-The Financial Express The recent spell of unseasonable rains and hailstorms in a clutch of northern states haven’t had any major adverse impact on the rabi crop being harvested, officials claimed, based on field reports. The agriculture ministry has been expecting all-time high foodgrain production of 277.5 million tonnes in 2017-18 crop year (July-June) on good distribution of monsoon rainfall last year, even though pan-India rains were just 95% of the...

-The Indian Express Minimum temperatures are likely to come down by 2-3 degrees Celsius in Northwest, Central and Western India over the next 48 hours, the IMD said. The current spell of rain in North and Central India will be beneficial to the standing rabi crop, especially wheat, though there are concerns over chana (chickpea) and masur (lentil) that are in the maturity or harvesting stages. “This rain is very good for wheat...

-The Times of India Karnal/ LUDHIANA: For the past two years, Manoj Kumar Munjial hasn't set fire to a single straw of paddy residue in his fields sprawled over 45 acres at Taraori in Haryana's Karnal district. Instead, the young farmer uses the straw as an input for future crops. Even as the new wheat crop grows, the old residue sits in the field enriching the soil, conserving water, nourishing the...

-IANS New Delhi: If the farmers of Punjab and Haryana were to adopt smart techniques and use appropriate machinery, say experts, they won’t hog the headlines every winter for the wrong reasons — causing smog in the national capital because of stubble-burning. The Borlaug Institute of South Asia (BISA), a non-profit set up in 2011 to harness the latest technology in agriculture to improve farm productivity, has claimed to have reduced the...

-Hindustan Times Every year in October, farmers in northern India burn stubble due to lack of alternative ways for its disposal. This leads to heavy pollution in Delhi-NCR before winters. This year too, as farmers begin to set stubble afire, HT travels to Punjab and Haryana for a ground report. Honking its way down the narrow Taraouri Road, in Haryana’s Karnal district, the 16-wheeler truck vanished into a dense cloud of...