-Livemint.com Pigeon Pea variant Pusa Arhar 16 could prove a game changer for inflation-wary policymakers as it has a maturity time of 120 days down from 160-270 days of current varieties New Delhi: Anew high-yielding pulse developed by government scientists at a leading research institute could prove a game changer for inflation-wary policymakers and consumers alike. Pusa Arhar 16, a dwarf pigeon pea created by scientists at the Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI),...

-The Hindu Tiruchi: The farmers of Lalgudi block said absence of Summer showers had brought down the growth of the green manure. There has been a growing awareness among farmers in raising green manure for enriching the fertility of the soil. A farmer of Peruvalanallur in Lalgudi block, V. Padmanabhan, a retired PWD Executive Engineer, said that he raised green manure — daincha — on 13 acres, for use in his paddy fields....

-Scroll.in The squabble with Karnataka over river water has heightened agricultural distress, leaving many with significant debt. The three acres that Jayamohan owns in Orathanadu in Thanjavur district of Tamil Nadu has not seen a harvest since January. Encouraged by a bountiful north-east monsoon last November, Jayamohan anticipated a normal south-west monsoon in the middle of this year. He prepared his land in May for the kuruvai Summer crop season (which is known...

-Down to Earth Punjab produces about 19-20 million tonnes of paddy straw and about 85-90 per cent of this paddy straw is burnt in the field Burning of agricultural biomass residue, or Crop Residue Burning (CRB) has been identified as a major health hazard. In addition to causing exposure to extremely high levels of Particulate Matter concentration to people in the immediate vicinity, it is also a major regional source of...

-The Indian Express Swachh Bharat completes two years, but eliminating open defecation is a distant goal. October 2 marks the second anniversary of the Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM). Announcing a goal of eliminating open defecation by 2019 was a great idea, but now that we are 40 per cent through India’s flagship sanitation campaign, it is a good time to assess how much progress the SBM has made. Unfortunately, it is impossible...