-The Times of India NEW DELHI: Amid a flurry of farm loan waivers, financial institution Nabard has written to states advising them to ensure that dues of banks that actually write-off the loan are immediately cleared to ensure that the credit cycle is not broken. The move follows the experience of several lenders in Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu, where the dues have remained pending although they had written off the loans...

-The Hindu Bengaluru: Former Finance Minister P. Chidambaram on Friday said farm loan waiver is “imperative” given the agrarian crisis in the country and the economists critical of the scheme should do farming on two acres of land for 10 years before commenting on it. “Economists who are criticising farm loan waiver must experience what farming is in this country. Take two acres of land and do farming for 10 years and...

-The Hindu Business Line Govt announces Rs. 2/kg subsidy to farmers who were selling their produce at low prices Mumbai: In a relief to the distressed onion growers in Maharashtra, the Fadnavis government on Thursday decided to provide ?2 per kg subsidy on the bulbs sold from November 1 till December 15 in the State. About three lakh farmers stand to gain up to Rs.40,000 from this decision by the State government. The money,...

-The Hindu Business Line Two crore hectares of land affected in these States, says Agriculture Ministry Pune: Maharashtra and Karnataka are facing a severe drought this year, according to data from the Union Ministry of Agriculture. Twenty-four out of 30 districts (80 per cent) in Karnataka and 26 out of 36 districts (72 per cent) in Maharashtra are reeling under water scarcity and crop failure. Andhra Pradesh, Jharkhand, Gujarat and Rajasthan have also...

-Livemint.com Declining income, shrinking farmlands, rise in number of dependents on existing holdings add to farm woes Bengaluru: Since 2000, Karnataka has put nearly 200,000 hectares of farmland to non-agricultural use, including for industrial, residential and infrastructure projects. Besides shrinking farmlands, the number of dependents on existing land holdings have also increased considering little employment opportunities elsewhere. From 1.312 million hectares in 2000-01 (cumulative), the total land put to non-agricultural use has risen...