-The Indian Express It is important to evaluate the consequences of the Centre’s agriculture policy. With elections around the corner, it’s too late for a course correction of the farm sector, but it’s an opportune time to document the unintended consequences of half-baked policies for the next five years. Otherwise, the momentum of existing policies will continue to feed rural economic misery. Agriculture GDP growth plummeted just as India’s agricultural trade surplus,...

-Down to Earth For every million rupees spent on agricultural research, 328 people are pulled out of poverty. In contrast, the same amount spent on power subsidies brings only 23 people come out of poverty. The message is clear. With the Union elections only a few months away, the Centre should prioritise capital investments over populist subsidies to deliver on its promise of strengthening the farm sector. This is important, especially when the...

-TheWire.in The Price Deficiency Payment Scheme will likely exclude small and marginal farmers, disincentivise efficient farmers and does not have inadequate registration of farmers. The Narendra Modi government announced three new schemes for farmers under one umbrella scheme named PM-AASHA, aimed at ensuring minimum guarantee prices for the farm produce. These three schemes – Price support scheme (PSS), Pilot of Private Procurement & Stockist Scheme (PPPS) and Price Deficiency Payment Scheme (PDPS)...

-The Hindu Business Line Targets 45 mt from nine crops by 2022 Bengaluru: After giving a fillip to the production of pulses through various strategies, the Agriculture Ministry is focussing on boosting oilseeds production over the next four years. The Ministry has proposed various strategies, including promoting the cultivation of oilseeds in non-traditional areas and cropping seasons besides targeting rice fallows to boost the domestic output, which could help reduce import dependence for...

-The Hindu Business Line Plan to convert more rice fallow land to pulses, oilseeds during rabi season New Delhi: The government has set a foodgrain target of 285.2 million tonnes (mt) for 2018-19, which is marginally higher than the expected production in 2017-18, the agriculture ministry said here on Tuesday. As per the fourth advance estimates released by the Government last month, the foodgrain harvest in 2017-18 would be around 284.83 mt, aided...