-Down to Earth From providing agricultural information for specific countries to identifying trends in the sector, censuses serve a variety of purpose In the backdrop of a round of country-driven agricultural censuses which will begin in 2016 to gather information and statistics on the global agriculture sector, senior FAO statiscian Jairo Castano discusses with Down To Earth the importance of the exercise. * How helpful are agricultural censuses in gathering information and statistics...

-Financial Chronicle Return for Farmers could grow as overall output of cereal crops has remained stable With growing health awareness and relatively lower costs, millets are making a strong comeback after experiencing negative growth for several years. Millets, which are coarse cereals, need less water and are hence preferred by Farmers in areas where there is a shortage of water. The crop is also favoured because of its productivity and short growing...

-The Guardian NGO EarthRights files complaint against IFC on behalf of those affected, over $450m loan for plant that ‘destroyed livelihoods’; IFC claims immunity In the first case of its kind against the private investment arm of the World Bank, fishermen and Farmers from north-western India are suing the International Finance Corporation (IFC) in a US federal court over a $450m loan for a coal-fired power plant. The communities say the IFC...

-The Hindu As Delhi blames the smog and haze on straw burning in the National Capital Region and the neighbouring states, the Farmers are pointing the finger at the government’s inefficient agricultural model that they say has forced them to take up the polluting practice. Gora Singh Chaina, a Farmer from Punjab, says the government itself promoted chemical-based farming which leaves Farmers with no option but to engage in straw burning. “Why...

-Hindustan Times Faridkot/Bathinda: Jagroop Singh owns seven acres of agricultural land in a village of Faridkot district. All of it was under the long-duration paddy (PUSA 44) harvested on October 17. He then had barely 10 days to prepare his field for wheat sowing. The seasoned cultivator did not think twice before putting a matchstick to his paddy crop residue littered all over his field. The stubble went up in flames within...