-The Hindu Rabi marketing season kicks off in Punjab Saturday but, until Thursday, the state and central governments had been locked in a tussle over the mode of payment to farmers. Chandigarh/New Delhi: A “threat”, some fireworks, and a concession — it was after a super-charged two-hour meeting between its ministers and Union Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution Minister Piyush Goyal Thursday that Punjab finally agreed to introduce direct benefit transfer...
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COVID-19 Lockdown: Impact on Agriculture and Rural Economy -Vikas Rawal, Manish Kumar, Ankur Verma and Jesim Pais
-Society for Social and Economic Research Monograph 20/3 Key Messages Lack of planning and preparation by the Central government for tackling the COVID-19 pandemic has dealt a massive blow to India’s economy and has caused enormous hardships to working people of the country. Harvesting of Rabi crops • Unplanned and sudden imposition of the lockdown resulted in a massive and unprecedented disruption to agricultural activities such as harvesting, sale of agricultural produce, and purchase...
More »For Haryana's farmers, MSP is only an illusion -Rajalakshmi Nirmal
-The Hindu Business Line Commission agents, who procure paddy, pay less than the MSP. There is no moisture testing or correct weighment. Is there a nexus all round? It is widely perceived that MSP operations in Haryana are quite effective and farmers there are a happy lot. But the reality is quite different. In the last paddy season, many farmers in Karnal’s Taraori, the largest grain mandi in Haryana, got only Rs.1,750/quintal...
More »Punjab farmers plagued by pests and payment crunch -Aesha Datta
-The Hindu Business Line Sangrur and Samrala: In normal times, the grain mandi of Samrala is abuzz with the hum of agrarian commerce. These days, however, it lies virtually vacant, with only a handful of farmers coming to sell their produce. Joginder Singh Sahni says that usually the mandi is full of wheat and rice farmers selling their goods. Commission agents and other links on the commercial chain add to the...
More »Post-demonetisation: Punjab farmers weather storm - with help from arhtiyas -Anju Agnihotri Chaba
-The Indian Express Credit, payment in old notes from Grain Commission Agents ensures normal rabi planting operations. Jalandhar: Punjab farmers have so far got only about Rs 19,350 crore, out of the Rs 24,915 crore that was due for the 16.50 million tonnes paddy they had supplied to government agencies in the recent kharif procurement season at the minimum support price (MSP) of Rs 1,510 per quintal. But even with pending payments of...
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