The Times of India

Paddy, pulses and other crops are being sown on 75 per cent of the average sowing area so far in the ongoing kharif season with coverage of paddy, pulses, cotton and sugarcane higher than year-ago, the Agriculture Ministry said today. Sowing in the Kharif (summer) season begins with the onset of southwest monsoon. As per the Met Department, rains were five per cent above the long-term average till July 26 across the country.

The Pioneer

Agriculture in India is not only the source of sustenance and livelihood for millions but is considered to be the backbone of the economy. However, challenges and setbacks have been plaguing this sector increasingly and making it extremely difficult for the ordinary farmer to eke out a decent living. Incessant drought, electricity shortages, crop failures, floods amid mounting debts have left the farmer with no option but to take the unfortunate step of committing suicide. The increasing rate of farmer suicides has now become an inalienable feature in the Indian agricultural landscape.

The Indian Express

The expert panel on the farm loan waiver in Punjab, led by T Haque, met farmers to get their feedback at Punjab Agricultural University (PAU) in Ludhiana Tuesday. The panel, which has been constituted by Punjab CM Captain Amarinder Singh to assess situation of farmers debt in the state, was clearly told by the farmers that loan waiver is not a solution to end farmer suicides in Punjab.

E-PAO

Agriculture Minister V Hangkhanlian today announced that the Government would start distributing paddy transplants to farmers whose paddy fields were flooded during the recent flood . Hangkhanlian made this statement in the State Assembly while clarifying to policy cut motions raised by Opposition members to the demand for Agriculture Department which amounted to Rs 215,96,89,000 . Three varieties of paddy seeds which can be harvested within three months were sown over 95 hectares and they are now fit for transplantation.

The Hindu Business Line

Financial distress, lack of timely help and crop failure have often been blamed for the spiralling numbers in farm suicides in India. Now, a US study has added climate change as another significant factor that is driving the disaster northwards. Just a degree rise in temperatures above 20 degrees during the crucial crop growing season (June-September) could push up the number of suicides by 70. In the last 30 years, a total of 59,000 farmer suicides in India have been attributed to the direct cause of rising temperatures by the study published by the University of California, Berkeley researchers.

Sify

The Union cabinet on Wednesday gave ex-post facto approval for a MoU between India and BRICS countries to set up a BRICS-Agriculture Research Platform (BRICS-ARP).

DSIJ

The Agriculture Ministry has drafted a model namely, the Agricultural Produce and Livestock Marketing (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, 2017, said a government release on Tuesday. It provides for progressive agricultural marketing reforms, including setting up markets in private sector, direct marketing, farmer-consumer markets, de-regulation of fruits and vegetables, e-trading, single point levy of market fee, issue of unified single trading license in the state, declaring warehouses/silos/cold storage as market sub-yards and Market Yards of National Importance (MNI) so that more markets are available for farmers to sell their produce for better prices.

Business Standard

The Union Agriculture Ministry on Tuesday signed a Memorandum of Association (MOA) with International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) in order to establish IRRI-South Asia Regional Centre (ISARC) in Varanasi.