Category: Agriculture

There was this innocent news item. It said “Sharad Pawar has to take greater interest in the cricket game and think beyond the millions and billions involved, the money, after all the all of us are contributing”(Asian Age). Yes, Pawar is more known for the game than for the game of politics and in particular…

We need to further remove the many controls on the agri sector Unless we become an open economy, there is not much chance for agri diversification! Indian agriculture is “not satisfactory’, says Sharad Pawar the agriculture minister. Why this state of affairs had come about? The minister of course can’t open his mouth! He might…

Microcredit gets  the  Nobel Prize! Will micro enterprises in agriculture gets recognition?  If the leadership motivates the people at the grass roots, there would be tremendous response. The Nobel Prize for Peace had justifiably  been given to the Bangladeshi economist and  innovative entrepreneur Prof.Mohammed Yunus for his  justly famous micro credit innovative business model and…

Putting agriculture  as “one of the central elements” of the  Plan  would be a challenge.  The 11th Plan is to start from April 1,2007. The next General Election is due in 2009. So, the 11th Plan document is both politics and economics! Readers can draw their own conclusions! Populist language abound in the document, at…

Has the government any clear vision? Let the government at least now onwards say clearly that the one common goal before Indian agriculture is to achieve food self sufficiency alone, before any other things are talked about. There has been of late much concern about the poor growth rate in agriculture. This has baffled everybody,…

The recent Malegaon bomb blasts had one fall-out. The home minister, Shivraj Patil, seems to have come out poorer in the wake of Sonia Gandhi’s personal visit. So, there is dissatisfaction and now the news reports have it that Sonia Gandhi has decided to replace Patil. So, the announcement by the PM about appointing anew…

Govt gets panicky on price rises! Food grains distribution to the States to be reduced! Prices rise steeply for rice, wheat, sugar, pulses and edible oils! Sugar costs Rs.22 per kg! Wheat, sugar and milk prices contribute directly to inflation. So, desperate steps to impose restriction and other actions under the Essential commodities act. The…

Agri sector in Bengal disappointing! Bengal has to go a long way before it can transform the agri sector into a commercially thriving sector for any new agro entrepreneurship. Just to compare Maharashtrian agri sector with that of Bengal is like to compare two different worlds! West Bengal was once the richest State but it…