-Down to Earth Bijaya Jhankar grows nine traditional varieties of paddy that have a longer harvest duration of 130-150 days The eyes of Bijaya Jhankar twinkle as he approaches his 1.2 hectare (ha) farm for Harvesting paddy. They are unlike any other varieties grown in his village Sanbaheli, which lies in the vast Sunabeda plateau of Odisha’s Nuapada district. “They yield shorter grains, take longer to mature but are of tremendous sentimental value,”...

-Down to Earth Blog The district set a record for creating 1,121 farm ponds in 30 days in September 2021, in line with the recently launched state climate mission In September 2021, Tamil Nadu’s Tiruvannamalai district set a record for creating 1,121 farm ponds in 30 days by leveraging the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS). The initiative’s aim was to ensure adequate water for agricultural and domestic purposes throughout the...

-Down to Earth Promoted by the government, short-duration varieties now dominate Punjab’s paddy landscape and allow farmers enough time to clear the field without setting them on fire. Why then are straw burning incidents still on the rise? Gursimran is somewhat dejected as he oversees a combined Harvesting machine working his paddy fields. “Though the yield is better than what it has been in the past two years, it is still not...

One is almost certain to hear this from an economist that if something is available at free of cost or at a subsidised rate thanks to government intervention, then people tend to overuse or overconsume such goods/ commodities. So, the best solution is to create a market for such 'almost freely available' or 'highly subsidised' goods or commodities. Once people start paying to use or consume such goods/ commodities, they...

-NDTV.com Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar has admitted that there is a slight shortage of DAP and blamed international prices. Bhopal: Long queues and loud protests by farmers can be seen across Madhya Pradesh as the acute shortage of fertilisers in the peak Harvesting season drags on. In Ashok Nagar, about 190 km from state capital Bhopal, hundreds of farmers have been sleeping outside the Mungaoli block headquarters so that they can...