-The Hindu Jardhar village comprises of nearly 26 small hamlets in Uttarakhand. Like hundreds of villages in the country agriculture is a major occupation here. But the village is known for more than just agriculture. It houses some of the country's best and ‘lost' ancient seed varieties. This is thanks to Mr. Vijay Jardhari, a small farmer and founder of seed saving movement called Beej Bachao Andolan (seed savers movement), who has managed...

-The Indian Express Farmers in worst-hit Beed had hoped that a good harvest this year would help them repay loans. Beed (Maharashtra): Radhabai, a 30-year-old daily wager from Ekdara village of Beed district, was plucking cotton on March 8 when the overcast sky opened up. Heavy rain with tennis ball-sized hailstones forced her to take shelter under a tree. "Heavy wind dislodged a branch of the tree that fell on her head....

-The Hindu Kerala severely threatened by climate change, says State Action Plan on Climate Change Thiruvananthapuram (Kerala): Alappuzha, Palakkad, Wayanad and Idukki districts are climate change hotspots in Kerala, with a high degree of vulnerability to natural hazards like flood and drought and impact on biodiversity and human life. The State Action Plan on Climate Change (SAPCC) has classified Alappuzha and Palakkad as the most vulnerable districts. Palakkad is listed as very highly...

-The Times of India NAGPUR: A Rajya Sabha Committee on Petitions has urged the government to review meat export policy and recommended not to grant permission for any new slaughter house until a critical analysis by a dedicated commission is complete. It also advocated a review of policy of giving subsidies to meat exporters. The report was submitted on February 13 by a 10-member committee headed by Bhagat Singh Koshyari. MP from...

-The Business Standard Chandigarh: Worried over diminishing returns from small holdings in the state, young and educated farmers in Punjab with an entrepreneurial streak are venturing into commercial dairy farming. The farmers say that a commercial dairy farm gives them high returns compared with conventional agriculture on small land-holdings, which is proving unsustainable. There are about 6,000 progressive dairy farmers in Punjab and the state has more such farmers than any other...