Union Minister for Agriculture Sharad Pawar on Saturday dismissed the possibility of free foodgrains distribution. “The government already spends Rs. 66,000 crore on foodgrains subsidy. We buy wheat from farmers at Rs. 15 a kg, but sell it to the Antyodaya population at Rs. 2 a kg. How can we sell any cheaper than that?” He was speaking at a meeting of the Maharashtra Pradesh Nationalist Congress Party (NCP). Free distribution of foodgrains...

Catastrophes like unprecedented floods in Pakistan and China and cloudburst in a desert region like Leh in Jammu and Kashmir are no longer rarities. With climate change being a reality, freakish weather-induced calamities are bound to become more frequent all over the world; India being no exception. Mechanisms, therefore, need to be put in place to minimise, if not wholly eliminate, the damage due to such events. Unusual floods in...

The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) has revised upwards the cotton production estimates for India in 2010-11 crop year by one million bales to 26 million bales, on account of higher area and expectation of better yield. “India’s 2010-11 cotton production is forecast at 26 million bales, weighing 480 pounds each, up 4 per cent from last month, and up by 2.5 million or 11 per cent from last year,” USDA...

Bolangir district in Orissa, facing drought conditions since 1965, sees an annual mass migration of farmers to other States in search of work. SURESH GOHIR of Bhotapada village in the backward Bolangir district of Orissa consumed pesticide two years ago after his paddy crop failed. He survived the suicide attempt but found life doubly difficult as debt had mounted. Suresh was forced to migrate to neighbouring Andhra Pradesh in search of...

Fighting the flood threat, North Indians may find it hard to believe that cumulative monsoon rainfall for the country is five per cent below the Long Period Average. It’s largely because the rain gods have not been particularly kind to the northeastern region. Most states in this region have received less than their usual share of rainfall this season, with Orissa and Jharkhand bearing the maximum brunt with 55% and 47%...