-Livemint.com While farmers will receive a 12% penal interest payment for delays in settling claims, state governments will be penalised if they delay in depositing their share of subsidies New Delhi: Faced with a sharp decline in the number of farmers signing up for its flagship crop insurance scheme, the centre on Tuesday imposed a 12% penalty on insurance companies for delayed settlement of claims. Under the new guidelines that will take effect...

-The Indian Express It is important to evaluate the consequences of the Centre’s agriculture policy. With elections around the corner, it’s too late for a course correction of the farm sector, but it’s an opportune time to document the unintended consequences of half-baked policies for the next five years. Otherwise, the momentum of existing policies will continue to feed rural economic misery. Agriculture GDP growth plummeted just as India’s agricultural trade surplus,...

-The Hindu Floods often wash away rich, weathered soil. Rehabilitation programmes must consider this loss As the rains abate in Kerala and parts of Kodagu district in Karnataka, the loss of lives and the devastation of infrastructure and crops is apparent. However, as rebuilding is planned, what is often ignored is the soil that has been washed away. While roads and houses will be rebuilt, and crop losses compensated partially through insurance,...

A recent report by the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) enlightens one about the state of farmers' income and indebtedness in 2015-16. Entitled NABARD All India Rural Financial Inclusion Survey 2016-17 – in short NAFIS 2016-17 – the report says that between 2012-13 and 2015-16 the average monthly income for agricultural households grew by around 39 percent. One may recall that the Key Indicators of Situation Assessment Survey...

-Down to Earth Although the average farm income per month saw a rise in the last four years, it is still not enough to help farmers cope with the current agrarian crisis A latest report by the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD), a government agency, again, shows the vulnerability of Indian agriculture households.   The NABARD All India Rural Financial Inclusion Survey (NAFIS) shows that average agriculture household income was...