-Frontline Outcomes of the patterns of growth induced by neoliberal economic reforms have increased the disproportionality between agricultural and non-agricultural growth, and with costs rising and prices not keeping pace, Agriculture is becoming increasingly unviable. FARMERS across northern and central India-in Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Haryana and elsewhere-are distressed. Unseasonal rains have damaged their standing crop and help from the government has been meagre and slow in coming. This, however, is...

-Frontline   The BJP-led NDA government has, in the two Budgets it has presented so far, revealed itself to be very different from the pro-farmer image that its leading election campaigner and now Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, projected. THE Bharatiya Janata Party's manifesto for the 2014 Lok Sabha election states: "Agriculture is the engine of India's economic growth and the largest employer, and BJP commits highest priority to Agriculture growth, increases in...

-Deccan Herald There have been protests by several organisations of fishermen, including those of deep-sea artisanal fisher folk in several coastal states against the recommendations of an expert committee that reviewed India's marine fishing policy and the existing guidelines for deep-sea fishing in the country's Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ). The Union Agriculture ministry's Department of Animal Husbandry, Dairying and Fisheries (DAHD&F), through an order on August 1, 2013 constituted an expert committee...

-The Hindu With the Land Acquisition Bill in the limelight, nobody is talking about the real reforms that farmers need. A major survey finds that almost half the respondents don't want to continue with Agriculture. The unseasonal rains over the last few weeks have resulted in enormous loss of crop output across many States of North India. This has shifted attention from the issue of land acquisition to other important problems faced...

-LiveMint.com Panel suggests floor price for foodgrain at a 10% premium to costs; safety net to kick in if prices fall below MSP New Delhi: In what could restore the terms of trade in favour of Agriculture, a government panel has recommended a new cost-linked minimum support price (MSP) and a safety net for farmers. The recommended MSP, or the floor price for foodgrain, will be at a 10% premium to costs,...