research article based on empirical observations and focussed group discussions with farmers in tail end regions of Cauvery Delta. how farmer groups in these areas are adopting pulse cultivation from cotton to stabilize cropping cycles, buffer against market volatility across local and global markets, and avoid debt traps linked to Bt cotton farming.
Landless, nameless, essential: The story of India's women farmers https://www.deccanherald.com/opinion/landless-nameless-essential-the-story-of-indias-women-farmers-3764318 Kavitha Kuruganti, October 15 is observed by the United Nations as International Rural Women’s Day and in India as Women Farmers’ Day. Although the National Policy For Farmers (2007) provided a clear and expansive definition of a "farmer", delinking it from land ownership and thereby including various categories of women farmers, this definition has not been implemented on the ground.
The day is also a reminder that most of these women still lack recognition and identity as farmers in their own right.
While patriarchy has placed most assets in men's hands, the least that the Government of India can do is redirect its DBT/DIT schemes to women farmers in agri-households. Progressive policies are also needed to redistribute asset ownership between men and women, with active incentives for gender equity.
https://thewire.in/tech/zoho-arattai-ulaa-and-questions-of-sovereignty-in-swadeshi-ware
The rise of swadeshi-ware can be beneficial to companies that sell their products and use nationalism as a mask for marketing. But they can be detrimental to the public, with no clear respect towards the right to privacy in India. The priority towards promoting swadeshi-ware is not seen anywhere in enforcing India’s Digital Personal Data Protection Act (DPDPA).
Through the new movement for swadeshi-ware, we might get independence with self-reliance but may not get dignity of life as one has been guaranteed under Article 21 of Constitution of India. This push for dignity in India, is not limited to privacy, and privacy itself cannot be achieved without participation from different communities of people in India. Merely being a nationalist doesn’t guarantee you privacy or dignity. We must re-examine the goals of the swadeshi-ware movement and continue to hold it accountable.
by Srinivas Kodali
15/10/2025