-The Hindu Steep rise in inputs and uncertainty over water availability are among factors Chennai: More and more small and marginal farmers are selling their meagre landholdings to become Agricultural workers. This is how agriculturists, policy-makers and economists explain the finding in the Census for Tamil Nadu: Between 2001 and 2011, the strength of cultivators declined and the number of Agricultural workers went up. In the 10-year period, there was a fall of...

-The Hindu Madurai: Fast urbanisation, unmindful quarrying, real estate boom, fragmentation of land and agriculture becoming highly unreliable are some of the major reasons cited that have led to the reduction in area under cultivation in Madurai district. According to statistics available with the district administration, the net area cultivated in the district which was 1.48 lakh hectares in 2000-01 had come down to 1.36 lakh hectares in 2010-11. However, the number...

-AFP ROME: The UN's food agency on Tuesday said obesity and poor nutrition weigh heavily on the global economy and told governments that investing in food health would bring big economic as well as social returns. Lost productivity and spiralling health care bills linked to malnutrition "could account for as much as five per cent of global gross domestic product (GDP)," equivalent to $3.5 trillion (2.6 trillion euros) a year, the Food...

-The Economic Times NEW DELHI: Congress' efforts to secure support for the food bill in its present form have run into trouble, with the Opposition seeking radical overhaul of its provisions and SP, which lends outside support to the ruling coalition at the Centre, asking the government to junk the proposed legislation. The National Food Security Bill is considered to be the world's largest experiment in ensuring food security to poor as...

-The Business Standard Officials in the know said that the commission is of the opinion that auto and taxi fares in the capital should be increased rationally Auto and taxi fares in Delhi could soon be linked to fuel price changes, inflation index and the cost of maintenance, if the Delhi government accepts a proposal floated by the Planning Commission. Officials in the know said that the Commission is of the opinion that...