-Down to Earth Several states have different levels of capabilities. Some states like Haryana and Punjab are historically in a better position to procure, while others like Bihar have limited capabilities Farmers’ protests about low harvest prices were a recurrent issue during the harvest period. A record harvest of paddy and other crops was expected during this harvest period. Market arrivals begin from October and end until December across India. Significant efforts from...

-The Indian Express The country’s GDP registered an annual decline, at minus 5.2%, last in 1979-80. But that year also recorded negative growth for agricultural GDP, at minus 12.8%. April-June may be the first time that India’s economy would contract year-on-year since the government started coming out with quarterly estimates of GDP from 1996-97. But the data for the quarter, to be released by the National Statistical Office on August 31, could...

-Down to Earth Highest rice acreage in six years, more farmers in farms, a bounty monsoon and an expected bumper harvest don't enthuse farmers as their earning dips   It is a piece of news that everybody would love to cheer about, except those who made this possible. The current kharif season is exceptional. In comparison to last year, over eight million more hectares of farms are under cultivation this season. There are more...

Huge sums of money are allocated for the rural and agrarian sectors by the Union Government in its annual budget every year, and rightly so. But in the absence of an adequate number of officials in rural areas, can the various schemes and programmes of the government be implemented properly? We will find the answer if we think about this issue deeply and the answer that would emerge should bother...

-The Financial Express In part one of this article (Secondary agriculture is of primary importance; August 10; https://bit.ly/31H0h0E), the need to expand the market range both horizontally (territorial extension) and vertically (functional expansion), as also the role of agro-processing in achieving the latter in particular, were discussed. In this part, the article dwells upon promoting secondary agriculture on the shoulders of food and non-food processing. Current status of agro-processing The processing sector in...