-Hindustan Times A report on sugar price policy for 2015-16 by union agriculture ministry had highlighted that Maharashtra’s sugarcane cultivation, which is less than 4% of the total cropped area, consumes 70% of water needed for irrigation Following criticism over sugarcane crop guzzling potable water, particularly in drought-prone Marathwada, the state government is set to introduce a policy for shifting 50% of sugarcane farming on drip irrigation in the next two years. Statistics...

-Livemint.com Farmers commit suicides less often than non-Farmers but they are more likely to commit suicides because of economic distress compared to others With an ongoing petition in the Supreme Court on farmer suicides , and a growing clamour for farm loan waivers across several states of the country, the debate on farm suicides in India seems to be heating up once again. Several commentators and researchers have claimed for long that Farmers...

-MoneyControl.com Even as the Indian economy grew, the inequality between the rich and the poor too has widened with drastic fall in jobs and increase in number of landless Farmers, the India Exclusion Report 2016 says. Even as the Indian economy grew, the inequality between the rich and the poor, too, has widened with a drastic fall in jobs and increase in number of landless Farmers, says the India Exclusion Report...

-Livemint.com An advance review of drought preparedness will help mitigate the impact of any sub-par rains on Farmers, says agriculture minister Radha Mohan Singh New Delhi: Despite the government’s weather office forecasting a normal south-west monsoon in 2017, agriculture minister Radha Mohan Singh on Monday wrote to all state chief minister’s asking them to be ready with contingency plans in case of poor rains. An advance review of drought preparedness will help mitigate...

-The Hindu How Tiruppur, India’s knitwear hub, is now weaving a green cover for the entire district We moved this tree 15 km on a truck along the stretch between Avinashi and Avinashipalayam.” V. Mahendran points to a hulking tree trunk. “The operation took us nine hours. Even with its branches and most of its canopy chopped off, it weighed more than 40 tonnes.” We are at the Tiruppur Collectorate, and Mahendran,...