-The Indian Express The Bharat Krishak Samaj (BSK) has long urged the merger of the agriculture ministry with the water resources and rural development ministries, in the interests of better coordination. With cooperative federalism gaining currency as an idea, that might just become possible. Now, the panchayati raj and food processing ministries could join the club, leaving agriculture, for all practical purposes, to the states, as envisaged by the Constitution. But...

-The Indian Express The budget aims at economic growth and social protection. This is welcome. So are provisions for financial inclusion, housing, water, sanitation and rural electrification. But there are also substantial cuts in crucial social sectors and key omissions that are likely to undermine its stated economic objectives. Consider agriculture, environment and women. First, double-digit growth or poverty reduction is unlikely without strong, sustained agricultural growth. In 2014-15, agriculture grew at...

-Business Standard Budget of NITI Aayog may go up by 18.20% in 2015-16 In a classic case of back to basics, the National Rainfed Area Authority (NRAA), which since 2010 has been part of the erstwhile Planning Commission, will henceforth be an arm of the department of agriculture, as NITI (National Institution for Transforming India) Aayog is up for a rejig. NRAA's budget in 2014-15 was about Rs 31.50 crore, while...

-Down to Earth Crop loss could be to the extent of up to 20 per cent of total production in northern and central states The unusual heavy rains starting Sunday caused heavy damage to Rabi crops in north India, particularly in Bundelkhand region of Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh, Vidarbha region of Maharastra, Saurashtra region of Gujarat and Punjab and Haryana. The unusual rains started around midnight on the intervening night of Saturday...

-The Indian Express The Union budget is largely about the intentions and policies of the government of the day, as well as the arithmetic of resource mobilisation and allocation to achieve certain ends in the economy. The diagnostics of various economic problems and their probable solutions are generally found in the Economic Survey. The Economic Survey clearly indicates that growth in agri-GDP in FY15 has collapsed to just 1.1 per cent, while...