-The Hindu Deregulating bamboo production does not address the issue of building a transparently governed forest sector Governments everywhere tend to look for quick-fixes, overlooking complexities and ignoring the big picture. The move by the Centre to “de-regulate” bamboo production by amending the definition of “trees” under the Indian Forest Act (IFA), 1927, is a great example of this tendency. In November 2017, the Central government issued an ordinance whereby “bamboo” was...

-Livemint.com Farm economist and NITI Aayog member Ramesh Chand on the urgency of agricultural market reforms to meet the target of doubling farm incomes by 2022 New Delhi: Apart from staging protests in Delhi, farmers must make themselves heard in state capitals as well to resolve issues outside the central government’s control, farm economist and NITI Aayog member Ramesh Chand said. In an interview, he spoke of the urgency of agricultural market...

-The Financial Express By setting the target of doubling farmers’ income by 2022, the prime minister has clearly signalled a transition in agri-food policy from an excessive emphasis on foodgrain production towards improving welfare of the farming community. Given the continued excessive employment pressure, proliferation of small landholdings and growing agrarian crisis, this move is indeed an important change in the policy landscape. Doubling farmers’ income, however, requires identification of high-income...

-The Hindu Business Line Farmers have been borrowing from banks to repay lenders and reversing the cycle Ahmedabad: In the Saurashtra region of Gujarat, a saying goes: “A farmer is always indebted. He is born in debt and dies with a debt. What matters is how he manages this debt in his life.” There is a skew in Gujarat’s water resource distribution. Saurashtra covers 31 per cent of the State’s landmass but gets...

-The Hindu Business Line Individuals are unable to modify present behaviour for future, collective gains. Wrong policies exacerbate this tendency The thick pall of smoke and noxious gases engulfing Delhi is an ecological catastrophe. Reflective of a very serious failure of governance, it is also reminiscent of another serious malaise afflicting our society. This relates to the gross misuse of common resources. One of the first persons to reflect upon this kind of environmental...