-The Financial Express There are several facets to India’s weak pulse economy. Nevertheless, it is a glorious moment for the country as pulse production is expected around 22 million tonnes in FY17 surpassing all previous records. According to the initial estimates of the agriculture ministry, kharif production will reach 8.2 million tonnes against 5.4 million tonnes recorded in the last fiscal. This would be possible due to higher allocation of land to...

-The Indian Express Decentralised industrialisation, entrepreneurship from below have been absent in states that have seen recent unrest among agrarian communities. “The soil here is very saline with electrical conductivity value of 9. We can grow only chloride-loving crops like coconut and the MR-2 variety of mulberry.” That was Tamil Selvi, recently telling this correspondent about the 5.75-acre land farmed by her father Natarajan Gounder at Velayuthagoundanpudur, a small village around 25...

-The Times of India NAGPUR: "Farmers need to increase their land holdings to at least 10-12 acres in order to earn a decent income from agriculture. Unfortunately, not many farmers in the state own land up to this level," said Sukhdeo Thorat, the chairman of Indian Council of Social Science Research (ICSSR). Thorat, who was speaking at a seminar on farm crisis organized by Dr Ambedkar Agricos Association of India, said the...

-Business Standard The efficacy of farm debt waivers is ambiguous, but it has proved to be a potent potent weapon in the run-up to elections With elections round the corner in agrarian states of Uttar Pradesh and Punjab, Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi, his party’s Punjab chief ministerial candidate Amarinder Singh and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) chief Arvind Kejriwal are trying to woo farmers of the two states with promises of farm...

-The Hindu Business Line Hyderabad: Bayer’s takeover of Monsanto for $66 billion could trigger tremors in Indian agriculture. Stakeholders worry that the global consolidation will narrow choices for farmers. The merger will propel the merged entity into a leading player in the seed sector. Through their subsidiaries and joint ventures in India, the two firms will garner a major share in paddy, maize, vegetables and cotton and agrochemicals. “It will lead to concentration...