-TheWire.in At a time when the Rabi crop is ready for Harvest and the Kharif crop will be sown, quick and effective policy responses are required. Amidst the COVID-19 crisis, India has announced a nationwide 21-day lockdown, shutting down all businesses except essential services. The government has assured that the supply of food items and other necessities won’t be hindered during this period. While social distancing has been adopted as a measure...

-Mongabay.com * India’s ongoing lockdown to control the spread of coronavirus is threatening the agriculture sector as it overlaps with the time of Harvest. * The lockdown has derailed Harvest preparation and lack of agricultural labour to help in Harvest and restrictions on transportation of produce despite being given waivers as essential services. * Farmer leaders and agriculture experts criticised the relief package announced by the government to aid farmers impacted by the...

-Scroll.in Vegetable farmers are already reeling under losses and wheat farmers are worried about labour shortages. The wheat crop on Sukbhir Singh’s four acres of land 20 km from Ludhiana in Punjab will be ready for Harvest next week. Plentiful rain and an unusually cold winter, said the farmer, is set to increase the yields. But he is worried about the lockdown: would he be able to Harvest and transport the grain under...

-Newsclick.in As Harvest is on, labourers want to return to their villages since they are scared of being exposed to COVID-19 as mill owners have not provided them any facility, like water, food, shelter or sanitisers. Pune: Sanjay Aladar, 37, who is currently Harvesting  sugarcane at Palus village in Maharashtra, stays at the farm and shares a common toilet and washroom with other labourers. Scared of transmission of COVID-19 that is spreading...

-The Hindu Business Line Farmers may soon be able to sell their Harvested produce at farmgate, with the government adding new features on the electronic National Agriculture Market (eNAM) that bypasses the need for taking the produce to wholesale mandis. Agriculture Ministry on Thursday updated eNAM platform by adding two new software modules that would recognise trade from recognised warehouses using electronic negotiable warehouse receipts (eNWRs) and allow farmer producer organisations to...