-Frontline NAIB SINGH hanged himself a fortnight ago in the land he had been tilling for five years at Bareh village in Mansa district of Punjab. He had hoped for a successful rabi wheat crop, but unseasonal rains reduced him to further penury. The 25-year-old left behind a debt burden of Rs.10 lakh for his family. His mother, Mahinder Kaur, does not know whether to mourn her son's death or lament...

-Outlook Bengaluru: Facing attack over the new Land Acquisition Bill, Prime Minister Narendra Modi today said the land records would be "reformed" for farmers' benefit and attacked opposition for "spreading lies" that the government is working against the interests of the farming community. Addressing a public meeting here, he said his government was working to empower the farmers as it realises that the nation cannot make progress till villages develop. Contending that he...

-Frontline Outcomes of the patterns of growth induced by neoliberal economic reforms have increased the disproportionality between agricultural and non-agricultural growth, and with costs rising and prices not keeping pace, agriculture is becoming increasingly unviable. FARMERS across northern and central India-in Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Haryana and elsewhere-are distressed. Unseasonal rains have damaged their standing crop and help from the government has been meagre and slow in coming. This, however, is...

-Huffington Post Bhau Kadam (name changed) is a small sugarcane farmer in western Maharashtra. He and his family own about 3 hectares of land. Kadam has two sons who are both graduates and work in Pune. When I asked him why he did not make his sons farmers, he said that farming is hard work, is non-remunerative and it is difficult to get labour. Besides he also thinks that a...

-The Indian Express The government's attempt to amend the UPA's land acquisition law is facing stiff resistance in Parliament and outside. The Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement (LARR) Act, 2013, combined three different approaches to resolve conflict over land. One is to let money speak. It increased compensation amounts significantly. The second is to let farmers speak. Projects involving private companies had to earn the consent of 80 per cent of...