Animals, which are used for food, fibre, labour etc. hold a special place in ensuring rural livelihoods. It has been found by the NSSO's 70th Round Report that among the agricultural households having less than 0.01 hectare land (which includes landless agricultural households too), a little above 1/5th reported livestock as their principal source of income whereas 56.4% depended on wage/ salaried employment. However, as the land size went up,...
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Farm Debt Curse Continues: NSSO
The agrarian crisis is far from over. Amidst news of farmers' suicide reported from parts of Telangana, Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra, an official document released in December by the National Sample Survey Organisation states that nearly 52% of India's agricultural households were indebted during July, 2012 - June, 2013. The average amount of outstanding loan per agricultural household in India was Rs. 47000 (see link below). Based on a survey of...
More »More Girls Missing in 'Developed' States
Child sex ratio (CSR) in India has declined from 927 in 2001 to 918 in 2011 (girls per 1,000 boys), according to a new report entitled Missing Girls: Mapping the Adverse Child Sex Ratio in India (Census 2011). Of the total 640 districts in the country, 429 districts have experienced decline in CSR (see the link below). Of these 429 districts, 26 districts exhibited drastic decline (of 50 points or more),...
More »October CPI inflation dips to 5.52%, touches historic low
-Business Standard Overall food inflation measured on CPI came down to 5.59% in Oct as against 7.67% in the previous month The Consumer Price Index (CPI) based inflation rose to 5.52% in October compared to the same period last year, its lowest rate since the government started releasing the data in February 2012. For September, CPI inflation was 6.46%, making October's numbers the third consecutive month that retail inflation has eased. According to...
More »Vast gaps in Irrigation potential & utilization
In the midst of irregular monsoons affecting agriculture, a new report shows stagnation in the state of irrigation infrastructure. The recent report entitled Infrastructure Statistics 2014 (Third Issue) by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MOSPI) has provided information that despite the rise in expenditure on irrigation infrastructure, there has been no substantial improvement in the gross irrigation potential utilized*. Athough expenditure on irrigation has increased from Rs. 36561.64 crores...
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