The Union Budget 2020-21, which was presented by the Finance Minister Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman on 1st February, 2020 has failed to impress civil society activists and farmers' rights groups (click here and here). Through their press releases and notes, members of CSOs were demanding as well as suggesting the Union Government for hiking the budgetary allocation for schemes like Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) and Pradhan Mantri...
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The flawed spin to India's cotton story -Imran Siddiqi
-The Hindu The country’s hybrid seed model for cotton favours seed companies over farmers Genetically Modified (GM) pest resistant Bt cotton hybrids have captured the Indian market since their introduction in 2002. These now cover over 95% of the area under cotton, with the seeds produced entirely by the private sector. India’s cotton production in 2019 is projected as the highest ever: 354 lakh bales. Bt cotton’s role in increasing India’s cotton...
More »NCRB silence on farmer suicides: Reason given by govt fails against earlier data -Deeptiman Tiwary
-The Indian Express The latest NCRB report does not enlist reasons for farmer suicides. The Union Ministry of Home Affairs told Parliament last week that the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) had done away with diversified data on farmer suicides in its latest report as many states reported the figure to be “nil”, and hence recording reasons for the suicides was “untenable”. However, an analysis of previous NCRB data shows that states...
More »Consumption in rural India hits a 7-year low -Suneera Tandon
-Livemint.com * Farm distress, stagnant incomes have eroded demand, shows Nielsen data * Consumption in rural areas grew at 5% in terms of value in the Sep quarter, while in urban India, the growth was 8% Rural household consumption slumped to a seven-year low in the September quarter, in a sign that the prolonged Agrarian Distress and near-stagnant rural incomes have eroded demand for consumer goods, market researcher Nielsen said. Consumption of packaged consumer...
More »Rural FMCG consumption lowest in the last 7 years: Nielsen -Suneera Tandon
-Livemint.com * The slowdown was more pronounced in northern India * Rural India contributes 36% to overall FMCG spends New Delhi: Consumption in rural India fell to a seven-year low in the September quarter, growing at a slower pace than that witnessed in urban areas, in a sign that prolonged Agrarian Distress, uneven rainfall spread, and stagnant rural incomes have hit sales of branded packaged goods, market researcher Nielsen said in its quarterly...
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