-Society for Social and Economic Research Monograph 20/3 Key Messages Lack of planning and preparation by the Central government for tackling the COVID-19 pandemic has dealt a massive blow to India’s economy and has caused enormous hardships to working people of the country. Harvesting of Rabi crops • Unplanned and sudden imposition of the lockdown resulted in a massive and unprecedented disruption to agricultural activities such as harvesting, sale of agricultural produce, and purchase...

-The Indian Express Third tranche of COVID-19 economic package: Not only can farmers sell to anyone and anywhere, but traders and processors, too, will be able to freely buy, stock and move any quantity of agri-produce within the country. Barely seven months after imposing limits on the maximum quantity of onion any wholesaler or retailer could keep, the Narendra Modi government on Friday announced what may turn out to be a defining...

-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...

-TheWire.in The move itself reveals a deep-seated pro-consumer and anti-producer bias that has been, in large part, the reason for the agriculture economy being in doldrums. New Delhi: The government has decided to import onions from ‘Pakistan, Egypt, China, Afghanistan or any other origin’, according to a Metals and Minerals Trading Corporation Limited notifications. Some concerns were raised about importing from Pakistan. “And why import from Pakistan? Is the Indian farmer a...

-The Hindu Business Line In an effort to reintroduce the bill seeking amendments in the Agricultural Produce Marketing (Development and Regulation) Act, the Maharashtra government has started discussions with stakeholders, including farmers’ leaders, traders and mathadi workers (head loaders). In the first meeting recently conducted by State Revenue Minister Chandrakant Patil, farmers’ leaders and traders reached an agreement on scrapping cess on the produce brought and traded in Agriculture Produce Market Committee...