-NDTV Chandigarh: Seven acres of pest-infested cotton, an old mother, two sisters and a six-lakh debt, is what Kala Singh has left behind. The 33-year-old Punjab Farmer killed himself on Wednesday by drinking the same pesticide that failed to save his crop. In Bhatinda's  Burj Mehma village, his cousin Harbans Singh says Kala Singh was very hard working but could do nothing to save his entire cotton crop from being ruined by...

-Tehelka Tired of importing toxic vegetables from Tamil Nadu, Kerala seems to have started a movement in organic vegetable farming It seems vegetables have taken over from water in the ongoing rift between the south Indian states of Kerala and Tamil Nadu. Having waged a relentless war over the sharing of water from the colonial Mullaperiyar dam for over three decades, the two states have now locked horns over the quality...

-Down to Earth In rural India, poisoning accounts for four in 10 suicides due to swallowing of pesticides A World Health Organization (WHO) case study carried out in two Tamil Nadu villages shows the link between limited access to pesticides and the reduction in the number of suicides. A WHO report based on the study says that the suicide rate in these two villages reduced after pesticides were kept in storerooms instead...

-India Today Agriculture powerhouse Madhya Pradesh still suffers from high levels of malnutrition, a contrast that exposes our flawed food policies Madhya Pradesh in mid-March is heavy with the scent of the Mahua blossom. Heaped at village bazaars, and now restricted largely to brewing liquor, its pungent smell is fast disappearing from indigenous tribal stews and curries. On the road to Petlawad and Alirajpur on the western edge of the state, Farmers...

-Livemint.com The World Food Price Index in August fell to its lowest level since May 2009 Indian Farmers are not going to like this. The World Food Price Index, compiled by the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization, in August fell 5.2% to 155.7 points from the previous month. That’s the lowest level since May 2009. The fall comes in the backdrop of an all-round decline in commodity prices. The cereal price index...