Media Monitor
Agriculture Industry
BJP seeks farm loan waiver due to droughtedit
Accusing the Siddaramaiah government of showing apathy towards the issues faced by farmers, Opposition BJP today demanded in the Legislative Assembly that their loans be waived. Stating that the government should be working on a war footing when the state has been witnessing successive years of drought, Leader of Opposition Jagadish Shettar said the administration seems to have “collapsed”
‘Significant’ level of stubble burning in Haryana, Punjab: Governmentedit
There was “significant” level of stubble burning this year in Punjab and Haryana, however, there is no “conclusive” study to suggest that it “always” impacts quality of air in Delhi, Rajya Sabha was informed on Monday. The statement was made in a written reply given by MoS for Environment, Forest & Climate Change Anil Madhav Dave to a query.
Demonetisation brings demand for Rabi seeds to a grinding haltedit
Cash shortage among farmers due to demonetisation in India has badly affected Rabi crops’ seed demand which has almost come to a halt. According to National Seeds Association of India (NSAI), while there is sufficient stock of seeds available in the market, farmers are unable to pay for the same due to the cash shortage, thereby bringing seed demand to halt.
APMC trade volume is down 38 per centedit
The currency crunch resulting from denomination has hit trading in Agricultural Produce Marketing Committee (APMC) markets across Karnataka, bringing down the volume of trade by a sharp 38 per cent. While the volume of commodities transacted fell from 137 lakh quintals during November 1-8 to 85.1 lakh quintals from November 9-16, the value of the total trade went down from Rs. 633 crore to Rs. 414 crore during the same period.
Wheat up 15% in a month as traders build inventoryedit
MOBILE APP SOLUTIONS PAVE WAY FOR FARMER UPLIFTMENTedit
When youthful energy come together, innovative ideas and a fresh perspective is a natural bi-product. This was the theme behind the teams that competed to identify specific problems related to agriculture and framed mobile and web application solutions for the benefit of farmers at AgHack, held as part of CII Agro Tech 2016 here. Organised as part of the four-day agricultural expo, CII Agro Tech 2016, AgHack saw new ideas take wings and much brainstorming happening.
Stakeholders meet on agriculture developmentedit
MK Mero, Commissioner and Secretary, Veterinary and Animal Husbandary, Government of Nagaland inaugurated the stakeholder meet on agriculture development and agromet advisory services in Nagaland on November 21. Dr. SV Ngachan, Director, ICAR Research Complex for NEH Region, Umiam, Meghalaya, Dr. K Ghosh, Deputy Director General (Meteorology), Indian Meteorological Department, Government of India, Guwahati, Assam, Professor RC Gupta, Dean, NU-SASRD, Nagaland, Dr. Abhijit Mitra, Director, NRC on Mithun, Nagaland, Dr. G. Dhananjaya Rao, Dean, College of Veterinary, CAU, IP Khalla, Director, Department of Veterinary and Animal husbandry other dignitaries and farmers attended the event.
Make funds available to farmers through cooperatives: Arun Jaitley to banksedit
Government today asked banks to provide resources to cooperative institutions with which they are associated to meet cash requirements of the farm sector during the ongoing rabi season. “We had a discussion with RBI, Nabard and all public sector banks and the only item for discussion was with regard to transfer of resources to rural areas so that they will reach the farmers since the sowing season for rabi is on and a lot of this will happen through the cooperative itself,” Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said. “Nabard (National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development) has given details of immediate requirements on a weekly basis and it’s been decided that banks with whom the cooperatives are associated will ...
Even tractors will run on biogas in future: IIT professoredit
A conference on Making Indian Agriculture Sustainable was held as part of CII Agro Tech 2016 in Chandigarh on Monday. Three major elements – natural resource management, climate smart agriculture and renewable energy – were discussed at separate sessions. “A holistic view needs to be taken of the issue based on our agriculture system, where animals are also important. I have been driving my own car with biogas at IIT-Delhi for five years now. An experiment is on for use in two-wheelers as well. We are working towards a day when tractors will run on biogas,” said professor VK Vijay, CRDT, IIT Delhi.
Indian rice farming older than China’s: Studyedit
Rice farming is supposed to have arrived from China in 2000 BC, but new research by British and Indian experts shows it existed in India centuries earlier, and suggests systems of seasonal crop variation that would have provided a rich and diverse diet for the Bronze Age residents of the Indus valley.
Demonetisation pain lifted off farmers, Centre allows payment for seeds in Rs 500 notesedit
Acceding to their demand, the Centre on Monday allowed cash-strapped farmers to pay for seeds using old R500 notes to mitigate risks to the rabi crop due to demonetisation of high-value notes. “In order to further support farmers for the current rabi crop, the government has decided to allow farmers to purchase seeds with the old high-denomination banknotes of R500 from the centres, units or outlets belonging to the central or state governments, public sector undertakings, national or state seeds corporations, central or state agricultural universities and the Indian Council of Agricultural Research, on production of proof of identity,” the government said. The new measure was in addition to last week’s decision to allow farmers to ...
Focus Should Be On Higher Agriculture Productivity To Boost Farmers’ Income: Arun Jaitleyedit
Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Saturday called for focus on higher agriculture productivity through use of the latest technology and high-yielding crop varieties to help double farmers’ income by 2022. He also said there is a need to revisit the incentive structure of farming, besides focusing on reducing wastage and improving marketing of farm produce.
We need to learn from Israel in agriculture, says President Pranab Mukherjeeedit
Diverting country’s attention towards limited water resources, President Pranab Mukherjee on Sunday said India needed to learn a lot from Israel, particularly in the field of agriculture about optimum use of resources. Addressing the inaugural session of Agro Tech—a four-day fair with focus on agriculture and allied sectors, organised by the Confederation of Indian Industries—the President said Israel managed to yield more harvest per drop of water, and has optimised its agricultural productions.
Technology in Agriculture
M&M opens Rs 150 cr warehouse facility in Jaipuredit
Mahindra & Mahindra today opened its Rs 150 crore spare parts warehouse in Jaipur to cater to customers in north and north western regions of the country for both automotive and tractor spare parts. Spread on 11-acre plot with an additional 5 acres for future expansion, the warehouse aims to significantly reduce the order processing time for North India customers.
Mahindra launches ‘tractor-on-call’ service in Gujaratedit
For a small farmer in North Gujarat, it is now a matter of just a phone call to get his farm tilled without investing in tractors or running after the ‘agents’ to arrange for a tractor and farm implements at his field. Automobile major Mahindra Group’s Farm Equipment Sector on Monday announced the launch of TRRINGO in Gujarat to facilitate hiring of tractors and farm implements through its custom hiring center at Chiloda near Gandhinagar.