-The Times of India MUMBAI: Even as the state reels under a shortage of pulses, estimates for the drought-hit kharif season which just ended show that the crisis could worsen. They show a steep 52% drop in the production of kharif pulses and a 30% fall in the production of kharif cereals for 2015-16 compared to a normal year. The overall production of kharif foodgrains is set to decline by an...
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Why Odisha’s farmers are taking their lives -Biswajit Padhi
-Civil Society Online Bhubaneswar: Laxman Goud, a 35-year-old farmer in Thakurpalli village in Komna block of Nuapada district of Odisha, used to lead a very simple life. He was a devoted follower of Mahima Dharma, a subaltern religion practised by underprivileged castes in Odisha. One morning, he took his life in desperation. He couldn’t repay Rs 19,000 he had borrowed from a local moneylender at 36 per cent interest. Goud had invested...
More »Sow seeds of productivity to ameliorate rural poverty -Saket Misra
-Hindustan Times Revolution imminent… genetically modified seeds produced by MNCs cause farmer suicides. Incendiary, out-of-context sound-bites juxtaposed between heartrending visuals distort rural poverty from a complex issue that each Indian must help resolve to a simplistic, accusatory Peepli Live feature. Instead of quixotic and strident anti-growth agendas offered as panacea, a coordinated and consistent approach to poverty reduction is needed. Poverty reduction needs development. The linkage between economic growth and poverty reduction is...
More »On top of drought-hit Jharkhand farmers’ mind: how to stay credit-worthy -Sanjoy Dey and Subhash Mishra
-Hindustan Times Ranchi: Jaidev Mahto, 65, mortgaged 2.5 acres of land to repay a bank loan of Rs 25,000. A resident of Bardaha village in Dhanbad district, Mahato had taken the loan against his Kisan Credit Card (KCC) for Kharif crops that were damaged completely due to scarcity of rainfall this year. Hemant Singh, 50, a farmer of Pyraguri village in East Singhbhum district, took a KCC loan of Rs 28,000 for...
More »CSE report probes why Crop Insurance Schemes are failing
Agricultural insurance is supposed to protect farmers from financial hardships and risks when crop losses and damage takes place due to extreme weather events such as drought, cyclone, hailstorms, flood etc. However, in reality this does not hold true in India. Due to the failure of Crop Insurance Schemes in India, there has been a deepening of agrarian crisis and rural distress in the recent times, particularly in the backdrop of...
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