-Down to Earth Punjab produces about 19-20 million tonnes of paddy straw and about 85-90 per cent of this paddy straw is burnt in the field Burning of agricultural biomass residue, or Crop Residue Burning (CRB) has been identified as a major health hazard. In addition to causing exposure to extremely high levels of Particulate Matter concentration to people in the immediate vicinity, it is also a major regional source of...

-Hindustan Times New Delhi: This winter season when Delhi’s chief minister Arvind Kejriwal pleads for votes in Punjab, the Capital’s residents will be pleading the neighbouring states for clean air. Each year, farm fires in the surrounding states raise particulate matter in the city’s air by more than six times the normal limit. The air quality in Delhi has already started deteriorating . Last weekend recorded the worst air quality in the...

-The Telegraph New Delhi: The countrywide monsoon rainfall this season was three per cent below average instead of the predicted six per cent above average, but it was distributed well enough to promise good crop yields, scientists said. An end-of-season analysis by the India Meteorological Department (IMD) shows that the quantum of the all-India rainfall was about 97 per cent of the long-period average. It also reveals that 27 of the country’s 35...

-Livemint.com The problem could be most acute for pulses with production hitting a record high but prices falling below the govt’s minimum support prices New Delhi: Following consecutive years of drought, India is set to harvest a record crop of foodgrains but farm incomes could take a hit due to falling wholesale prices. The problem could be most acute for pulses with production hitting a record high but prices falling below the...

-The Hindu Business Line Rice, pulses lead the production figures New Delhi: Foodgrain production in the on-going kharif season is expected to be at a record high of 135.03 million tonnes (mt) with a record output predicted for pulses and rice, according to production estimates released by the Agriculture Ministry. “This is higher than the previous record production by almost 4 million tonnes (about 9 per cent). The way farmers are working, in...