-The Telegraph In the long term, the only real solution to rural distress is to shift labour to more productive segments of the economy It has turned into an open season for farm loan waivers. Less than a week after assuming office, Congress governments in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh have announced the waiver of crop loans up to two lakh rupees per farmer. The Congress president, Rahul Gandhi, has thrown down...

-Livemint.com Loan waivers and the promise to raise MSP cannot solve the problem The victory of Congress party in the recent assembly elections of Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan has brought the agrarian crisis in rural areas to the centre of political debate. While there are several factors in election victories, the severity of the agrarian unrest was surely a major factor. While there is consensus that the incumbent Bharatiya Janata Party...

-The Hindu Business Line Govt announces Rs. 2/kg subsidy to farmers who were selling their produce at low prices Mumbai: In a relief to the distressed onion growers in Maharashtra, the Fadnavis government on Thursday decided to provide ?2 per kg subsidy on the bulbs sold from November 1 till December 15 in the State. About three lakh farmers stand to gain up to Rs.40,000 from this decision by the State government. The money,...

-Livemint.com Declining income, shrinking farmlands, rise in number of dependents on existing holdings add to farm woes Bengaluru: Since 2000, Karnataka has put nearly 200,000 hectares of farmland to non-agricultural use, including for industrial, residential and infrastructure projects. Besides shrinking farmlands, the number of dependents on existing land holdings have also increased considering little employment opportunities elsewhere. From 1.312 million hectares in 2000-01 (cumulative), the total land put to non-agricultural use has risen...

-TheWire.in Implementing the loan waiver in Chhattisgarh, MP and Rajasthan will not be easy. It will cost Rs 80,000 crore and might need the states to double the spending on agriculture. New Delhi: On Monday, the newly appointed chief minister of Madhya Pradesh, Kamal Nath, proudly announced that his first executive decision was to waive farm loans in the state. While campaigning for the assembly elections, the Congress party had promised that if...