The Standard – Online

India has over the recent months witnessed one of the largest protests in world history, with farmers resisting plans by the government to overhaul the country’s agriculture sector.

Towards the end of last year the Indian Parliament debated and passed three sets of laws aimed at radically changing the agriculture sector, particularly liberalising the industry that is still largely government-controlled.

The three legislations signed into law by India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi are set to give farmers a free hand to sell their produce to buyers of their choice, away from the current system where they have to sell to government-run wholesale markets.

The Better India – Online

Shankar Jaat from Salera village Rajasthan is a traditional farmer, growing tomato, beans and wheat on his 1.25-acre land. However, the 45-year-old marginal farmer never earned more than Rs 60,000 a year, because unlike other fertile regions of India, the state’s harsh weather and arid climate conditions do not allow farmers to get surplus harvest. Shortage of water often limits farmers to only one crop rotation per year. They often rely upon the mercy of the monsoon for a good harvest.

However, over the years, Shankar has adopted scientific techniques that have now aided him in earning Rs 4 lakh a year, with the same crops on the same amount of land.

ANI News – Online

When India became free in 1947, the country’s population was around 340 million. The bulk of the population was involved in agriculture. During the Moghul rule, the land was owned by the emperor and the Jagirdars and Zamindars (/topic/zamindars) appointed by the Moghul controlled vast tracts of land for the purpose of collecting the land revenue. The farmers were virtually landless. I have seen these poor exploited souls walk towards the sheds of these landlords like cattle after the day’s toil to sleep for the night and get some rice and daal for food.

Business Insider India – Online

The Rajasthan government gives priority to the agriculture sector and a new “agriculture budget” will be introduced in the state from next year to fulfill the dreams of farmers, Agriculture Minister Lal Chand Kataria said on Monday.

Efforts are being made to provide all facilities to the farmers online through innovations. Also, the department is working to provide agricultural equipment on rent, Kataria said.

He was replying to the discussion on demand for grants in the state assembly following which the House passed over Rs 37.56 billion for agriculture and Rs 18.29 billion for animal husbandry departments by a voice vote.

YourStory – Online

Between 2017 and 2019, India lost crops grown on nearly 8.5 percent (or 18.16 million hectares) of its total arable land due to floods and excessive rains, according to data shared by the government in the Lok Sabha in February. This resulted in monetary losses to the tune of hundreds of crores of rupees for farmers. Crop loss, and, by extension, financial loss, is the leading cause of farmer suicides in India. And, with the world hurtling towards climate change, crop losses are only going to keep getting worse. In fact, environmental scientists have predicted that climate change can lead to a 1.5 percent decline in India’s GDP in the next nearly 10 years — and the farmer ...

The Indian Express – Online

The farmers’ movement invites us to revisit the trajectory of India’s agriculture so as to understand its real problems. Beginning in the mid-1960s, India and, especially, Punjab experienced a massive productivity boom as a result of widespread adoption of Green Revolution technologies. This transition was driven by public investment in irrigation and market infrastructure. Essential to the system’s success was the minimum support price, which incentivised the cultivation of wheat and rice. Area under paddy cultivation in Punjab jumped from 4.8 per cent of total cropped area in 1960-61 to 39.19 per cent in 2018-19.