Pawar’s Report Card The Negatives Per capita availability of cereals and pulses has fallen in last eight years No improvement in irrigation, 60% of agriculture still dependent on monsoons Farmers growing cereals, sugarcane, oilseeds and pulses assured higher MSP, but majority don't benefit Production up, but not productivity. Farmer suicides are on the rise. Poor market advisory on exports being misused to buy cheaply from farmers and make profits overseas Pawar...
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Urgent action called for to run down 75-million tonne grain heap-Ashok Gulati
-The Economic Times Grain stocks with state agencies are likely to cross 75 million tonnes some time in June 2012, while covered capacity to store is less than 50 million tonnes. The rest would be under CAP (with pucca or even kachcha plinths) exposed to potential large-scale damage. An early and rational policy decision is required to reduce the stocks by at least 7-10 million tonnes to avoid high costs of...
More »How normal monsoon could impact agriculture, inflation, income & storage-Mishita Mehra
Last week, the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) released its first annual monsoon forecast for June-September. Monsoons are likely to be normal with the probability of deficient or excessive monsoons being relatively low, according to IMD. If this prediction comes true, what does this really mean for India's economy? Impact on agricultural output: The first and most important impact is, of course, on agricultural production, especially in the kharif or summer season....
More »We are bleeding our farmers-Seemaa Kamdar
As children, we were taught to say before our meals, “Annadaata sukhi bhava.” It was a thanksgiving to God for sending the farmer to make food for us and may God bless him. Today, the farmer is helpless. He has no God to go to. Farmer suicides are the tip of the iceberg. The future of agriculture, or lack of it, is staring us in the face. Periodical doles like loan waivers...
More »A good monsoon is an occasion to invest in a major overhaul of farm policy
-The Economic Times India will have a normal monsoon this year, says the Met office. This is good news, even though the forecast does not rule out some slack during the second half of the season. What matters finally is the distribution of rainfall across space and time rather than the aggregate percentages. However, a good monsoon is only one side of the story to have a strong farm sector. Reforms are...
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