-The Indian Express Soyabean, which covers around 5.34 lh of area in the region, is being cultivated more recently, said Ashok Bhutada of the Kirti Group. Of the 70 lakh hectares (lh) of cultivated area in Marathwada, sugarcane is grown over only 2 lh. In contrast, pulses and oilseeds have a bigger share, with farmers growing them over 11.37 lh and 13.11 lh respectively. The sugar sector in the state, however,...

-The New Indian Express Odisha Millet Mission is a unique initiative for revival and promotion of millet production. BHUBANESWAR: With focus shifting to nutrition in food and nutrient-rich millets becoming a favourite food to fight malnutrition, agricultural experts and officials lauded the Millet Mission undertaken by the State Government to promote production, consumption and marketing of the grains. Inaugurating a national workshop on nutri-cereals here on Wednesday, Chief Secretary Asit Tripathy said Odisha...

-The Hindu Business Line The death of two children killed for relieving themselves in public just days before India was declared ‘open defecation free’ by the Prime Minister highlights the chasm between targets and solutions India was declared ‘open defecation free’ on October 2, Mahatma Gandhi’s 150-year birth anniversary. A target-oriented sanitation drive, the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan (SBA) was a signature programme of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s first term in office. Rapid...

-The Hindu The CAMPAign to end open defecation can succeed only if it takes communities with it India’s declaration on the 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi that its rural areas are now open defecation-free will be acknowledged around the world as a milestone in its developmental journey. Cleanliness and sanitation were central to Gandhi’s concerns for his vast number of impoverished countrymen, and should ideally have been pursued zealously by governments...

-The Indian Express Awareness CAMPAigns are needed to deal with climate change We are delighted that Prime Minister Narendra Modi made an impassioned appeal for the reduction in the use of chemicals in agriculture. Though, in time, the PM will realise it is easier to announce new approaches than to get the agriculture system to embrace the appeal. This does not have to be. Public policy and allocation of funds can...