The Pioneer

Powered by a mammoth verdict from the vast hinterland of India despite a serious agrarian crisis, the first thing that Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s new Cabinet did was to send a message to the farmers that he cared about them and was thankful for trusting him with their mandate. Ground reports have indicated that direct cash transfers had significantly swung the vote, topping a slew of other programmes like Awas and Ujjwala. So the government has extended the PM-KISAN scheme, which promises poor farmers an annual payout of Rs 6,000 in three instalments, to all farmers.

Hindustan Times

Agrarian distress had emerged as a big narrative, and a possible spoiler in the re-election bid of the Narendra Modi government. With an overwhelming victory in the 2019 elections, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has conquered all possible headwinds the farm sector might have generated. However, this electoral victory should not be inferred as an indication that all is well in Indian agriculture. It will be better if the new government, with a much higher political confidence than its previous avatar, works towards resolving the problems in India’s farm economy with a longer-term vision as opposed to the fire-fighting it might have had to do before the elections. Doing this is not going to be easy. One ...

Financial Express

Income support schemes for farmers are in vogue and are threatening to aggravate the government’s fiscal stress, but these could become more than affordable if the various existing direct and indirect subsidies for agriculture are removed.

The Times of India

Farmers in Indore division are seen expanding the acreage under maize by around eight per cent this kharif or summer season lured by record high prices. Sowing for summer season usually starts with the first monsoon shower but in few pockets with irrigation facility, sowing has already started.

Mint

By now, the well-established laundry list of the Narendra Modi government’s economic reform accomplishments in its first term in office reads: Goods and Services Tax (GST); Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC); and Monetary Policy Framework Agreement (MPFA) to enshrine inflation-targeting administered by a Monetary Policy Committee (MPC). Of this tripod, the first two legs are already shaky, as the GST has proved cumbersome and distorting, and fallen short of its revenue target, and the IBC has been all but gutted by unfavourable court rulings. Unfortunately, there is a serious danger that the MPFA, the one genuinely original and important policy reform of the Modi government that was not an inherited legacy from the previous government, will also be ...

The News Minute

With the kharif season soon approaching, officials in Telangana are gearing up to tackle a looming threat in the state – Herbicide Tolerant (HT) cotton seeds. In a state where cotton is one of the main crops grown, the officials don’t want to take any chances.

The New Indian Express

Farmers in the State need not deposit their Pattadar Passbooks with the banks for obtaining crop loans from this Kharif onwards. The Chief Commissioner Land Administration (CCLA) portal will be made available to bankers within ten days time, so that bankers can login and disburse crop loans to farmers.