-The Hindu Rather than just increased budgetary outlays, farmers need plans that will rescue them from crop failure Similar to the last two Budgets, this year’s pro-agriculture intentions are palpable through increased outlays to the agricultural sector and initiation of various programmes. They seem impressive, but closer scrutiny shows that the measures may be of little help to stem the tide of agrarian distress. There are some real challenges confronting three...

-Livemint.com Farmer organizations in Gujarat plan a five-day protest in Gandhinagar next month over allocation of Narmada waters, crop insurance and minimum support price Ahmedabad: Farmer organizations in Gujarat plan to hold a five-day protest in Gandhinagar next month to voice concerns over the allocation of Narmada waters and demands on issues such as crop insurance and minimum support price. “Despite repeated written presentations to Gujarat government, our issues have not been addressed....

-Livemint.com The strategy for doubling farmer incomes will differ from state to state, and from one region to another even within a state After two consecutive years of drought, in 2014-15 and 2015-16, farmers of many crops were hit by low market prices in several states in 2016-17. In view of widespread discontent, there is a sense of urgency about addressing their issues. Therefore, the conference organized by the ministry of agriculture...

-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...

-The Hindu Business Line Good kharif crop, govt thrust on agri and rural segments boost sector’s Q3 performance Chennai: Encouraged by the continuing momentum in sales, the tractor industry hopes to end the current fiscal with highest-ever domestic volumes close to 6.8 lakh units. The industry’s previous highest domestic number was in 2013-14 when domestic sales stood at 6.34 lakh units. Tractor companies and industry analysts project a growth rate of 17-18 per cent...