-The Indian Express Between 2005 and 2012, structural changes drove poverty reduction — non-agricultural incomes rose the fastest, and the largest shifts from farm to salaried non-farm employment were seen among the poorest. The significant shift from farm work to non-farm sources of income accelerated the decline in poverty in India. Non-farm jobs pay more than agricultural labour, and incomes from both were propelled by a steep rise in wages for rural...

-The Indian Express Swiss voted against the idea of a Universal Basic Income. But the debate continues We in India tend to associate Switzerland with fresh-faced girls in dirndls on a beautiful hillside, or with a cabal of silent bankers, but it is in fact a much more interesting country than those clichés might imply. For one, they decide on policy by referendums — if a hundred thousand Swiss sign up to...

-Livemint.com There is an emphasis on increasing farm productivity, but this might not always align with greater profitability While inaugurating the Krishi Mela at the Indian Agricultural Research Institute in March, Prime Minister Narendra Modi appealed for a “three-pillared” approach to farming, which included crop farming, agro forestry—that is, planting timber trees along farm peripheries—and animal husbandry. This is an important enunciation of how Indian agriculture works as an integrated system in...

-The Indian Express The fight against malnutrition depends on more than economic growth. The data from the National Family Health Survey or NFHS-4 (although only for 13 states and 2 UTs) confirms the finding from the Rapid Survey on Children (RSoC) of 2015 that there has been a significant decline in child malnutrition in the country during the last decade. In spite of a number of initiatives having been launched to combat...

-Livemint.com New Delhi: Back from a walk through drought-affected parts of the country, Yogendra Yadav, political scientist and co-founder of non-profit Swaraj Abhiyan, speaks on state compliance of Supreme Court orders, a booming private water market in Marathwada, and why farmer movements are weakest at a time when agrarian distress is at its peak. Edited excerpts from an interview: * You just came back from a trip to Bundelkhand and Marathwada. What...