-Down to Earth The development will directly benefit chickpea farmers, who are likely to get higher price for chickpea crops this season There is some good news this Rabi season for farmers who grow chickpea (also known as gram, chana). The Central government has imposed 50 per cent duty on the import of peas, in a bid to check cheaper import from Canada. The import of cheap peas directly affects chickpea farmers, as...

-The Indian Express Delhi air pollution: The current smog and poor air quality in the National Capital Region has been blamed in part on stubble burning by farmers, especially in neighbouring Punjab and Haryana. What is the genesis of the problem? What are its potential solutions? * How widespread is crop stubble burning? It is mainly confined to Punjab, Haryana and parts of western Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand, where farmers grow paddy and...

-The Indian Express The transition from a regime of ‘downward stickiness’ to ‘upward stickiness’ has relevance beyond economic jargon. Here’s how Agricultural commodity prices in India have traditionally exhibited what economists call “downward stickiness” — resistance to any declines, while rising at the slightest demand-supply imbalance. That conventional wisdom may have been turned on its head by demonetisation. The tendency now is for prices to be increasingly “sticky upward”. The accompanying table (right)...

-The Telegraph New Delhi: India will need to Quintuple its investments on tuberculosis control over the next five years for a "substantial impact", says a World Health Organisation report released on Monday. The report says that India will need to invest at least $3.4 billion (Rs 22,000 crore), or nearly five times the Rs 4,500 crore spent over the past five years. The estimated requirement translates into an annual spending of about...

-Livemint.com Madhya Pradesh government had launched the compensation scheme to ensure that farmers receive minimum support price for pulses and oilseeds New Delhi: An ambitious scheme launched by the Madhya Pradesh government to ensure that farmers receive minimum support prices (MSP) for pulses and oilseeds is falling prey to trader cartels, suggest price data from wholesale markets and testimonies by farmer organizations. Following a sharp fall in crop prices over the past year...