-The Hindu Business Line Why is it up despite a bumper crop? New Delhi: The Centre on Monday said it is closely monitoring the price and availability of onions, as there is no reason for the price of the essential vegetable going up considering the bumper production this year. According to the third advance estimate of horticulture production, as much as 217.2 lakh tonnes of onion were produced in 2016-17, compared to the...

-The Indian Express A report, prepared by a Ministry of Rural Development (MoRD) committee states that wages under the rural employment guarantee scheme were last aligned to minimum wages in 2009, and that “there is no compelling reason to align MGNREGA and states minimum wages again”. New Delhi: THE PANEL for revision of wages under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) has recommended in its final report that there...

-The Hindu Business Line At an organic market in Odisha, middle-class consumers get to interact with the producers of their food and appreciate traditional knowledge systems One Sunday morning in January, I visited an organic produce market located amidst dense bougainvillea creepers and rows of trees, on the grounds of the six-decade-old Christian Hospital in Bissamcuttack, a town in western Odisha’s Rayagada district. In policy and public imagination, Odisha, particularly its western districts...

-The Hindu Providing food to the poor or targeted groups at subsidised prices is fully WTO-compatible Transformational changes are taking place in India currently, improving the way we live. These changes are impacting all our lives in small or significant ways. It is gratifying to know that the citizens at large are happy withthese changes. However, forsome who have fed themselves on the fodder that such changes are not for the near...

-Livemint.com Policy should focus not just on higher production but also on helping farmers manage risks Anybody who is dismissive of the wave of farmer protests across the country should first understand the difficult everyday economics of the Indian agriculturalist. Most farmers swim in a turbulent sea of risks against which they have almost no protection. The risks begin with sowing. The production in the months ahead is deeply dependent on weather conditions....