-Down to Earth Season after season of failed crops is pushing farmers to the brink of desperation, while the inaction of the Maharashtra government is allowing agriculture to slip into a steep decline In Talavada village in Beed district of Maharashtra, farmer Sahibrao Athole made one last attempt to call for help. Lying alone in his field on the night of June 12, 2014, Athole was gasping for breath. He had consumed...

-The Week Vagaries of the weather are not the only reason for Marathwada's agrarian crisis Three widows, two daughters and an overwhelming sense of grief occupy the house of the Palwes in Kekat Jalgaon in Paithan, Aurangabad. The house lost all its men there were three in the past three years. The Palwe widows, Yashoda, Chandrabhaga and Lakshmibai, and Yashoda's two daughters, Suman, 8, and Sarita, 6, live in a hut without...

-The Times of India AKOLA: For the last 23 years, Rukhmabai Rathod had run her 6-acre farm virtually single-handedly. After her husband's death in 1992, the uneducated but determined woman took charge. She decided what to sow, how much to spend and stood her ground with banks and creditors. "She was anguthachaap but she understood everything," says her brother-in-law Babulal Rathod from the Kazadeshwar village in Vidarbha's Akola district. "I didn't think...

-SwarajyaMag.com Not every western invention is supreme or flawless, the same goes for inorganic fertilizers. Urine irrigation has been a part of the ancient Indic culture. So, why are we reluctant to embrace it today? In the past fortnight there has been a huge controversy around Union Minister Nitin Gadkari’s speech about the usage of urine as fertilizer for plants. Mr Gadkari said that he collected urine in a 50 litre can...

-PTI The government on Wednesday said it has put in place a contingency plan for 580 districts to tackle any situation arising out of below-normal monsoon. As per the weather department forecast, monsoon would be below normal this year due to an impact of El Nino. Monsoon rains are expected to arrive on time this year, hitting Kerala on June 1. Last year, the country had received 12 per cent less rains, affecting production...