-The Indian Express Haryana Irrigation Minister O P Dhankar said: “The problem of water shortage is more acute in southern parts of Haryana, including Mahendragarh, Rewari, Bhiwani and Mewat. " Rewari: At Kheda Murar, a village about 13 km from Rewari town, I R Sharma tills his three-acre farm from “monsoon to monsoon”. “There is no point incurring heavy input costs during the dry season as return will be either low or...
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Not so simple to drought-proof the farmer; stock up for dry days -Himangshu Watts
-The Economic Times Blog The massive increase in expenditure on irrigation in this year’s Budget has raised hopes that more water will flow into fields. This can drought-proof the farmer, increase crop output and lead to greater rural prosperity, which, in turn, will generate demand for all kinds of goods and services. So, everybody will live happily ever after. Not so simple. While higher spending on irrigation is a good beginning, a lot...
More »A new paradigm for agriculture? -Ashwini K Swain and Gareth Price
-Livemint.com A growth-first approach may work in the short-term, but India needs to prioritize sustainability simultaneously The Union Budget 2016-17, seeking to “transform India”, has been hailed for its emphasis on agricultural growth and sustainability. Symbolically, the finance minister put “agriculture and farmers’ welfare” first in his nine-point agenda. The words “agriculture” and “farmer” found 20 and 32 mentions, respectively, in the budget speech, the highest in the last decade. On the...
More »Just another trivial Budget -Ashok V Desai
-The Hindu The Finance Minister’s prescriptions are a classic case of being unable to see the wood for the trees, be it on the tax proposals, the rural outreach or the bank bailout. It was a marathon achievement: 12,187 words in 111 minutes. True, there were no interruptions; the Finance Minister virtually sent the House to sleep. I have listened to many Budget speeches; and I cannot say that Dr. Manmohan Singh...
More »Budget 2016: Govt raises agriculture spending to Rs.36,000 crore -Sayantan Bera
-Livemint.com Increased funding to go into irrigation schemes, crop insurance, national e-market for farm produce, pulse production and interest subsidy New Delhi: In a major push for agriculture in the Union budget, funding for the recently launched crop insurance scheme Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY) has been more than doubled from Rs.2,589 crore in 2015-16 (budget estimate) to Rs.5,500 crore for 2016-17. The budget announced on Monday placed a renewed focus...
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