A report from a sample survey of the functioning of the public distribution system in 12 villages in two districts in Orissa, a state usually associated with a poor PDS. While there are errors in exclusion and inclusion of households covered, there has been a vast improvement in operation of the PDS; below the poverty line households seem to be receiving their entitlements. The households also express a strong preference...
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Crop holiday and food security by MS Swaminathan
August is usually the preferred month for family holidays in Europe, because of abundant sunshine and warm weather. In India, normally, this is the south-west monsoon season and a busy period for farmers. This year, however, several farm families in coastal Andhra Pradesh, the rice bowl of the country, are reported to have declared ‘crop holiday’. This is because the rice mills have not been lifting even last years’ crop....
More »Don't replace subsidised food with cash: Swaminathan
-IANS Eminent agriculture scientist and a member of the Sonia Gandhi-led National Advisory Council (NAC), M.S. Swaminathan, has cautioned against the government's plan to replace subsidised food with cash under the proposed National Food Security Act (NFSA). "The government's plan to replace subsidised ration with cash under the public distribution system (PDS) is faulty. It will lead to low procurement and less production subsequently. This will be bad for Indian agriculture," Swaminathan...
More »Agriculture blooming on initiatives galore by K Balchand
India registered a good 8.5 percent GDP growth in 2010-11 staving off the global impact of recession mainly due to the major recovery in the agriculture sector. The recorded foodgrain production in 2010-11 was the outcome of the initiatives of the state governments, the union government has now acknowledged. It was an innovation's galore to say the least if one takes into consideration the efforts of the 10 states that went...
More »Delayed rains may hit sowing across West india by Madhvi Sally, Rituraj Tiwari & Jayashree Bhosale
Delayed monsoon rains in Gujarat, Maharashtra and Rajasthan are expected to impact the sowing of key crops such as cotton, groundnut, soybean, moong, urad, tur, seasum and potato. Farmers who had prepared the land in the hope of rains by June 15 are worried. According to the India Meteorological Department , monsoon is likely to remain subdued over the three states. AB Majumdar, deputy director general meteorology, Pune, said, "Rainfall will...
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