-The Economic Times MANDYA: A new breed of moneylenders has pushed farmers of moneyed Mandya district in Karnataka into an endless debt trap, leading to mounting suicides, even as the institutionalised credit system has failed them. The system is so well entrenched that the borrowers themselves are taking steps to protect the moneylenders from a government crackdown on the practice. Farmers — big, small and marginal — have taken loans from private...

-The Hindu Chhattisgarh records the fourth highest in the country. With 2,568 farmers’ suicides during 2014, Maharashtra recorded the highest number in the country, though activists pointed out that the number was far higher. The data released on Friday by the National Crime Records Bureau also show that Chhattisgarh is among the top four States in farmers’ suicides. According to the NCRB, Maharashtra recorded 578 fewer suicides than 2013, when 3,146 farmers ended their...

-The Indian Express These are the root causes of agricultural distress. Farmers need better irrigation and access to markets. Speaking at the foundation day celebrations of the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (Nabard) on July 12, Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said that there were reasons to smile on the economic front as India remains a bright spot, despite the global slowdown. He talked about the 7-8 per cent...

-IPS News LUDHIANA: Long-term agricultural growth in India is slowing down. The lands that saw remarkable increases in productivity in the 1970s and 80s, thanks to the technology rolled out as part of the first “Green Revolution”, are not yielding the same results today. India still has the second highest number of undernourished people in the world. To confront this problem, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has called for a Second Green Revolution on Indian...

-Outlook Despite claims, closer scrutiny of the data shows that the actual farmers are not getting enough support. There are tall claims on the Farm credit front while there has not been any let up in the agrarian crisis, indicated chiefly by the continued farmers' suicides in different parts of the country. Yes, there is enough evidence for the government to show a heavy flow of credit to the farmers through...