-The Hindu The government has an opportunity to help farmers who are battling declining demand and lower prices Social distancing and living under a lockdown appear to be the only effective ways of dealing with the pandemic. As India lacks the resources to significantly ramp up testing, imposing a lockdown was the government’s preferred option. Although there is limited evidence to suggest that this strategy may be working in containing the spread...

-The New Indian Express Cotton farmers in Karaikal have requested the district administration to give them and farm workers passes to carry out work in the fields in order prevent the crops from pest attack. KARAIKAL (Puducherry): Cotton farmers in Karaikal have requested the district administration to give them and farm workers passes to carry out work in the fields in order prevent the crops from pest attack. Cotton cultivation is taken...

-Business Standard Most mandis are arranging for the safety of their workers, including load-bearers. Arrivals and supplies are being regulated to maintain flow and avoid crowding Agricultural mandis in many parts of the country have started going operational a week after the nationwide lockdown was implemented, but the process is gradual and disruption persists in some centres. Most mandis are arranging for the safety of their workers, including mathadis (Load-bearers). Arrivals and...

-TheNewsMinute.com Producers of fruits and flowers across the state have been put in a difficult position due to the absence of transportation options for their produce. As hundreds of migrant workers stranded in different parts of Tamil Nadu are being identified and sheltered in government houses amid the coronavirus scare, there is another category of people who have been left in the lurch due to the lockdown -- the farmers and traders...

-The Indian Express The central government’s package, as it is, comes a week after Kerala first announced a Rs 20,000-crore support for its people. Many states including Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Punjab, Telangana and Rajasthan followed suit. The Rs 1.7 lakh crore economic package announced by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman for the vulnerable sections — farmers, women, construction workers, senior citizens, widows and the disabled — is less than 1 per cent of...