-The Hindu Food security and farmer welfare are intertwined It is ironic that it took a devastating pandemic to force the government’s hand for long-overdue agrarian reforms. Amendments have been made to the Essential Commodities Act, 1955. The Finance Minister has urged States to dismantle the Agricultural Produce Market Committees. Several long-term changes have been made to the agricultural sector, such as fair pricing and e-trading, along with liquidity measures. The Centre...

-TheWire.in More clarity is needed on what will be considered an export order in case stock limit has to be imposed. Out of the three game-changing ordinances issued by the Centre on June 5, 2020, the shortest and the most critical to the future of investment in agriculture is “The Essential Commodities (Amendment) Ordinance, 2020”. The ordinance seeks to specify and restrict the conditions under which the government will be empowered issue regulations...

-Newsclick.in And yet, it is being tom-tommed as ‘freedom’ for farmers and ‘self-reliance’ for country! Silently, and in double quick time, changes in laws related to cultivation, sale, stocking and pricing of agricultural produce – food grain, vegetables, etc. – have been proposed and disposed by the Narendra Modi government. Three ordinances relating to these key dimensions were given Presidential assent late on June 5 night, and they came into force “at...

-ThePrint.in Modi govt reduced the import duty on masoor to less than half on 2 June. Farmers and traders allege move is to aid influential trading groups. New Delhi: Farmers and traders are disappointed with the Narendra Modi government over its decision to cut the import duty on lentils (masoor dal) to less than half even as the international prices have spiked by over 12 per cent. The agricultural stakeholders criticised the move...

-Livemint.com The ongoing reforms won’t help if they remain deprived of market access and suffer low demand Earlier this week, as part of the package for Aatmanirbhar Bharat, the Cabinet approved the proposals for agricultural marketing reforms announced in May by finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman. The government has approved the The Farming Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Ordinance, 2020, along with amendments to the Essential Commodities Act. It has also...