-Down to Earth The average agricultural growth has reached its lowest in the last four years to 1.9 per cent While presenting Union Budget 2017-18, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley gave much emphasis on farmers. He even announced an increased budget outlay for agriculture, which made media houses declare it as a budget for rural India. Soon, the dust settled down and reality came to the surface. The budget was increased by...
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Expect a Budget for angry Bharat -TV Jayan and Rutam Vora
-The Hindu Business Line Falling farm prices, drying up of industrial jobs and lesser MGNREGA work have sharpened rural discontent. The Budget cannot ignore these factors in a year of 8 State polls The year 2017 was roiled by rural discontent. After two consecutive drought years (2014-15 and 2015-16), when agriculture growth plummeted (see table), the countryside was awash with hope after a good monsoon in 2016-17. However, record foodgrain output (272 million...
More »Karnataka farmers seek more support as loan waiver fails to impress -Indulekha Aravind
-The Economic Times MANDYA (KARNATAKA): Lingappa is unsure of what the future holds for his family. The 53-year-old coconut farmer in Mandya in southern Karnataka couldn't sow anything on his one-acre field this year because there was not enough water. The trees that should have been bearing fruit are stripped bare by disease. In the midst of all this, he has to find money for his younger daughter's wedding in March....
More »1,497 farmer suicides since loan waiver announced -Priyanka Kakodkar
-The Times of India MUMBAI: Maharashtra has recorded 1,497 farmer suicides in the six months since the loan waiver was declared in June, official data shows. This is just 4.2% lower than the 1,563 cases reported in the same period last year. In fact, these cases account for 56% of the total 2,662 farmer suicides reported between January and November this year. The roll-out of the waiver was delayed by glitches in the...
More »Punjab's farm crisis a tragic irony -Devinder Sharma
-Deccan Herald Punjab, the food bowl of the country, is faced with a paradox of plenty. Ever since the launch of the Green Revolution in 1966, Punjab has been producing a record grain surplus year after year. Yet, over the years, it has turned into a graveyard for its farmers. There is hardly a day when reports of farmers committing suicide do not appear in Punjab newspapers. Take a look at the...
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