-Livemint.com Linking MSPs to a multiple of costs and ignoring other dynamics, such as demand and global prices, risks creating distortions and disincentivizing productivity Government policymaking seems to be making a volte-face from supporting consumers (by keeping food inflation low), to supporting producers (by raising food prices). In the 2018-19 Union budget, the government “decided to keep minimum support prices (MSP) for all unannounced crops of kharif at least at one-and-a-half times of...

-ThePrint.in Farmers’ bodies and experts say the key to any benefit to farmers lies in how the production cost or the cost of cultivation is calculated. Chandigarh: One of the most significant takeaways from the Union Budget presented by finance minister Arun Jaitley Thursday was the proposed increase the minimum support price (MSP) for all unannounced kharif crops to at least one-and-a-half times the production cost. The announcement is expected to directly impact...

-Hindustan Times Unless consumer preferences shift to climate resistant crops, goals associated with the policy won’t materialise After a gap of three years, the Karnataka government has reintroduced ragi/finger millet in its public distribution system (PDS). To feed the PDS system, the government has announced a procurement price much higher than the market price and introduced bonuses. With interventions on the sides of both production as well as consumption, the objectives are...

-Livemint.com Overall, while the government is trying to reform the fertilizer subsidy payment mechanism, the challenge is to make sure the new system works before implementation Union minister for chemicals and fertilizers Ananth Kumar’s ambitious plan to clear the fertilizer subsidy backlog before the implementation of the direct benefit transfer (DBT) scheme next fiscal year (FY19) has come as surprise to many. The huge subsidy backlog (estimated at Rs35,000 crore as of FY17)...

-Business Standard 80% of surveyed districts did not show any change in migration New Delhi: The Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MNREGA) has succeeded in creating livelihood assets but might not have a big impact in curbing migration -- one of its objective.   According to a survey conducted by Institute of Economic Growth (IEG), almost 78 per cent of households covered reported an increase in water table after building conservation...