-Scroll.in Private insurance companies have benefitted more than Farmers from the new crop insurance scheme.     Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana was launched to expand crop insurance coverage in India     But coverage has shrunk, despite compulsory enrollment of Farmers at the time of taking loans     Private companies retain a larger share of government funds than before     Farmer groups have opposed compulsory enrollment and complained about payment delays.   In its manifesto for the...

-The Hindu Business Line Need to do more R&D in rainfed agriculture and bring in more policy perspective: Ashok Dalwai Even though rainfed agriculture contributes to 60 per cent of the value of agriculture GDP of India, there is a clear-cut bias towards irrigated areas when it comes to public investment in agriculture in the country. This neglect, together with unsuitable programme design, has ensured that potential of rain-fed areas remains unrealised, a...

-Frontline.in Hidden in the Modi government’s Budget promises to India’s Farmers, who are in distress, is the admission: we have failed you. No section of society has perhaps fared worse under the Narendra Modi regime than small peasants and agricultural labourers. Rural India, particularly peasants, voted in large numbers for the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) in 2014. Once in power, the NDA government promised to double the incomes...

-The Hindu Business Line Worried that mounting sugarcane arrears may hit its electoral prospects in politically-important States of Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra, the Centre on Thursday decided to hike minimum selling price (MSP) of sugar by Rs.2 per kg to Rs.31. “We have increased the minimum selling price of sugar from ?29 per kg to ?31 per kg. This will help sugar mills to pay dues to cane Farmers,” Food and Public...

-The Hindu The top-down, rushed approach of the government in reaching out to Farmers is likely to end in failure This year’s Interim Budget is being regarded as a big spread for Farmers. The government announced its decision to transfer Rs.6,000 every year directly to 12 crore Farmers holding cultivable land up to 2 hectares through the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-KISAN) scheme. While this is a progressive step, is it...