CropsSeed companies and Grain SA advise fewer maize hectares on marginal soils, more sunflower, staggered planting, careful input buying and no experiments this season.
EnvironmentA GPS census in Betul found more than 25,000 mature teak trees dead across 16,800 hectares; foresters suspect drought-driven hydraulic failure, as tests found no fungus or pest.
CropsSyngenta's third-quarter sales fell to $5.2bn and EBITDA to $800m as drought and heat in Europe cut crop protection demand, though nine-month EBITDA rose 1% to $3.2bn.
OpinionIn a Down To Earth column, Ranjan Panda argues that India must prepare its farms, village water sources and farm workers now for an El Niño the WMO says is almost certain to last through February 2027.
HealthThe new Lancet Countdown report links extreme heat to more than 540,000 deaths a year on average from 2016 to 2023 and attributes 68 percent of them to climate change.
CropsThe state found a 17 percent monsoon rainfall deficit, ordered input aid, fodder and drinking water, and asked the Centre for a Rs 20,000 crore relief package.
AgribusinessThe state drought sub-committee also fixed subsidised fodder prices, approved desilting grants and will decide next week on adding more areas to the drought list.
CropsRajasthan declared drought in 14 districts and Gujarat in four, with Gujarat paying Rs 8,500 a hectare to farmers whose crops failed and selling fodder at Rs 2 a kg.
Maharashtra will pay Rs 5,000 to each of 1.5 crore farmers in 304 drought-hit talukas before Diwali, ahead of a wider relief package.
CropsJaisalmer got half its normal monsoon rain, fodder prices have more than doubled, 216 of the state's 693 dams are empty and Jodhpur-zone reservoirs hold 15.72% of capacity, yet no drought has been declared.
CropsThe Department of Agriculture now projects palay output of about 19.7 million tonnes against a 20.7 million target, with the driest months forecast over the dry-season rice crop.
CropsArkansas State University leads a four-year, four-university project on turning arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi into a seed or soil treatment against water stress; no results yet.
CropsWith below-normal rain forecast across Zimbabwe, three farmers in Matabeleland South and the Midlands explain how fodder stocks, urea-treated stover and water reserves are keeping them in production.
