-National Herald Two years after the disastrous demonetisation, the Prime Minister and his Finance Minister—even the fawning media— no longer speak of the ‘Demonetisation Dividend’. There has been none Two years back, on November 8, at around 8.30 pm, the Prime Minister of India, with his characteristic love for drama, unleashed on the country what he had then claimed was the one silver bullet which would eliminate the triple evils of...

-Hindustan Times Every Rs 10 lakh invested in farm research pulled 328 people out of poverty; 26 people were helped by the same amount spent on subsidies. New Delhi: Are Indian farmers paying a price for sweeping agricultural input subsidies they enjoyed for decades and which they have taken for granted, from virtually free power to extremely low-priced fertilisers? Data from a landmark new research seem to suggest so. The research, by economist...

-The Indian Express Forcing machinery on farmers without giving a thought to the economics of their utilisation can prove counter-productive. There are three main impediments to farm mechanisation in India. The first is cost, which, for a standard 50-horsepower tractor, today averages around Rs 6.5-6.8 lakh. But a tractor is just a source of power and traction, and only as good as the farm implements it can pull. The most basic tractor-drawn tiller/cultivator...

-Scroll.in Providing them machinery to remove loose straw and expanding the industries that use crop residue could help tackle the problem, says a new study. It is that time of the year. Delhi’s air is becoming poisonous and, once again, Punjab’s farmers burning paddy straw are being blamed for it. But few bother to ask why these farmers dispose of their crop residue in such a polluting way even though the risk...

-The Indian Express Every October, the air quality in Delhi, Punjab and Haryana plummets as farmers set the leftover stubble and loose straw on fire after paddy is harvested using combines. And this time, too, the smoke signals from the fields are ominous Ambala, Karnal, Patiala: “A matchbox costs just Rs 2, you know,” says Ram Pal Rana, as he collects and piles up dry straw on one side of his...