-The Hindu   Woolly aphid cases were first reported in 2006 MARAYUR (IDUKKI DISTRICT, Kerala): The attack of woolly aphid, a pest that lives on plant fluids, has considerably affected the sugarcane cultivation here. The disease, locally known as White Aswini, can result in low jaggery production as it sucks the sweet cells of the sugarcane. A senior agriculture officer here told The Hindu that the disease was first noticed in 2006 and it spread...

-Grist Media   The people of the Thar desert have their ways. This story unfolds over a year and recounts history through contemporary lives lived gently and with the land. It experiences first-hand the extraordinary old magic of growing lush crops in the desert. The land was the color of burnt caramel. It was flat and it was featureless: there was no tree in sight, no blade of grass, no ditch, no dune,...

-The Times of India   ALLAHABAD: Hearing a public interest litigation (PIL) seeking payment of Sugarcane Farmers' dues, the Allahabad High Court on Tuesday directed the state government to file its reply within two days. The court also fixed May 30, as the next date of hearing. The above order was passed by a division bench, comprising Chief Justice Dr Dhananjaya Yeshwant Chandrachud and Justice Dilip Gupta on a PIL filed by Rastriya...

-Down to Earth Most suicides among orchard farmers, say observers As many as 101 farmers have committed suicide in the Marathwada region of Maharashtra since the devastating hailstorms in March this year. This sudden spurt of suicides has raised concerns as to whether this arid region is heading for an agrarian crisis similar to that of Vidarbha. A whopping 71 suicides have been reported in the month of March 2014, close on the...

-Down to Earth Studies indicate high food inflation As Met office predicts below normal rainfall because of El Nino this year, a study by the Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (ASSOCHAM) has projected a 1.75 per cent GDP reduction and loss of hundreds of thousands of jobs in the unskilled sector. The report released recently says that five per cent deficit rainfall forecast by the India Meteorological Department (IMD) will...