-The Economic Times Politicians in India firmly believe that the woes of farmers can be solved with freebies: free electricity, free water, farm loan waivers, fertilisers and seed subsidies, minimum support prices, etc. Little attention is paid to what really ails Indian agriculture: low productivity. From rice to wheat to coarse grains and pulses, from cash crops to food crops, Indian agriculture is punctured with very low productivity. Let's start with rice....
More »SEARCH RESULT
Why are farmers distressed across India? -Vikas Vasudeva
-The Hindu * What’s the problem? The year 2017 was marked by several farmers’ protests nationwide, with a few turning violent. Last month, in New Delhi, 184 farmer groups came together from Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Punjab and Telangana to take part in a ‘protest walk.’ The protest once again highlighted the plight of farmers and the extent of agrarian distress. The agriculture sector is characterised by instability in incomes...
More »Poll setback in Gujarat's cotton belt worries Maharashtra BJP -Abhiram Ghadyalpatil
-Livemint.com In Gujarat elections, BJP won 23 seats in cotton cultivation areas, while the Congress took 30 The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Maharashtra is worried about the electoral reversals the party suffered in rural Gujarat, especially the cotton-growing parts. Results of the Gujarat assembly elections announced on Monday showed the Congress made significant gains in the Saurashtra-Kutch region and north Gujarat where cotton and groundnut are the main cash crops. In...
More »Punjab's farm crisis a tragic irony -Devinder Sharma
-Deccan Herald Punjab, the food bowl of the country, is faced with a paradox of plenty. Ever since the launch of the Green Revolution in 1966, Punjab has been producing a record grain surplus year after year. Yet, over the years, it has turned into a graveyard for its farmers. There is hardly a day when reports of farmers committing suicide do not appear in Punjab newspapers. Take a look at the...
More »Use of smart machinery can check stubble burning, farm experts suggest
-IANS New Delhi: If the farmers of Punjab and Haryana were to adopt smart techniques and use appropriate machinery, say experts, they won’t hog the headlines every winter for the wrong reasons — causing smog in the national capital because of stubble-burning. The Borlaug Institute of South Asia (BISA), a non-profit set up in 2011 to harness the latest technology in agriculture to improve farm productivity, has claimed to have reduced the...
More »