-Livemint.com Burden of farm loans has driven many Karnataka farmers into the clutches of moneylenders, who at times charge even by the hour Bengaluru: Naveen Kumar, 40, a small farmer in Hassan district, Karnataka, paid Rs.2,400 as premium (Rs.1,200 per acre) to insure his jowar crop last year. The crop failed after deficient rains. But Kumar was covered—or so he thought. Earlier this year, he received Rs1,600 (Rs800 per acre) as compensation—33% less...

-The Indian Express Agriculture cannot survive without them. But they are invisible in the current conversation on the agrarian crisis An ex-company executive-cum-economist turns to the anchor during a discussion on the farmers’ agitation. “Overpopulation is destroying the farming activity. There are simply too many mouths to feed and the farms are shrinking. We must look to the urban areas for creating new jobs,” he says. The man at the local paan...

-The Indian Express Farmers’ protests threaten the BJP’s rise. But local character, lack of ideological vision limit their potential. The protests by farmers in Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh should not be seen in isolation. Besides the political economy of these protests, the implications for competitive politics are going to be complex. In order to appreciate these implications, the farmers’ protests need to be situated in the larger backdrop — despite the...

-The Indian Express Branding the farmer agitations ‘political’ betrays a lack of understanding There is no proof required that economists commenting on farmer issues have reached an affliction point. When the counsellor one seeks advice from is as callous as saying that the farmers’ agitation was political and justifies it by citing declining farmer suicides and rising farmer prosperity (‘Just why are farmers rioting?’ by Surjit Bhalla, IE, June 10), one can’t...

-The Indian Express Several farmers’ outfits, which met in Delhi on Monday, have also announced that they would launch a jail bharo agitation from August 9, on which date the Quit India Movement began in 1942. Chandigarh: FARMERS from Haryana and other states, who have been agitating on host of issues, will reach Delhi on July 3 to gherao the Niti Aayog office in the national capital and start an indefinite dharna...