Although rising food prices remain a critical concern, finance minister Pranab Mukherjee is counting on better supply management, improved output of pulses and rice, better access to rural credit and strengthening of existing agricultural schemes to bolster India’s farm output. The rural economy employs about 60% of India’s work force, contributes about 17% of gross domestic product, and is expected to post 5.4% growth over last year, according to advanced estimates...

The survey called for a “Second Green Revolution with technological breakthrough in the agriculture sector” to boost farm output and ensure the food security of the country The Economic Survey on Friday pegged the country’s agriculture sector growth at 5.4% in the current fiscal, as against 0.4% in the previous year. The survey also called for a “Second Green Revolution with technological breakthrough in the agriculture sector” to boost farm output and...

By stubbornly overruling the National Advisory Council, the government risks defeating its purpose as a body that speaks for the poor and the disadvantaged. HAS the Manmohan Singh government begun to regard the National Advisory Council (NAC) as an adversary who should be undermined? Going by their exchanges on key issues such as food security, wages under the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA), and the implementation of the Scheduled Tribes...

The new food security schemes point to the capacity of agriculture to produce more when the incentives are right. Supply of cheap foodgrains will trigger demand for other food products, which the farm sector will have to meet. The many rural development programmes in operation have complex effects on the rural economy. Programmes such as Bharat Nirman are expected to improve connectivity of markets, provide access to more efficient sources of...

Rice cultivators in Bihar are upset over the slow pace of procurement of their produce by the Centre, as well state agencies. Against a target of procuring 12 lakh tonnes of paddy this year, just about 3.5 lakh tonnes have been purchased so far, sources in state food and civil supplies department said. The procurement process will end by March 30. "I worked hard to grow paddy in my field. I pray to...