-The Hindu Business Line Lingering distress in the sector may force the govt to think innovatively New Delhi: Agriculture sector, which suffered badly despite higher production in the last two years, may be a key focus area for the NDA government, when it presents its last full-fledged Union Budget before the 2019 general elections. Attending a function recently in the Capital, Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley unequivocally said that that the farm sector...

-Hindustan Times Access to formal credit can be a major game-changer in determining farm-incomes. It is to be expected that richer farmers would find it easier to avail of formal credit lines. What ails Indian farmers? The answer to this question is often mired in ideological quarrels. Some blame a lack of reforms in agricultural markets, while others accuse the state of not doing enough to support farming. Systemic issues are...

-The Indian Express A water-scarce region, Bundelkhand has been battling drought, debt and poverty for over a decade. In the past three years, “anna pashu (stray cattle)” has been added to the list, now building up to a serious crisis. The cattle have started endangering the Rabi crop. Hamirpur (Uttar Pradesh): On December 25, to mark former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s birthday with ‘gau sewa’, Uma Kant, the director of BNV...

-The Telegraph Chandigarh: Farmer Balwinder Singh from Patiala had taken a loan of Rs 41,700 from a cooperative bank. When he received his loan-waiver certificate from the Punjab government on Sunday, the amount waived was mentioned as Rs 7. On a day chief minister Amarinder Singh launched the loan-waiver scheme in Chandigarh to help distressed farmers, many across the state alleged only a fraction of their debts had been written off. While Balwinder...

-The Indian Express The state government has decided to roll out its scheme from Mansa on January 7 under which loans worth Rs 170 crore would be waived off formally. Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh would be handing over the certificate to the farmers. Chandigarh: Punjab government’s farm loan waiver, which is to be rolled out to 40,000 farmers from five districts in Malwa on January 7, has many Congress leaders fuming...