-Scroll.in The Swaraj India leader says the economy needs a big boost in the rural areas and for small scale manufacturers. In July, Yogendra Yadav, the national president of the Swaraj India party, embarked on a nationwide movement accompanied by activists and hundreds of farmers. Under the banner of the All India Kisan Sangharsh Co-ordination Committee, a coalition of more than 150 farmer unions across the country, the yatra was planned...

-The Telegraph Sikar (Rajasthan): A 13-day agitation by Rajasthan's farmers, joined by about 100 disc jockeys with sound systems blaring, has forced the Vasundhara Raje government to agree to loan waivers up to Rs 50,000 and payment of the full minimum support price. Some 15,000 farmers had gathered at a mandi in Sikar town, 115km from Jaipur, on September 1 and by the time the government buckled on September 13 night, their...

-TheWire.in Private moneylenders are a major source of loans across the region, and with the collapse of banking in rural areas, their role has only grown. Baliram Kadpe is critical of the Maharashtra government. “Farmers do not get the minimum support price [for their crops, from the state],” he says with concern. “And it is tedious for them to acquire Crop Loans.”  Kadpe believes if the state ensures that farmers have access...

-Livemint.com Average profit margin of farmers on all pulse varieties except gram (chickpeas) fell by 30% in 2016-17 year-on-year due to a record harvest and adverse government policies, said the CRISIL report New Delhi: The profitability of poor farmers in India who are dependent on rain-fed irrigation and grow pulses fell sharply during 2016-17 due to a record harvest and adverse government policies, said a report released on Monday. Average profit margin of...

-The Times of India Punjab, the leader of green revolution during the '70s, has become disreputable for farmers' suicides in last two decade or so. Usually, these suicides are attributed to farmers' indebtedness to banks and commission agents. However, it is to be noted that bank credit has played a pivotal role in investment into tubewells, tractors, farm mechanization, horticulture, dairy, poultry and forestry all over India, and especially in Punjab and...