-The Hindu Farmers in Punjab are worried about the implications of the three new farm bills that will allow them to sell their produce directly to private players. Vikas Vasudeva reports on the concerns of farmers, commission agents and workers despite the government’s assurances that the legislation empowers them In June 2020, 55-year-old Shingara Singh in Fatehpur village in Patiala, Punjab, sold his spring season maize crop at ₹700-₹800 per quintal, far...
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Explained: What is the basis of MSP? How is it fixed, and how binding is it? -Harish Damodaran
-The Indian Express The newly passed farm trade Bill has raised concerns that farmers may no longer be assured MSP for their crop. But MSP isn’t even mentioned in the new law or in existing ones. How is it fixed, and how binding is it? The recently enacted law that dismantles the monopoly of APMC (agricultural produce market committee) mandis, thereby allowing sale and purchase of crops outside these state government-regulated market...
More »Farm bills: Farmer unions in Punjab ask political parties to stay away from their protests -Jatinder Kaur Tur
-CaravanMagazine.in On 20 September, the Rajya Sabha passed two contentious bills related to the farm sector— the Farmers’ Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Bill and the Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Bill. On 22 September, it passed the Essential Commodities (Amendment) Bill. The Lok Sabha had earlier passed these bills amid stiff opposition from farmers. The bills introduce changes in the way agricultural...
More »Ensure no trading takes place below MSP -Devinder Sharma
-The Tribune With APMC markets heading towards a collapse, the new set of reforms is aimed at encouraging corporatisation, with big business moving into agriculture, storage and marketing. As the experience of US/Europe shows, when unregulated markets become dominant, small farmers are the first to be pushed out of agriculture. Reiterating what former US Agriculture Secretary Earl Butz (during Ronald Reagan’s rule) had declared: “Get big or get out,” Sonny Perdue, US...
More »Farm bill 2020: actual text vs perception -Harish Damodaran
-The Indian Express Farmers’ Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Bill: The government has sought to project the farm Bill as “creating an ecosystem” where farmers will enjoy the “freedom of choice” to sell to anyone, anywhere in the country. On many occasions, it isn’t the law but what it appears to convey and the context in which it is framed that holds relevance. This certainly is the case with the...
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