-Livemint.com Policy should focus not just on higher production but also on helping farmers manage risks Anybody who is dismissive of the wave of farmer protests across the country should first understand the difficult everyday economics of the Indian agriculturalist. Most farmers swim in a turbulent sea of risks against which they have almost no protection. The risks begin with sowing. The production in the months ahead is deeply dependent on weather conditions....
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Rains, tomato crisis: Will farmers be better off buying private insurance? -Subhomoy Bhattacharjee
-Business Standard Farmers are not getting enough protection as states mostly do not pay the premium they should With the rains falling in abundance and tomatoes refusing to do so, agriculture economy experts have a lot to say on what both mean for the sector. Both pose a risk to farmers — of floods and of lack of pricing power. Yet the farmers don't have much to fend those off since agricultural insurance...
More »Are farmer suicides on the wane? -Sayantan Bera
-Livemint.com 2016 recorded the lowest suicides in the farm sector in over two decades, shows data shared by agriculture minister Radha Mohan Singh New Delhi: There is little doubt that 2016 was replete with positive data on agriculture sector—a normal monsoon, record production of grains and perishables, and a rebound in the farm sector growth after consecutive years of drought-induced dismal performance. However, this positive data failed to lift farmers’ sentiment because...
More »Wholesale onion price surges 118% in two weeks -Tushar Pawar
-The Times of India NASHIK: The average wholesale price of onions has surged 118% over the past two weeks in Maharashtra, from Rs 571 per quintal on July 13 to Rs 1,250 on Thursday, an 18-month high. To stabilise the steady rise in the price of the kitchen staple, the Centre may increase its minimum export price (MEP). The Centre had withdrawn the $700/tonne MEP in December 2015 after a crash in wholesale...
More »The draft laws for organic foods, if cleared, will adversely affect small farmers -Chandra Bhushan
-Hindustan Times The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India’s new certification regulation is going to hinder the growth of the sector. Instead of targeting small farmers, why not make laws that require mandatory labelling of foods grown with pesticides, chemicals or GMO etc? The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) recently announced the Draft Food and Standards (Organic Food) Regulations, 2017, aimed at curbing sale of fake organic...
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