Every passing day makes it clear that the proposed food security law may not come by for a while. One report quoting the Planning Commission even suggested that it can be expected only in 2012. This Twelfth Plan (2012-17) launch has support from the concerned dual Ministry of Agriculture as well as Food, Consumer Affairs and Public Distribution. In that eventuality it does mean a surge in food insecurity.A dispassionate...

A Farmers’ Round Table held in Dharwad has demanded that the state agricultural universities in Dharwad and Bangalore must present their research initiatives of the year in front of a farmers’ jury mainly of the small and marginalised and commit to respect its verdict. The Round Table also demanded that at every Krishi Mela held across the state, there should be a mini farmers’ jury to openly and transparently discuss the...

The cotton growers of Vidarbha, who are suffering immensely due to the prevailing agrarian crisis, staged candlelight protests ahead of US President Barack Obama's India visit on Friday. The protests, held under the banner of the Vidarbha Jan Andolan Samiti — a pressure group which has been documenting distressed farmers' suicides — sought to draw his attention to the plight of the region's agriculture sector caused by 'American policies'. The main event...

For generations, a majority of Vidarbha’s debt-ridden farmers have only grown cotton, making themselves vulnerable to unreliable market conditions. Now, these and other districts facing an agrarian crisis, as well as the rest of the state’s agriculture community may have some reason to smile. Rs 643 crore will be pumped into the state for the farmers, with the government going ahead with its ambitious Maharashtra Competitive Agriculture Project (MACP). On Tuesday, the...

The amount of rural reportage in the Indian media remains far too low, with even important stories such as those on farmer suicides tending to be ignored. One of the outspoken critics of this trend has been P Sainath, rural-affairs editor of The Hindu  and 2007 winner of the Ramon Magsaysay Award for Journalism, Literature and Creative Communication Arts. He was also the journalist who originally broke the story on...