-The Times of India In the finely balanced but lucrative economy of vegetable and fruit trade, demonetisation has had a bizarre effect. In distant rural areas, local vegetable prices — both wholesale and retail — have crashed as the oxygen of currency has been suddenly sucked out. Since the whole economy depended on cash, from transport to mandis to purchase prices, this is unsurprising. But in cities, where there is more liquidity,...

-The Hindu Stories of distress, following a year of drought and now demonetisation, reverberate through State BENGALURU: First, the water in their fields disappeared, and now, the cash in the market. For Rajaiah of Boovanahalli in Hassan district, the cash crunch following demonetisation has seen his yet-to-be harvested maize shrouded in uncertainty. “There are no merchants to purchase as they have no cash,” he said. There is desperation, however, as his entire produce...

-The Indian Express In a scenario of depressed crop prices, a unique PPP model in milk shows the way out. Coimbatore: For roughly a decade from 2004-05 to 2013-14, Indian farmers experienced rising incomes from higher crop prices year after year — something they pretty much took for granted. That party ended with the crash in global commodity prices, hitting agricultural exports hard and translating into lower farm-gate realisations for most crops. But...

-The Indian Express The government has failed to provide the right incentives to farmers India’s quest for self-sufficiency in pulses goes back, at least, to 1990-1991, when pulses were incorporated in the technology mission on oilseeds. In 1992, and 1995-1996, oil palm and maize were added to the mission, which was re-christened the Integrated Scheme on Oilseeds, Pulses, Oil palm and Maize (ISOPOM). In 2007, ISOPOM’s pulses component was merged with...

-Livemint.com Small farmers reaped a bumper crop defying a drought and despite price shocks and pest-related risks New Delhi: Small farmers across India reaped a bumper crop of fruits and vegetables in 2015-16 defying a widespread drought. India’s horticulture output crossed a record 283 million tonnes, shows the third advance estimate released by the agriculture ministry on Monday. However, the story is not just about a record harvest during a drought year—primarily due...