-Deccan Chronicle   New Delhi: Tipped to be agriculture minister, Radha Mohan Singh has an arduous task at hand to boost the growth, which could not meet the target of four per cent per year in recent years.   Also, the El Nino threat to the monsoon rains will be the immediate challenge, which can affect the foodgrains productions in the next financial year. Even though there has been record foodgrains productions in the past...

-One World South Asia   Policy Analyst Devinder Sharma strongly advocates that the income a farmer earns in India should be de-linked from the price that his crops fetch in the market. New Delhi: Indian agriculture is faced with a terrible agrarian crisis. It is a crisis primarily of sustainability and economic viability. The spate of farmer suicide and the willingness of farmers to quit agriculture if given a choice is a stark...

-Down to Earth   Demand minimum support price of above Rs 2,000 per 100 kg; say present MSP does not meet even cost of cultivation Maharashtra government has recently announced the minimum support price for wheat at Rs 1,400 per quintal (100 kg). The decision has not gone down well with either the farmers or the agriculture department. Farmers in the state have questioned the rationale behind this low MSP, saying that such...

-The Hindu   Farmers are again at the receiving end due to delay in procurement NALGONDA (Andhra Pradesh): The delight of getting a good paddy yield during the season was short-lived as the farmers had much difficulty in selling their produce and the unprepared and short-staffed district administration failed to stop millers from exploiting farmers in the district. Farmers cultivated paddy in more than 2 lakh hectares, highest in the recent past and second...

-Down to Earth Studies indicate high food inflation As Met office predicts below normal rainfall because of El Nino this year, a study by the Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (ASSOCHAM) has projected a 1.75 per cent GDP reduction and loss of hundreds of thousands of jobs in the unskilled sector. The report released recently says that five per cent deficit rainfall forecast by the India Meteorological Department (IMD) will...