-The Hindu A multi-commodity farming system consisting of rice, fish, broiler duck and male buffalo was evaluated at the Regional Agricultural Research Station, Kumarakom, under the Kerala Agricultural University for productivity, income, cropping intensity and generation of employment. The study revealed that a one hectare paddy holder in kuttanad has the carrying capacity of a minimum of 5,000 fishes, 750 broiler ducks and 3-5 male buffaloes in addition to rice. In this...

-Watershed Organisation Trust (WOTR)   The position paper "Towards Resilient Agriculture in a Changing Climate Scenario" captures the ground realities of small-holder farmers in rainfed Maharashra, Andhra Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh. It presents Watershed Organisation Trust's (WOTR) approach towards climate-resilient agriculture. The paper suggests recommendations for policy that will help increase the response capacity of farmers. It also draws attention to the need of enhancing the resilience of the ecosystem so as...

-The Times of India MADURAI: A Madurai-based farmer has managed to produce the highest yield in paddy by combining organic and chemical fertilisers, even as agriculture is undergoing the odds due to erratic rains. C Sethumathavan from Chinnaelanthaikulam produced the yield of 24 tonnes per hectare paddy in the 2013 - 14 kuruvai season. Hailing from a traditional agriculture family, Sethumathavan had cultivated paddy on his 10 acres farm. But he was...

-The Hindu     Aberrations in monsoon behaviour are not uncommon. What is new is the difficulty in forecasting caused by factors coming under the generic title, ‘Climate change.' Forecasts by the South Asian Climate Outlook Forum and the India Meteorological Department indicate that the south-west monsoon rainfall may be deficient. Also, there is a possibility of the evolution of an El Niño event during June to September. There is a 45 per cent...

-The Hindu Amidst worrisome indications that human-induced climate change is affecting the monsoon over India, research just published adds to a body of evidence showing that extremes in rainfall are increasing. "Our analyses indicate a shift in the recent period towards more intense wet spells and more frequent but less intense dry spells," say a team of researchers from Stanford University in the U.S. in a Nature Climate Change paper. The scientists examined...