-Down to Earth The Centre had announced a scheme in the 2018-19 budget to upgrade rural haats so that small farmers could get fair prices for their produce It has been two years since an ambitious programme to convert 22,000 rural haats into Gramin Agricultural Markets (GrAMs) was launched. But only 1,251 have come up till now. This is barely six per cent of the target. Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar told...

-Newsclick.in Farmer leaders cut up as Centre has not yet tried to open up dialogue on remaining demands with the 5-member committee. New Delhi: After a day-long meeting at the Singhu Border, the core committee of the Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM) on Monday said that farmers’ leaders had so far received only verbal assurances from the Union government and it remained non-committal on any written statement for withdrawal of criminal cases and...

-The Tribune Farmers are use homemade alternatives for cultivation;  state government records say 146,438 farmers, including 14,000 apple growers, in the hill state are doing natural farming either partially or fully, over 8,268 hectares Shimla: Amid the widespread shortage of fertilisers in the ongoing planting season in several states largely owing to spiking international prices, farmers in Himachal Pradesh are using homemade alternatives for cultivation that are not only safer for the...

-News18.com A team constituted by Bijnor District Officer Umesh Kumar is investigating the matter. A portion of the proposed seven-and-a-half-kilometre road, constructed by the Irrigation Division in Uttar Pradesh’s Bijnor, broke at the time of the inaugural ceremony. The incident occurred in the presence of the BJP MLA Suchi Chaudhary. The government had sanctioned an amount of Rs 1,16,38000 for the construction of the road. Following the embarrassing situation, the district magistrate...

-Livemint.com We do need reforms to make farming remunerative again but it will take a truly participatory effort On 19 November, in a sudden announcement, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the withdrawal of three contentious farm laws passed by Parliament last September. And they were repealed on the very first day that the House convened for its winter session. Like the way they were passed last year, the repeal was also done...