-Hindustan Times Herein lies the crisis of farmer politicians. They have neither aspirations nor the power of coercion working for them. Rural distress dominated discussions around the political-economy in 2017, and will likely continue to do so in 2018, much to the consternation of political incumbents. Those in opposition will be looking forward to harvesting this anger for their own benefit. One question is worth asking though. Where is the farmer-politician in...

-The Indian Express In June this year, The Indian Express had highlighted how farmers were selling potatoes for 20 paise a kilo at the Pipli grain market in Kurukshetra district. Chandigarh: Moving to address farm distress, the Haryana government is set to announce Saturday the Bhavantar Bharpai scheme which, on the lines of minimum support price (MSP), will offer “input cost” for four crops — potato, onion, cabbage and tomato —...

-The Hindu * What’s the problem? The year 2017 was marked by several farmers’ protests nationwide, with a few turning violent. Last month, in New Delhi, 184 farmer groups came together from Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Punjab and Telangana to take part in a ‘protest walk.’ The protest once again highlighted the plight of farmers and the extent of agrarian distress. The agriculture sector is characterised by instability in incomes...

-Livemint.com Rising input costs and lack of remunerative prices have turned the terms of trade against the Indian farmer While the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) managed to retain its stronghold of Gujarat in the recent state assembly elections, it conceded significant ground to the Congress in rural and semi-rural constituencies. The results bring to the fore the problem of rural discontent, as farmers intensify their protests against non-remunerative prices for their produce...

-The Economic Times NEW DELHI: The BJP's victory in the Gujarat elections, hard-fought as it was, points clearly to the possible direction of the Budget that finance minister Arun Jaitley will present in February. Given its setbacks in non-urban areas, the big focus of the ruling party will be on agriculture and the rural economy, apart from a likely boost in minimum support prices (MSP). FM Arun Jaitley told ET the results...