-DNA India is expected to bear the brunt of $160 billion trade-distorting farm subsidies provided by developed nations like the US At a time when angry farmer protests seeking an increase in the Minimum Support Price (MSP) for all crops is on an upswing, India faces an uphill task to protect its food procurement operations at the forthcoming Buenos Aires Ministerial of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) from December 10-13. At...

-Livemint.com Hundreds of farmers came to Delhi to tell their stories, but their problems are similar: crop failures, rising debt, losses from farming due to low crop prices leading to suicides New Delhi: A copy of the Telugu daily Sakshi, dating back to 2015, is M. Lakshmi Devi’s constant companion. The newspaper, a part of which is stained by tea, contains a report about the suicide of a debt-burdened farmer—her husband. “We had...

-The Indian Express Governments have not acted on recommendations of committees on farmer welfare How many more farmers must die before the prime minister condescends to take notice? How many rats must the protesting Tamil Nadu farmers at Jantar Mantar eat before the government acts? How many more fake farm loan waiver schemes will be announced before the cabinet realises that farmers cannot be fooled anymore? Despite 300,000 farmers taking their lives...

-Hindustan Times The design of large injections of public funds for India’s agriculture economy needs to be informed with rigorous evaluations on what is effective for higher farm productivity. A wage subsidy for farm-labour is one modification that needs an evaluation, to generate evidence to inform how the MGNREGA policy generates employment when there is need, but without stress to farm production Indian agriculture is witnessing a period of complex socio-economic distress,...

-The Hindu Business Line Market rates have fallen below MSP levels due to demonetisation hangover, poor offtake Bengaluru: The Narendra Modi government is finding it hard to live up to its promise of doubling farm incomes by 2022 given the challenge it faces in addressing the unremunerative prices of farm produce. The kharif harvest began a little over a month ago, and already the prices of a majority of the crops have slipped...