The Union Government announced minimum support prices (MSP) for 17 agricultural commodities (14 kharif crops) on July 4, 2018. The announcement came in the backdrop of the assurance provided by the Prime Minister to sugarcane farmers that the Government is going to provide MSP for kharif crops at one and half times of production cost. However, a closer look at the MSP reveals that for no crop was MSP more than 50 per cent of production cost.
Sources of Energy and “Time-Poverty” Among Rural Women
It is well known that women play an integral role in the procurement as well as use of cooking energy, particularly from biomass. Existing gender roles within households impose a differential burden on men and women, with women having to bear most of the adverse effects of time-consuming and unsafe sources of energy for cooking and lighting.
Women’s Education in Odisha: A District Profile
Data from the fourth round of the National Family Health Survey 2015-16 (NFHS-4) show that education of girls and women continues to be neglected in rural areas of Odisha. District Fact Sheets from NFHS-4 show that every second female aged 6 and above in rural areas of six districts of south Odisha had not attended school.
A Note on Farm Harvest Prices
Farm Harvest Price or FHP is a critical variable in determining incomes of farmers from crop production. Farm harvest prices are also used to estimate the contribution of agriculture to national incomes. In this post, we examine how farm harvest prices are defined, collected and reported in India.
Does Market Intervention Scheme Really Help Potato Farmers?
Potato prices are volatile. In January 2018, because of very low prices, potato farmers abandoned their produce in large numbers in villages of Uttar Pradesh. Some farmers even dumped their produce in front of the Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister’s residence to register their protest.
The WTO and Food Security: Beyond the 11th Ministerial Conference
At the 11th Ministerial Conference (MC 11) of the WTO in 2017, member countries engaged on eight issues related to agriculture. The possibility of finding a permanent solution to the issue of public stockholding for food security purposes failed, as talks at the MC 11 collapsed due to the divergent views of member countries as well as strong opposition by the US.
Agriculture in Budget 2018-19
The performance of the agricultural sector under Narendra Modi would be judged in 2019 by a single indicator: his grand promise to double per capita agricultural incomes between 2015 and 2022. However, available data does not indicate any satisfactory progress towards that goal. The poor growth rate of agriculture in 2017-18 had resonated in the surge of farmer’s protests over the last few months.
Trends in Wage Rates in Rural India
Most workers in India are dependent on semi-skilled and unskilled manual work for their livelihoods. According to the latest Rural Labour Enquiry Report, about 40 per cent of rural households derived their income from manual work. In a recent research article, Professor Yoshifumi Usami and I have examined trends in rural wage rates over the last 18 years (Das and Usami, 2017).
Rice Cultivation in Kole Wetlands of Kerala
Rice cultivation has declined in Kerala for the last four decades. The gross cropped area of rice in Kerala shrunk from around 9 lakh hectares in 1974-75 to less than 2 lakh hectares in 2015-16. There is, however, a traditional rice-growing region where rice cultivation continues, and is characterised by rising levels of productivity.
Women’s Domestic Work: A Report from Alabujanahalli Village, Karnataka
In 1993, the definition of economic activity in the System of National Accounts (SNA) was extended to include unpaid work. The definition thus covered unpaid operations in agricultural production, along with the collection of firewood and fodder, fetching water, etc., whether for sale or self-consumption.