-Down to Earth17 clusters have been chosen in 8 states to roll out the pilot of Operation Green, a Central scheme aimed to contain annual price distress of tomatoes, onion and potatoes Nine months after announcing ?Operation Green? to provide the rightful price to Farmer producers, the Union government has prepared guidelines to implement the operation. The scheme was devised to contain the annual price distress of tomatoes, onion and...

-The Hindu Farmers in Punjab continue to burn paddy stubble every winter despite a ban on the practice. Jacob Koshy and Vikas Vasudeva report on the compulsions that drive Farmers to adopt this method of clearing their fields and the efforts by the State administration to wean them off it The highway to Bibipur, a hamlet about 50 km from Patiala town, cuts through acres of paddy. Some of the rice stalk...

-The Hindu Business Line Expectation of loan waiver causes Farmers to stop payment against existing loans. They don’t buy insurance for the next season The Centre launched the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY) in January 2016. While crop insurance programmes in Indiahave been in place for more than four decades, interest among Farmers about insuring their crops has been low, which is reflected in the modest coverage level. According to latest data...

-Down to Earth After the state agriculture department recently passed an order, manufacturers, marketers and dealers in Punjab will not be allowed to sell the toxic chemical or its form The secretary, Department of Agriculture, Punjab ordered on October 23, 2018 that the herbicide glyphosate would now be regulated in the state. The department has taken the step based on reports of adverse health effects of this chemical. PGIMER in Chandigarh has...

-Down to Earth The price of cereal, paddy and oilseed has crashed in more than 1,700 markets, according to government data On a vast farmland in Kalajhar mandi of Sangrur district, Punjab, Farmers are waiting to negotiate with traders who have rejected their paddy crop infected due to humidity. Chand Singh, 70, a Farmer who owns 4 hectares of farmland in Kalajhar village, says traders rejected 20 tonnes of paddy that he cultivated...