-The Hindu Several interventions are needed on the demand and supply side to alleviate farm distress Loan waivers remain the preferred solution for governments to tackle farm distress. S. Mahendra Dev and M. Govinda Rao talk about the inability of governments to think of long-term solutions to tackle farm distress, in a discussion moderated by Vikas Dhoot. Edited excerpts: * Despite farm productivity rising, severe distress in the sector is a concern. How...
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A wake-up call on proprietary seeds -Mrinalini Kochupillai & Gregory Radick
-The Hindu How India can shift its agriculture from a high-yield ideal to a high-value one When the news broke that PepsiCo was suing Small farmers in India for growing a potato variety that is used in its Lay’s chips, popular sympathies immediately went, of course, to the farmers. National and international pressure swiftly mounted, and in short order a humbled PepsiCo backtracked, announcing its withdrawal of the lawsuit. There was global...
More »Hard Look: Hot Potato -Sohini Ghosh
-The Indian Express Amid the ongoing controversy that erupted with PepsiCo India’s lawsuits against 11 farmers for growing its patented potato variety, The Indian Express meets the affected farmers to find the genesis of the problem . Among the 11 farmers of Gujarat who have been slapped lawsuits by PepsiCo India for “illegally” growing its patented potato variety FL 2027, are Fulchand Kachchhawa and his brother Suresh of Malgadh village in...
More »How a rural distress helpline in Telangana is preventing farmer suicides -Priyanka Richi
-TheNewsMinute.com Set up in 2017, Kisan Mitra provides counselling to distressed farmers and acts as a bridge between them and the government. “It was during the 2018 floods that we got a call from a farmer in Adilabad. The caller didn’t need any help for himself but said that his neighbour has been sitting in a corner of his field since morning with a bottle of pesticide in his hand. The...
More »PMFBY: Farmers Quitting Scheme But Premium Collection Rises -Subodh Varma
-Newsclick.in Latest data shows that insurance companies have pocketed over Rs. 10,000 crore surplus in two years. The number of farmers enrolled in the Modi government’s flagship crop insurance scheme (Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana or PMFBY) dipped further to 343 lakh in kharif (summer) crop season of 2018-19 year, according to latest information revealed at the annual Kharif Conference organised by the Agriculture Ministry in Delhi on April 25-26. When the...
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