The Times of India

We stand amid a sea of wheat, the monocrop of the season. But Santosh Kumar’s patch of land is a stark contrast: it’s a chaotic mix of sugarcane, onions, potatoes, turnips, cabbages, green peas, herbs and what not. All grown without a drop of chemical. “Do you know what this is?” Santosh, pushes what looks like a blade of grass towards our noses. But before the brain could process the sharp citrus smell, he goes “lemongrass”, eager to show off his newfound knowledge. “It is good for health. You can mix it in tea.”

Business Standard

After falling to 2.5 million tonnes in FY19 from a peak of 6.6 million tonnes two years ago, imports of pulses are again expected to fall below 10 million tonnes in FY20. When the price of pulses skyrocketed a few years back, imports jumped to a record high of 6.6 million tonnes in FY17.

Quint

Year after year, the prediction of the south-west monsoon, which brings 70 percent of annual rainfall, is keenly watched by companies in agriculture business, insurance companies, and stock markets…

The Hindu Business Line

India is, today, a country of about 1.35 billion people. United Nations’ population projections of 2017 say that India is likely to surpass China’s population by 2024 and reach 1.5 billion by 2030, making it the most populous nation on the planet.

The Better India

Leading the group is 35-year-old Anju, a transgender woman. She and her friends, Spoorthi, Prema, Harshitha, Bhagya, Kavya, and Abhishek, decided to break free from years of exploitation and injustice to lead lives on their terms.

Moneycontrol

D-Street took a sigh of relief last week when the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD), in its first-stage forecast, predicted ‘near normal’ South-West monsoon (June-September 2019). IMD’s forecast was in contrast with that of Skymet, which had predicted a ‘below normal’ monsoon season, citing El Nino risks. Quantitatively, Skymet pegged rainfall activity at ~93 percent of long period average (LPA) against IMD’s prediction of 96 percent of the LPA.

The Tribune

The Agriculture Department will soon be releasing a book which will include success stories of farmers and villages that stopped burning paddy stubble last year.

The New Indian Express

NCP chief Sharad Pawar has accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of deliberately maintaining “silence” on issues like suicide by farmers and unemployment while campaigning for the Lok Sabha polls.

The Times of India

Kisan Mahapanchayat leader Rampal Jat said the silence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his two-day election tour of Rajasthan, on the loss suffered by farmers due to non-seasonal rainfall is baffling. He said wheat procurement centres have refused to buy the wheat which was exposed to rain. “The Prime Minister, who had promised to double farmers’ income, has not even mentioned the issue. So much for his concern for the cause of the farmers,” he alleged. He said the farmers could not get even 70% of the expenditure, from the sale of their produce. He said stringent procurement rules and procedure have made the life of farmers more difficult

The New Indian Express

Ishwar Singh is a worried man. The furrows in his brow below his once white turban have deepened. He planted onions in his two-acre farm near Sonepat this winter and got what he believed was a bumper crop. That should have made him a happy man, but a bitter wrangle at the local Mandi over prices, which he feels are a “conspiracy”, has left him deeper in debt.

News on air

Deputy Director General, India Meteorological Department, S D Attri has said that weather-related advisories by the department to the farmers has resulted in the high yield of agricultural products across the country.

Krishijagran.com

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) said that it is working at a fast pace to provide localised weather prediction to all 6,500 blocks across 660 districts in the country by 2020. In this way it will help nearly 9.5 crore farmers cope with the vagaries of weather.

Krishi Jagran

Mr. Rajan Aiyer is the Managing Director for Trimble, SAARC region. He is responsible for Trimble operations in India, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka and under his leadership Trimble has seen exponential growth with revenues in SAARC region quadrupling in the last five years. Prior to Trimble, Rajan headed his own start-up company in Silicon Valley, California for more than four years. He has held increasingly responsible positions in R&D, Marketing, Sales and Customer Service in various Boston and Silicon Valley hi-tech companies.