-Livemint.com * Market participation is meaningless without information. Should every Indian farmer get a smartphone? * Without internet connectivity and market intelligence, the transaction cost associated with selling in places outside the local market are higher than the value of the produce FATEHPUR: Kamlakant is a smallholder farmer in Daulatiyapur village of Fatehpur district in Uttar Pradesh. He is an enthusiastic vegetable cultivator and every season, he searches for answers to three basic...

-TheWire.in In conversation with Avik Saha, co-founder of the Swaraj Abhiyan. New Delhi: As the Lok Sabha passed three controversial agricultural legislations, the country witnessed an outpouring of anger by the opposition parties, who alleged these bills are “anti-farmer”. Farmers and traders have been vehemently opposing the new changes brought in by the Central government, alleging the government wants to discontinue the minimum support price (MSP) regime in the name of reforms. Minister of...

-TheWire.in Farmers fear that the MSP regime will fall by the wayside and want it to be made a legal right. On Friday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi appealed to farmers across the country to ‘beware’ and not get swayed by ‘misinformation’ that they will not get fair prices for their crops. Over the last few weeks, farmers – largely in the states of Haryana and Punjab – have been protesting three agriculture ordinances...

-The Hindu Business Line Crops on over 21 lakh hectares damaged, Agri Min tells Parliament Bengaluru: Timely and quick spread of monsoon this year did help boost the kharif acreage, but the heavy spell of rains witnessed across several parts of the country over recent weeks are seen spoiling the party for several farmers this cropping season. “There have been extreme weather events in the form of heavy rains in some parts of...

-The Tribune 70% India imports almost three-fourths of its annual domestic consumption of edible oils KHARIF harvesting operations are going to begin soon. Agricultural production is likely to surpass last year’s record production by 7-8%. The higher production inevitably puts downward pressure on market prices. The problem of low harvest prices has been compounded by the steep fall in the GDP growth rate in the first quarter of 2020-21; it will reduce...