at least the whole of it - can formally lease their land or a part of it for cultivation by others. This will allow millions of...

-Business Standard Govt should revamp agricultural marketing to increase farmers' earnings and amend land-leasing laws Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has met farm sector representatives for pre-Budget consultations at a time Indian agriculture is passing through a bad patch - especially because of two years of consecutive drought. Predictably, therefore, most participants pitched for more credit on soft terms, higher minimum support prices (MSP) for crops and the expansion of irrigation facilities to...

-The Indian Express Also seek higher allocation for Price Stabilisation Fund in a pre-Budget meet Farmers’ organisations, food and fertiliser companies and agriculture experts on Monday urged finance minister Arun Jaitely to ensure that farmers get  remunerative prices for their produce and make sufficient Budget outlay to create  irrigation facilities in the remaining rain-fed areas. They also sought increase in the outlay for expanding the number of agriculture market yards and higher allocation...

-Business Standard Mandsaur (Madhya Pradesh): For Kamlesh Patidar, a marginal farmer in Somiya village, this financial year has been no ordinary drought. In 2008, he had surrendered some of his land to the state government for a small dam in his village. The dam was completed in 2012 to irrigate 754 hectares. Now Patidar is trying to save his garlic crop by using piped water from the other side of the...