A seven-state survey on rural internet awareness revealed that close to 84% were ignorant of the medium’s existence. Of the ones who did know about it, 85% used the net only to access emails, 13% to know about the latest farming techniques and 8% to look up Fertilisers, among other uses. We can acknowledge that internet penetration so far has been weak; but the past is not a guide to...
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Fertilising policy reform
The drought in greenfield investment projects in the fertiliser sector in India is finally set to end after over a decade. Existing and prospective investors in fertiliser manufacture are reportedly willing to invest over Rs 45,000 crore in the next few years, both in expansion of existing capacities and creation of new ones. The rising excess demand for fertiliser is driving this renewed spurt in investment activity. The increase in...
More »Rural India Internet users to grow up to 5.4 mn in 2010
The number of Internet users in rural India will swell to 5.4 million in 2010, translating into a 30 per cent growth, primarily driven by farmers going online to check their e-mail. The number of active Internet users in rural India will swell to 5.4 million in 2010, a growth of 30 per cent from 3.3 million in 2008, according to a research study jointly conducted by the Internet and Mobile...
More »Brazil has revolutionised its own farms. Can it do the same for others? by Piaui Cremaq
IN A remote corner of Bahia state, in north-eastern Brazil, a vast new farm is springing out of the dry bush. Thirty years ago eucalyptus and pine were planted in this part of the cerrado (Brazil’s savannah). Native shrubs later reclaimed some of it. Now every field tells the story of a transformation. Some have been cut to a litter of tree stumps and scrub; on others, charcoal-makers have moved...
More »Farmer suicide after drought, girl birth
A farmer committed suicide in Burdwan today, apparently driven by drought, debt and the anxiety of bringing up a daughter born four days ago. Gosain Patra, 32, is the third farmer from Burdwan’s Ausgram to have committed suicide this year. Gosain, a resident of Purbatotipara village, hanged himself from a tree this morning. The farmer’s family members said he had managed to cultivate only half of his two-and-a-half bigha land because of...
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