-Livemint.com Low support price, land acquisition bill, short supply of fertilizers among triggers for clashes, shows analysis New Delhi: Security agencies have warned the government of growing farmer unrest across the country as rural distress worsens. There has been a spurt in clashes among farmers and government agencies, particularly in states such as Maharashtra, which is facing acute rural distress. Till June end, 74 incidents were reported nationwide, twice the number recorded...

-Hindustan Times Bathinda: The whitefly attack on the cotton crop has escalated further in the past one week across the region, leaving the farming community in distress.  As the pest turns out to be a 'poison' for the crop, the farmers have started uprooting cotton plants from their fields in several areas of various districts. Even the repeated sprays of pesticide have proved to be ineffective in controlling the menace, which has...

-Down to Earth Despite being a world leader in pulses production, India has been forced to import due to crop loss and seed deficit. The sharp rise in prices is only a symptom Rani Devi, 47, is drying chickpea (chanaa daal) in Kuite Khera village of Uttar Pradesh. She intends to use them as seeds in the coming rabi season (October to December), as she is facing acute shortage of seeds....

-Frontline As rural Karnataka reels under an unprecedented wave of suicides by farmers, the State administration looks on, unwilling to address the reasons that have rendered rural livelihoods fragile. DEATH stalks rural Karnataka. In the 41 days between July 1 and August 10, as many as 245 farmers committed suicide, an average of six a day; since April 1, 284 farmers have taken their lives. As a bewildered State government gropes...

-The Hindu Business Line No crop diversification efforts will work so long as free electricity offsets the costs of pumping out groundwater Subsidies have for long been a necessary evil, a vote-bank silver bullet. But its relevance stands challenged in today’s increasingly market-oriented economic order. The recent US declaration of giving differential treatment to developing countries, with regard to farm subsidies, brings up the long standing issue of slashing subsidies that have...