-The Business Standard Making the agriculture growth story sustainable Finance Minister P Chidambaram's claim in his interim Budget speech of "stellar performance" of the agriculture sector is based on numbers, though it needs to be analysed from different perspectives to get a true picture. There is no doubt that agricultural gross domestic product may grow by 4.6 per cent this year. The past 10 years' average, too, may work out close to...

A nation's prosperity is determined to a large extent by the health care received by its female population. India's maternal mortality is down but we still have miles to go before we come close to achieving the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) targets (Please see the links and graph below). The latest available figures released by the Office of Registrar General (India) provide some interesting trends on maternal health indicators. It...

-The Hindustan Times Several important councils and committees formed and headed by Prime Minister (PM) Manmohan Singh have either not met even once or only rarely, according to a Right to Information (RTI) reply procured by HT from the Prime Minister's office (PMO). Important committees on nutrition, skill development, climate change, and micro, small, medium enterprises (MSME) - all under the PM's stewardship - haven't met for years, says the RTI query. Interestingly,...

-The Hindu Business Line One sector in which the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) can claim some success during its 10 years in power is agriculture. Between 2003-04 and 2013-14, India's foodgrain output rose from 213.19 million tonnes (mt) to 263.20 mt. Production of pulses and oilseeds has also gone up from under 15 and 25 mt to nearly 20 and 33 mt respectively, after registering near stagnation in the previous decade....

-The Hindu A farm whether in one acre or a few acres must encompass as many crop varieties as possible and also some animals to be remunerative. "Monocropping (growing only one crop) is now a fading practice among several farmers since they are realising that for their economic safety and better returns it is important to grow additional crops. "In some areas in Madhya Pradesh farmers grow a main crop in a...