-The Hindu Business Line Question over pulses acreage linger; MSP, rainfall could decide growers crop choice “I will cultivate soyabean this year. Prices for it are ruling at over ₹7,000 a quintal and I will go for it,” says Sunil Mukhati, a farmer near Indore in Madhya Pradesh. “But it is not the case with all my co-farmers. Some of them plan to grow corn and some pulses (moong or green gram),” he...

-The Hindu Business Line Crops on over 21 lakh hectares damaged, Agri Min tells Parliament Bengaluru: Timely and quick spread of monsoon this year did help boost the kharif acreage, but the heavy spell of rains witnessed across several parts of the country over recent weeks are seen spoiling the party for several farmers this cropping season. “There have been extreme weather events in the form of heavy rains in some parts of...

-The Indian Express "Opposition-ruled Maharashtra, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh record highest coverage, even as many states, including Gujarat and MP, pull out of Modi government's flagship insurance scheme. Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY) has seen a sharp drop in the number of farmers covered and sums insured in the current kharif cropping season. This comes even as many states – Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Jharkhand, Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh – have exited or...

-Hindustan Times A gradual shift towards cash crops at the expense of food crops and deficit rainfall over the years are the primary reasons behind the agrarian crisis in Maharashtra’s drought-hit Marathwada region, according to a study conducted by the Indian Institute of Technology-Bombay (IIT-B). Published in the Environmental Research Letters in May, the study analyses the role of rainfall deficits and cropping choices in loss of agricultural yield in Marathwada. The...

-Newsclick.in Several nomadic people usually set out in March on traditional routes, where animals feed on vegetation. Once lockdown is lifted and kharif sowing starts, the animals will be left with nothing to chew on. Pastoral nomads stranded in the lockdown in Rajasthan’s desert region since March 25, are worried about feeding their animals, as once the lockdown lifts, the summer heat would have dried out vegetation on their traditional routes. The seasonal...