-The Indian Express The MP government’s scheme paying farmers the difference between MSP and marketing prices has had a mixed impact on the ground. Dewas (Madhya Pradesh): “Baniya deta mandi mein, jo bachta hai woh sarkar deti hai” (what the trader gives in the market, the government gives the balance). That’s Bhavantar Bhugtan Yojana (BBY) for Arjun Singh Sendhav. The 29-year-old five-bigha (2.9 acres) farmer from Chaubara Jagir village is a beneficiary of...

-The Hindu Business Line Procurement of the excess output vis-a-vis a normal year, rather than open-ended purchase, is a viable option A bountiful harvest that implies an increase in output may not always increase the nominal income of the farming sector, which is subject to the behaviour of input and more particularly output prices, which may sometimes move sharply. There can, therefore, be years in which there is a sudden and sharp...

-The Indian Express Onion farmers have suffered even in a bumper crop year. Needed: Scientific storage facilities, a judicious trade policy. Onions are, once again, in the news. Last week, retail prices touched Rs 50/kg in several markets, and wholesale prices touched Rs 30/kg in major onion markets like Lasalgaon in Maharashtra. This is not the first time that onion prices have spiked. Almost every alternate year, this roller-coaster of boom and...

-The Indian Express First-ever comprehensive study pegs produce trade losses in Mandis from demonetisation at 7-15%. Demonetisation led to the value of farm produce traded in Mandis across India collapse by nearly 15 per cent within a week of the decision, with these losses averaging 7 per cent even at the end of 90 days, according to a just-published Indira Gandhi Institute of Development Research (IGIDR) working paper. The study, which crunches data...

-The Hindu Business Line Market rates have fallen below MSP levels due to demonetisation hangover, poor offtake Bengaluru: The Narendra Modi government is finding it hard to live up to its promise of doubling farm incomes by 2022 given the challenge it faces in addressing the unremunerative prices of farm produce. The kharif harvest began a little over a month ago, and already the prices of a majority of the crops have slipped...