-The Hindu Business Line The Centre should pay attention to Fertiliser Subsidy which is overshooting estimates by unacceptably large margins The economic crisis in India’s South Asian neighbours has turned the spotlight on fiscal profligacy leading economies on the path to ruin. While this has sparked debate on our States doling out freebies and subsidies, the fact is that the Centre too has some soul-searching to do on this front. Even as...

-Newsclick.in A finance ministry note has reportedly warned against too much spending on food and other subsidies. The scheme for providing 5 kg food grain to every individual in addition to the subsidised ration given to ration card holders may be finished after September. Called the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana (PMGKAY), it was started during the first lockdown in April-May 2020 and has been extended every six months. It is...

-Down to Earth There is a widespread availability of inferior quality as well as spurious biofertiliser and organic fertiliser products across the country The availability, quality and uptake of biofertilisers and organic fertilisers in India is poor, flagged a new report. These non-chemical options are considered critical to the transition from chemical-based to sustainable farming practices like organic and natural farming. The availability of cost-effective quality biofertilisers and organic fertilisers is, therefore, of...

 -PTI/ Business Standard The government will not increase retail prices of urea and also provide adequate subsidies to ensure that the maximum retail prices of non-urea fertilisers remain at the present level, sources said India's Fertiliser Subsidy bill is likely to shoot up by 55 per cent to record Rs 2.5 lakh crore this fiscal as the government will provide additional funds to make up for the spike in cost from higher...

-NITI Aayog Working Paper, ISBN: 978-81-953811-7-3 Abstract -  The importance of agriculture in an economy usually declines as it climbs the development ladder. Raising agriculture productivity has been known to be an important precursor. Labour productivity in agriculture can either be increased by higher land productivity or higher land availability per farmer and mechanisation. In India, however, the dramatic increase in land productivity through industrial farming has caused severe environmental damage and...