-The Hindu Business Line The solution lies in better prices for produce, generating non-farm income, and reducing costs of farming After the Yogi Adityanath government waived farm loans of about ?36,000 crore for UP farmers, pressure has mounted on other States to follow suit. But contrary to common belief, debt waivers aside from possibly guaranteeing electoral victory, do little to alleviate the plight of farmers. Neither do they help kick-start the rural...

-Livemint.com Farmers are already refusing to repay loans in Maharashtra, expecting a waiver in the works on the lines of that in Uttar Pradesh Mumbai: Would you bother to repay a loan if it was going to be written off anyway? Probably not. There’s no farm loan waiver in Maharashtra yet, but farmers are already refusing to repay loans as they expect a waiver in the works, officials in the state’s co-operative banking...

-The Hindu Business Line Proposes single trading licence, single-point levy of market fee New Delhi: The Agriculture Ministry has come up with a new model Agricultural Produce Market Committee (APMC) Act proposing single-point levy of market fee across a State and a united single trading licence for cost-effectiveness of transactions. It has also suggested abolition of fragmentation of market with the State/Union Territory by removing the concept of notified market area insofar as...

-The Times of India NEW DELHI: The India Meteorological Department (IMD), country's national weather forecaster, on Tuesday predicted normal monsoon rainfall for the year, sending a positive signal to the Farm Sector and the overall economy. "Even the distribution of the rainfall is expected to be good this year," said IMD chief KJ Ramesh, sounding quite optimistic about the prospect of having a good year for the country's agriculture. Good spatial distribution...

-Livemint.com Mint’s rural distress index is below its median value, but it conceals varying distress levels across states Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath’s announcement of farm loan waiver has given credence to similar demands from across the country. Those making these demands include political parties, protesting farmers and even the judiciary. An earlier Plainfacts column had pointed out how farm loan waivers can be counter-productive in the long run, a fact...