-Down to Earth The average agricultural growth has reached its lowest in the last four years to 1.9 per cent While presenting Union Budget 2017-18, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley gave much emphasis on farmers. He even announced an increased budget outlay for agriculture, which made media houses declare it as a budget for rural India. Soon, the dust settled down and reality came to the surface. The budget was increased by...

Situation alarming: More than one-third population hit by drought   The country is facing severe drought for the second consecutive year. Conservative estimates from official sources show that over a quarter of rural habitations are facing drinking water scarcity. Although both India Meteorological Department and Skymet have predicted a more than normal rainfall during June-September, 2016, the water storage available in 91 major reservoirs of the country has declined from 22 percent...

-Livemint.com The study says that only 7.73 million hectares in India, compared to a potential 69.5 million hectares, were covered under micro-irrigation by March 2015 New Delhi: Farming uses over 90% of India’s fresh water, but despite the potential savings micro-irrigation can offer, its penetration is abysmally low, shows a recent study. Just 7.73 million hectares in India, compared to a potential 69.5 million hectares, were covered under micro-irrigation by March 2015, shows...

-Livemint.com The agriculture sector saw a 94% increase in allocation, but an analysis of the numbers suggest that the real hike is a modest 27% New Delhi: In a bid to revive growth in agriculture and improve farm incomes, at a time when rural India is weathering a protracted period of distress, the Union Budget presented on Monday placed a renewed focus on the farm sector by increasing funds for crop insurance...

-Livemint.com Increased funding to go into irrigation schemes, crop insurance, national e-market for farm produce, pulse production and interest subsidy New Delhi: In a major push for agriculture in the Union budget, funding for the recently launched crop insurance scheme Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY) has been more than doubled from Rs.2,589 crore in 2015-16 (budget estimate) to Rs.5,500 crore for 2016-17. The budget announced on Monday placed a renewed focus...