-The Financial Express Unless we get it right on the markets front, including opening up of exports, farmers cannot get their full due One of the key objectives of agricultural price policy in India is to ensure that agriculture remains a remunerative occupation so that farmers are incentivised to adopt modern technologies that help raise productivity and overall production of various crops in the country broadly in line with the emerging demand...

-The Tribune The community has to pay the cost of environmental degradation if sustainable agricultural practices are not followed. Food can also be produced by in-built provisions for ecological services. For this, sustainability issues have to be addressed with policy support. An ecosystem is a dynamic, complex, functional unit of diverse living organisms, physical environment and humans are its integral part. The wellbeing of mankind depends upon food, water, fibre, medicine, flood...

-The Hindustan Times Sangrur: In spite of claims by farmers in the state to go in for direct seeding of rice (DSR) in the ongoing sowing season, those in the region are reluctant to adopt the new method. The government has been encouraging the DSR method, a technique that saves water and time. But, farmers feel that it would be ‘risky', especially for those with smaller Land. Sangrur chief agriculture officer (CAO) Rajinder...

-The Economic Times The ills of Indian agriculture are many and well documented: highly fragmented Land holdings, inadequate mechanisation, low quality and quantity of inputs, high dependence on monsoons, and so on. But the sector may do better in the future. Prime Minister Narendra Modi's success in raising the pace of agricultural growth in Gujarat and his government's intention of introducing agri reforms-the recent raising of import duty on sugar, meant to...

-The Times of India CHENNAI: If one goes by the latest statistics of National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), every day 93 women are being raped in the country. According to NCRB data, there is a gradual increase in the number of rapes reported in India - from 24,923 in 2012 to 33,707 in 2013. Despite of several protests after Nirbhaya incident in New Delhi, the national capital continuous to be the unsafe city...