-The Hindu Business Line Mumbai: Cotton output is expected to increase 4 per cent to 34.5 million bales (of 170 kg each) in the cotton year ending September on the back of sharp rise in yield. However, the acreage under cotton has dropped 11 per cent to 10.84 million hectares (12.29 million hectares). The yield per hectare is expected to increase to 541 kg from 459 kg, according to the second advanced...

-The Hindu Fifty years since the Green Revolution, the architect of the reform highlights the crisis facing Indian agriculture today It is 11 years since agronomist M.S. Swaminathan handed over his recommendations for improving the state of agriculture in India to the former United Progressive Alliance government, at the height of the Vidarbha farmer suicides crisis, but they are still to be implemented. To address the agrarian crisis and farmers’ unrest across...

-The Hindu Business Line Mumbai/ Bengaluru: As talk of onion imports gains ground, the price rally in the bulb in recent days seems to be ebbing. Wholesale prices of onions across major markets in Maharashtra, such as Lasalgaon, Pimpalgaon and Niphad, have witnessed a decline in the last two days. In Pimpalgaon, where arrivals stood at 2,500 tonnes on Friday, the modal prices dropped by a fifth to Rs. 2,000 per quintal...

-The Times of India blog A reply by Water Resources minister Uma Bharti  to a Lok Sabha question on groundwater depletion foregrounds tough trade-offs facing India’s policymakers. According to Bharti, an assessment of groundwater resources and usage showed that 16% of 6,584 assessment units in India are “overexploited.” A table which accompanies her reply provides state-wise data. Here, Punjab stands out for the magnitude of overexploitation. If 16% of assessed units in India...

-Livemint.com Policy should focus not just on higher production but also on helping farmers manage risks Anybody who is dismissive of the wave of farmer protests across the country should first understand the difficult everyday economics of the Indian agriculturalist. Most farmers swim in a turbulent sea of risks against which they have almost no protection. The risks begin with sowing. The production in the months ahead is deeply dependent on weather conditions....