-The Hindu Majority of farmers unaware of MSP programme, say latest available survey data One of the chief aims of The Farmers’ Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, 2020 is to unshackle farmers from notified markets. Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that small and marginal farmers “for the first time, have got an alternative to bargain for the price of their produce. The tradition earlier was to sell in mandis.” However, latest...

-The Telegraph The tearing hurry with which agriculture market reforms have been pushed through, without even consulting farmers, has resulted in huge farm protests in Punjab and Haryana At a time when I see euphoria among mainstream economists over the new set of agricultural reforms, media reports say that the Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices has observed that only 12 per cent of India’s paddy cultivators were able to sell their...

-The Hindu This will alleviate farmers from grave injustice done by Modi govt, says statement. Congress president Sonia Gandhi has directed Punjab, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh and Pudducherry Chief Ministers to explore the possibility of passing laws to override the three agricultural laws passed recently by Parliament. A statement issued by party general secretary (organisation) K.C. Venugopal said that these States have been told to pass laws under Article 254 (2) of the Constitution that...

-The Indian Express The idea of a Minimum Support Price for crops came first from a visiting US soil scientist and fertiliser expert The institution of ‘mandis’ is as old as markets where wholesale trading in primary produce has been taking place since time immemorial. APMCs or Agricultural Produce Market Committees are of more recent vintage and the creation of Sir Chhotu Ram. In 1939, the legendary farmer leader, as Development Minister in...

-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...