-The Hindu Business Line New Delhi: Providing income security to farmers and boosting investment in agriculture are the two things that are needed to help Indian farmers in distress, said noted agricultural economist Ashok Gulati on Monday. “While there can’t be two opinions about the farmers’ plight in our country, increasing minimum support price (MSP) cannot be the solution. We may have to bring in science and our understanding to solve their...
More »SEARCH RESULT
Why farms of every type and size have to be climate smart
-Hindustan Times This climate impact on agriculture is a cause for worry: the sector accounts for a large share in gross domestic product (16%) and employment (49%). Poor agricultural performance can lead to high inflation, rural distress, and political restiveness, as recent rural agitations and farmer suicides have shown. An annual review by the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), a wing of the agriculture ministry, has said that crops, plantations...
More »Subsidies may be a hidden culprit in India's farm crisis -Zia Haq
-Hindustan Times Every Rs 10 lakh invested in farm research pulled 328 people out of poverty; 26 people were helped by the same amount spent on subsidies. New Delhi: Are Indian farmers paying a price for sweeping agricultural input subsidies they enjoyed for decades and which they have taken for granted, from virtually free power to extremely low-priced fertilisers? Data from a landmark new research seem to suggest so. The research, by economist...
More »Cash transfers more effective than PDS, says ICRIER-OECD report -TV Jayan
-The Hindu Business Line Direct bank transfers plug leakages in food distribution, ensure better nutritional security New Delhi: Irrespective of teething problems encountered in places where it was launched as pilot, direct cash transfers are far more effective than food subsidy in reducing food insecurity and nutritional imbalances among the Indian population, a new report has shown. Currently, India spends ?1,45,400 crore — about 1.3 per cent of its GDP — to give...
More »Nitin Gadkari: Difficult for Maharashtra farmers to abandon sugarcane crop
-Financial Express Water resources minister Nitin Gadkari said on Thursday it was practically difficult for sugarcane farmers in Maharashtra to abandon the water-guzzling crop and shift to other crops, as the latter are less remunerative. “I ask as a farmer. I will not undertake the sugarcane crop, you tell me what should I do…. The price of non-basmati rice is `13-14 per kg, which is peanuts and look at the price (escalation)...
More »