-The Hindu Business Line Private oligopolies may end up forcing Small and marginal farmers to accept poorer terms for their produce A big-bang reform claimed to usher in the farm sector as Finance Minister announced ₹1-lakh crore funding support for strengthening of farm-gate infrastructure such as cold chains and post-harvest management infrastructure. Additional measures include a ‘facilitative legal framework’ to enable farmers for engaging with modern food chains in a fair and...

-ThePrint.in An RBI report says that despite numerous existing initiatives, at most 40 per cent of India’s Small and marginal farmers are covered by formal credit. There is no doubt that agricultural credit is a critical element of both agricultural production and marketing across India. However, during a period of acute crisis, the government needs to bank on channels that are relatively robust and far-reaching. Unfortunately, especially when it comes to small...

-Newsclick.in The lockdown has got the government talking about agri ‘reforms’ again, but the exploitation of India’s weakest farmers continues unchecked. It is a cruel irony that in the sixth week of the nationwide lockdown, the government is talking up omnibus agriculture “reforms” as if they can mitigate the growing distress in rural India. Reforms, no doubt, implies stricter compliance with online registration and payment rules, more focus on market-based pricing, and...

-TheThirdPole.net India’s pandemic-forced lockdown has plunged agriculture into a crisis that needs immediate cash transfers to bail out smallholder farmers preparing for the summer cropping season India’s complete lockdown to contain the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic has upended the agrarian economy of the South Asian nation. It could have a serious impact on farm production in the main summer cropping season, work for which starts in May. Farmers in India are no...

-RuralIndiaOnline.org The government’s ‘package’ responding to the crisis is a blend of callousness and cluelessness With his first speech on the coronavirus, Prime Minister Narendra Modi got us to scare evil spirits away by having people bang the hell out of their pots and pans. With his second, he scared the hell out of all of us. With not a word on how the public, particularly the poor, are to access food and other...