-Down to Earth Government’s policy decisions and ground reports are in conflict with official data on sowing, production and agriculture insurance The Centre’s claim of 94 million metric tonnes (MT) (2015-16) of wheat production, good sowing acreage and success of agriculture insurance scheme is not in sync with reality as government’s own data do not match agriculture ministry’s claims.   The data related to increased acreage, bumper production and success of agriculture...

-The Times of India NEW DELHI: Agriculture and jobs will form the focus of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's discussions on Tuesday with top economists and experts from India and abroad at a time the government has been criticised for the country's 'jobless growth'. The theme of the Niti Aayog meeting is 'Economic policy: The road ahead', but the PM has asked the premier government thinktank to concentrate on two areas: agriculture and...

-The Hindu The unorganised manufacturing sector should be reoriented towards non-household units to provide efficiency gains. Ever since E.F. Schumacher, a British economist, published in 1973 his book Small is Beautiful, implying that small units are better in terms of performance indicators and labour absorption, several studies have endorsed the same idea and argued in favour of promoting small units. Stretching the argument a little further, it may be emphasised that small...

-The News Minute Rice Diversity Blocks in Kerala and five other states preserve over 1,000 indigenous varieties of rice that were at risk of being lost. In the Indian subcontinent, the birthplace of paddy, the colours of the crop’s many varieties are as diverse as the land, its people, languages, cultures, costumes, dialects and so on. But most of that variety was lost, when farmers were asked to forgo indigenous varieties...

-Business Standard This is the time when farm labour is engaged in the fields which result in a dip in demand for work under MNREGA New Delhi: November is considered the best month for sowing of rabi crops as the winter starts setting in and the residual moisture in soil is still available, lowering farmers reliance on ground water. This is also the time, when farm labour is engaged in the fields and...