Fairtrade: Study finds premium label does not always benefit workers on South African wine farms

Most of the 30 farmworkers interviewed were not even aware that the farm they worked on was Fairtrade certified

State of Agriculture: Farmer suicides

Despite the Centre's promise of doubling farm income, the number of farmers committing suicide is the highest in five years

Hard work, but low wages for women farmers

Women farmers earn 22 per cent less than their male counterparts

Work capacity of farm labourers in key food-producing areas to reduce with rising temperatures, shows study

Physical work capacity begins to decline around 20°C ambient temperature & further diminishes as temperature, humidity & exposure to …

From snake charmers to agricultural labourers: A case of Haryana’s Saperas

They still carry the stigma of being a de-notified tribe; also, the law prohibits the catching of snakes now, they say

Simply Put: Land animal without land

Farmers and smartphone politics

Can pre-poll sops like giving smart phones with internet connectivity to farmers increase farm income?

Farm income drops in 16 states and union territories

The national average income from cultivation increased by just 3.8 per cent between 2002-03 and 2012-13, when the overall farm sector grew by 3 …

Child labour on farms in Africa: It’s important to make a distinction between what’s harmful, and what isn’t

Reframing the debate about child labour in African agriculture, and how best to address it, is particularly timely

Peasant women list their woes to scientists

At a recent conference, women farm workers got a chance to discuss their problems with agricultural experts.

95 per cent women in India involved in unpaid labour

Report says involving women in the workforce can help achieve future aspirations that can boost India’s GDP by 27 per cent

Providing the poorest landless agricultural labourers with farm tools can ameliorate their lot

An intervention carried out in Nandurbar, Maharashtra showed that the labourers earned more, in addition to increasing agricultural productivity

Again, Centre puts on hold decision on bringing parity in MGNREGA, minimum wages

Finance Ministry has said that such parity is not possible as it would involve an additional burden of around Rs 10,000 crore on the exchequer

One farmer/farm labourer dies by suicide every hour in India: NCRB data

An emerging and worrying trend from the NCRB data was that deaths by suicide of agricultural labourers was higher than cultivators

Burdensome load

Laid-off tea workers fall back on forests in West Bengal

Land reforms needed for Punjab’s marginalised farmers, farm workers: Study

Research shows that bigger the farm, greater are the consumption levels; also, caste-based discrimination becomes overt at higher levels of living

Farm fatale

Rise in non-Hodgkin's lymphoma and other forms of cancer cases linked to farming activities

In India, 191 billion potential labour hours were lost due to heat exposure in 2022: Lancet

Agricultural workers are the worst affected in many countries, with the burden often shifting to those in construction in higher income …

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

Does Centre’s move to hike MGNREGA wages hold any value?

While this news might excite millions of rural workers, in reality, the workers will only be handed disappointment and pain

Sweltering summers: India must safeguard workforce from heatwaves, warn experts

Proper implementation of government relief schemes, the impact of heat on workers, flexible working hours, should all be looked into, say experts

Odisha Panchayat polls: Caught in a web of debt, exploitative labour only option for migrant villagers

Panchayat elections have little significance for migrant villagvers who won't be casting their votes

Implement ‘One Nation One Ration Card’ by July 31: Supreme Court

It also asked states to bring in an appropriate scheme for distribution of dry ration to migrant labourers till COVID-19 pandemic lasts &…

An agricultural labourer died by suicide every 2 hours in 2021: NCRB

Some 5,563 agricultural labourers died by suicide in 2021, according to the latest report of the National Crime Records Bureau

Consolidation against commoners

After land consolidation was introduced, the landless poor and agricultural labourers, who depended on common resources, faced tremendous problems