Actors Nana Patekar and Makrand Anaspure distributed cheques of financial aid to as many as 113 families of farmers from Latur and Osmanabad districts of Marathwada, who have committed suicides, owing to drought and indebtedness. The kin of the deceased were given cheque of Rs 15,000 each at a function held in Latur on Saturday. “The challenge of drought is staring us in the face… I feel leaders like Sharad […]

India is witnessing a radical transformation where highly qualified youngsters are giving up cushy jobs to make a difference in the lives of poor people in rural areas. A chemical engineer, Anirudh Prasadh gave up his high-paying job to work for welfare of farmers in the remote villages of Tamil Nadu. For the Malayalar community of farmers in the remote Kolli Hills region of Tamil Nadu, 26-year-old Anirudh Prasadh has […]

Drought discussions, particularly in California, have raised concerns about agriculture and led to a focus on particularly water-thirsty crops. Now, startup CropX Ltd. is helping farmers make the most of their water with sensors and an app. The Tel Aviv- and San Francisco-based startup has raised $9 million in Series A funding. Agtech fund Finistere Ventures led the round, joined by Innovation Endeavors, GreenSoil Investments and the company’s earlier backers […]

A string of farmers have committed suicide in western India after freak hailstorms and rains destroyed winter crops worth millions of dollars, activists and politicians said Wednesday. The unusual weather struck parts of western Maharashtra state, of which Mumbai is the capital, from late February and went on to badly damage crops. A source from the Maharashtra chief minister’s office told AFP that seven suicides had been confirmed, with more killed by […]

ZARI, Afghanistan — Because of the poppies, the raw material for most of the world’s heroin, the list of things 1st Lt. Christopher Gackstatter and his 2nd Platoon can’t do in Sartok is far longer than the list of things they can. Marching into the mud-walled village in t­­his sun-baked district of southern Afghanistan on an April 24 intelligence-gathering mission, the boyish 25-year-old lieutenant and his roughly dozen riflemen and […]