-Down to Earth Governments in India define farmers as those who own land, which is usually not the case with women Women farmers from six states demanded a comprehensive agriculture policy that would recognise them and offer relief and compensation to the kin of male farmers who had commit suicide, at a recent event in the national capital. Around 60 women farmers from Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Punjab took...

-The Indian Express There is an ambiguous provision to levy income tax on “dairying”. Either the provision should be removed or it should be clarified that it does not include dairy farmers. Dairying is a part of agriculture and as per the Constitution, it is a state subject. Those in power may not yet be accepting blame for the barrage of negative news on the state of the economy, but cracks are...

-The Indian Express All such investments will go a long way to augment farmers’ incomes in a sustainable manner. Else, I am afraid, much of the talk in the Union budget for agri-reforms will remain mere rhetoric. Although the Union budget is basically an accounting exercise of revenues and expenditures for the coming year, economy-watchers anxiously wait for the finance minister to announce major economic reforms. In that sense, the budget of...

-Down to Earth Govt policy think tank asks chief secretaries to extract nutrients from human excreta and use them in place of fertilsers Explore the possibility of extracting essential nutrients like phosphorus, nitrogen, potassium and carbon from human excreta and replace fertilisers used in agriculture with them, the Niti Ayog has advised all states. Faecal sludge is a rich source of nitrogen (N), phosphorous (P) and potassium (K), the three essential nutrients used...

-The Indian Express Return of food inflation may not allow RBI to further slash interest rates but opens up room for delayed reform Retail food inflation crossing 10 per cent, the first time in nearly six years, isn’t good news for an economy already mired in a deep slowdown. The suddenness of the increase (from under 3 per cent in August to 10 per cent-plus in November) and the fact that the...