-The Times of India NEW DELHI: Extending the assured income support (PM-Kisan) scheme for farmers, approved by the new government in its first Cabinet meeting last Friday, will also benefit over eight lakh big landholders — having landholding size of 10 hectares (nearly 25 acres) and more — across the country. Though such big landholders account for merely 0.6% of total farmers in India, their numbers in some states, such as Rajasthan,...

-Firstpost.com The sensitivity of agricultural Productivity to climate depends strongly on crop selection. India is a vast country with disparate climate variability and change signals from north-to-south and east-to-west. The mix of field crops like rice, wheat, jowar, corn and soybean, as well as speciality products like vegetables, flowers, nuts, fruits, etc, are also vastly different across the subcontinent. To understand the climate sensitivity of agriculture across such complex terrain that has...

-The Hindu Business Line However, PM Kisan Samman Nidhi Yojana will give instant relief to the rural India, improving demand for agri inputs BJP’s election manifesto promised many things for farmers. Now that it is clear that the NDA-led coalition is going to be back in power, companies in the agri space — manufacturers of seeds, fertilisers, agro-chemicals and farm equipment — will stand to benefit. However, do not expect fireworks immediately. Had it...

-The Hindu No major country has managed to reduce poverty or sustain economic growth without a robust manufacturing sector The contribution of manufacturing to GDP in 2017 was only about 16%, a stagnation since the economic reforms began in 1991. The contrast with the major Asian economies is significant. For example, Malaysia roughly tripled its share of manufacturing in GDP to 24%, while Thailand’s share increased from 13% to 33% (1960-2014). In...

-The Hindu Several interventions are needed on the demand and supply side to alleviate farm distress Loan waivers remain the preferred solution for governments to tackle farm distress. S. Mahendra Dev and M. Govinda Rao talk about the inability of governments to think of long-term solutions to tackle farm distress, in a discussion moderated by Vikas Dhoot. Edited excerpts: * Despite farm Productivity rising, severe distress in the sector is a concern. How...