-The Economic Times PUNE/NEW DELHI: Pulses will likely remain beyond the reach for many in 2016 as well. Even though a fresh kharif crop has started arriving in the market, whole beans of tur (pigeon pea) cost twice as much as last year because the output is expected to be smaller. Government agencies that entered the market to create a buffer stock for next year are finding it tough to buy tur because...

-GovernanceNow.com A survey in drought-hit Bundelkhand paints a startling picture of farmers in distress Bundelkhand, the land of famous warriors Alha and Udal, is entrapped in an unending battle. But unlike 1857, today there is no ‘harbola’ to tell the stories of sacrifices. Then, Subhadra Kumari Chauhan wrote, “Bundele harbolon ke munh hamne suni kahani thi, khoob ladi mardani voh to Jhansi wali rani thi (from the mouths of storytellers of...

-The Hindu Business Line Yes, but it may not wholly make up for the drought-stricken kharif season Agriculture commodity supplies are erratic in India. They are more so now, due to a second consecutive year of below-normal monsoon, which has resulted in big setbacks to the kharif crop. Edelweiss Agri Research recently took up a nation-wide crop survey to estimate the sowing intentions for the upcoming rabi season. This, along with the...

-Civil Society Online Bhubaneswar: Laxman Goud, a 35-year-old farmer in Thakurpalli village in Komna block of Nuapada district of Odisha, used to lead a very simple life. He was a devoted follower of Mahima Dharma, a subaltern religion practised by underprivileged castes in Odisha. One morning, he took his life in desperation. He couldn’t repay Rs 19,000 he had borrowed from a local moneylender at 36 per cent interest. Goud had invested...

-Economic and Political Weekly Why has pulse production stagnated despite measures to boost production being well known? This season, the prices of pulses (dals) have been on fire. According to the Price Monitoring Cell of the Department of Consumer Affairs, Government of India, the average retail price of red gram (tuar) doubled from around Rs 80 a kg in March 2015 to Rs 150–Rs 160 a kg in November 2015. What could...