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Rural Diary is a regular monthly column Pushpa Surendra writes for The Hindu. She writes from a rural and farmers perspective. The reporting of media in general, the English language media in particular tends to be very urban oriented occasionally when they turn their attention on rural subjects. In her columns Pushpa attempts to correct some of these biases. The columns try to reflect the world view of the farmer in a simple and readable language.

• Silting the roads
  

  In normal years the average rainfall in the semi-arid plains of Mysore, adds up to 20 inches a year. This meagre rainfall if received at the right time is sufficient to sustain the two crops farmers here grow. Now fields once ploughed but not sown because of insufficient rains are being ploughed again in anticipation of rains.
  http://www.thehindu.com/thehindu/mag/stories/2003072700130400.htm

• Beseeching the sky
  

  Broken promises, greedy moneylenders, chemical fertilizer . . . these, in addition to poverty, comprise the life of marginal farmers. Neglected by the government, the dryland farmers' only hope is the monsoon which assures them a better harvest.

• Road to Kamanahalli
  

  Women in Kamanahalli indulged in extra food only during festivals because of the difficulties involved in waking up neighbours in the night to accompany them to answer calls of nature. No wonder thousands of women suffer from bladder related diseases in the country.

• Tree of heaven
  

  It is "captains of industry" and traders who influence national agricultural policies for the benefit of industry, constantly leaving farmers in the lurch.

• Digging one's grave
  

  There is a need for sustained media effort to create awareness among rural people about the importance of water and soil conservation.
  http://www.hinduonnet.com/mag/2002/05/19/stories/2002051900410500.htm

• Freedom in the cage
  

  The only weapon of village women, in many situations, where they fear being harassed, is their tongue. In contrast, women from rural middle class and rich families consider it coarse and vulgar to attract the attention of the public to their suffering. Silence and the ability to bear oppression are the most appreciated qualities in women.
  http://www.hinduonnet.com/mag/2002/03/24/stories/2002032400240400.htm

• Friend or foe?
  

  A keen observer of rural life is forced to ask if the government is serious in implementing the various schemes to really benefit farmers. As has been the experience in the past, the governments initiate schemes under pressure from opposition parties and farmers' parties that politicise issues sometimes only to embarrass governments in power.
  http://www.hinduonnet.com//2001/08/19/stories/1319061a.htm

• Rains fail, prices fall
  

  Policy makers lack determination to address problems confronting producers, in evolving a stable price structure by taking into account the rising cost of agricultural inputs. The price of agricultural commodities has been deliberately kept low for decades so that industrial wages could be kept low by making cheap grain available in the cities so that the rate of profit for industry can be higher.
  http://www.hinduonnet.com//2001/10/21/stories/1321061b.htm

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