The focus on MGNREGA got renewed when the Finance Minister Shri Arun Jaitley during the presentation of Union Budget 2017-18 increased allocation under the programme to Rs. 48,000 crore (B.E.), up from Rs. 47,499 crore (R.E.) in 2016-17. However, it has been noticed by the Inclusive Media for Change team that nearly Rs. 9,748.7 crore of due payment during the last financial year is still pending, as on 2 April,...

-The Times of India Humanity harvested the largest ever cereal crop in its history in 2016-17 — a staggering 2.6 billion metric tonnes, according to the latest estimates of the UN-affiliated Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO). The year is ending with the largest ever global stock of foodgrains in history, some 682 million tonnes. India too is heading for a record cereal crop as the previous year's final wheat is harvested and...

-IndiaSpend The drop comes despite a good monsoon in 2016 A good monsoon that led to record sowing and production of pulses–especially tur dal (pigeon pea)–has almost halved their wholesale and retail prices in 2017, a year after dal prices skyrocketed to Rs 200 per kg in some cities at the end of 2015. In many state-regulated agricultural markets of major tur-producing states such as Maharashtra and Karnataka, prices have fallen to Rs...

-The Hindu Business Line Combatore: V Pandian, a vegetable grower at Ketti Pallada in the Nilgiris, recalled the wild buffalo intrusion on his farmland around mid-March. “A herd of 30 or so wild buffaloes trampled on the half-acre plot in which carrot shoots had started to show up, destroying the crop completely. I just gave up,” he said. The sleepy hamlet, located 15 km from Coonoor, has become the haunting ground for...

-Scroll.in While officials say waivers could jeopardise allocation for other key sectors, farmer unions and economists feel it is a necessity given the farming crisis. Developments in three states over the past week have brought the debate on the waiver of farm loans back under the political spotlight. In Uttar Pradesh, the newly-elected Bharatiya Janata Party government under Chief Minister Adityanath announced on Wednesday that it would write-off crop loans of up...