-The Times of India NEW DELHI: Moving to fulfil its budget promise and address political heat over farmer discontent, the government is set to announce a new minimum support price (MSP) regime that will provide farmers a profit margin of 50% over cost of production. The additional bill is likely to be around Rs 33,500 crore. The new MSP, to be considered by the cabinet on Wednesday, will largely apply to paddy...

-The Hindu Business Line In view of the distortions arising out of excessive price support, direct income transfers to farmers is a better option The domestic debate has tended to conclude that the rise in MSP announced in the Budget is an essential part of achieving the government’s objective of doubling farm incomes. But MSP stands for minimum support prices and is an instrument designed for reducing income volatility, not for raising...

-Firstpost.com Chandigarh: With extensive rice farming in Punjab taking an increasing toll on groundwater reserves and soil health, government agencies are now asking farmers to diversify into profitable allied trades including dairy and pig farming and fisheries. Farmers are also being asked to cultivate crops other than paddy. Farmers in different parts of the state have started growing other, more profitable crops alongside rice. In a break with the fertiliser and pesticide-driven...

-Livemint.com According to Nafed, the central agency assigned to procure directly from farmers at government-set MSP, 6.34 million tonnes of pulses and oilseeds were purchased from about 3.5 million farmers till 22 June New Delhi: The central government procured a record Rs29,070 crore worth of pulses and oilseeds from farmers at minimum support prices (MSPs) in the 2017-18 crop season, arresting what could have been a sharper fall in wholesale prices. The procurement...

-The Indian Express We have, indeed, entered a regime of “permanent surpluses” in most crops — a reality our policymakers are unable to grasp, stuck as they are in the era of the Essential Commodities Act. If there is one thing that has changed in Indian agriculture in recent times, it is supply response — the ability of farmers to increase production when prices go up. Traditionally, the supply curve in most...