Financial Express

As digital connectivity spreads to rural areas, smartphones are helping small farmers in poor countries access data on crops, weather and soil. It is helping them boost production in the face of climate change. According to a recent report by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization, small farmers who produce the bulk of food in developing countries are some of the most vulnerable to changes in climate. And here, technology can help to minimise crop disaster.

The New Indian Express

Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy and his government may take pride in writing off farm loans to the extent of `44,000 crore, but renowned agriculture scientist Dr M S Swaminathan does not see it as a way to manage farm economy. “It is a short-term measure and it should not become a permanent method of management of farm economy,” he said in an interview.

The Times of India

: The Central government seems to be seriously considering the Zero Budget Natural Farming (ZNBF), promoted by Padma Shri Subhash Palekar, as one of the tools to meet its target of doubling the income of farmers by 2022. Palekar told TOI that the Niti Aayog along with the scientists of Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), State Agriculture Universities (SAUs), the Union minister of state for agriculture Gajendra Shekhawat and Himachal Pradesh governor Acharya Dev Wrat held a meeting with him on ZBNF on July 9.

Moneycontrol

The green-shoots of demand growth seen in some rural pockets is driven by farm loan waivers and not likely due to real increases in rural incomes and wages, indicative that the economy is still some time away from a full-blown rural revival, says a report.