New Delhi, Nov. 8 -- On Wednesday, retail onion prices crossed ~100 per kg in Delhi. The central government has announced that it will import onions to control prices. On the same day, the Supreme Court came down heavily on the Haryana, Punjab and Uttar Pradesh governments for their failure to prevent stubble burning by the states' farmers. The smoke from such activities is a major factor in exacerbating pollution levels in north India including the national capital. Though they seem to be disparate, these two developments are actually proof of deepening fault lines in India's agrarian economy. These fault lines are rooted in the contradiction between the state trying to keep food prices low (at the behest of consumers) and farmers doing all they can to improve their incomes....