-Livemint.com In India, 9 million people left farming between 2001 and 2011 largely due to distress, not because industry invited them, says Shyam Khadka, India’s representative at the FAO Shyam Khadka, India’s representative at the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations, says more Indians are moving out of agriculture due to distress and not because the manufacturing sector is inviting them. In an interview, Khadka calls for converting food...

-Hindustan Times Many of these chemicals have become extremely pervasive in our environment as a result of their widespread repeated use and, in some cases, their environmental persistence Last week, the Maharashtra government registered a police complaint against three pesticide companies and Krishi Seva Kendras (agro-input centres) for selling pesticides not recommended for the region after 32 farmers from Vidarbha died of poisoning. The agriculture department, which is responsible for educating farmers...

-Scroll.in Aadhaar is depriving the most vulnerable people of their grain entitlements. Eleven-year-old Santoshi Kumari died asking for rice on September 28, eight months after her family stopped getting food rations from the government because their ration card was not linked to their Aadhaar, the biometrics-based 12-digit unique identification number that the Centre wants all Indian residents to have. The child’s death in Jharkhand’s Simdega district has elicited official responses that verge...

-The Indian Express Last financial year, of the additional Rs 15,000 crore that the MoRD sought in supplementary demands, the Finance Ministry cleared only Rs 9,000 crore. Despite the Centre’s claim that this year’s MGNREGA budget is the highest ever, almost 88 per cent of the funds available for the scheme have already been exhausted, just halfway through the financial year. As of next week, only Rs 6,000 crore of the Rs...

-DNA The department for consumer affairs, food and public distribution held three meetings through video conferencing with officials of all states In order to check foodgrain pilferage from PDS shops and ensure delivery of the benefits food security, the Government on Monday came out with detailed guidelines for social audit of the central scheme. A ministry official told DNA that in order to ensure transparency in the implementation of the PDS, the...