-Economic and Political Weekly The Indian weaver is dismissed in high places as an embarrassing anachronism, despite demand for his or her skills and products. In the new millennium, globalisation and a mindless acquiescence to imported notions of a good life threaten to take over, even as the West looks East for better concepts of sustainable living. Analysing today's crisis in the handloom sector, plagued by low-cost imitations from power looms,...

-Financial Chronicle Hunger has three major dimensions. First, is widespread undernutrition or calorie deprivation; second, there is inadequate consumption of pulses and other protein rich foods leading to protein hunger; third, the diet of the underprivileged sections of our society, normally deficient in micronutrients like iron, iodine, zinc, vitamin A and vitamin B12. If we wish to achieve the zero hunger challenge by 2025, we will have to pay concurrent attention...

-The Hindu Business Line Health-conscious consumers, value-added products seen boosting consumption Bengaluru: Apart from the rising awareness of nutritive benefits, the policy push being given by Karnataka – the largest ragi producing State – is set to see the acreage under finger millet (ragi) grow considerably in the years to come. Higher MSP The Karnataka government has procured over one lakh tonnes of ragi at ₹2,000 a quintal last year (includes a bonus of...

-The Hindu New data for rural households revealed by the Socio Economic and Caste Census (SECC) represent a grim reminder of the state of rural India. In over 90 per cent of households, the main earning member makes less than Rs. 10,000 a month. Over half the households are landless and a similar share of them rely on casual manual labour for the larger part of their income. Just 20 per...

-Business Standard Labour shortage and threat of deficient monsoon are pushing adoption of farm machinery Taraori: Vikas Chaudhary, a farmer in Haryana's Karnal district, started using a maize planter in 2012. The acquisition of a happy seeder around the same time helped him sow wheat directly.  The two machines helped him reduce input costs substantially. "With the help of machines, I have managed to reduce the input cost for paddy by Rs 2,000...