-The New Indian Express BHUBANESWAR: Eminent agricultural economist Ashok Gulati on Monday emphasised on higher growth in agriculture sector for faster reduction of poverty. Addressing the second Odisha Knowledge Hub (OKH) lecture series on ‘Getting agriculture back on track in the growth agenda of the Nation and State’ at the Secretariat here, Gulati said the agriculture sector has the potential to grow at five per cent per annum as against the present...

-The Financial Express Unseasonal rains and hailstorms in some places over northern states of Punjab, Haryana and western Uttar Pradesh during the last two days is unlikely have any major impact on output of rabi crops such as wheat and mustard, a senior official with the agriculture ministry said on Sunday. “The impact of rains in the last two days on the standing rabi crops is limited and localised,” Trilochan Mohapatra, Director...

-Livemint.com The Union government has cut the prices of genetically-modified cotton seeds and slashed royalty fees by 74% The Union government’s decision to cut the prices of genetically-modified (GM) cotton seeds, popularly known as Bt cotton, and slash royalty fees, will have a positive impact on cotton farming in Maharashtra, India’s top state in terms of area under cotton cultivation. The Maharashtra government’s agriculture officials, cotton growers and officials at the Nagpur-based...

-The Hindu The steps taken towards social democracy are being reversed. What we have now are social insurance policies from above. This subverts the entire project of giving voice to the voiceless. India has paid a heavy price for failing to institutionalise social democracy It is generally agreed that theories of social democracy, in comparison to theories of formal political democracy, take cognisance of background inequalities that hamper the realisation of basic...

-MoneyLife.in Doubling of farmers' incomes will require large-scale changes in the output that India currently produces and how it goes about producing it. India will gain massively by shifting focus to pulses and horticulture and by moving people out of agriculture, says a report   Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday strongly defended his government's ambitious promise to double farmers' income in five years that was doubted by the opposition. He said the...