-Down to Earth What is the use of strategy when no special budget was allocated to double farmers’ income, says a senior NITI Aayog official anonymously In a two-day closed door meeting on doubling farmers’ income, the government claimed that there is no lack of funds to implement a seven-point strategy devised to double farmers’ income by 2022. The national conference, Agriculture 2022 - Doubling Farmers’ Income, which ends today, hosts sessions...

-The Indian Express Operation Greens must build forward and backward linkages between farmers and markets. It can learn from Operation Flood. The finance minister announced Operation Greens, on the lines of Operation Flood, with a seed capital of Rs 500 crore in his speech on February 1. Three days later, the Prime Minister backed the scheme at a parivartan rally in Bengaluru. He said farmers are his TOP priority — T is...

-The Hindu Business Line New Delhi: The government, which has very little to show so far as achievement on its ambitious plan of doubling farmers’ income by 2022, is organising a two-day brainstorming meet of various stake-holders, including farmers and farmer bodies. The national conference, scheduled from Monday, would be attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, apart from his cabinet colleagues and top government officials. According to SK Pattanayak, Union Agriculture Secretary, the...

-Outlook A tax holiday is expected to push more farmers to turn entrepreneurial The Budget’s announcement of a five-year tax holiday for Farmer Producer Organisations (FPOs) with a turnover of up to Rs 100 crore came as a relief to the thousands of farmers who are members of around 4,000 such companies in the country.  In December 2017, a sizeable number of farmers gathered at a national conference org­anised in Pune were...

-Economic and Political Weekly The government’s initiative to increase farmers’ incomes is welcome as it is central to dealing with the agrarian crisis in India. Various mechanisms for increasing farmers’ incomes from the perspective of small farmers and farm workers are critically examined. The article proposes a focus on high-value crops and rain-fed areas, non-farm occupations, agro-industrialisation, and strengthening and innovating producer and worker institutions in India. It also presents insights...