-Newsclick.in The Nishad community says their people are no more awarded with fishing and sand mining contracts, which is posing a major threat to their traditional livelihood. Sonbhadra: On April 3, 2020, when the nationwide lockdown was in place to prevent the spread of coronavirus, Anil Kumar Sahni, 26, had stepped out with his cycle cart to sell vegetables. As he reached the road passing through his hamlet, he was caught by...

-Down to Earth Since its launch in 2016, India’s flagship crop insurance scheme has seen a consistent fall in acreage and number of farmers covered Even if a single farmer’s crop is damaged in a village he will get the benefits of insurance  - Prime Minister Narendra Modi had said while launching the government’s flagship Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY) from Madhya Pradesh in 2016. The words, however, mean nothing to the farmers...

-The Hindu Menace threatens to blunt BJP’s narrative among farmers this election Reacting to the stray cattle menace, which threatens to blunt the BJP’s narrative among farmers this election, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday promised voters in Uttar Pradesh that after March 10 (election result) a new policy would be introduced to deal with the issue. Mr. Modi, without giving any specifics, said the government would make the dung (gobar) of stray...

-Down to Earth The state is considering rolling out its own insurance programme for farmers Maharashtra may follow several other big states and opt out Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY), the Narendra Modi government’s much-vaunted crop insurance scheme. India’s second-most populous state may replace the central scheme with its own — a step already adopted by states like West Bengal. Farmer groups have already flagged irregularities in PMFBY at a February 1,...

-TheWire.in Despite increasing allocated funds, the Union government has been unable to significantly improve penetration of crop insurance in terms of enrolled farmers and insured areas. India’s agriculture sector, which provides employment to more than 50% of the labour force and contributes about 17% of the gross domestic product, currently faces multiple challenges. Smaller land holdings, unfavourable climate changes events, dismal public and private investment, low monthly incomes, a high proportion of...