The new farm laws aim to reform the Indian agricultural sector and will not only boost the country’s economy, it will also benefit global economy. They herald major agricultural reforms that seek to eliminate middlemen, enabling farmers to sell their produce anywhere in the country. The protests against them are ill-conceived, argues Nandini Parthasarthy. The ongoing controversy and protests over the new farm laws in India has ‘not so surprisingly’ received attention globally, from select quarters. It was in September 2020 when the Indian government passed three farm bills based on the recommendations of two five-year planning commissions (2007-12 and…
Author: oiop
It is not necessary to sacrifice traditional methods of agriculture at the cost of subsistence farming , argues Ruchi Verma and suggests that there is a need for dedicated schemes or programmes to promote niche crops that are found in shifting cultivation to empower the farmer financially. Traditional farming or agriculture primarily entails the primitive way of farming involving intensive use of indigenous knowledge, natural resources and organic material (not chemicals for crop nutrition) and traditional tools. In India, a significant population of farmers practices traditional farming techniques despite rapid modernisation of agriculture in the country. Subsistence farming almost always…
From the good old days of sustenance farming, India has taken a quantum leap to industrial-scale thanks to modernisation and policies conducive to its growth. With the country now boasting of food security and turning out to be a major exporter, the Green Revolution is well and truly here to stay, says Vanshika Arora. In the last few decades, the world has witnessed a phenomenal increase in agricultural production and output. Several nations, including India, have moved from sustenance farming to industrial-scale farming. Science, technology and agricultural reforms by way of policy making and legislation have helped support the expansion…
In the nascent stages of Indian independence, agricultural scams were few and far between but the post-90s witnessed a surfeit of such rackets whose gravity and magnitude took the country by surprise. Ritika Singh believes that robust checks and administrative reforms can insulate agriculture economy from such frauds. There’s no denying that agriculture is the largest and one of the most important sectors in the Indian economy. According to Indian Brand Equity Foundation (EBEF), agriculture is the primary source of livelihood for about 58 per cent of India’s population. In Financial Year-20 (PE) the Gross Value Added (GVA) by agriculture,…
Minimum Support Price protects farmers from natural and market uncertainties that may lead to food producers incurring huge losses despite using the best available technology and practice. It acts as a safety mechanism for vulnerable farmers and is a good augury because of accruing beneficial reforms, pleads Nilakshi Joshi. After many years, Minimum Support Price (MSP) is in the news again because of the months-long farmers’ protest in the country against three farm acts passed by the Parliament of India in 2020. It was in the 1960s when a young India was just learning to stand on its feet and…
Thanks to the prompt intervention and proactive exemptions from restrictions implemented on the agriculture sector, the Rabi and the Kharif crop sowing happened at the right time — primarily the reason why the country’s agricultural-based economy not only survived the lockdown onslaught but also recorded a positive growth, concludes Anushka Singh. The agriculture sector in India employs nearly half of the workforce in the country. According to the Economic Survey 2020-2021, the share of agriculture in gross domestic product (GDP) reached 19.9 per cent for the first time in the last 17 years. The contribution stood at 17.8 per cent…
That we live in a society which thrives on patriarchal mindset is clear when women suffer from sexual harassment at workplace but find it tough to get justice. Curiously, women like Priya Ramani, who have the courage to open up, are hounded and persecuted, showing that the pressure is on the victim and not the culprit. Perpetrators get away wielding their power, position and influence. Shoma Chatterji makes out a case. In a patriarchal society a woman needs to prove in court that she has been wronged mainly on grounds of her sex. Be it rape, molestation, eve-teasing or…
The CERA Week Global Energy and Environment Leadership Award is proof, if it is needed, that India has committed itself to finding solutions and devising policies for energy access, affordability and environmental stewardship. This awareness has percolated down to its towns and villages, points out Manu Shrivastava. In early March, while receiving the prestigious CERA Week Global Energy and Environment Leadership Award, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that the people of India were natural leaders when it came to caring for the environment. “The award recognizes environmental leadership. It is commonly said that the best way to show is through…
A revered Seer who was also liberal (1931-2019) Vishwesha Tirtha, popularly known as the Pejawar Mutt Seer was born as Venkatramana Bhat, son of Narayanacharya and Kamalamma at Ramakujna in Dakshin Kannada on 27th April, 1931. He was ordained as a monk at the age of seven and had his spiritual education under the renowned seer, the late Vidyaramanya Tirtha at Sri Palimaru and Sri Bhandarkera Mutts. Thirty-third in the lineage of the Pejawar Mutt seers, he took over the reins of the Mutt as the seer of the Guru Parampara of the Pejawar Mutt and founded the Poornaprajna Vidyapeeta 63…
Truly a classical virtuoso (1931-2021) Ustad Ghulam Mustafa Khan was a popular Indian classical Hindustani musician of the ‘Rampur-Sahaswan gharana’. Born in Badayun, Uttar Pradesh, music ran in the family. His father, Ustad Waris Hussain Khan was the son of celebrated musician Ustad Mureed Baksh, and his mother, Sabri Begum, the daughter of Ustad Inayat Husain Khan, founder of the gharana. The eldest son among seven siblings, his tutelage started at a time when he would remember the tune but did not understand the words. He would practice in a graveyard so he could sing without inhibition or distraction. After receiving initial training from…