The number of farmers suicides declined to 346 in 2011 from 565 in 2006 in Vidarbha region

The government today said 228 farmers committed suicide in Vidarbha region of Maharashtra because of agrarian distress during the April-January period of 2012-13 fiscal. "The number of farmers in the six identified suicide prone districts of Vidarbha region who committed suicide due to agrarian distress is 228 during the last 10 months till January 31, 2013," Minister of State for Agriculture Tariq Anwar said in a written reply to the Rajya Sabha.

Loans Clubbed To Seek Benefit

Pune: The reaudited report of the National Bank for Rural and Agricultural Development (Nabard) on the Rs 52,000-crore agriculturaldebt waiver and debt relief scheme (2008), shows that loan amounts of about 3,000 farmers from Kolhapur, who owed Rs 2 lakh each, were waived when the ceiling was set at Rs 1 lakh per farmer. The cumulative amount of such non-eligible farmers stood at Rs 58 crore.

JAIPUR: In order to launch new housing schemes for residents of Jaipur and Jodhpur, the Rajasthan housing board (RHB) has decided to acquire more land from farmers.

A decision was taken in the RHB meeting to acquire approximately 10,000 bigah land in these two cities. RHB officials have already identified the land to launch these housing schemes.

The total area covered under the micro irrigation systems in the district has more than doubled during the last two years as many farmers are adopting effective water management practices in the wake of the drought.

In a period of three years starting from 2007-08, the farming community in the district installed drip and sprinkler systems to cover only about 3,500 hectares. But in the last two years, farmers installed micro irrigation systems covering more than 6,000 hectares.

Can approach purchasers, receive payments directly as govt prunes their role

Arhtiyas or commission agents in Punjab will not be able to reap the healthy benefits of a good harvest. Pruning the role played by arhtiyas in procurement, the Punjab Government has decided to provide farmers an option of directly receiving payments for their produce after holding negotiations with the purchasers.

Bombay High Court (HC) asked Maharashtra Water Resources Regulatory Authority (MWRRA) Wednesday to hear Solapur farmers aggrieved by the parched Ujjani dam that has allegedly created a drought-like

The state government has increased the crop loan limit of farmers by 15% which will come into effect from the coming kharif season starting from mid June this year.

About 1.3 billion people in South-East Asia continue to be at risk of malaria, even though substantial progress has been made in controlling the disease.

To meet grievances, the new Bill provides for compensation at double the market price in urban areas and four times the price in rural areas

Farmers of Sivarakottai on Tuesday registered their protest against the State Government’s proposal to acquire around 1,500 acres of land for setting up an industrial estate covering the villages o