-Livemint.com Together with large stocks of sugar and higher planting of sugar cane, the surplus situation in Indian agriculture is set to worsen, fuelling another round of farmer protests as states like Madhya Pradesh, Chattisgarh and Rajasthan goes to polls Pune/ New Delhi: Karan Ramdas Atole’s dairy farm is a neat brown square of cleared ground surrounded by lush green sugarcane fields. A mechanical engineer by training, 25-year-old Atole took a loan...

-The Indian Express Raising procurement prices of kharif crops will only give false hope to farmers. Has the winter of farmers’ discontent turned into a glorious summer by the significant hike in minimum support price (MSP) for kharif crops announced two weeks ago? The hike is unlikely to stem the rural unrest that is gnawing into the ruling alliance’s votebank. The PM has had to personally defend the government’s programmes that have...

-The Hindu The outgoing CEA also batted for the lateral entry of talent into the government The compensation payable to the States for revenue loss arising due to GST is just ?5,000 crore, far lower than was estimated, according to Chief Economic Adviser Arvind Subramanian. In a candid interview to The Hindu, the outgoing CEA also batted for the lateral entry of talent into the government, saying that it was a “no brainer”...

-The Telegraph New Delhi: The Narendra Modi government on Wednesday raised the minimum support price for the common variety of paddy by what it described as a "historic" margin, seeking to address rural disquiet that the BJP has identified as one of its weaknesses in the run-up to key elections. However, a powerful lobby of farmers has termed it a "jumla" (an idiomatic expression that loosely translates as a hollow promise or...

-The Hindu Business Line In view of the distortions arising out of excessive price support, direct income transfers to farmers is a better option The domestic debate has tended to conclude that the rise in MSP announced in the Budget is an essential part of achieving the government’s objective of doubling farm incomes. But MSP stands for minimum support prices and is an instrument designed for reducing income volatility, not for raising...