The forthcoming India visit of the US President, Mr Barack Obama, accompanied by Mr Thomas J. Vilsack, secretary of agriculture, and Dr Rajiv Raj Shah, administrator, United States Agency for International Development (USAID), is significant in the context of strengthening the Indo-US partnership in the field of agriculture production and sustainable food security. Several related issues will be discussed in Mumbai on November 6 and November 7 where an agriculture...

Never mind wishful thinking by the government and RBI. Food will never be cheaper than what it is today. Not this year. Or in future. The reason is simple. Growing food in India has become extremely expensive. Crops are pricier even before they reach the market and face the pulls and tugs of rising local demand and exports. The farmer’s single biggest cost now is labour. Farm labour wages have doubled...

Union Minister of State for Agriculture K V Thomas today said impact of climate change on agriculture in India would be "far reaching" as a major chunk of population is dependent on it. "Due to high percentage of population dependent on agriculture, excessive pressure on natural resources and lack of fast alternatives, the impact of climate change on agriculture will be far reaching in the country," he said, inaugurating an...

According to the National Bank of Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) data on loans given out by nationalised and cooperative banks, there are more farmers doing agriculture in Delhi than Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka and West Bengal. The farmers in Delhi were allotted loan of Rs 22,077 crore in 2009 alone at mere 5% rate of interest, which is the second highest after agriculture-rich Punjab. Delhi’s loan disbursal amount is bizarre,...

MP H Vishwanath expressing disappointment over the slow progress of Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) in the district, asked the officials to work in co-ordination with each other to ensure that the Scheme reaches as many beneficiaries as possible. Addressing the District Vigilance Committee meet on Tuesday, he said that the programmes are made by the Government for the people. All the programmes will fall meaningless if it...