This year, in addition to a serious rain deficit in Vidarbha, the cotton crop was subject to an unprecedented attack of the pink bollworm More than 30,000 farmers from all over Maharashtra, on a ‘long march’ sicnce March 5 from Nashik, an agricultural powerhouse 170 km north of Mumbai, will reach the state’s legislative Assembly on Monday. Leaders in the protest rally allege their demands for clearing farmers’ balance sheets, ensuring remunerative prices for crops, and implementing the Forest Rights Act for the benefit of scheduled tribes have not been done entirely. An 8 per cent contraction in agriculture (worse, the crop sub-sector contracted 14 per cent), according to the latest economic survey by the state, worsens the situation. The western state received 84 per cent of the average rainfall during the June to October period in the 2017 season, with regional variations. The deficit in the drought-prone Vidarbha region was above 20 per cent. On top of th...