-Deccan Herald New Delhi: A large number of farmers in drought-affected states are debt-ridden and many are migrating from their villages, according to a survey by an NGO. According to ‘Lessons from Desolation: A Citizen’s Report on Impact of Drought and Learnings for Future,’ prepared by Action Aid, 40-65 % of the farmers in the drought affected states are indebted while 20 % have migrated to nearby towns and cities in search of...

-DNA Only 17% rural households take loans from financial institutions | Caste affiliation, gender play a part in getting credit As many as 31% of rural households in India are indebted and a significant number still depend on money-lenders, paying heavy interests, despite various government schemes and a network of rural banking. A parliamentary panel that probed the state of rural, agricultural banking found that a mere 17% rural household had taken...

Rising prices of dal: How to deal with it? The 68th session of the United Nations General Assembly declared 2016 as the International Year of Pulses. In India, however, ordinary citizens are under enormous duress due to the skyrocketing prices of dal/ lentils since the last one year. The website of Price Monitoring Cell of the Department of Consumer Affairs shows that dal prices varied across places. For example, the...

-The Hindu Kerala today is not generating enough jobs to meet the expectations of educated Keralites entering the labour market. Changing this is vital and doable Kerala’s development model is in focus yet again as the newly elected Left Democratic Front government is in the process of evolving a vision for the State’s economy. On the one hand, Kerala has made spectacular achievements in land reforms, education, and health since its formation. Amartya...

-The Indian Express A senior state official said that the objective would be on environmental training focused on protecting water resources, preventing deforestation, safer pesticide use, and mitigating impacts of extreme climatic condition on farm produce Mumbai: After facing three severe drought spell in four years, Maharashtra has decided to embrace climate-smart agriculture. On August 10, the state cabinet gave its nod for an ambitious project of training farmers in 4,900 villages...