-The Indian Express * Have global agri-commodity prices fallen? By how much? They have. The Food and Agricultural Organisation's latest Food Price Index (base: 2002-04 = 100) of 192.3 for October is down 6.9 per cent compared to a year ago, and 19.1% below the all-time high of 237.7 reached in February 2011. Prices of commodities such as corn, wheat, soybean, sugar and palm oil traded in international futures exchanges are today...

-The Hindu Reports that the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government intends to radically restructure the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) have re-ignited public discussion on the scheme. Since its launch, debate on MGNREGA has been synonymous with ideological contestations on the role of the state and its welfare functions. Inevitably, the contours of the debate have been shrill, leaving little space for an evidence-based discussion on the...

-The Hindu Business Line Now that the gains from the first round have petered out, we need to embrace biotech to boost farm productivity As India seeks to ignite the next agrarian revolution, it must try and absorb some of the lessons of the Green Revolution. Currently, agricultural productivity and growth vary from State to State, resulting in regional disparities. Through targeted policymaking, investment in rural infrastructure and research, and ongoing support...

-The Indian Express For the last 10 years, farmers in India benefited from both increased production and higher price realisations - leading to rising rural incomes and declining poverty rates. That happy story may now be near its end - which could be the precursor to a renewed crisis in agriculture. The main reason is declining global prices for most agri-commodities (see Table 1). Over the last five-six months, corn, wheat and...

-Economic and Political Weekly One knows who will suffer if the Narendra Modi government succeeds in weakening MGNREGA. The largest public employment programme the world has ever seen is in trouble. In 2013-14, 74 million individuals in 48 million households in rural India were employed under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act programme (or MGNREGA as it is called), with each household on average finding work for 46 days. This...