-The Indian Express The main problem for farmers today is not production or having sufficient crop to sell. Instead, it has to do with prices that they are getting for their produce. The Met Department has forecast a third-in-a-row “normal” south-west monsoon this year, thanks to the very low probability of an El Nino event — the abnormal warming of the equatorial eastern Pacific Ocean waters, which is known to adversely impact...

-The Indian Express Falling rates in March stumps industry in month synonymous with high prices. Pune: Since February, Deepak Pawale, who runs a poultry farm at Retavadi village in Khed taluka of Pune district, has been selling 45-day-old birds weighing 2-2.5 kg each at well below his estimated production cost of Rs 70 per kg. “The traders aren’t ready to pay higher rates, as they tell me that their sales have slowed down,”...

-The Economic Times PUNE: Chana farmers stand to lose Rs 6,170 crore as they have not received the government assured minimum support price (MSP) for a good chunk of their crop, according to the ‘loot calculator’ of Jai Kisan Andolan (JKA), a movement which works for farmers’ rights. The Andolan, launched by Yogendra Yadav founded Swaraj Abhiyan, has gleaned this crop of data based on an expected production of 1,110 lakh quintals...

-The Times of India NEW DELHI: Prices available to farmers for their harvest could increase by about 15% as a result of the budget announcement to hike the Minimum Support Price (MSP), according to an estimate prepared by government’s think tank Niti Aayog. This is likely to raise the income of farmers by 24%, it has projected. While proposing three options in a draft document titled “Ensuring MSP Benefits to Farmers”, the...

-The Hindu Farming must be treated as a market-based enterprise and made viable on its own terms The week-long farmers’ march which reached Mumbai earlier this month, on the anniversary of Gandhi’s Dandi March of 1930, was unprecedented in many ways. It was mostly silent and disciplined, mostly leaderless, non-disruptive and non-violent, and well organised. It received the sympathy of middle class city dwellers, food and water from bystanders, free medical services...