-The Hindu Why are farm unions seeking a minimum support price for all crops? What are the terms of the committee set up to look into their demands? The story so far: After a year-long agitation on the borders of Delhi, protesting farm unions under the banner of the Samyukt Kisan Morcha have achieved their headline demand, namely the repeal of three contentious laws seeking to reform the storage and marketing of...

-The Telegraph Risks and rewards of a green transition At the CoP26 in Glasgow, India pledged to net-zero carbon emissions by 2070, with specific commitments at a shorter horizon to obtain half its energy from renewables and lower the carbon intensity of the economy by at least 45 per cent from 2005 levels as well as the total projected carbon emissions by one billion tonnes by 2030. The commitment to a low-carbon...

-The Telegraph The cut was announced a day after the declaration of by-election results in 29 Assembly seats and 3 Lok Sabha seats, wherein BJP suffered setback in some states The Narendra Modi government has finally buckled under pressure from consumers, voters and the Opposition and slashed excise duties on petrol by Rs 5 a litre and on diesel by Rs 10 a litre. From Thursday in Calcutta, the price of petrol will...

-Down to Earth Incentivising farmers to sell solar power as a remunerative crop can help reduce the usage of diesel pumps The irrigation-energy nexus in India's agriculture sector is characterised primarily by depleting groundwater and a growing debt burden of power distribution companies (DISCOM). This is due to massive power subsidies that remain underfunded by the states.   The Government of India (GoI) has been promoting solar irrigation pumps by offering substantial investment...

-The Telegraph This year, a combination of factors is hurting the agriculture sector immensely A quiet, reverse transformation is happening in the countryside, and it is disconcerting. This sowing season, growing numbers of farmers are falling back on their bullocks as fuel prices are piercing the roof. The tractor, the symbol of modern farming, is becoming a luxury in the literal sense. The conventional ploughing equipment tied to bullocks costs only a...