-IndiaSpend.org The failing economics of such farms–agricultural households in the south are most indebted–are exacerbated by additional loans that families take to meet health issues, leaving them with diminished ability to invest in farming. Nearly 70% of India’s 90 million agricultural households spend more than they earn on average each month, pushing them towards debt, which is now the primary reason in more than half of all suicides by farmers nationwide,...
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Kharif planting: Farmers reduce area under pulses -Sayantan Bera
-Livemint.com Farmers across the country choose cotton and sugarcane over rain-fed pulses like arhar and moong which saw a collapse in their wholesale prices in 2016-17, shows data New Delhi: Following a collapse in wholesale prices of rain-fed pulses like arhar and moong over the past six months, farmers across India have reduced planting of these varieties, data on Kharif sowing released by the agriculture ministry on Friday shows. Simultaneously, farmers have...
More »The roots of rural distress -Manas Chakravarty
-Livemint.com Forgiving farm loans is no solution. The data shows there’s a far more fundamental problem—most agricultural households are unable to keep body and soul together. There’s nothing new about rural distress. Nor is it surprising. If the income of almost 70% of farm households is less than their Consumption expenditure, according to the government’s own data, then it’s obvious they’ll be “distressed”. Yet that’s the inescapable conclusion from the National Sample...
More »'GM mustard cleared for flawed reasons'
-The Hindu Claim that decision will reduce dependence on oil imports is baseless, say activists Chennai: As the Centre mulls over giving approval for commercial cultivation of GM mustard, a section of biologists and activists have warned that such a move would be ill-advised. Arguing that the rationale given by the government and industry to allow Genetically Modified mustard to enter the food ecosystem is flawed, Kavitha Kuruganti, convener of the Alliance for...
More »South India spends most on higher education
-The Times of India MUMBAI: Education may be priceless, but the promise of a degree has seen parents across India foot large bills. Those from the rural and urban pockets of southern states spend the most, largely sign up at a private university and finance their children's dream of a technical education. On average, higher education accounts for 15.3% of the total household expenditure in rural and 18.4% in urban areas....
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