-Down to Earth KV Prabhu says controversial changes noticed recently on his organisation’s website could have been made well before his tenure started The Protection of Plant Varieties and Farmers’ Rights Authority (PPV&FR) will work to protect farmers’ rights over plant varieties, its chairperson has reiterated to Down To Earth (DTE) after a controversy erupted recently over changes in its booklet. On December 10, 2019, farmer organisations and activists had sent a letter...
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In the farmer's name -Ajay Vir Jakhar
-The Indian Express Farmer unions need to expand the scope of their advocacy. Every day, a gold miner in Russia leaves a mine with a wheelbarrow full of sand. Every day, the guard thoroughly checks the sand. On his retirement day, the guard asks the worker, “I know you have been stealing something, but can’t figure out what it is”. The worker whispers back, “I wasn’t hiding anything in the sand,...
More »A potential seedbed for private profits -R Ramakumar
-The Hindu The new Seeds Bill is tilted against farmers’ interests and loaded in favour of seed companies. After passing through at least two versions, Seeds Bill 2019 is now under Parliament’s consideration. The earlier versions of the Bill, in 2004 and 2010, had generated heated debates. The present version promises to be no different. In 1994, India signed the agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS). In 2002, India also...
More »Bhupesh Baghel goes back on paddy MSP promise, blames Centre -Dipankar Ghose
-The Indian Express Earlier this month, Baghel met Union ministers, arguing that this leeway was given to the previous BJP government led by Raman Singh in 2016-17 and 2017-18. The Centre, however, has said that keeping the fiscal balance in mind, this is not possible. The Congress government in Chhattisgarh has said that it will acquire paddy at the Centre-mandated MSP of just over Rs 1,800 per quintal this season, instead...
More »RCEP's threat to agriculture staved off, but that does not solve the sector's problems -Siraj Hussain
-TheWire.in In the last five years, India’s exports of agricultural commodities have gone down from $43.25 billion in FY 2014 to $39.20 billion in FY’2019. The run-up to the RCEP leader summit in Bangkok last week was truly amazing. While farmers and trade union activists from both the Left and Right were opposed to India signing the RCEP, the government seemed to be in two minds. Indeed, senior ministers were reluctant...
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