Nearly 2 lakh farmers committed suicide in India since 1997. The share of big five states accounted for 1,22,823 suicides in this 12 year period. The data compiled by the National Crime Records Bureau points out that 16,196 farmers in India ended their life in 2008. K Nagaraj, an economist, in his report Farmers' suicides in India: Magnitude, Trends and Spatial Patterns, says, "The title to land was taken as the...

The new nutrient based subsidy (NBS) regime cleared by the Union Cabinet on Thursday is likely to slash the governments subsidy bill and boost fertilizer production. But one of the major stated aims of the policy that of promoting a more balanced use of fertilizers by farmers may not be actualized unless other measures are implemented in tandem. That seems to be the view of many agriculture experts and economists,...

The agriculture ministry’s revised farm output projections for this year, indicating just about a 7.5 per cent downturn in foodgrain production despite the worst drought in recent years, lend themselves to some significant inferences. For one, the performance of the crops has turned out to be far better than what was feared. The earlier projections, released in November last, had put the likely crop loss at over 21 million tonnes,...

“The main instrument for global food security is national food production. Every country has an obligation to provide food for its own population. Trade alone cannot solve the fundamental challenges regarding hunger,” believes Norwegian Minister of Agriculture and Food Lars Peder Brekk. When agriculture is Norway’s second biggest national industry and provides for half of the Norwegian people’s needs, it’s no wonder that he sees eye to eye with India...

Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar on Wednesday urged agricultural scientists to double their efforts to remove all misgivings on genetically modified (GM) crops from the minds of policy makers and the public. Inaugurating a two-day conference of Vice Chancellors of agricultural universities and meeting of Directors of Indian Council of Agriculture Research here, he said, “The recent decision on Bt. brinjal should not be seen as a setback to our...