State election results grim reminder to how deep India’s rural crisis is

The Down To Earth’s coverage in the recent past has highlighted how the agrarian crisis led to what happened to BJP in Assembly polls

New MP, Chhattisgarh CMs' loan waivers to not benefit 3.5 million farmers

The schemes Kamal Nath and Bhupesh Baghel announced soon after taking oath will not help those who take loans from money lenders

Polls won, waivers announced, but govt has no data on farmer suicides

The last NCRB report published in 2016 said a farmer committed suicide every hour in the country

Odisha’s BJD sounds poll bugle with rally on farm issues in Delhi

The rally will revolve around the agrarian distress, which emerged as the weakest point for the BJP in recent Assembly elections

Inequality among farmers keeps 85 per cent out of discourse

Like in the formal economy, the farm economy also suffers from concentration of lands within a small group

Rewind 2018: How farming hogged headlines, yet not spotlight

The country saw a host of agricultural protests, policies, disputes and distress in 2018; here’s all of it

What to expect before Modi’s 'maha' deal for farmers

With just four months left for general elections, the Centre's package for farmers, even if cleared, will be partially implemented and left for …

Scrap laws banning cattle slaughter, farm exports: Farmers

Farmer organisations say these laws and several others ensure farmers do not get their rightful pay

Slumping potato prices hit farmers, but worse is yet to come

Farmers and cold storage owners pay the price of producing and storing bumper crops as wholesale prices dip by 39-50 per cent in December

Happy Makar Sankranti. Or is it?

As we celebrate the harvest festival, we can’t forget that our farmers lose Rs 63,000 crore every year for not being able to sell their produce

Meghalaya farmer parliament: Will it help plug policy loopholes

In this well intentioned and executed parliament, both the government and the farmers appeared determined to make Meghalaya emerge as a role …

Half-way, doubling farmers’ income is a distant dream

Farmers’ produces enter deflation zone; in general they don’t get return on their investments

Padma Shri awardees include 12 farmers

Out of the 94 Padma Shri awardees, 12 farmers have been awarded for various activities like organic farming, traditional seed conservation and …

Himachal's farm success story at risk of going awry

Controlled-atmosphere farming shows a way of bucking agrarian crisis

Interim Budget 2019: Government's big farmer push falls short

The government’s 6,000 per year offer works out to Rs 3.30 a day, which can't even buy a cup of tea  

Interim Budget 2019: All that it had for the environment

Although not at all promising, here is a list of announcements Piyush Goyal made towards bettering people’s health and the living world

Interim Budget 2019: Farmer leaders criticise PM Kisan Samman Nidhi

Say it adds insult to the injury of farmers

Interim Budget 2019: 'For the BJP it’s the cow versus working people'

Worker union lashes out against Interim Budget 2019 for being pro cows and rich, with only piecemeal for poor

Jharkhand’s success story of fruit plantation under MGNREGA

The state’s experience in horticulture orchards can serve as a model for the country

'Pressure from banks pushes farmers to commit suicide'

One year since the Maharashtra farmer protests, Down To Earth speaks to Raghunath Dada Patil on the deepening crisis

Drought, but why: Area under cultivation has halved in Andhra Pradesh's Ananthapuramu

Decades of deficit rainfall, monoculture in agriculture and perpetually mounting farmer debts have left the district in the lurch

Maharashtra rejects more agri insurance claims even as farm suicides double

No data on suicides across India since 2015; number of claim rejections far exceeded number of cases approved in 2016-18

Is doubling India’s farmers’ income doable?

Science, technology and new knowledge can play crucial roles in supporting livelihoods for the vulnerable. Identifying right kind of tech support …

The wise debate

As the world debates the effectiveness of industrialised agriculture, the good-old small farmer emerges victorious

Why are Wayanad tribals, farmers wary of poll promises?

It seems that tribal leaders, farmers and environmentalists are not impressed with Rahul Gandhi contesting from their constituency