-The Hindu Swathes of land lie unused; peasants migrate or take their own lives as the crippling water crisis shatters their hopes. BUNDELKHAND: On the night on March 27, Musru Prajapati was up as usual, keeping vigil in his field at Khurhand village in Banda, Uttar Pradesh. Three consecutive droughts, with bouts of hailstorms and unseasonal rains, had dented his morale. He wanted to defend whatever little crop he managed to grow...

-The Hindu Prem Singh’s farm has plenty of water, fruit-bearing trees, and organic products BANDA (U.P.): In the parched, brown landscape of Uttar Pradesh’s Bundelkhand region, where hundreds of distressed farmers have taken their lives in the past few decades or have been forced to migrate, Prem Singh’s farm is an exception. In the fabulous green farm, there is plenty for everyone: abundance of water-bodies for animals to drink from, many fruit-bearing trees,...

-TheHansIndia.com * Excessive use of chemical fertilisers on vegetables and fruits is causing cancer to the consumers * 4,500 farmers are cultivatingin 15,000 acres in organic zones of 10 clusters in 8 mandals Raptadu (Anantapur): The district is in for a major organic revolution with the department of Agriculture taking the lead and initiative to wean away farmers from excessive use of fertilisers and pesticides and the disastrous effects of chemical residues on...

-The Economic Times What's on your plate may be good for you. But, what if the plate itself is nutritious? This is not light-headed talk from going too long without a meal, but an idea that sprouted in the mind of a groundwater researcher-turned-entrepreneur Narayana Peesapathy on a flight. As Peesapathy watched a man pick at his lunch with a cracker after he accidentally broke his plastic spoon, he wondered if...

-The Financial Express Rising dole hits both investment and productivity With around Rs 175,000-180,000 crore of annual expenditure on agriculture subsidies, the government probably feels it is doing a lot for the farmers and, come election time, will probably boast about it to get the rural vote. Yet, as an Icrier analysis at its ‘Supporting Indian farms the smart way’ workshop shows, not only is the rising subsidy not helping agriculture as...