-The Hindu While there is reason to be proud of the progress in the production of wheat, rice, cereals and millets, the use of farmland for non-farm purposes is a cause for concern The year 2013 marks the 70th anniversary of the Bengal Famine which resulted in the death of an estimated 1.5 to 3 million children, women and men during 1942-43. A constellation of factors led to this mega-tragedy, such as...

-The Hindu After a record run in two consecutive years, foodgrains production is likely to decline this year owing to the deficient southwest monsoon during the 2012-13 kharif season. This adversely impacted the output of pulses, coarse cereals and oilseeds, with a bearing on their price levels. But what may bring down the overall output is the slightly lower area sown under rabi wheat, rice, coarse cereals and minor oilseeds. The crops...

-Outlook The agriculture sector witnessed record foodgrains output of 257.44 million tonnes in this year enabling the country to become world's largest rice exporter for the first time, but the monsoon played spoilsport dashing farmers' hopes of an encore in 2013. A hefty increase of Rs 1 lakh crore in farm credit target to Rs 5.75 lakh crore was a major highlight for the sector in 2012, while the continuing farmers suicide...

-Outlook Output of major crops, both food and non-food, is expected to decline by about 2.3 per cent in 2012-13 as sowing has remained sluggish, economic think tank CMIE has said. "Production of major crops is projected to decline in 2012-13. A fall in output of both food and non-food crops is expected to dip by 2.3 per cent," Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy said in its monthly report. Kharif acreage continued to...

-Outlook Foodgrains production in 2012-13 will be lower than last year's record output of 257.44 million tonnes but availability would be sufficient to meet domestic demand, Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar said today. Addressing the Economic Editors Conference, he said the government would make efforts to compensate the projected fall in kharif foodgrains output during the ongoing rabi season. "This year, production will definitely be less than last year. Last year was exceptional year,...