-TheWire.in The outlook for kharif 2020 contains a few good signs, but much will depend on the monsoon. Since the harvesting of most rabi crops was completed in time, despite the nationwide lockdown from March 24 onwards, an impression has gained ground that all is well with Indian agriculture. It is true that due to extraordinary efforts made by government machinery, procurement of wheat in Punjab, Haryana and Madhya Pradesh has been more...
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Enough with the lofty rhetoric. It’s time to let the money do the talk -Himanshu
-Livemint.com Slogans, vision statements and acronyms are unlikely to be of any help to those in distress As the details of the mega fiscal package of ₹20 trillion announced by the prime minister are slowly being revealed by the finance minister (FM), it is increasingly becoming clear that it has less to do with the immediate crisis of lives and livelihood and more to do with the long-term agenda of reforms and...
More »Small Farmers, Big Crisis, and SMS is no Solution, Say Farm Leaders -Afzal Imam
-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...
More »Farming under lockdown: Short on labourers, a long harvest -Vikas Vasudeva & Priscilla Jebaraj
-The Hindu Even though a record crop is expected this year, the lockdown may have robbed farmers of the chance to reap profits. There are no migrant labourers to help with harvesting and procurement, and no transport facilities to take the produce to markets in many parts of the country, report Vikas Vasudeva and Priscilla Jebaraj Jagtar Singh is a man in a hurry. It’s April 15, and with temperatures starting to...
More »Coronavirus pandemic is ominous news for India’s rabi crops and farm-to-food chain -Mekhala Krishnamurthy
-ThePrint.in During the coronavirus crisis, income support platforms must be utilised by both state and the Centre. Social distancing should be a norm in wheat procurement mandis. As India goes into a 21-day lockdown, the Narendra Modi government has sought to reassure an anxious public that the country has multiple times the required reserve of food grains to tide over the crisis. There have also been urgent calls for both central and...
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