-The Indian Express Development professionals and policymakers have tried many a scheme to address these issues. One idea that has found resonance in recent times is Farmer Producer Organisations or FPOs. It is well-known that Indian farming is predominantly subsistence-oriented. Over 86% of our farmers operate individual holdings below two hectares, while cultivating 47% of the country’s total cultivated area. The production and productivity of these farms are generally low, and...

-The Hindu Business Line According to Shenggen Fan, India is suffering from the double burden of malnutrition, as well as over nutrition. New Delhi: If India has to contain high levels of hunger and poverty in the country, it should shift its focus from food security to nutrition security, as done by Thailand and Bangladesh, said Shenggen Fan, Director General of the Washington-based International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI). “India has two good...

-Deccan Chronicle Seek a state-level intervention corporation. Hyderabad: The latest decision of the Centre to enhance minimum support price (MSP) for 14 crops has triggered a fresh debate on the cost of production and the procurement mechanism. Farmers say that the increase in MSP was a mere political decision and nothing has happened in reality, while agriculture experts agree that lack of consensus and clarity on support price is further adding to...

-Livemint.com While there are several creditable achievements, it is the deeper structural reforms where expectations from a strong government have not been met Amidst expectations of a magical transformation of the Indian economy, the Narendra Modi government took over the reins in May 2014. During the election campaign, people were led to believe that the Gujarat model of agricultural development, which delivered 8% growth in agriculture during fiscal years 2003-14, would be...

-Livemint.com India’s weather office has forecast a normal monsoon. Bountiful rains in the June-to-September period are critical for about 800 million Indians who depend directly or indirectly on farming New Delhi: Gangabhishan Thaware, a 53-year-old farmer from the drought-prone Marathwada region of Maharashtra, took an unusual step in July last year. Thaware and his fellow villagers had toiled on their fields and spent thousands of rupees on seeds and fertilizers, hopeful...