-Livemint.com Farmers are getting paid for their produce by traders either by cheque, but many farmers are not able to encash the cheques due to currency shortages at banks Mumbai: Nearly three weeks after the partial demonetisation of Rs500 and Rs1,000 notes, cashless contracts are running the trade at Maharashtra’s major Agricultural markets, but problems with bank liquidity persist. Farmers are getting paid for their produce by traders either by cheque or via...

-Hindustan Times Deficient rainfall has led to a severe drought in Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Kerala with 54 out of 76 districts in the three states facing acute water shortage that has left farmers the worst hit. In Karnataka, where the northeast monsoon (Oct to Dec) has been 79% deficient, water in major reservoirs is down by half, drinking water is getting scarce and migration has been reported from many villages, government...

-India Water Portal Despite farmers’ apprehension, the new crop insurance scheme, Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana, is considered a game changer. “Agriculture is a highly risky venture,” says Nagi Reddy, a farmer in Anantapur. Reddy is a small farmer affected by uncertainty in crop production stemming from unpredictable weather events and pest attacks, especially in his cotton crop. He works on his 2.5-acre farm and the rest of the time, he...

-TheWire.in A large chunk of India’s farmers continue to depend on commission agents and not formal institutions for credit, thereby relying on cash. It is now official. Demonetisation has led to an implosion of Agricultural trade in the country. In the week following demonetisation, soyabean arrivals in select major states had collapsed by 87% relative to average arrivals over the week preceding demonetisation. The figures were 55% for paddy, 61% for guar,...

-Frontline.in To rural India, which is already reeling under multiple crises, demonetisation has come as yet another blow. WHEN the Prime Minister made the decision to withdraw Rs.500 and Rs.1,000 notes, he did not quite factor in the impact it would have on agriculture. Despite the rhetoric the concept of digital wallets has not yet entered rural India unlike in much of the country’s urban areas, and much of rural and...