-The Times of India NASHIK: Kharif onion plantation has declined by 68% in Maharashtra's Nashik district as compared to last year. Delayed monsoon and a fall in prices of summer onions have caused the decline. The total area under kharif onion plantation in the district was projected at 20,584 hectares (ha) but the plantation has been done on only 3,434ha (17%) so far. Last year, the area under kharif onion plantation was...

-The Indian Express Farm incomes may not revive despite good monsoon. There are new challenges for policymakers. India’s per capita calorie demand has been falling for at least the last 30 years. Most people do a double-take when they hear that. One can’t debate the fact much: National Sample Surveys every five to seven years have documented this. What we can debate are the reasons behind this: In their 2009 paper Angus...

-The Indian Express Bundelkhand: Most of the casualties were due to house collapses, while at least four people were swept away due to the strong water currents in Mahoba and Banda. Lucknow: Having borne the brunt of drought year after year, Bundelkhand is facing the other extreme this monsoon. The heaviest rains in over a decade have inundated 500 villages and caused severe waterlogging in small towns, claiming nearly a dozen lives...

-The Hindu New Delhi: Parliament’s Standing Committee on Agriculture may have expressed concern at the unscientific and excessive use of pesticides in agriculture that pose a threat both to the environment and human health. But experts say their judicious use, combined with safe agricultural practices, is the only way out as the country’s growing demand for food cannot be met through organic farming. In its recently presented report in Parliament for 2015-16,...

Rising prices of dal: How to deal with it? The 68th session of the United Nations General Assembly declared 2016 as the International Year of Pulses. In India, however, ordinary citizens are under enormous duress due to the skyrocketing prices of dal/ lentils since the last one year. The website of Price Monitoring Cell of the Department of Consumer Affairs shows that dal prices varied across places. For example, the...