-The Telegraph Punjab assesses damage after shock showers flatten crops and fuel storage fears Chandigarh: An unusual spell of rain on Monday morning has cast a cloud on the wheat crop yet to be harvested in Punjab, forcing the agriculture department to sent teams across the state to assess the damage. The rains have come at a time Punjab has been grappling with a storage crisis. The state has a total storage capacity of...

-The Hindu Farm distress is increasingly being triggered by excess output and falling prices, but policy fixes are yet to address this Why are Indian farmers perpetually in revolt? The question has been raised by many after the recent farmers’ march to Mumbai and simmering rebellions across the States in recent years. No doubt, agriculture is one segment of the economy on which vote-conscious governments haven’t skimped on outlays. Over the years, Central...

-TheWire.in Protesting farmers are planning to encircle the assembly and press for demands they feel the government has betrayed them on: crop prices, a loan waiver, forest rights, procurement and more. Shankar Waghere flings his plastic bag on the ground and hunches over on his wooden cane to gather his breath. Then he kneels down, panting, and closes his eyes. They remain shut for the next 15 minutes. It’s been a lot...

-The Financial Express Over 14 crore households who cultivate on land owned by others under a formal lease agreement or even under a temporary arrangement overseen by the gram panchayats or other official functionaries may soon start getting assorted sops doled out to “farmers” by the government just as their land-owing counterparts do. According to official sources, the definition of farmer will be changed via a gazzette notification to include cultivators...

-Hindustan Times The Indian farmer needs to sell his produce with as little intermediation as possible in order to make decent profits. One of the biggest roadblocks for this to happen is lack of mass demand for the majority of farm produce Faced with the spectre of rural anti-incumbency after the Gujarat results, the Modi government is in firefighting mode. Reportedly, a scheme is being planned to provide partial support to state...