-The Hindu Business Line To help Farmers, a long-term plan to improve input delivery, irrigation and rural infrastructure is a must Some 60 years ago, the country’s first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru said: “Everything can wait except agriculture”. But for the last two decades, agriculture has been waiting even as the economy has continued to make rapid strides. The country is today paying a price for the omissions and commissions of successive governments...

-Down to Earth The circular economy of cattle has ruptured, threatening livelihoods of India’s poorest. The value output of the livestock economy is Rs 9.18 lakh crore, managed mostly by small and marginal Farmers It is almost a year since Rahamdin Khan hasn’t got any good sleep. A resident of Khoabas, a bucolic village of 500 households at the foothills of Aravalli mountain range in Rajasthan’s Alwar district, Rahamdin witnessed a cruel...

-The Economic Times Even though the scheme had been ranked as the world's largest public works programme by the World Bank, it is being systematically undermined with illegal restrictions on its budget allocation, severe payment delays and low wages. Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) has been a tried and tested measure to target rising unemployment and ease rural distress in the country. The Rural Employment programme, which guarantees 100...

-The Economic Times Despite substantial increase in agriculture production and productivity levels over the years, Farmers’ indebtedness has not changed significantly. According to the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (Nabard) All India Rural Financial Inclusion Survey (Nafis) 2016-17, 52.5% of agricultural households were indebted. Considerable efforts have been taken in channelising institutional credit to Farmers and raising farm credit disbursement targets, with allocations increasing by Rs 1 lakh crore in...

-Down to Earth Hounded by cow vigilantes and trade restrictions, Farmers in Uttar Pradesh's border areas abandon their unproductive cattle in Nepalese villages creating havoc there Residents of Semri village in Uttar Pradesh's Sitapur district drew a plan for "invasion" on April 2, 2018. They called a meeting of Farmers and agriculture labourers to take a call on the stray cattle menace. With the state closing down illegal slaughter houses in...