-Down to Earth   Ask religious institutions to grow organic crops and accept organic crops as donation for langars In Pandori Ragsangh village in Amritsar, farmer leader Gurlal Singh takes a large sip of hot milk and asks fellow farmer, Jagdish Singh, about the "poison." "This year, there is too much of poison," Jagdish replies. It takes a while to understand that the farmers are discussing lethal pesticides used to grow wheat....

-The Hindu   On the first anniversary of the Uttarakhand disaster, here's a look at issues plaguing the fledgling state. On June 16, it will be a year since Uttarakhand experienced its worst natural disaster. It was also a year of loss, of grief, of recovery and of resilience. While those affected continue to cope and rise, we need to look beyond the disaster in order to unravel the contradictions and challenges that...

-The Times of India   NEW DELHI: The government is ready with a contingency plan to deal with below normal rains this monsoon with a series of steps including diesel subsidy for farmers in the rain-deficient districts, crop loans at lower rates and release of foodgrains to deal with a possible shortage. Amid reports of below normal rains, the agriculture ministry presented the plan for 500 districts during a meeting called by Prime...

-The Hindu   Agriculture is a profession of patience. Apart from the time, labour and financial investment, passion is an important attribute to be successful. "An optimistic attitude is what sets successful farmers apart from the usual herd. Because a method might fail once, twice or even several times, but the grit and determination to continue trying the same can prove to be rewarding after some time. Mr. C. Jayakumar a jamun grower...

-Down to Earth   Too high a premium for too little cover Maharashtra government appears to have learnt no lesson at all from the hailstorms that lashed the entire state in March this year, and yet again lashed several districts in May, if its new decision to include three orchard crops - orange, sweet lime and guava - in its Weather Based Crop Insurance Scheme (WBCIS) on an experimental basis during the current...