-The Tribune It’s a paradox that food-surplus India is ranked 102nd on Global Hunger Index This strange paradox of plenty remains unexplained. At a time when grain silos are bursting at the seams, the 2019 Global Hunger Index (GHI) has ranked India 102nd among 117 countries, placing it in a category with ‘serious’ levels of hunger. As if this is not enough, the latest UNICEF report on the State of World’s Children...
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Subhash Palekar, father of Zero Budget Natural Farming, interviewed by N Madhavan (The Hindu Business Line)
-The Hindu Business Line Speaking to BusinessLine at a farm on the outskirts of Aurangabad, Subhash Palekar, father of ZBNF, rebuts every criticism and allays every fear that have been raised The Modi government sees zero budget natural farming (ZBNF) as a solution to the farm crisis. The 2018-19 Economic Survey recommended it and so did the 2019 Union Budget. In fact, Prime Minister Narendra Modi surprised many by asking farmers not...
More »Consumption in rural India hits a 7-year low -Suneera Tandon
-Livemint.com * Farm distress, stagnant incomes have eroded demand, shows Nielsen data * Consumption in rural areas grew at 5% in terms of value in the Sep quarter, while in urban India, the growth was 8% Rural household consumption slumped to a seven-year low in the September quarter, in a sign that the prolonged agrarian distress and near-stagnant rural incomes have eroded demand for consumer goods, market researcher Nielsen said. Consumption of packaged consumer...
More »Granaries overflowing, Food dept's SOS to MEA: Send wheat, rice as aid to deserving countries -Harikishan Sharma
-The Indian Express Procurement of wheat and rice in the central pool has been increasing over the years, leading to accumulation of surplus stock of wheat and rice with FCI. As a result, stocks of food grain in the central pool continue to remain much in excess of stocking norms. With Food Corporation of India granaries overflowing, the government is looking to liquidate its grain stocks to prevent damage and minimise...
More »The minimum wage solution -Rajendran Narayanan & Sakina Dhorajiwala
-The Hindu While indexation of the NREGA wages is critical, lifting them to the minimum wage would help workers and the economy The government made two recent announcements at two ends of the spectrum to mitigate the economic crisis. One concerns a new indexation of NREGA wages meant to increase rural incomes. The second is a reduction in corporate tax rate. Prices of commodities increase each year, so it’s important to accurately estimate...
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