-The Hindu Business Line Farmers have been borrowing from banks to repay lenders and reversing the cycle Ahmedabad: In the Saurashtra region of Gujarat, a saying goes: “A farmer is always indebted. He is born in debt and dies with a debt. What matters is how he manages this debt in his life.” There is a skew in Gujarat’s water resource distribution. Saurashtra covers 31 per cent of the State’s landmass but gets...

-Livemint.com BJP-led central government has raised import duties on a range of edible oils, ahead of the crucial Gujarat assembly elections New Delhi: Ahead of the crucial Gujarat assembly elections, the centre last week raised import duties on a range of edible oils, in a bid to support growers who are bearing losses due to plunging domestic prices. On 17 November, India, the largest importer of edible oils globally, raised import duties on...

-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...

-The Times of India NEW DELHI: The major changes in GST rates in the 28 per cent bracket and measures to simplify filing and compliance are seen as an effort by the government to correct an "image problem" dogging the tax reform in key consumer and trader constituencies ahead of the Gujarat elections. It was felt a perception had gained ground that middle class activities like eating out and items like cosmetics...

-The Hindu Business Line Scars on agriculture supply chain remain a pain point for commodity prices Bengaluru: A year after demonetisation, the cash-intensive agriculture sector is yet to fully recover from the impact. Cash continues to be the preferred instrument for rural and farm transactions, while alternatives such as cheques and bank transfers are seen making their presence felt in some quarters. The cautious agri-trade is still seen struggling with inventory management, as the...