In its 2014 election manifesto, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), among other things, promised to "take steps to enhance the profitability in agriculture, by ensuring a minimum of 50% profits over the cost of production". In his 2018-19 Union budget speech too, the Finance Minister Shri Arun Jaitley informed the Parliament that the 2014 election manifesto of the BJP had stated that the farmers should get at least 1.5 times the...

-Down to Earth Farmers and cold storage owners pay the price of producing and storing bumper crops as wholesale prices dip by 39-50 per cent in December Hit by low wholesale prices, potato farmers in Uttar Pradesh and Punjab have not been able to recover even the production cost of the crop as market price of potatoes crashed by 39-50 per cent in December 2018, shows the latest report on the crop...

-The Indian Express Villagers in western UP have started herding strays to schools in Agra, Aligarh and Mathura. FROM A distance, it seemed as if they were trying to break into Parag Dairy near the Hathras-Mathura highway, repeatedly banging on its locked metal gate. Except, it was a group of desperate villagers from nearby Hardpur, trying to get rid of a truckload of stray cattle Wednesday afternoon. They shouted and argued but...

-Hindustan Times Loan waiver provides strong disincentive for those who repaid loan on time and perverse incentive for default. But the most serious effect of the waiver is potential risk of fiscal slippage . India’s agricultural economy witnessed significant changes during the post reforms period, many of which were positive, but some were negative. Income of farmers could not keep pace with their aspirations and fast growth in the income of non-farm...

-The Indian Express Lowering production costs, and a policy shift from ‘managing shortages’ to ‘handling surpluses’, is the way forward for Indian agriculture The government wants farmers’ incomes to double in five years by 2022. While a laudable objective, the reality today is that farmers are suffering stress, if not shrinkage, in their incomes. The demand for loan waivers, and political pressures to implement these, is only a reflection of this...