-Livemint.com The best way to double the real incomes of Indian farmers would be to halve their numbers through job creation in other parts of the economy The Narendra Modi government last week announced sharp increases in minimum support prices (MSPs) for a variety of farm products. The move itself is not unexpected. The first sign that the Modi government would shift away from its earlier strategy of minimal hikes to douse...

-The Telegraph New Delhi: The Narendra Modi government on Wednesday raised the minimum support price for the common variety of paddy by what it described as a "historic" margin, seeking to address rural disquiet that the BJP has identified as one of its weaknesses in the run-up to key elections. However, a powerful lobby of farmers has termed it a "jumla" (an idiomatic expression that loosely translates as a hollow promise or...

-Firstpost.com Chandigarh: With extensive rice farming in Punjab taking an increasing toll on groundwater reserves and soil health, Government Agencies are now asking farmers to diversify into profitable allied trades including dairy and pig farming and fisheries. Farmers are also being asked to cultivate crops other than paddy. Farmers in different parts of the state have started growing other, more profitable crops alongside rice. In a break with the fertiliser and pesticide-driven...

-The Indian Express Loss of mature trees cannot be made up by planting new ones. Forest Department shows how not to grow a forest. In the spontaneous protests that have erupted in Delhi over the felling of over 16,000 trees in government redevelopment yards, the response from the authorities seems to be: The numbers are exaggerated and, in any case, we’ll plant more trees than are being felled. In a city with the...

-Press statement by Right to Food Campaign dated 2nd July, 2018 Since 2014, people of Jharkhand have faced severe attacks on their mere right to life by the Raghuvar Das led BJP government. The government has been trying to acquire land of Adivasis and Moolvasis against their wishes that will directly affect their livelihoods. On the other hand, there is also a direct attack on the people’s freedom to religion leading...