Media Monitor
Agriculture Industry
Centres hikes MSPs for Rabi cropsedit
Although the recommendations of the Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices (CACP) on the hike were accepted, the cabinet added bonus of Rs 200 per quintal for gram, Rs 150 per quintal for masur, Rs 100 per quintal for oilseeds to send strong signal to farmers to increase cultivation area and invest more for increase in productivity of these crops to decrease the reliance on their import.
Wilting crops, a river running dry: Wayanad, Kerala’s picturesque hill station, faces severe droughtedit
The government of Kerala last month declared all 14 districts in the state drought-hit. The situation will worsen if Wayanad, which faced 59% deficit rainfall during the Southwest monsoon (June to September), does not make up for this in the ongoing Northwest monsoon.
West Bengal to transfer money directly to bank account of farmers for procurement of paddyedit
West Bengal food and supplies department has decided to transfer money for procurement of paddy directly to the bank account of farmers. The step has been taken so that farmers do not get unnecessarily harassed while collecting cheques and again while depositing them in the branch where they have their accounts.
Government Hikes Prices Of Wheat, Pulsesedit
The government on Tuesday increased the minimum support price (MSP) of wheat by Rs. 100 to Rs. 1,625 a quintal and pulses by up to Rs. 550 per quintal to boost output of these rabi crops and check prices. The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA), chaired by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has given its approval for the Minimum Support Prices (MSPs) for all rabi (winter- sown) crops of 2016-17.
Making agriculture profitableedit
Agriculture has become a negative economic proposition forcing the farming community into perennial debt-trap. Andhra Pradesh and Telangana are the leading states in terms of peasant indebtedness. It’s unbecoming of these progressive states to have this dubious distinction. Reviving the agrarian economy has been the focus of many commissions.
‘Per capita milk production may go up to 500g from 337g soon’edit
Farmers Fear Demonetisation Will Ruin Wheat Season As They Don’t Have Money To Buy Seedsedit
Vipin isn’t the only farmer facing this crisis as this is the story of all farmers across Punjab, Haryana, Western UP, Outer Delhi and other parts of north India where wheat is the prime Rabbi crop. Punjab and Haryana are among the top three wheat producing states in the country. According to farmers, as far as agriculture is concerned, the timing of the decision is awful.
Speaking up for dry-land farmers in Maharashtraedit
Sharad Pawar breached an unwritten rule of Maharashtra politics. Recently, he spoke about the woes of small farmers, albeit those in the irrigated belt. He regretted that a sugarcane farmer of barely two acres of land is often viewed as a rich farmer and that too, rather contemptuously. The statement implied the defence of state support for small farmers, a rare occurrence in the state-level political discourse.
Agricultural commitee sets target to raise pulses outputedit
The District Agricultural Strategy Committee (DASC) has set a target to increase productivity of different crops during the ensuing rabi season. As per reports, DASC has planned to grow paddy, pulses, oilseeds, vegetable and condiments in 66,800 hectares of land during the rabi season in 2016-2017. The area to be covered is nearly 1700 ha more than the 2015-2016 rabi season when crops were grown on 65,093 ha.
Telangana seeks Rs 7900cr loan from Nabard for pending projectsedit
Telangana Government sought a loan of Rs 7,900 crore from NABARD for completion of 11 pending irrigation projects in the state. State Irrigation Minister T Harish Rao made the request during a meeting with officials of NABARD (National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development), a government statement said.
India achieves 4.2% growth in milk production, says ministeredit
India has achieved 4.2 per cent average growth in milk production, against the world average of 2.2 per cent, Union Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Minister Radha Mohan Singh on Tuesday said. Milk production in India grew by 6.7 per cent in 2015-16, he added. Based on available statistics, the minister said the per capita availability of milk is likely to go up from the existing level of 337 gram to 500 gram daily by the year 2021-22.
‘Make use of agri societies to handle demonetisation process’edit
Since the ordeal of people in rural areas, particularly those from the farming community, is continuing with the ongoing process of demonetisation, farmers have appealed to the RBI to utilise the service of primary agriculture cooperative credit societies (PACCS), which are well equipped with the required infrastructure for rupee exchange.
Green signal for farmers: Rabi crops see spike in support priceedit
The government has announced a big increase in support prices for most rabi crops and given a strong signal to plant more oilseeds and pulses for which official agencies will pay 10- 16% higher rates than last year, a move officials said would boost farm incomes significantly.
Bosch sees growth potential in Indian agriculture marketedit
Bosch Rexroth India expects considerable growth potential in the country’s agriculture market as the nation is the biggest tractor market by numbers in the world. With the export of tractors from India increasing significantly, the company is well equipped to offer locally developed technology that would improve productivity and increase efficiency of farming activities.
CII Agro Tech to feature 12 countries, including Israeledit
Twelve countries, including partner country Israel, will feature their technology and agricultural innovations at CII’s biennial agro-technology and business fair, Agro Tech 2016, which begins here on Saturday. The four-day event will be officially inaugurated by President Pranab Mukherjee along with his Israeli counterpart Reuven Rivlin on Sunday.
Cash crunch: Farmers feel pinch, rabi crop at riskedit
Farmer community in Uttar Pradesh is feeling the pinch of Centre’s demonetisation move. From east UP to the western region and when rabi (winter crop) season has set in, limited availability of cash is threatening to hit sowing of wheat, the key rabi crop. While actual sowing figures will only be available by the end of November, experts are already anticipating a sharp decline.
Kharif farmers hit after RBI ban on District Central Cooperative banks over old notesedit
An RBI circular banning District Central Co-operative banks from accepting old currency has hit Kharif farmers in Maharashtra, who were looking to pay off their crop loan dues with the now-defunct notes, thus affecting recovery worth Rs 12,000 crore across the state. The farmers who have started selling their Kharif produce are mostly paid in cash by wholesale traders. Now, the amount with farmers (mostly in denominations of Rs 1,000 and Rs 500) is rendered useless for crop loan payments.