The consistently high returns from growing pomegranates in Maharashtra, the epicenter of the fruit’s production in India, have seen many farmers adopt it over water-guzzling crops such as sugarcane and cotton
Women trained in the use of the Internet are fanning across four districts of Assam to bring its benefits to rural women, which in turn is boosting their household earnings and changing everyday lives for the better
Inadequate freshwater supply from rivers and saline ingress has dealt a double blow to the rice farmers of Kole paddy lands in Kerala even as the state tries to cope with a severe drought
Undeterred by displacement from Pakistan during the 1971 war and resettled in the unforgiving Thar Desert, women now living in Bikaner district have used their skills of traditional embroidery to earn a living with dignity
Using small solar-powered pumps to irrigate vegetable gardens could transform lives of tribal farmers in Rayagada district of Odisha by boosting farm incomes and stopping seasonal migration to faraway places
A lack of livelihood opportunities is compelling villagers of Vidisha district in Madhya Pradesh to take up jobs in local stone quarries, where unregulated work conditions are often extremely hazardous for their health
Farmers in the southern reaches of Pudukottai district in Tamil Nadu have turned to agroforestry to protect and boost incomes because falling groundwater levels and overuse of chemical fertilizers and pesticides had made agriculture unsustainable in the area
A survey conducted in South Kamrup in Assam shows that use of small water pumps for irrigation in an area where groundwater is abundant has resulted in significant increases in earnings for smallholder and marginal farmers
The constant swing in the prices of tur dal in Telangana from one year to the next and tardy implementation of the government’s procurement mechanism have made life tough for thousands of subsistence farmers in Kodangal and Husnabad
Rethinking irrigation needs to focus on end results and in exploring every possible way of reaching water to crop roots. For this to happen, perhaps the hegemony of the irrigation bureaucracy needs to come to an end
