-Scroll.in After the unprecedented collapse of the price of potatoes, farmers in the state are faced with low prices for their crop of sunflower seeds and maize. At around 10 am on Friday, 58-year-old Devi Dayal Sharma sat on a chair, surrounded by several quintals of sunflower seeds, at the Shahabad mandi, around 20 km from Kurukshetra town in Haryana. Sharma is a sunflower cultivator from a Padlu village in Kurukshetra...

-The New Indian Express CHANDIGARH: Farmers in Haryana and Rajasthan blocked highways in Haryana and Rajasthan as part of a nation-wide protest against the death of five farmers at Mandsaur in Madhya Pradesh allegedly in police firing. A group of 62 farmers’ unions had announced that it will block traffic for three hours on all national highways across the country on Friday. In Haryana, major highways of the state, including National Highway 1...

-The Indian Express A smooth GST regime can break inter-state barriers on movement and facilitate direct linkages between processors and farmers After more than a decade of intense discussion and debate, the GST is finally becoming a reality. Although in its current form, it is not as perfect as was originally envisaged, yet it is being lauded as one of the most transformational reforms since 1991. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley was humble...

-The Hindu How Tiruppur, India’s knitwear hub, is now weaving a green cover for the entire district We moved this tree 15 km on a truck along the stretch between Avinashi and Avinashipalayam.” V. Mahendran points to a hulking tree trunk. “The operation took us nine hours. Even with its branches and most of its canopy chopped off, it weighed more than 40 tonnes.” We are at the Tiruppur Collectorate, and Mahendran,...

-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...