-Down to Earth As farmers' protests demanding loan waiver pick up across the country, there are other people who owe them huge amount of money: the insurance companies A year after the Union government launched the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY) and Restructured Weather-based Crop Insurance Scheme (RWBCIS) in April 2016 to enable farmers tide over chronic crop losses due to various calamities, it clearly emerges that the insurance companies,...

-The Telegraph New Delhi: A summer rise in ozone, an air pollutant, over the National Capital Region should stimulate health protection measures and serve as an alert to other Indian cities, the non-government Centre for Science and Environment said today. The CSE has, using Central Pollution Control Board data, identified spikes in ozone levels persisting longer with the advance of summer. The share of days violating the pollution board's standard of 100...

-Livemint.com Fiscal 2017 marks the fifth straight year when production of horticulture crop surpassed that of foodgrains New Delhi: Latest numbers from the agriculture ministry released on Tuesday showed that production of horticulture crops like fruits and vegetables touched a record high of 295 million tonnes in 2016-17. Apart from being higher than foodgrain production estimated at 273 million tonnes during this period—another record i.e. 2016-17 marks the fifth straight year when...

-Deccan Herald Madivalappa Totagi, an organic farmer based in Mugad village near Dharwad, is known for his innovative approach and eco-friendly farming methods. This year, his experiment reached a new level with the cultivation of 20 heritage jowar varieties. The seeds of variety conservation were sown in his mind when he met seed saviour Shankar Langti from Khanapur in Belagavi district. Shankar, has formed a farmers’ group in his village, Gundenatti, and...

-Down to Earth By 2030, rice and wheat are likely to see about 6-10 per cent decrease in yields Rising temperature affects flowering and leads to pests and disease buildup. Flood and excess rain over a short duration of time cause extensive damage to crops. Extreme Weather events have caught attention of agrarian experts and scientists alike and they are now focussing on natural farming to arrest the impacts of climate...