-Tehelka The country has egg on its face but not in its diet, as the Global Hunger Index reveals acute malnutrition Swachh Bharat Mission, if implemented in a holistic fashion, holds the key to curbing not only the problem of diarrhoeal deaths for which India holds the world record, but also malnutrition. However, the World Toilet Summit, which was held in the national capital this year as part of the Mission, was...

-Economic and Political Weekly A categorical distinction is facing rough weather--that between urban and rural. If we take just agriculture, there is so much of the outside world that comes in not just as external markets but as external inputs. Further, many of our villages barely qualify as rural if we were to take occupation alone. So the earlier line that separated the farmer from the worker in towns is slowly...

-The Indian Express India’s largest nutrient maker tells The Indian Express how 11 crore farmers can directly receive subsidy now going to the industry. Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) of fertiliser subsidy to farmers is an eminently feasible proposition and the Narendra Modi government should lose no time in going ahead with its implementation, says US Awasthi of the Indian Farmers Fertiliser Cooperative (Iffco). “People interested in stalling DBT are giving all sorts of...

-The Times of India HYDERABAD: In a major policy shift that could shape the future of agriculture in Telangana, the government on Wednesday said it was getting ready to grow dry crops such as ragi and bajra in view of an impending drought after the killer heat wave in the region. Unseasonal rains in MarchApril had damaged Rabi crops in 75,000 hectares across nine districts of the state, forcing the government to...

-Business Standard Interest subvention, crop insurance on the cards The finance ministry is working on a plan to increase the number of workdays in the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) from 100 a year per person per household to 150 in areas receiving low monsoon rain. The government might also provide interest subvention and crop insurance in drought-affected regions through the e-Financial Management System (eFMS). “Since the eFMS contains the data...