-DNA India's agriculture sector is thriving and can provide livelihood to millions more. False pictures form the main plank of the political debate on India's agriculture. One is that of the Bharatiya Janata Party and the other of the Congress. The two big political parties in the country agree with each other in believing that farmers and the Landless folk in the villages are at the end of the tether, and...

-UCANews.com Some farmers mull abandoning generations of farming for more reliable jobs Devinder Bhardwaj was hoping for a bumper crop on his modest four-acre (1.6 hectare) plot of Land. The profits from selling his wheat in the market, he hoped, would provide a much-needed injection to his family’s savings. But this year, unseasonal rains and hailstorms washed away his plans. “The whole crop was under water due to the rains. Not even a...

-The Financial Express Smart irrigation management steps, including harnessing social sector schemes for irrigation works, did the trick The spate of recent farmer suicides has once again drawn the country’s attention to the deepening agrarian crisis. Media is abuzz with opinions and expert advice on how to provide succour to the farming community. Oft-repeated among these is the demand to increase public investment in irrigation. However, we need to remember that, since 1990, public...

-The Hindu Business Line Agriculture development and food security form the foundation of manufacturing growth. Modi must realise this Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s exhortation ‘Make in India’ would make perfect sense till we realise that by ‘making’ he means manufacturing. But could it be that his focus on manufacturing may come a cropper if we do not ensure that agriculture is placed permanently on a sound footing? The history of the great...

-Al Jazeera Falling into a debt-trap and besieged by bad weather, thousands of farmers are taking their own lives each year. Umbrale, India -  After days of hushed chanting that "the sky betrayed" him, Datatery Popat Ghadwaje, 42, committed suicide by ingesting insecticides at his grape orchard. Crushed under a $41,000 debt and a series of bank repayment notices, Ghadwaje of Umbrale village in the western state of Maharashtra finally lost hope...