-The Hindu 35 lakh poultry birds killed in Odisha The initial estimate of Cyclone Fani’s damage to standing crops in Odisha has been pegged at Rs. 150 crore, but the State Agriculture Department warns that the destruction of storage facilities and harvested crops stored in the open could further spike those losses. Low insurance penetration could also exacerbate farmers’ losses, especially in the poultry sector. “Because of the advance warning, it was possible to...

-The Hindu Business Line Activists say the fight to establish farmers’ right to seeds will continue Ahmedabad: The battle of a multinational-versus-farmers over potato seeds came to an end on Friday, with PepsiCo India Holdings Pvt Ltd withdrawing cases against nine farmers filed in two Gujarat courts. On Friday, PepsiCo sought an early hearing in the cases of Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) infringement and applied to withdraw the law suits. It had filed...

-The Hindu Business Line New Delhi: A section of agricultural scientists, activists and farmer leaders has alleged that there is an undesirable attempt to align India’s Protection of Plant Varieties and Farmers’ Rights (PPR&FRA) 2001 with the International Union for the Protection of Plant Varieties (UPOV), even though the country has no legal obligation to do so. In a letter written to Union Agriculture Minister Radhamohan Singh and PPR&FR Authority Chairperson KV...

-The Hindu The NITI Aayog, in its reply to the Election Commission, is learnt to have denied the allegations of the Opposition parties that it helped Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s office get details of places where he was to hold rallies. The Commission had written to the NITI Aayog Chief Executive Officer seeking its response on the complaints lodged by the Congress and the Aam Aadmi Party. They had alleged misuse of...

-The Hindu Several interventions are needed on the demand and supply side to alleviate farm distress Loan waivers remain the preferred solution for governments to tackle farm distress. S. Mahendra Dev and M. Govinda Rao talk about the inability of governments to think of long-term solutions to tackle farm distress, in a discussion moderated by Vikas Dhoot. Edited excerpts: * Despite farm productivity rising, severe distress in the sector is a concern. How...