The Times of India The New Indian Express The Hindu

Gone are the days when the rubber farmer had to collect separate samples of top and bottom soils from representative locations in his holding and get it tested in laboratories to know their nutrient status, so that he could apply the correct dose of fertilizer.

The Indian Express

The deflation in vegetables and pulses is worrisome, as remunerative prices are necessary to sustain farmers’ interest in growing such crops, says a study by rating agency ICRA.

Hindustan Times

The farmers under the banner of Bharatiya Kisan Mazdoor Sangh headed by Shivkumar Sharma ‘Kakkaji’ will lodge their protest through practice of this yoga posture as their demands for loan waiver and better prices for the agriculture produce are yet to be met.

Financial Express

India is still predominantly an agrarian society, with over 50% of the country’s workforce engaged in agriculture and allied activities. However, the sector contributes a meagre 18% to the GDP, despite being the largest producer of fruits and vegetables, and the second-largest producer of foodgrains in the world.

India Finance News The Financial Express Shafaqna

This reported susceptibility had apparently led the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion to serve notice to Mahyco Monsanto Biotech India Ltd (MMB) — the licensing arm of the US life sciences giant — calling upon it to explain why the patent for the technology should not be revoked. Bollgard II technology, which involves introduction of Cry1Ac and Cry2Ab genes from Bacillus thuringiensis, a soil bacterium, into cotton plants, is claimed to confer resistance against three insect pests: American bollworm (Helicoverpa armigera), pink bollworm and spotted bollworm.

The Indian Express

The Maharashtra government Monday decided to extend its loan waiver decision to all farmers with an outstanding debt of upto Rs 1 lakh, irrespective of the size of agricultural land they are holding.

The Economic Times

Official think tank Niti Aayog has urged the government to link part of the financial grant given to states under Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana to agriculture reforms implemented by the states, an official said.

Money Control

The Indian government unfortunately uses Minimum Selling Price (MSP) for pricing some crops, which does not take into account the actual cost that is involved. A paper published by the Commission of Agriculture Costs and Prices on pricing policy of MSPs noted that it is not rooted in ‘cost plus’ pricing principle, though cost of production is certainly one of the important factors that go into the determination of MSPs.

Business Standard

The announcement has thus paved way for eventual total waiver of agricultural debts, which was a major poll promise of the Congress during the Punjab Assembly polls in March this year.

The Hindu Business Line

Amidst protests by farmers all over the country demanding higher minimum support prices (MSP) for their produce, the Centre has quietly has announced new floor rates for 14 kharif crops for 2017-18. However, the rates are only marginally higher than those of the previous season.

Financial Chronicle

Ahead of assembly elections in Gujarat and Karnataka, the prime minister’s office is believed to have directed the finance ministry to study the whole issue of farm loans and work out a formula by which the government is able to announce a waiver scheme around August 15.

The Times of India

Officials in the agriculture welfare department said that government is already spending Rs 35 to 40,000 crore on farmers under various welfare schemes and programmes. After the recent sops, expenditure on individual schemes would reach up to Rs 23,000 crore a year which would put an additional burden of Rs 5,000 crore on the state exchequer.

The Economic Times

Official think tank Niti Aayog has urged the government to link part of the financial grant given to states under Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana to agriculture reforms implemented by the states, an official said.

The Economic Times

The current situation of farmer is worrisome, but who has brought this situation? In past two years we have speeded up work to empower farmers. The monsoon has begun well. Are we expecting a bumper harvest?

The Times of India Business Standard ABP

For debt relief to farmers for loans raised from non-institutional resources, the government has decided to review the ‘Punjab Settlement of Agriculture Indebtedness Act’ to provide the desired relief to the farmers through mutually acceptable debt reconciliation and settlement, which shall be statutorily binding on both the parties, the lender and the borrower.

The Times of India

In an exclusive interview to ET, his first major media interaction since the farmers’ agitation in the state made headlines, Chouhan said farmers want good prices for their crops, and blamed ‘anti-social elements’ for the recent violence. The assertion is in sharp contrast to the farm loan waivers offered by the CMs of Bharatiya Janata Party-ruled Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra.

Financial Chronicle

Over 260 million farmers depend on monsoon to grow crops such as rice, cane, cotton, corn and soybeans bec­a­use nearly half of India’s farmland lacks irrigation. In June 1-14, the country received 5 per cent more rains at 88.7 mm whereas the normal rainfall stood at 84.6 mm, the India meteorological department (IMD) data showed on Monday.

Hindustan Times MINT

Packaged food companies will soon have to disclose details of genetically modified (GM) ingredients used in processed food on labels. The country’s food regulator, Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI), is working on the final guidelines on the labelling of GM foods, its CEO Pawan Kumar Agarwal said.