-Business Standard Farmers wait for the Bhavanter sale window to close in the next few weeks as they believe prices would increase after that, like in the case of soybean Pipliyamandi (Mandsaur): "A few years ago, we used to say, if someone took a trolly full of garlic to the mandi, he might end up buying a new Tractor on his way back home. But now it seems even the Tractor that...

-The Hindu Business Line Middlemen can hike prices but producers lose margins Ahmedabad/ New Delhi: With the sharp increase in fuel prices punching holes in agricultural incomes, a section of farmers are reviewing the mechanisation options. Diesel prices are up one-fourth over corresponding time last year. "The cost including transportation and pump-sets operation works out to about 25 per cent of the cost of production in various crops. Fuel costs are going up...

-Livemint.com In the last three years, wages of agricultural labourers have increased only by 0.5% per year while those of non-agricultural workers have declined by 0.25% per year, the worst so far in 30 years The agrarian economy continues to be plagued by falling output prices, declining incomes and increased variation in agricultural production pointing to a situation of uncertainty and vulnerability among most rural residents. This has created an unprecedented demand...

-The Hindu Business Line The surge in non-farm employment has led to a rural consumption splurge, making listed companies bullish Is rural India languishing in abject misery, or is it on a cheerful spending spree? Today you can get diametrically opposing views on this, depending on where you get your information. If you are an avid follower of news, then you would be firmly in the pessimist camp, having read all about...

-Livemint.com India’s weather office has forecast a normal monsoon. Bountiful rains in the June-to-September period are critical for about 800 million Indians who depend directly or indirectly on farming New Delhi: Gangabhishan Thaware, a 53-year-old farmer from the drought-prone Marathwada region of Maharashtra, took an unusual step in July last year. Thaware and his fellow villagers had toiled on their fields and spent thousands of rupees on seeds and fertilizers, hopeful...