Blame stubborn procurement policy as the root of all evil. With the government sitting on heaps of foodgrain and with an acute shortage of quality storage facilities, analysts, some within the government, suggest exporting foodgrain and reviewing procurement policy. The suggestion is gaining ground among advisors and experts, given the current global situation, where wheat prices are on the rise on fears of subdued production in drought-hit countries like Russia, Uzbekistan and...

The Central government should evolve a policy of announcing remunerative price for agricultural produces in advance to bail out farmers from possible distress said Karnataka minister for rural development and panchayat raj Jagadish Shettar. Presiding over the function to inaugurate the Krishi Mela-2010 and Jilla Krishi Utsav at University of Agricultural Sciences (UAS) here on Sunday he said such a move on the part of the Centre would enable farmers to...

Per capita income, once regarded as the best index of the welfare of a society, has long since been dethroned from this status. People have argued persuasively that it is a measure that ignores not only income distribution but also the quality of life. Alternative approaches have been designed to explore these nuances of measurement and alternative indices constructed. Amartya Sen has developed a ‘capabilities approach’ to the question of...

Finally, India’s science academies have broken their silence and said that GM crops should be an important part of technology mix, which is crucially needed to improve India’s agriculture. The report entitled Inter-Academy Report on GM Crops was submitted to the Union government earlier this week. The combined wisdom of the six academies of sciences in the country was long time coming. It is this kind of scientific advice (voice) that...

Soon, the National Food Security Act  will become law. The ruling United Progressive Alliance flagship social security programme of providing every Below the Poverty Line (BPL) family with 25 kg of rice or wheat at Rs 3 per kg per month is a welcome step to alleviate some of the human trauma that haunts the poor in our country. The government also hopes that the Act will secure freedom from...