The Sardar Sarovar Project (SSP) is in the news again for the wrong reasons, as usual. This time the Sardar Sarovar Narmada Nigam Limited (SSNNL) is trying to go back on its promises to the very investors who put their money in the project when it was facing its strongest opposition from all quarters.

Farmers adapt to changing weather by switching crops Farmers who have to live with the reality of unpredictable rainfall are trying to cope as best as they can. They are experimenting with different crops to see what works. And each time they start new field trials, they incur debts. In Andhra Pradesh, where intense rainfall incidents are increasing, farmers are growing fruit orchards.

Agricultural development in Maharashtra over the last three decades has been unequal across regions with western Maharashtra much ahead of other regions in terms of major developmental indicators.

The peasantry in the Deccan suffered from widespread indebtedness during the 19th century. In March 1881, after touring the rural areas of Poona and Ahmadnagar districts, which were still recovering from the devastations caused by famine and the credit crunch followed by the peasant revolt of 1876-79, Mahadev Govind Ranade proposed the establishment of agricultural-shetkari banks.

One of the outcomes of the neo-liberal policy era is a high incidence of farmers suicides in different parts of the country. These suicides have been occurring not only in drought prone states like Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Maharashtra but also in high rainfall states like Kerala or in well irrigated states like Punjab.