-The Hindu Groundwater meets three quarters of the State's farming needs The Punjab State Farmers Commission recently published a draft new agriculture policy for the State that envisages substantial crop diversification from paddy and wheat staples that the State has been growing since the sixties. The draft policy, currently being debated in agriculture circles, is the first serious road map to steer Punjab's agriculture towards a new dynamic, necessitated by a sharp...
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Food, by all means -Deepak Pental
-The Indian Express Why are we reticent about using techno-industrial solutions to reduce malnutrition? The death of several children from consuming a toxic midday meal in Bihar evoked a great sense of outrage. But this outrage will, in all probability, soon die down. Yet, this tragedy, as many reports show, is the tip of the iceberg. Beneath it lies unseen a story of poor service delivery and a lack of commitment. India...
More »Chouhan's Madhya Pradesh steals Congress’ direct benefit transfer thunder
-The Times of India NEW DELHI: As the Centre stitches together its plan to roll out the direct benefit transfer (DBT) scheme, BJP-ruled Madhya Pradesh seems all set to achieve full coverage of some benefits through the scheme. The DBT scheme has been touted as a game-changer for the ruling Congress party in the lead-up to the general Elections in 2014. Ironically, a BJP-ruled state seems to have taken the lead to...
More »Delhi Cabinet decides details of food security scheme
-PTI NEW DELHI: With barely a month left for the proposed launch of its ambition food security scheme, Delhi Government today finalised the various nitty gritties. A meeting of the Delhi Cabinet presided by Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit gave its in-principle approval for formal launch of the scheme on August 20, the birth anniversary of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, and finalised various aspects relating to implementation of the scheme. Though the scheme...
More »Crisis simmers in Bengal’s rice bowl-Pranesh Sarkar
-The Telegraph Kolkata: Seedbeds are not yet ready in vast stretches of Bengal's rice bowl because of poor rainfall, raising the prospect of a slump in production and showing up the inability of catchy slogans alone in making farming less of a gamble in the monsoon. Rainfall in the four major rice-producing districts of Bengal till Monday was around 50 per cent less than the normal average, officials in the agriculture department...
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