-The Indian Express At current rates of depletion, Punjab’s entire subsurface water resource could be exhausted in a little over two decades. Jalandhar: As the discussion around Punjab’s massive groundwater crisis becomes more urgent, there is an increasingly stronger accent on diversification of crops, and a move away from water-guzzling paddy. At a meeting over the weekend, Punjab Agricultural University (PAU), Ludhiana, decided to strengthen maize — the most important alternative to...

-Financial Express Robust production doesn't necessarily boost farmers' earnings. In the case of many crops, including oilseeds and pulses, the procurement levels are crucial and even the price support scheme sans procurement doesn't seem to be working on the groun The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) on Wednesday approved modest increases of 5-7% in the minimum support prices (MSP) for rabi crops for the 2019-20 season. Even as the winter sowing...

-Livemint.com In economic terms, it’s around a dozen years ahead of us, but the gap is much larger when social indicators are considered The spectacular rise of China over the past few decades has no parallel in human history. The People’s Republic of China was established 70 years ago this month under conditions of economic misery. It is today the main geopolitical challenger to the US. As a result of its profound...

-The Hindu Business Line Women are burdened with much of the care work, which is generally unregulated and poorly paid. This must change Care work has been the focus of policy debates after the International Labour Organization (ILO) published a report titled ‘Care Work and Care Jobs for the Future of Decent Work’ in 2018. The ILO observed that care work involves a range of skills that are often not formally recognised...

-The Indian Express The Maha Agri Tech project attempts to mitigate agricultural risks by using data anlytics to plug gaps. Launched in January this year, the Maha Agri Tech project seeks to use technology to address various cultivation risks ranging from poor rains to pest attacks, accurately predict crop-wise and area-wise yield and eventually to use this data to inform policy decisions including pricing, warehousing and crop insurance. When farmers in...