-Down to Earth Despite the rural hinterland being in the throes of agrarian distress, the incumbent coalition has won handsomely in these very areas The incumbent Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) has beaten all odds to win the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. Prominent among these odds was the agrarian crisis that rural India is currently in the throes of. Since 2014, the country has suffered two major droughts and 850-odd...
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UP holds huge potential in agriculture -- it needs right leadership to forge forward-looking path -Harish Damodaran
-The Indian Express UP is truly at the crossroads: The state is uniquely poised to leverage opportunities from agriculture and build on the base laid by entrepreneurs, whether in sugar, potatoes, buffalo meat, leather or mentha oil. But, it is equally in danger of being taken back by decades, courtesy leaders with exclusivist and narrow-minded visions. Efforts to market it as an Uttam Pradesh notwithstanding, UP or Uttar Pradesh, is for...
More »WPI inflation spikes to 3.18% in March on costlier food, fuel
-PTI The Wholesale Price Index (WPI) based inflation was at 2.93% in February. It was 2.74% in March 2018. Wholesale price-based inflation rose for the second consecutive month to 3.18% in March on costlier food and fuel, government data released on Monday showed. The Wholesale Price Index (WPI) based inflation was at 2.93% in February. It was 2.74% in March 2018. Inflation in food articles hardened with steep rise in prices of vegetables during...
More »Potato, three years of losses to count in 4 out of 8 seats voting next in Uttar Pradesh -Harish Damodaran
-The Indian Express Potato is a major crop in Agra, grown in 57,879 hectares of the district (2017-18 data) that includes both Agra and Fatehpur Sikri. The tuber is also extensively cultivated in Hathras (46,333 hectares) and Aligarh (23,332). Agra, Fatehpur Sikri: If it was ganna (sugarcane) in the first, it’s aloo (potato) that could be decisive in at least four of the eight Lok Sabha constituencies of Uttar Pradesh voting...
More »MS Swaminathan, father of Green Revolution, interviewed by Vishwanath Kulkarni (The Hindu Business Line)
-The Hindu Business Line Eminent agriculture scientist MS Swaminathan, Chairman of the much discussed Farmers’ Commission whose report mooted an MSP at 50 per cent above cost, feels that income support can be given in the form of free inputs or higher procurement as well. While welcoming ‘PM-Kisan’, he says cash transfer should not become a form of patronage and that the focus should shift from loan write-offs to long-term policies....
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