-Livemint.com * The upcoming kharif harvest season will put the new regime to test and farm unrest may spread beyond Punjab and Haryana if crop prices take a hit NEW DELHI: The new legislations that look to rejig India’s vast and fragmented agriculture markets together with amendments to the Essential Commodities Act are significant structural changes brought in by the Narendra Modi government. So far protests by farmers have largely concentrated in...

-Hindustan Times Farmers in Punjab and Haryana, the richest agricultural states, which also account for the highest share of government procurement in India, are at the forefront of these protests. That it has been undoing historical wrongs to boost the Indian economy is a key narrative of the current Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led NDA government. When such moves are criticised, it is quick to portray its opponents as representing a group of...

-Livemint.com * Market participation is meaningless without information. Should every Indian farmer get a smartphone? * Without internet connectivity and market intelligence, the transaction cost associated with selling in places outside the local market are higher than the value of the produce FATEHPUR: Kamlakant is a smallholder farmer in Daulatiyapur village of Fatehpur district in Uttar Pradesh. He is an enthusiastic vegetable cultivator and every season, he searches for answers to three basic...

-Hindustan Times While the government claims that these reforms will help farmers in getting a better price for their products, farmers’ groups have been agitating against these changes. In May this year, the government announced important reforms in agricultural markets. These included deregulation of farm foods from the Essential Commodities Act (ECA). Farmers were also allowed to sell their produce outside government-regulated markets, or Agricultural Produce Market Committees (APMCs). Another set of...

-TheWire.in In conversation with Avik Saha, co-founder of the Swaraj Abhiyan. New Delhi: As the Lok Sabha passed three controversial agricultural legislations, the country witnessed an outpouring of anger by the opposition parties, who alleged these bills are “anti-farmer”. Farmers and traders have been vehemently opposing the new changes brought in by the Central government, alleging the government wants to discontinue the minimum support price (MSP) regime in the name of reforms. Minister of...