-Livemint.com * Market participation is meaningless without information. Should every Indian farmer get a smartphone? * Without internet connectivity and market intelligence, the transaction cost associated with selling in places outside the local market are higher than the value of the produce FATEHPUR: Kamlakant is a smallholder farmer in Daulatiyapur village of Fatehpur district in Uttar Pradesh. He is an enthusiastic vegetable cultivator and every season, he searches for answers to three basic...

-TheWire.in From seeds and machinery to livestock and irrigation, the state needs to change the status quo. One eye must be firmly kept on the future. If Punjab’s agriculture sector is to succeed, it has to think beyond short-term crises such as the current pandemic-induced one. For instance, the Expert Group headed by Montek Singh Ahluwalia has made important recommendations about seeds, agricultural research, livestock, dairy and food processing. It has been noted that...

-Society for Social and Economic Research Monograph 20/3 Key Messages Lack of planning and preparation by the Central government for tackling the COVID-19 pandemic has dealt a massive blow to India’s economy and has caused enormous hardships to working people of the country. Harvesting of Rabi crops • Unplanned and sudden imposition of the lockdown resulted in a massive and unprecedented disruption to agricultural activities such as harvesting, sale of agricultural produce, and purchase...

-Down to Earth Antibiotics are indiscriminately used on food crops in several parts of the country, adding to the burden of antibiotic resistance    Dharampal Singh just cannot stop admiring the Cauliflowers glistening with beads of dew on his farm near the Yamuna banks in Delhi. Next to the plot, rows of radishes, spinach, fenugreek and bottle gourds lie shining in the morning sun. “These untainted vegetables fetch me a premium in the...

-The Tribune Hoshiarpur: Progressive farmer of backward Kandi area of Hoshiarpur district, Parlad Singh from Namolihar village, has become a role model for others by adopting organic farming. Beginning in 1998 with the cultivation of his 7 acres of ancestral land, he is now successfully practising diversified organic farming. He has been earning a much greater deal as compared to traditional wheat-paddy farming. Parlad said starting with his 7 acres of ancestral...