-The Times of India MHOW: Faced with problem of lean margins for their produce in local markets, farmers of Harsola and adjoining villages in Mhow tehisl came together and tied up with middleman outside the state to become most prominent suppliers of quality produce to Delhi and Gujarat. In less than three years, nondescript villages have become hub of cauliflower trading and are now famously called gobhi gaon. It is a tale...

-The Times of India BATHINDA: Finding it difficult to repay his loan and facing damage to his cotton crop, a young farmer committed suicide on Thursday at a farmers' protest venue in Bathinda. Kuldeep Singh, 26, of Chughe Kalan village in Bathinda consumed a poisonous substance around 2am and died four hours later at a hospital. Kuldeep's family owns five acres of land and had taken another 13 acres on lease. He had...

-The Hindu Business Line Recently, the Telangana Agricultural Advisory Forum, consisting of a few university professors and scientists, deliberated on the causes and consequences of the drought and farmer ‘suicides’ in the State. The unofficial number of suicides attributed to farm families is 1,152. An inquiry into some of the recent suicides reveals an interesting picture. The farmers were not indebted to cooperative credit societies or commercial banks. The case of a...

-The Hindu Business Line NITI Aayog’s Arvind Panagariya on why allowing the Ordinance on land acquisition to lapse will not hinder the reforms process “With the lapse of the Ordinance amending the Land Acquisition Act, 2013, it is an opportune time to take a fresh look at the land acquisition issue and look for ways forward,” Arvind Panagariya, Vice-Chairman, NITI Aayog, wrote in his blog. Tasked with the responsibility of setting up...

-Economic and Political Weekly After coming to power in 2014, the National Democratic Alliance government took several measures to dilute the pro-poor provisions of the Land Acquisition Act of 2013. Though it has backed down, several questions remain over the way the Modi government has dealt with the issue of land acquisition. Santosh Verma (santosh.econ@gmail.com) is at the Council for Social Development, New Delhi. Land acquisition—by private corporations or the state—has raised vital...