The Gujarat election results and more recently the Rajasthan by poll verdict has put the spotlight on the agrarian distress across India.
The Gujarat election results and more recently the Rajasthan by poll verdict has put the spotlight on the agrarian distress across India.
Finance Minister Jaitley promised a farm first budget and announced that minimum support prices would be fixed at least at 50 percent more than the cost of production. A matter that is currently under review at the Niti Aayog.
But to make matters worse, severe hailstorms in parts of Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Telangana over the past few days have led to more crop loss and damage.
Cultivation of pulses, fruits, wheat, cotton and edible oil has been severely impacted. Maharashtra, in fact is the worst affected, with as many as eleven districts hit by unseasonal weather.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has called for a high-level meet which will be attended by agriculture experts, economists, academicians and policy makers later this week to discuss ways of solving the problems plaguing the agriculture sector.
The meeting is scheduled on the 18th and 19th of this month and will also discuss methods to double farmer incomes by 2022 as promised by the government.
In an interview to CNBC-TV18, Yoginder Alagh, Economist and Former Chairman of the Institute of Rural Management, Anand (IRMA), Siraj Hussain, Former Agriculture Secretary, P Chengal Reddy, Secretary-General of the Consortium of Indian Farmers Association and Avik Saha, Leader of Swaraj Abhiyan charts out an action agenda ahead of the PM's meeting.
For entire discussion, watch accompanying videos.
