Financial Express

Farm loan waivers—of more than Rs 850 billion in FY18 and FY19, announced by various state governments—are the flavour of the season. This can affect credit offtake and induce further stress for banks and amount to another agrarian crisis. Farm sector NPAs accounted for 16% of banks’ advances under the priority sector lending in October 2018. Post the early waiver-announcements, credit growth in agriculture and allied activities has been a meagre 2.9% between April and October 2018, and 8% on a y-o-y basis. In FY17, the credit growth reported was 13%, followed by 5.5% in FY18.

Business Standard

With the 2019 Lok Sabha elections in mind, the government is looking at a sort of income support scheme for farmers, along with tweaking some existing programmes, to make them more beneficial and improve their acceptability among growers.

The New Indian Express

The agriculture sector in the state has suffered a double whammy with drought conditions continuing in the North East (NE) monsoon season as well. As a result, the state government has decided to declare drought in 156 taluks in the Rabi season, of which 95 taluks are affected by severe drought.

DNA

After BJP’s loss in the recent state assembly elections, Kishor Tiwari, chairman of the Vasantrao Naik Sheti Swavlamban Mission, a task force appointed by the state government to address farmers’ distress, submitted a ten-point agenda to Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis to address rural distress before the 2019 general elections.