-The Hindu Business Line Mumbai: Astride soyabean sacks, 33-year-old market intermediary Parmeshwar Suryavanshi is literally at the top of his game.   Suryavanshi belongs to the set of middlemen, locally called Adityas, at the Agriculture Produce Market Committee (APMC)-controlled marketyard at Latur in Maharashtra. Below MSP prices When he raises his voice to call out bids, he also raises prices of soyabean though not quite enough to reach the minimum support price (MSP) of ?3,050/quintal....

-The Financial Express By setting the target of doubling farmers’ income by 2022, the prime minister has clearly signalled a transition in agri-food policy from an excessive emphasis on foodgrain production towards improving welfare of the farming community. Given the continued excessive employment pressure, proliferation of small landholdings and growing agrarian crisis, this move is indeed an important change in the policy landscape. Doubling farmers’ income, however, requires identification of high-income...

-Down to Earth Death of cotton farmers due to pesticide poisoning in the Vidarbha region raises vital questions about the government's attitude towards regulation of toxic pesticides One more evil has reared its ugly head in Maharashtra’s arid Vidarbha region, which has so far been infamous for farmer suicides. Some 35 farmers in the region have died of pesticide poisoning in last four months. Most of them were working in cotton and...

-The Indian Express Governments have not acted on recommendations of committees on farmer welfare How many more farmers must die before the prime minister condescends to take notice? How many rats must the protesting Tamil Nadu farmers at Jantar Mantar eat before the government acts? How many more fake farm loan waiver schemes will be announced before the cabinet realises that farmers cannot be fooled anymore? Despite 300,000 farmers taking their lives...

-The Indian Express The protesting farmers from various states across India are demanding implementation of Swaminathan Committee's recommendations, lower input costs, farm loan waiver and fair price for farm produce among other things. New Delhi: Swaraj Abhiyan leader Yogendra Yadav on Tuesday said that the “prevailing agrarian crisis in the country is not by accident but is policy and politics driven”. Speaking to indianexpress.com during a farmers’ protest in the national capital,...