To control inflation and ensure long-term economic growth, India needs to harness the creativity of the large number of its farmers and entrepreneurs, especially in rural areas. The latest WPI inflation data show primary articles inflation in double digit, driven mainly by food inflation which remains stubbornly high at over 9 per cent. The high food prices are the result of structural factors with shortages getting aggravated as demand continues to outstrip...

-The Hindu   Noted Jaipur-based economist V. S. Vyas has expressed concern over “progressive diminution” of cultivated holdings which he says has led to stagnation in the yield of major crops and rendered agricultural income insufficient for farmers to make ends meet. A sharp decline was also being witnessed in per capita food production, he said. Delivering the Tarlok Singh Memorial Lecture at the University of Hyderabad over the weekend, Professor Vyas said...

-The Business Standard Yes, it will help combat the acute shortage of farm labour, but it goes against the Act’s core principles. Devinder Sharma  Food and agricultural policy analyst The crisis in agriculture has worsened and it is directly proportionate to the spread of MNREGA Isn’t it strange? The Mahatma Gandhi Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MNREGA), which was primarily designed as a radical and novel response to combat rural poverty, is actually hitting the very...

While the state government’s attempt to illegally dam the Kalu river in rural Murbad, Thane, is being challenged in court, it now emerges that the government has made false claims in its affidavit — about the total number of villages that will be affected, the number of people who will be displaced, and the amount of land that will be submerged. To make it all worse, work on the dam...

-The Hindu   Loans disbursed to State Governments by the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) for creating rural infrastructure has crossed the Rs.1 lakh crore mark. Of that Rs.6,523 crore has been disbursed in Tamil Nadu. This is the fourth among the States that have availed of substantial financial support from NABARD. The other three are Andhra Pradesh (Rs.9,711 cr.), Uttar Pradesh (Rs.7984 cr.), Gujarat (Rs.7,324 cr.), According to a NABARD...