-The Hindu Business Line It is vital to cover the important and vulnerable section of tenant farmers with credit and insurance Tenant farmers rarely get bank credit. They don’t get any subsidies. Money lenders thrive on them because their loans cannot be waived. They also account for 80 per cent of farmers’ suicides in the country. With farmers taking to the streets to highlight their issues these problems should be addressed. State level...

-The Economic Times blog As policymakers debate what form of income support will cure India’s extensive farm distress, we have a study whose insights suggest that the right policy has to look beyond ratcheting up support prices to unsustainable levels and cash transfers to farmers. Agricultural policy is deeply flawed and calls for structural reform. This crisis can no longer be contained with band-aid. It calls for proper diagnosis and remedy. Such...

-The Indian Express Development professionals and policymakers have tried many a scheme to address these issues. One idea that has found resonance in recent times is Farmer Producer Organisations or FPOs. It is well-known that Indian farming is predominantly subsistence-oriented. Over 86% of our farmers operate individual holdings below two hectares, while cultivating 47% of the country’s total cultivated area. The production and productivity of these farms are generally low, and...

-Frontline.in Interview with Aruna Roy. ARUNA ROY is a well-known social and political activist. A former Indian Administrative Service officer, she resigned from the IAS in 1975 and has since worked with the most oppressed in society. Aruna Roy’s observation on government service is indicative of her future concerns: “Everyone calls it an elite service; I always felt the discourse should be a bit better than what it was. I was shocked...

-The Indian Express Implicitly taxed through restrictive marketing and trade policies, farmers need a stable income policy. The Narendra Modi government is entering its proverbial “last 10 overs”. All the stops are being pulled to win over targeted segments of society that could potentially bring the BJP/NDA back to office. One important segment, perhaps the largest one, is that of farmers. The attempt to woo them by announcing higher minimum support prices...