Featured Story – Page 83 – Village Square

January 26, 2018

Growing fruits and vegetables is a challenge in Ladakh as the farming season is restricted to just four months. (Photo by Sharada Balasubramanian)

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Winter farming technologies boost incomes in cold desert

With the farming season limited to just four months in Ladakh, villagers have turned to innovative, low-cost technologies to grow vegetables in winter that improves diets and boosts incomes, but smallholder farmers need post-harvest support

January 24, 2018

Recurring droughts have reduced the annual income of Ramvithal Valse, a farmer from Sonwati villlage in Latur district of Maharashtra, by 80% in the past 6-7 years. (Photo by Nidhi Jamwal)

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New drought manual may aggravate farm distress

Strict parameters set by the central government has made it tougher for the states to declare a drought and seek relief funds from New Delhi

January 22, 2018

Women harvesting small millets from a farm that was earlier infested with lantana. (Photo by Manu Moudgil)

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Madhya Pradesh farmers unite to fight lantana infestation

Villages in eastern Madhya Pradesh have come together to rid their land of lantana, an invasive species that have taken over 4% of the India’s land area, and have reclaimed their farms by cultivating millets and oilseeds

January 19, 2018

Reviving the traditional practice of keeping water on a raised platform and tilting it to take water prevents contamination. (Photo by Shahnawaz Alam)

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Santhal tribes revive tradition for safe drinking water

By reverting to the traditional practice of keeping water pots in a garsadi, a raised platform, villagers in Jharkhand have successfully prevented contamination of drinking water, improving health in households