-The Indian Express The data was shared with Rajya Sabha Friday by Raosaheb Patil Danve, Minister of State for Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution, who gave a written reply to an unstarred question. The number of wheat farmers who availed the minimum support price (MSP) has doubled in the last five years, while the number of such paddy farmers has increased by 70 per cent during the same period, according to...
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Tumbling down -Renu Kohli
-The Telegraph The slump in the GDP and the pain ahead The -23.9 per cent shrinkage in the April-June GDP is not a surprise as nearly half the period witnessed a national lockdown. It’s also not surprising that this loss is the world’s steepest for India’s lockdown was the most stringent and the accompanying fiscal policy response the weakest. But the quarter per cent slump did surprise most analysts who have since...
More »An agriculture-led revival as flawed claim -R Ramakumar
-The Hindu The crisis in agriculture demands that the government announce a strong fiscal stimulus for the rural economy A rather confident statement heard in the midst of India’s COVID-19-induced economic slowdown is this: “Agriculture will lead India’s economic revival”. But how valid is this claim put forward by government spokespersons and some observers? Four major arguments are offered. First, India’s food grain production in 2019-20 was 3.7% higher than in 2018-19. The...
More »Ways to ensure remunerative prices to farmers -A Amarender Reddy
-Down to Earth Several states have different levels of capabilities. Some states like Haryana and Punjab are historically in a better position to procure, while others like Bihar have limited capabilities Farmers’ protests about low harvest prices were a recurrent issue during the harvest period. A record harvest of paddy and other crops was expected during this harvest period. Market arrivals begin from October and end until December across India. Significant efforts from...
More »Nutrition should not be forgotten in the face of pandemic -Rahat Tasneem
-Centre for Budget and Governance Accountability Despite considerable progress made over the decade, India still carries the burden of undernutrition with 38.4, 21, and 35.8 per cent of children under five facing stunting, wasting, and underweight respectively, more than 50 per cent of children and women being anaemic, and 31.5 per cent of women having less than normal body mass index (BMI). Interventions by the government to combat undernutrition are covered under...
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