Farmers' Indebtedness in the State emerged as a central issue. This is because, the problem of indebtedness, damaged the social status of a farmer and triggered to commit suicide. In India, on an average, there is one farmer suicide in every 30 minutes since 2002 [Sainath: 2008a], while in case of Haryana, the suicide number of farmers is 4.8 per one lakh farmers [NCRB]. Therefore, the issue of farmers’ indebtedness becomes a matter of intense debate for whole of the country and as well as for Haryana.

Soil erosion is a world-wide challenge for sustainability of agriculture especially in the tropical region. The rates of soil erosion that exceed the generation of new topsoil are a dynamic process which leads to decline in the soil productivity, low agricultural yield and income. The balance between soil-forming and depleting processes is of utmost importance for attaining long-term sustainability in any production system. Land degradation in the form of soil erosion is a major problem in the semi-arid region of Lower Chambal Valley.

This paper reviews the progress of SHG-Bank linkage programme at the national and regional levels, and examines its impact on the socio-economic conditions of SHG member households. The programme has grown at a tremendous

The Planning Commission, Government of India has set a target of 20 per cent blending of diesel with bio-diesel by the year 2012 to reduce the wide gap between demand and supply of petroleum products. This requires cultivating bio-diesel

This article is a systematic documentation and analysis of events that motivated development of irrigation in Madras Presidency in general and Krishna district in particular. In Krishna district, when the anicut was built in 1855, the phase-wise excavation of canals determined the phases of development of irrigation (1855-1900; 1900-1965 and 1965-2001) leading to three agro-climatic regions in the district viz., delta, moderate and dry regions (taluks).

This paper presents a brief account, based primarily on available secondary sources, of the current status of drinking water supply and sanitation in rural Madhya Pradesh. With a discussion on the lopsided hydrogeological attributes of water availability and shortages, a regional analysis of issues of access, quality of water and sustainability has been attempted. A brief discussion on the poor sanitation coverage of rural households in the State has been attempted.

Modern agriculture practices have been great promise for economic development of nation. Farm productivity is directly proportional to use of agrochemicals as observed from the first green revolution. Improper and unsafe use of these agrochemicals, especially pesticides is not only harmful to environment but also human health. Pesticides cause 14 per cent of all known occupational injuries in agriculture and 10 per cent of all fatal injuries.

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Credit is one of the important inputs for rural development. The results will largely depend on the effective use of credit, and linkages developed with other requirements for the enterprise. The study on rural credit from various agencies such as commercial banks, regional rural banks, cooperative banks and District Rural Development Agency (DRDA) under poverty alleviation programmes is carried out in two blocks of Hisar district of Haryana. Oct-Dec 2007

The contradications of our rural credit system are somehow camouflaged by the "achievements" of disbursed targets and, of recent, by the success of programmes like doubling of agricultural credit. The time has come when we need to seriously look into the emerging possibility of zero-credit based organisation of production by the small farmers' associations and their chances of joining with corporate capital. Oct-Dec 2007