In economic terms, it may sound vague that agricultural advances are touching Rs 30,000 crore when incidences of farmers committing suicide are on the rise in Madhya Pradesh. Over the last fortnight, three farmers have committed suicide and another is battling for life. State authorities are lending a deaf ear to the going-abouts. Against the banking details of a farmer, Shivprasad, who committed suicide on January 8 reportedly due to debt-strain,...

A small farmer in Maharashtra, whose high-yielding rice variety is popular in five States, is denied the benefits of his research. TWENTY-SEVEN years ago, Dadaji Khobragade of Nanded Fakir village in Chandrapur district of Maharashtra noticed yellow seeds in three spikes of a paddy stalk in his field. Intrigued by the freak harvest, he preserved the grains. He subsequently planted them in a six-foot square plot, which he covered with thorny...

Marie Antoinette may or may not have deadpanned “let them eat cake” but the Bengal government could have tried saying “let them eat potato” in these times of price rise. But out went that opportunity — along with 7,000 bags or 4,200 tonnes of potatoes at Panagarh in Burdwan. In terms of cash, potato stocks valued at Rs 50 lakh rotted on the open ground today because of a dispute between a...

Good weather conditions and the recent rains in North India have brightened the chances of a better wheat crop this year. Improvement in the cultivation per hectare of wheat and better quality seed may also help increase production. According to sources, the total wheat production of Haryana and Punjab may reach 268 lakh metric tonnes in 2010-11, compared to 256 lakh MT of the previous year. It is expected that while...

Microcredit is losing its halo in many developing countries. Microcredit was once extolled by world leaders like Bill Clinton and Tony Blair as a powerful tool that could help eliminate poverty, through loans as small as $50 to cowherds, basket weavers and other poor people for starting or expanding businesses. But now microloans have prompted political hostility in Bangladesh, India, Nicaragua and other developing countries. In December, the prime minister of...