-TheWire.in Even though India has had a few relatively successful models, contract farming has failed to take off in a meaningful manner. Of the three agriculture-related ordinances promulgated on June 5, 2020, the most predictable was ‘The Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Ordinance, 2020’. Put simply, it provides a legal basis to the existing practice of contract farming in India’s agriculture and allied sectors. In 2018, the Union...

-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...

-The Tribune The Government on Wednesday announced three "major agriculture reforms" for farmers, including an Ordinance to promote “barrier-free inter-state and intra-state trade outside apmc market” and amendment to the Essential Commodities Act., removing commodities like cereals, pulses oilseeds edible oils onion and potatoes from list of essential commodities. Briefing about the three reforms after the Cabinet headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi made the decisions, Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar called...

-Society for Social and Economic Research Monograph 20/3 Key Messages Lack of planning and preparation by the Central government for tackling the COVID-19 pandemic has dealt a massive blow to India’s economy and has caused enormous hardships to working people of the country. Harvesting of Rabi crops • Unplanned and sudden imposition of the lockdown resulted in a massive and unprecedented disruption to agricultural activities such as harvesting, sale of agricultural produce, and purchase...

-The Hindu The reforms in agricultural marketing are no more than reiterations of earlier pronouncements The announcement of reforms in agricultural marketing by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, in May, has been hailed by some as the “1991” moment for agriculture. While it does not mean much on the ground, it has successfully managed to deflect attention from the pittance offered by way of fiscal support to the agricultural sector, as a part...