While Gross Irrigated Area increased at simple annual growth rate of 3.12% during 10 year period ending 1995-06, the simple annual growth rate for the next 10 year period ending 2005-06 was down by half to only 1.16%.

In spite of the ICDS scheme from 1975, more than 30% of children in the country are malnourished. People entrusted with the scheme should be made accountable and forced to hit targets. Joseph Vackayil, IFPRI

NREGS is introduced with the avowed objective of providing 100 days employment to rural work force during the periods when no agriculture work is available. It was never envisaged that agriculture should be deprived of labour when it is needed especially during sowing and harvesting periods. But the unintended situations have arisen where labour shortage is felt in states like Punjab and Haryana during paddy sowing season. Farmers were forced to pay double the rates prevailing during the previous season thus increasing cost of cultivation. One reason for increase in prices of agri commodities is the rising cost of village labour that the urban consumers find tough to factor in. It's also fashionable to blame the serial rise in minimum support prices for higher food prices. Yet, has anyone spotted a farmer fattening on just the MSP, without additional advantages of soil, technology, credit and market access. A high MSP is no guarantee of farm profits. It's an incentive, like the variable part of your salary. That's all. Moreover, when yields are stagnant and input costs climbing, raising MSP is a necessary choice. India can't afford to let go of the few supply certainties it has in the hope that international markets will provide.

NREGS pay off: Many commentators feel that the UPA’s impressive performance was mainly due to NREGS. It had its downside as well, as with any state-run scheme. Some say the ruling party in the State to give employment on paper to the party functionaries misused it. Second, agricultural labourers detested hard work in the fields and settled for the comfort of dole, which is what the employment guarantee scheme in some pockets turned out to be. BL010609

‘In the name of implementation of the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme, what is actually happening is virtual looting of public money’: according to Mr Yashwant Sinha, BJP leader and former Union Finance Minister. “I can say from my experience that a section of corrupt politicians, bureaucrats and contractors are dividing among themselves a large chunk of the funds allocated under the scheme. BL 130709

Due to labour problem, cotton farmers were shifting to tapioca in Salem district and Maize in other districts, Domestic and Export Market Intelligence Cell (DEMIC) of the T.N.A.University said. Since CCI has not made any procurement during 2008-09 season, the farmers here were deprived of getting MSP for cotton and forced to sell at a reduced rate of Rs 100-300 per quintal, DEMIC said. TH050809

With the global economic meltdown accentuating further fall in cash crop prices, the farmers in Kerala are now grappling with all-round escalation in cost of production coupled with acute labour shortage as cultivators paint gloomy days ahead. The crucial issue being faced by the farmers of the state is the acute shortage of traditional agriculture labourers. "Today we find that not many from the young generation seem too keen to take up manual farm work despite attractive wages and instead look up for other lucrative jobs elsewhere," laments K Balaraman Nair, a farmer in Kasaragod District. Even worse is the sheer lack of commitment among young labourers compared to those in the past as many opt to attend works roughly for about four days a week and engage in other "leisurely" engagements with the available money, he said. Aggravating the situation further, many youths have enlisted themselves for works initiated under the Central Government sponsored "Rozgar Yojana" or be busy with building houses under government sponsored scheme. T H 300109

As many as 15 pulse mills in Kanpur have shut shop as workers have found the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS) better than sweating it out at such units. Millers say people are reluctant to work in such units despite being offered as much as Rs 200 a day as wages. On top of that, scarcity of power and raw materials has added to their woes." The closure of pulse mills in Kanpur is triggered by the shortage of labour and the NREGS has created this problem. Already, 15 mills have shut shop while many more are on the verge of closure," "Why should a labourer go to work in such mills, situated far away from his home, when he can get Rs 100 a day working near his own house under the NREGS?" PTI 160709

The statistics reveal that about 10.62 per cent of the total 339 lakh registered rural households in 2007-08 were provided 100 days of employment. During 2006-07, a total of 210 lakh household were provided jobs under the scheme, but only about 10.29 per cent of them could get 100 days of employment.