-Firstpost.com The recent increases in minimum support prices have attracted two criticisms from two opposite sides. One is that this is less than what farmers deserve, the second is that this is populist and ignores larger macro side effects. The increase in fair remunerative price for sugarcane has also been criticised for not adequately addressing the woes of the sugar sector. Ramesh Chand, member, agriculture, NITI Aayog talks to Firstpost on...

-The Telegraph New Delhi: The Narendra Modi government on Wednesday raised the minimum support price for the common variety of paddy by what it described as a "historic" margin, seeking to address rural disquiet that the BJP has identified as one of its weaknesses in the run-up to key elections. However, a powerful lobby of farmers has termed it a "jumla" (an idiomatic expression that loosely translates as a hollow promise or...

-Livemint.com The concerns about the downsides of these schemes are overblown, and they could go some way in alleviating rural woes Since the Union Budget 2018-19, there has been a great deal of discussion in the public domain regarding the health of the rural sector. We believe that the rural sector needs some policy intervention, be it price support or income support. As a case in point, the agri gross domestic product...

-Scroll.in How does the project qualify as ‘public purpose’ and does it violate legal safeguards for Santhal areas? Part 2 of a Scroll.in investigation on the Godda plant. In the villages of Motiya and Gangta in Jharkhand’s Godda district, Tractors and SUVs race down a recently widened dirt road. Even in the clouds of dust they kick off, it is hard to miss the fence stretching across kilometres of farmland, with cows...

-The Hindu Business Line Middlemen can hike prices but producers lose margins Ahmedabad/ New Delhi: With the sharp increase in fuel prices punching holes in agricultural incomes, a section of farmers are reviewing the mechanisation options. Diesel prices are up one-fourth over corresponding time last year. "The cost including transportation and pump-sets operation works out to about 25 per cent of the cost of production in various crops. Fuel costs are going up...