-Business Standard Ex Plan panel member also says demonetisation took a huge toll on cultivators and labourers; favours loan waivers, is skeptical about cash support scheme New Delhi:  Former member of the erstwhile Planning Commission, Abhijit Sen, has said that the ambitious aim of doubling farmers’ incomes is impossible target in the period the government has set for it. Addressing an Economics Summit organised by Sri Ram College of Commerce in Delhi,...

-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...

-Financial Express With the 2019 Lok Sabha elections approaching, the government plans to offer a stimulus package in the form of agricultural investment support scheme and group insurance to farmers, which could otherwise subsume the fumes of the farm loan waiver burden. Can the government consider Telangana’s Rythu Bandhu Scheme (RBS) on a scaled down version? RBS has a grant component of Rs 4,000 per acre per farmer for one season (kharif/rabi)....

-The Economic Times NEW DELHI: Farmers could get annual income support of Rs 15,000 per hectare if the Niti Aayog’s proposal for an upfront subsidy through direct benefit transfer is accepted, said people with knowledge of the matter. The Aayog has suggested that all subsidies for agriculture, including fertiliser, electricity, crop insurance, irrigation and interest subvention be replaced by income transfer. Telangana and Odisha have adopted income support to help alleviate agrarian...

-The Indian Express The existing MSP-based procurement system is fiscally unsustainable. The time has come to consider market intelligence-based regulation of crop production Farmers are always in distress when prices of their produce are subdued. The response of governments, obviously prompted by political pressures, has been to sharply hike minimum support prices (MSP) of crops or declare loan waivers. Thus, the current government at the Centre has significantly raised the MSPs of...