The New Indian Express

While the Rythu Bandhu scheme might have intended to benefit the farmers of the State, quite unintentionally it has also brought smiles on the faces of some IAS officers who are now richer by several lakhs of rupees. Here is how: officials in the state who had purchased agricultural lands just as investment are also being benefited by the scheme otherwise meant only for farmers.

Moneycontrol

Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh today claimed the response of the Centre on the state government’s repeated requests for a debt waiver scheme had “not been encouraging” and sought its immediate attention to the farmers’ plight to “avoid any socio-economic unrest”. The chief minister urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to announce a one-time debt relief to ameliorate miseries of the farming community.

Mydigitalfc

After being sworn in as the chief minister of Karnataka, the first thing BS Yeddyurappa (Yeddy) said was that he was committed to waiving farmers’ and weavers’ loans of up to Rs 1 lakh. Keeping this poll promise is, however, not a walk in the park for the new chief minister. Experts warn such a populist step could leave a heavy burden on state’s finances.

Nyoooz

So, stubble burning can be contained. Technology can be used to contain it because stubble can help in generating electricity. HAVE YOUR SAYDespite several warnings, farmers in Punjab are still burning their crop residue. It appears the Mohali MC authorities are least bothered to solve the problem. The Municipal Corporation is requested to take immediate measures to solve the problem.

Nyoooz

Despite a ban by the state government, the unhealthy practice of stubble burning goes on unabated in Muktsar district. Besides, a number of farmers were seen burning stubble about 5 pm in the daylight. Though the district administration has issued warnings in this regard, hardly any farmer is penalised for polluting the environment. While travelling along the Kotkapura-Muktsar-Malout-Abohar highway on Thursday, a number of fields were seen reduced to black. Meanwhile, some agriculture experts informed that this illegal practice caused loss to the fertility of soil.

The Northlines

Minister for Agriculture, Mohammad Khalil Bandh today said that bringing improvement in the economic status of farmers is the top agenda of the present government. “Department of Agriculture needs to work with full dedication to achieve the set targets as agriculture and horticulture sectors are the backbone of the economy of the state” he said while taking a detailed review of performance of the department here today.

The Hindu

Designing and implementing research programmes needs a futuristic approach, Indian Council of Agriculture Research (ICAR) Deputy Director General (Crop Science) A.K. Singh has said.He was inaugurating the meeting of the All India Coordinated Research Programmes on Biocontrol of Crop Pests hosted by the Kerala Agricultural University at Vellanikkara on Thursday. Biological control was very important in cutting down cost of cultivation and doubling income. Farmers’ income was not feasible without cutting down expenditure on chemical inputs, said Dr. Singh.

The Hindu Business Line

Sowing in the current kharif season has commenced in right earnest with an area of 54 lakh hectares (lh) brought under cultivation till Friday, according to data released by the Agriculture Ministry. A total of 55 lh was covered during the same period last year.

Business Today

Karnataka Chief Minister BS Yeddyurappa announced a farm loan waiver soon after taking oath, a move that economists feel could cost the state dear. It’s in keeping with his party BJP’s pre-poll promise of granting waiver to farmers who had raised loans of up to Rs 1 lakh.