-Deccan Chronicle Nearly 40 per cent of the crops were lost due to the pest attack. HYDERABAD: The Telangana state government has decided to encourage the cultivation of pulses in place of cotton during the ensuing Kharif season in June. This is because cotton farmers had suffered huge loss in 2017 due to the pink bollworm attack and there are concerns about Pests harming the cotton crop again during the kharif season....
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To Bt or not to Bt: 60 lakh cotton farmers or a handful of vested interests? -Ram Kaundinya
-The Indian Express The government should not succumb to pressures for removal of trait fee on a technology that has made India the world’s No. 1 cotton producer. During the last cotton season, there were reports of the pink bollworm (PBW) not being effectively controlled, especially in some 700 villages of Maharashtra where the infestation of this insect pest was stated to be high. However, at a review meeting conducted by the...
More »These two issues could put the brakes on the Bt cotton story -G Seetharaman
-The Economic Times "Open any boll here and you'll see it's destroyed," says Ganesh Shere, a farmer at a village called Jamb in Yavatmal district, about 160 km from Nagpur, in northeast Maharashtra. He walks along the length of his bone-dry, four-acre cotton field and splits two dozen cotton bolls, with a stone or his fingers, to reveal the damage done by pink bollworms, which have become resistant to the genetically modified...
More »Organic farmers claim natural pesticide saved paddy from Pests -Shishir Arya
-The Times of India NAGPUR: Amid paddy growers of east Vidarbha reeling under a major pest attack, some of them who have adopted organic farming claim they could prevent losses in their fields using natural pesticides. They had gathered at a meet organized in the city by Bijotsav — an organization promoting organic agriculture. As each of them spoke about their experiences, the farmers from Gondia and Chandrapur districts claimed to have...
More »Why are farmers distressed across India? -Vikas Vasudeva
-The Hindu * What’s the problem? The year 2017 was marked by several farmers’ protests nationwide, with a few turning violent. Last month, in New Delhi, 184 farmer groups came together from Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Punjab and Telangana to take part in a ‘protest walk.’ The protest once again highlighted the plight of farmers and the extent of agrarian distress. The agriculture sector is characterised by instability in incomes...
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