-The Hindu The Centre's rural employment guarantee scheme can be substantially improved, but it has undeniably helped Dalits, Adivasis and women find work In an era of growing globalisation and rising inequality, the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) stands out as a unique attempt to provide a social safety net via a massive public works programme. The government as an employer of the last resort is an idea that...

-Financial Chronicle India's independence in 1947 had the great Bengal famine as its backdrop. During the Bengal famine of 1942-43, over three million children, women and men died of starvation. India's first prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru, therefore, said in 1947, "Everything else can wait; but not agriculture". This commitment led to the initiation of several programmes in the field of agriculture, such as extension of irrigation facilities, establishment of seed corporations,...

-The Pioneer From the right farming techniques to efficient and not wasteful use of water for irrigation purposes, new and modern agricultural methods can help optimise production and save the environment from degradation At a time when a burgeoning population is putting immense stress on available resources, foodgrains production as a critical and life supporting resource is exceedingly finding itself on the back foot, thanks to a rapidly degrading environment. The state...

-The Hindustan Times Faridkot: Most Farmers, who have been sowing wheat with zero-till or no-till drill, which helps them reduce expenses on diesel and labour besides saving time, water and gives them the same yield as the wheat sown after many ploughings, are satisfied with the experiment with the new technology over the years. But still, due to the traditional mindset, costly and nonavailability of new agriculture machinery, new techniques are not...

-DNA Farmers' suicides are as much a consequence of indebtedness as the failure of the government to offer solutions to make agriculture a viable profession. Astring of Farmers' suicides, in the aftermath of hailstorms and unseasonal rainfall over the past fortnight, in Maharashtra sheds light on the parlous state of Indian agriculture. National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) statistics tell us that over 2.8 lakh Farmers have committed suicide since 1995. Though attempts...