-Hindustan Times India’s back-to-back drought is likely to end in winter with the weather department predicting higher-than-normal rainfall between October and December in the southern part of the country and normal rains in the rest, boosting prospects of the winter harvest. The rabi, or winter-sown, season is vital since it accounts for nearly half the country’s total food output. The forecast eases worries about water shortages in the nation’s 89 nationally important...

-The Indian Express Farmers are unanimous that Punjab hasn’t seen such bad days, with one or the other crop failing in consecutive seasons — and now basmati selling even below parmal. Jalandhar: When farmers in Punjab began taking the harvested grain from their Pusa-1509 superfine basmati paddy crop early this month, they were shocked to see it fetch rates below not just half of last year’s levels, but even the official minimum...

-Hindustan Times Bhubaneswar: Debt and drought have reportedly forced five Odisha farmers to commit suicide in as many days, prompting the human rights commission on Tuesday to take note of the state’s deepening farm crisis. The farmers — all of them in their 40s — allegedly took the drastic step after their paddy crop wilted because of scanty rainfall and they have loans to repay. In another case, it was cotton. At least...

-Livemint.com Drought declaration can provide farmers relief through compensation for crop damage and restructuring of loans New Delhi: Even though the monsoon ended with a 14% rainfall deficit, with nearly half the country’s districts facing a shortage of over 20%, states are delaying declaring a drought that could provide immediate relief to farmers by compensating for crop damage and restructuring farm loans. The June-September monsoon, which irrigates over half the country’s farm...

-Hindustan Times In August this year, whiteflies -- a notorious pest -- bumbled through vast tracts of Punjab’s cotton fields, destroying a sizeable chunk of the crop in the state. These insects, which slurp on juicy, tender bolls, seemed to have inflicted heavy losses, sparking a serious farm crisis in India’s agricultural powerhouse in a decade. A back-to-back drought meant farmers grew more cotton, a hardy crop that requires less water to...