-Live Mint Indian farmers, the majority of whom rely on monsoon rainfall to water their crops, are desperately trying to reach out for help even as the spectre of drought looms large New Delhi: Indian farmers, the majority of whom rely on monsoon rainfall to water their crops, are desperately trying to reach out for help even as the spectre of drought looms over several parts of the country. As many as...

-Deccan Herald The Green Revolution has changed life in Indian villages, but the main beneficiaries were the landlords. Daily labourers remain poor and marginalised. The limits of using ever more fertiliser and pesticides are becoming apparent. Many farmers are confused because extension services want them to reconsider practices they were told to abandon not that long ago. A member of the Santal tribe, an Adivasi community, assesses things from the village perspective. Since independence...

-The Hindu Ryots can use it at all bank ATMs to withdraw cash to buy fertilizer or seed TIRUPATI (Andhra Pradesh): ‘RuPay', the multipurpose smart card envisaged to enable payments from various financial institutions to beneficiaries through an impressive network of ATMs, is all set to benefit the farming community more than ever before, said National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) Chairman Harsh Kumar Bhanwala. Speaking after releasing and distributing the...

-Live Mint In the two years to March 2012, the number of kisan credit cards grew by 28%, while the outstanding amount grew by 76% So far, the rural job-guarantee scheme, other social programmes by state governments and the raising of minimum support prices to farmers have been cited as reasons for the continued buoyancy in rural consumption and also for inflation in food items. But there could be another insidious...

-Live Mint Subsidized loans given to farmers through KCCs could very well be the next big source of NPAs for banks Mumbai: A surge in exposure to farm debt through Kisan Credit Cards (KCCs) could emerge as a risk for India's state-run banks, according to experts. Subsidized loans are given to farmers through KCCs by state-owned banks. Until March 2012, the outstanding amount on such loans was`1.6 trillion through 20.3 million cards, as...