-The Financial Express The domestic prices of key agricultural commodities were below the export-parity prices during most of the time in the decade 2004-2014, according to a new study by Icrier and World Bank. However, the export/import opportunities were not always used as restrictive trade policies played spoilsport; for instance in the 2007-08 global food crisis, though rising global prices made many Indian products export-competitive, rice and wheat exporters among others were...

-The Hindu The issue of food wastage must be fully understood, so that an effective strategy can be drawn up When Prime Minister Narendra Modi brought up the issue of food wastage on his ‘Mann Ki Baat’ programme about two months ago, he endorsed a valid point when he asked people not to waste food. Though he raised an extremely critical issue of national importance, he could also have used the occasion...

-The Economic Times Farmers are agitated. Loan waivers have not stemmed protests or farmer suicides. This is a multidimensional problem and also a huge political opportunity for parties that can think constructively. Waiving loans is bad policy. It adds to the fiscal stress of states, straining under the electricity utility debt they have taken over. The states would undo the Centre’s hard-wrought fiscal discipline, scaring rating agencies. Waived loans bring little benefit to...

-Hindustan Times India needs a paradigm shift in agriculture for economic and ecological sustainability Whenever flashpoints are reached, such as the current farmers’ agitation, there is a clamour for immediate palliatives. This is understandable, as those in acute distress need relief. But what we must not overlook are the profound possibilities of reform that such crises open up. Take Madhya Pradesh (MP), the epicentre of the agitation, which best exemplifies the required...

-Livemint.com Farmers across the country choose cotton and sugarcane over rain-fed pulses like arhar and moong which saw a collapse in their wholesale prices in 2016-17, shows data New Delhi: Following a collapse in wholesale prices of rain-fed pulses like arhar and moong over the past six months, farmers across India have reduced planting of these varieties, data on Kharif sowing released by the agriculture ministry on Friday shows. Simultaneously, farmers have...