-Livemint.com Nominal hikes in crop support prices means that farmers are bearing the burden of government policy to keep food inflation in check New Delhi: The Narendra Modi led government has set a target to double farm incomes by 2022, but in the past three years it announced only nominal hikes for support prices of rice and wheat. What’s more: the raises were lower than the prevailing retail inflation, meaning declining...

-TheWire.in As a society, we should be ashamed that year after year, farmers beg for a decent livelihood and are forced to take their lives. Farming is widely recognised as a high risk venture and our farmers have had to grapple with adverse and unpredictable climatic conditions (drought, hailstorms, unseasonal rains, cyclones), unforeseen loss of crop (wild animals, technological failures, lack of irrigation) and a near complete absence of a supportive eco-system...

-Business Standard A recent report suggests different ways to eliminate poverty and argues that accelerated growth is the most suitable medicine to reduce incidence of poverty Adding some and modifying some others is how the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government is planning to go about its welfare programmes in the coming days. While the Mid-Day Meal Scheme (MDMS) is likely to be extended to some private schools, the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural...

-PTI Lucknow: Seeking to deflect Opposition attack over high prices of pulses, Union Food Minister Ram Vilas Paswan on Sunday attributed it to poor rainfall and reduced imports during the last two years. “Several factors have led to the rise in price of pulses. Rainfall was low during the last two years, causing damage to crops. Besides, import was less,” he said at a press conference here. Paswan said last year, pulse production...

Situation alarming: More than one-third population hit by drought   The country is facing severe drought for the second consecutive year. Conservative estimates from official sources show that over a quarter of rural habitations are facing drinking water scarcity. Although both India Meteorological Department and Skymet have predicted a more than normal rainfall during June-September, 2016, the water storage available in 91 major reservoirs of the country has declined from 22 percent...