-The Times of India After a bruising battle between the rich countries and blocs of not-so-rich ones, the Nairobi World Trade Organisation (WTO) meeting of 160 nations failed to reach an agreement on an issue that directly affects 250 million farmers and farm workers in India. One of the bitterest fights, continuing from previous rounds, saw India lead a group of nearly 50 developing countries to stave off attempts by richer...
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The mystery behind the spurt in prices of pulses -Remya Nair
-Livemint.com Prices of pulses have been consistently on a rise for past few months, forcing the government to announce a number of measures to check hoarding New Delhi: Why are the prices of pulses rising? Will they stabilize anytime soon? The prices have been rising steadily over the last few months. Inflation in lentils stood at 46% in November, after hitting 42% in October, according to the Consumer Price Index (CPI) numbers...
More »Rural landholding almost halved over 20 years -Rukmini S
-The Hindu The average rural Indian household is a marginal landowner, growing mainly cereals on a small patch of land and reliant on groundwater for irrigation, new official data show. Over 80 per cent of rural households have marginal landholdings of less than one hectare (10,000 square metres) and just seven per cent own more than two hectares, data on household land ownership from the National Sample Survey Office show. Tribal people are...
More »India’s killing fields -Paranjoy Guha Thakurta
-The Asian Age It’s a huge story. And it’s not getting the kind of media attention it deserves. It’s a story about India’s farmers. It’s a story about the ongoing agrarian crisis in the country in the wake of two successive years of drought. If one looks only at the figures of growth of gross domestic product which tend to make headlines in financial publications, there’s no story for agriculture comprises...
More »Why Odisha’s farmers are taking their lives -Biswajit Padhi
-Civil Society Online Bhubaneswar: Laxman Goud, a 35-year-old farmer in Thakurpalli village in Komna block of Nuapada district of Odisha, used to lead a very simple life. He was a devoted follower of Mahima Dharma, a subaltern religion practised by underprivileged castes in Odisha. One morning, he took his life in desperation. He couldn’t repay Rs 19,000 he had borrowed from a local moneylender at 36 per cent interest. Goud had invested...
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