Madhya Pradesh Farmer Welfare and Agriculture Development Minister Ramkrishna Kusmaria has courted a controversy by blaming farmers’ suicides on their “past sins”. “These are old sins that are resulting in such incidents,”the minister told a TV channel on Wednesday, and elaborated it by pointing to indiscriminate use of “chemicals” that has reduced the fertility and “resistance power” of agricultural land. A few cases of farmers’ suicides have been recently reported from Damoh,...
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7 farmers commit suicide in M.P. in one month by Mahim Pratap Singh
Crop failure, debts, and personal reasons behind deaths Seven farmers have committed suicide in Madhya Pradesh in less than a month. Kanhaiya Patel (30) of Hata village in Damoh district committed suicide on Wednesday taking the total to seven. He had taken an acre of land on lease and had a debt of Rs.20,000. After his entire arhar (pulses) crop failed, the landowner is reported to have said that if any compensation...
More »Farmer attempts suicide, Chouhan government on defensive
Depressed over his crop getting damaged due to frost, a farmer attempted suicide by consuming pesticide in Madhya Pradesh's Damoh district Monday. It was the second such incident in the past three days in the district. The BJP government denied that any farmer had tried to kill himself due to debt. State Minister and government spokesperson Narottam Mishra told reporters: 'No farmer has committed suicide due to debt and there is...
More »Why food is costlier by TN Ninan
Twenty years ago, a Maruti 800, with an air-conditioner fitted, cost a little less than Rs 2 lakh. Today it costs about Rs 2.5 lakh. Twenty years ago, a branded 1.5 tonne window air-conditioner cost about Rs 30,000; today, you can get a split AC unit for that price. Then, Videocon was offering large refrigerators for more than Rs 30,000; you can get better units today for much less. TV...
More »FAO food price index hits new high
Global food prices rose in December, with the FAO Food Price Index at a record high, the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation said on Wednesday, past 2008 highs when rising food prices sparked riots in a number of countries. Up for the sixth month in a row and fueled by surging sugar prices and rises in cereals and oils, the index was the highest since records began in 1990, in nominal...
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