They face an uncertain future as many have not received any help from the government Some villages in Rajasthan close to the Pakistan border have faced locust attacks for the third time in a year. Down to Earth travelled to Lalawali village in Chatargarh block of Bikaner to talk to farmers about the crisis. According to farmers in Lalawali, locust attacks have happened since September 2019. There have been at least three attacks, one last year in September, and two in February and May 2020. Babulal Shashwat had sown cotton on 2.5 hectares of land. He recollects the evening of

Madhya Pradesh’s farmers face a crisis after the import of maize, coupled with the nationwide lockdown to curb the spread of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) has led to a price crash. Farmers are now forced to sell their produce for around half the minimum support price (MSP) the Union government ensured for them in 2019. They have now requested the government to purchase maize under a scheme meant to promote millets. The Centre decided Rs 1,760 per quintal as the MSP of maize. Farmers, however, receive roughly

Two days after Cyclone Amphan brushed past coastal Odisha causing heavy rains and gale, farmers reported widespread damage to paddy crops in state’s Balasore, Bhadrak, Mayurbhanj, Kendrapara and Jagatsinghpur districts. Heavy rain lashed north and coastal parts of Odisha for three days, destroying paddy crop in the harvesting stage. Farmers said the next two-three weeks were crucial to assess the damage to their farmlands.   “All our crops are destroyed. How will we return the bank loans?” said Jagannath Sahoo (45), a farmer from Balasore district. Revenue and disaster management

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