-Down to Earth Instead of making it difficult for the organic farmers, government should devise methods to reduce the complexity of the certification process Organic Farming is native to India. However, since 1966, with the inception of the Green Revolution in India, it has taken a backseat. The transition from traditional agriculture to modern agriculture shifted the objective of Farming. The need to change the methods of Farming to meet the demands of...

-The Hindu Zero Budget Natural Farming has no scientific validation and its inclusion into agricultural policy appears unwise Most criticisms of modern agricultural practices are criticisms of post-Liebig developments in agricultural science. It was after the pioneering work of Justus von Liebig and Friedrich Wöhler in organic chemistry in the 19th century that chemical fertilizers began to be used in agriculture. In the 20th century, the criticisms levelled against Green Revolution technologies...

The Hindu Business Line In an article on Monday, this writer pointed out how it is a challenging task to double farmers’ income, given the fall in output prices and the higher cost of farm inputs. In an interview, Ashok Dalwai, CEO, Doubling Farmers’ Income Committee, talks about the various measures the Centre is taking to ensure it is on the right track and reaches its target by 2022. According to...

-Down to Earth One of the major causes behind suicidal intent is depression, experts find while studying cases in Punjab, Telangana and Maharashtra Farmer suicides, which have till now been studied economically and agriculturally, are now being looked at from behavioural and psychological angles. A study is being conducted under the National Agricultural Science Fund of Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) in three states — Punjab, Telangana and Maharashtra. Punjab Agricultural University...

-The Hindu Business Line Noted Gandhian economist Dr Sudarshan Iyengar surveys the distressed agricultural landscape, pinpoints its weaknesses, and prescribes solutions with their roots in Gandhian agronomics. Edited excerpts from an interview to BusinessLine: * Given the agrarian crisis in India today, how relevant are Gandhi's economic principles based on the village economy, and equitable distribution of resources? They are relevant in the context of Gandhi's view of gram swaraj (village self-rule), which...