The government has enhanced credit to the agriculture sector by Rs 1 lakh crore in the Budget but the pressure to meet the target has been showing on the bottom lines. All government banks are reporting an increase in their bad debts on farms loans ranging between 80% and 2000% in the first nine months of 2010-11. State Bank of Bikaner and Jaipur reported the highest increase in non-performing assets...

With food inflation hovering in the double digit bracket for most part of 2010-11 and the aam aadmi up in arms, all hopes were pinned on the Union Budget 2011-12 for giving a new fillip to the Farm Sector. But the budget has disappointed most, in spite of finance minister Pranab Mukherjee allocating Rs 14,744 crore for agriculture. “An increase of only 2.6 per cent over last year makes the...

The targeted four per cent growth in the agriculture sector could be achieved if agricultural schemes such as System of Rice Intensification and Dryland Farming, initiated in Tamil Nadu, are replicated across India, the Planning Commission has said. "India, producing around 210-220 million tonnes of foodgrains annually, has to increase the productivity from two tonnes per hectare against the world average of four tonnes,'' the Member of the Planning Commission, Dr...

Union finance minister Pranab Mukherjee has been able to convey the impression that the agricultural sector was a key area of policy focus for his budget, but just about. He has chosen some good policies and programmes to boost agricultural development, but has done so in a half-hearted manner. Whether the agricultural sector actually benefits from his attention remains to be seen given that he has been niggardly in the...

The Italian phrase "lascia il tempo que trova" (it leaves the air it finds) does a better job of describing Pranab Mukherjee's budget than India's corporate media would ever dare to do. To put it mildly, the budget this year, is yet again, an utter disappointment for the food and agriculture sectors. To begin with, flagship schemes like the midday meals and the Integrated Child Development Services did not, unlike in...