-The Economic Times blog In every Union Budget presentation, agriculture is given a place of prominence. This is not surprising, given that 50% of India’s population is dependent on agriculture. Budget 2017 was no different. Both the Economic Survey and the Budget speech stressed heavily on improving agricultural infrastructure and augmenting farmer incomes. The key drivers expected to set this off are areas such as investment in irrigation infrastructure, development of mandis...

-The Hindu Business Line Bringing digital banking to Primary Agricultural Cooperative Societies is an important and laudable aspect of the Budget The Budget hides months of discussion, with stakeholders nursing a gamut of interests. This year was no exception and the Budget was an exercise in the accommodation of innumerable expectations; and it is bound to dissatisfy many. I would like to apply the old economic litmus test to judge its efficacy: Is...

-The Times of India CHENNAI: The Tamil Nadu government has launched a major initiative to promote dry land farming in cluster mode, focusing on improving production and productivity of millets, pulses and oilseeds in rain-fed agricultural fields, which remain by and large unused. The scheme, rolled out through a government order on January 27 is worth Rs 803 crore and aims at water conservation, promoting mixed farming, mini-dairy and poultry units to...

-Scroll.in A farmer describes her efforts to preserve 12 breeds of draught as well milch indigenous cattle. On Monday, the so-far peaceful protests against jallikattu on Chennai’s Marina Beach turned violent as the police sought to clear agitators from what had become ground zero of the movement against the Supreme Court ban on the bull-taming sport. Though an ordinance cleared on Saturday allowed the sport to take place this Pongal, the controversy...

-The Financial Express New Delhi: Despite India being the world’s largest milk producer for the past many years, a majority of small dairy farmers in the country continue to remain outside the formal credit system of commercial banks and financial institutions, a joint study the National Institute of Agricultural Economics and Policy Research (NIAP) and the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) has stated. The study ‘Formal versus Informal: Efficiency, inclusiveness, and...