-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...

-HuffingtonPost Blog   Almost all discussions on agriculture begin and end with concerns about the plight of the farmer, the margins of the intermediary, and the ineffectiveness of government policy to address the real issues of those engaged in agriculture. It is easy to blame the government, whether it's the dispensation at the state, Centre or both. Moreover, both are also perfectly capable of blaming each other, even if they are on...

-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...

-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...

-The Times of India NEW DELHI: A UN report has projected steady decline in prices of foodgrains over the next decade, attributing the gradual price fall to increase in overall agricultural production and diversification of dietary choices towards meat and dairy products. The report, released last week, however, emphasized that prices of foodgrains would not fall below early 2000-levels "despite the advantageous scenario regarding global food pricing". It noted that additional agricultural...