Rural economy is well worth investing in

This is a politically sensitive issue, which means that the political establishment will be throwing resources into distress management, as elections pop up

Opinions about the Indian rural landscape are scattered across both extremes, and so are the verifiable data-points. One opinion is that the rural economy is deeply distressed. Thousands of farmers have committed suicide over the past few years. If we go by news reports, this is because they cannot repay loans. There have been huge farm loan waivers in several states. The past few months have seen widespread agitations by farmers. There have also been demands for reservations by landowning communities, such as the Jats and the Patils.

The Q1, 2017-18, versus the second-half of 2016-17 saw deflation in agriculture.