-The Hindu * What’s the problem? The year 2017 was marked by several farmers’ protests nationwide, with a few turning violent. Last month, in New Delhi, 184 farmer groups came together from Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Punjab and Telangana to take part in a ‘protest walk.’ The protest once again highlighted the plight of farmers and the extent of agrarian distress. The agriculture sector is characterised by instability in incomes...
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Living with the elephants -Shamik Bag
-Livemint.com The tribal belt of south Bengal has become ground zero of a grim battle with an ever-increasing population of visiting elephants The elephants are here,” Jiten Singh declares without any show of emotion as we arrive at Tapoban (Madhyapara) village. About 65km from Kharagpur town, Tapoban is a tribal hamlet deep within the vast forested terrain known as Jangalmahal, in West Bengal. It is nearing dusk. Ordinarily, the village would be...
More »Crop insurance footprints increased but delayed claim payouts left farmers in crisis -Vishwa Mohan
-The Times of India NEW DELHI: New Delhi: New crop insurance scheme, launched in Kharif (summer-sown) season of 2016, has increased its footprints across the country with more area being covered in 2016-17 as compared to 2015-16 and 2014-15, but it has miles to go before it can actually bring relief to farmers due to current delay in claim disbursement. The claim settlement is not as fast as it was expected during...
More »India's Millets Makeover: Set To Reach Poor, School Meals -Charu Bahri
-IndiaSpend.com So far, only a few states such as Karnataka and Tamil Nadu had made available millets and that too only in certain pockets. The union government proposes to include coarse grains such as jowar (sorghum), bajra (pearl millet) and ragi (finger millet) in the mid-day meal programme in schools and also distribute it through the government subsidised food programme, the public distribution system (PDS), agriculture secretary SK Patnaik said recently. This announcement...
More »Half of Odisha villages hit by nature's scourge
-The New Indian Express BHUBANESWAR: It seems to be raining misery on Odisha’s farmers this year. Already reeling under the burden of drought and pest attack, the damage to crop caused by unseasonal rain has now added to their woes.The Special Relief Commissioner (SRC)’s office on Monday calculated that at least 3,84,018 hectare crop area under cultivation have suffered damage above 33 per cent due to rains. At least, 12.49 lakh...
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