-The Times of India CHENNAI: Asian countries have failed to end hunger despite economic Growth, says agriculturist M S Swaminathan who is known as the 'Father of the Green Revolution in India.' "Livelihood security and food security depend on agriculture. We have not achieved this despite a spectacular economic and technological Growth," Swaminathan said while speaking at the 'Phenotyping for Agriculture Sustainability' conference in Chennai on Monday. Referring to the Food Security Bill...

-The New Indian Express Bangalore: Agricultural technologies can help increase global crop yields by as much as 67 per cent and cut food prices by in half by 2050, according to a new book, ‘Food Security in a World of Natural Resource Scarcity: The Role of Agricultural Technologies.' The International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), Washington, has released this book recently. The book cites an increased demand for food due to population and...

-The Hindu     Interest subvention retained, rice storage exempt from service tax Lauding the "stellar performance" of the agriculture sector, Union Finance Minister P. Chidambaram on Monday announced a farm Growth of 4.6 per cent in the current year, up from 3.1 per cent achieved during UPA-I. He said the government set an agriculture credit target of Rs. 8 lakh crore for 2014-15, against Rs.7.35 lakh crore expected this year. The interest subvention scheme for...

-DNA The government's lack of focus on agriculture shows its lopsided priorities. In the coming months, about 1.5 crore farmers who quit agriculture in the past seven years, are likely to trudge back into the villages. In normal circumstances such a massive reverse migration - from the cities back to the villages - would have been a sign of inclusive Growth. But economists are taking this U-turn as a sign of...

-Economic and Political Weekly   Chhattisgarh's public distribution system reforms have been lauded as a model for the National Food Security Act, and as one that other states can emulate. Previous research has shown that PDS rice consumption increased in Chhattisgarh following reforms by the Raman Singh government, which began in 2004. However, one-third of PDS rice consumption Growth in Chhattisgarh took place before 2004. This finding suggests that the pre-2004 reforms...