-The Hindu Appachi eco-logic cotton project is a unique organic cotton contract farm model in the Western Ghats region of Kabini Reservoir. The project covers nearly 1,200 farmers spread over 1,875 acres. Over 17 per cent of the area comes under reserve forests of both Karnataka and Tamil Nadu and exposing the cultivation fields to wild animal attacks is forcing farmers to start cotton cultivation on a mono cropping basis instead of...

-The Hindu Reckless use of pesticides led to high incidence of diseases, say farmers KADALANGUDI (NAGAPATTINAM, Tamil Nadu): Yellow blades of paddy grass bereft of tillers glisten against the scorching noon sun. For the farmers of Vada Kadalangudi in Orkudi panchayat, the 80-100 day pesticide-infested paddy crop will not make up even for good fodder. Vast stretches of directly-sowed fields of Keezhvelur block here, lie wilted under mealy bug attack. The story stretches across...

-The Business Standard Panic selling to 'kolhu' (jaggery) units at Rs 160-250 a quintal in western parts of state Lucknow: With uncertainty looming large over sugarcane crushing in Uttar Pradesh (UP), farmers have resorted to selling the cash crop to kolhu (jaggery) units at Rs 160-250 a quintal in western parts of the state. Farmers in Muzaffarnagar, Shamli, Baghpat, Meerut and Bijnor have been queuing at kolhus, which make cash payment. There are...

-The Hindu Villages get infrastructure to conserve water and recharge wells Madurai: The district's dry pockets in the Usilampatti and Sedapatti blocks are alive with development activity aimed at mitigating the hardship faced by drought-hit farmers. Watershed and percolation ponds are being created in these regions. On the lines of initiatives taken by the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) and non-governmental organisations, the State government is establishing watershed projects to...

-The Hindu Crop in 10,000 ha damaged due to poor rainfall and lack of irrigational facility PERAMBALUR: Maize cultivated in about 10,000 hectares in the district, especially in Veppanthatti taluk, has withered away due to failure of monsoon and absence of irrigational facility. As the 120-day duration crop, raised during the Adi Pattam, has suffered damage even before reaching the flowering stage, farmers are forced to use it as feed for livestock. Pinning...