-The Statesman Prime Minister Narendra Modi has expressed anguish over suicides by farmers, whose condition has not improved despite the high rate of economic growth. The reason for this distressing state of affairs is that economic policies are badly crafted. The primary effort of the Government has been to increase agricultural production. The price factor is not taken into consideration, the perception being that the farmer will be better off...

-The Hindu Business Line   World Bank economist says there is ‘policy fatigue' Washington DC: Improving farm productivity is central to the Indian government's goal of achieving ‘faster, more inclusive and sustainable growth', the World Bank has said in a recent report ‘Accelerating Agricultural Productivity Growth in India - Issues and Opportunities'. Although agricultural growth rebounded after 2004-05, two worrying trends emerged: concerns about the nature and sustainability of growth, the report observes, adding...

-Niti Central India's western State Gujarat does not have a fertile land and most of its landscape is arid, even then the State has taken a big leap in agriculture sector by maintaining nearly 9 per cent of agricultural growth rate for nearly last one decade. Gujarat has written a success story despite being faced with challenges like depletion of water table, deterioration of soil and water conditions due to salinity...

-The New Indian Express BHUBANESWAR: The Odisha Government's stoic silence over reasons that have driven farmers across the State to end their lives has drawn the wrath of National Human Rights Commission (NHRC). With the Government not even bothering to submit a report in this connection as desired by the rights panel since last two years, the latter has served a six-week ultimatum to the Chief Secretary to comply with the...

-Women's Feature Service Tribal families in Bankura, West Bengal, living on a stable diet of potato and rice and occasionally some 'daal' (lentils), are now consuming a variety of vegetables, cereals, fruits and animal protein with relish on a daily basis, marking a sea change in the nutrition parametres in one of the most backward districts of India. The credit for this dramatic transformation goes to the dry land sustainable integrated farming...