-Scroll.in A new report says that a crop-neutral direct payout scheme might be better than paying farmers the difference between market price and production cost. Raising minimum support prices to 1.5 times the cost of production could severely distort agricultural markets, suggests a new report from the Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations. The report takes a look at government schemes to bolster the crop procurement process. The Centre offers...

-The Hindu Business Line The MSP for many crops is already 1.5 times cost; and procurement is either absent or very minimal except for paddy and wheat There has been much speculation on the Budget promise to farmers of 50 per cent return on cost of production. But this may not help farmers much, as many crops already enjoy 50 per cent profit at minimum support price (MSP), according to the price...

-Down to Earth More than creating financial crunch for upcoming sowing season, cash crunch is impacting the prices at which farmers are selling their produce While the Union government is promising that cash crunch in the market would end soon, the farmers have already started feeling the pinch badly. The fears of demonetisation have come back for them. They are in soup because not only is this the harvest season, but also...

-Newsclick.in The government has chosen not to intervene in the Market prices of the seasonal crops, forcing farmers to deal with the debt and the crisis on their own. Despite the Maharashtra government’s farm loan waiver scheme to “settle” the agrarian debts of farmers, the number of farmers committing suicide in the state continues to rise. The state has witnessed a total of 696 farmer suicides in the initial three months of...

-The Indian Express Falling rates in March stumps industry in month synonymous with high prices. Pune: Since February, Deepak Pawale, who runs a poultry farm at Retavadi village in Khed taluka of Pune district, has been selling 45-day-old birds weighing 2-2.5 kg each at well below his estimated production cost of Rs 70 per kg. “The traders aren’t ready to pay higher rates, as they tell me that their sales have slowed down,”...