The Hindu

Agriculture loans to the extent of Rs. 7.68 crore have been disbursed so far to 3459 farmers in the district during this cropping season.

DNA

I am glad the Government has taken several steps to help farmers obtain the necessary inputs. The monsoon and the market are the two major determinants of a farmer’s wellbeing. Of late, the monsoon is becoming erratic. The market is also very volatile particularly with reference to perishable commodities. Therefore, we should promote a monsoon-smart agricultural system in the 15 major agro-climatic zones of our country.

The Times of India

The farmers of Chitturpuzha irrigation project area who had taken up the second crop paddy cultivation in 20,000 hectares in October have abandoned it as the state government had failed to get its due share of 7.25 TMC feet water from Tamil Nadu under the inter-state Parambikulam Aliyar Project (PAP) Agreement.

The Hindu

Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Saturday said his government is committed to expanding rice cultivation in the State by three lakh hectares in five years. The Chief Minister, who explained the action plan while handing over paddy seedlings to labourers marking the launch of a large-scale kole land farming initiative at Avalapandy in Cheruvannur panchayat, said the State was currently going through a severe crisis with the shrinking of paddy cultivation to just 1.9 lakh hectares.

Business Standard

Government is keeping a close watch on temperature-sensitive wheat crop as the Met Department has predicted warmer winter this year, Agriculture Secretary Shobhana K Pattanayak said today. He also said the ongoing rabi sowing has not been impacted much due to demonetisation. A central team sent to rural areas has found no significant impact on sowing so far.

The Hindu Business Line

The demonetisation of high-value currency notes seems to have crushed the tender green shoots of economic recovery in rural India by choking off life-sustaining money supply and impeding the wheels of commerce from spinning. From FMCG firms to two-wheelers to tractor makers, companies had been looking forward to an increase in rural demand in the wake of an adequate monsoon after two years of sub-normal rains. But just as things were beginning to look up, the withdrawal of ₹500 and ₹1,000 notes has hit rural India hard.

The Economic Times

Farmers who were actually in distress, several of whom had signed up for crop insurance and paid premium, got ripped off in the process. Insurance companies, faced with huge claims, discounted the payout all across and genuine farmers got much less than their due; while the politician and his cronies made huge gains. “Due to such scams, the farmers don’t have confidence in crop insurance schemes,” says Rajeev Chawla, principal secretary, horticulture, Karnataka, who has determinedly set out to address the problem that has haunted the country ever since crop insurance was thought of in the 1970s.

The Indian Express

In the season of demonetisation, sowing in many areas is a story of rural distress. There is one remarkable sowing story, though, that marks its 50th anniversary — that of the high-yielding Mexican wheat which launched India’s Green Revolution. The Indian Express travels to Jaunti, the now largely forgotten village on the outskirts of Delhi, where it all started and where parched fields today tell a story of decline.

DNA 

The energy needs for agricultural equipment and rural households can be feasibly met by micro-grids. The entrepreneurial drive in our youth has to be redirected here and investors have to be fostered through tax benefits on clean energy investments. Biofuel and biogas based ad-hoc power generation for agriculture is not a far-fetch.

Scroll.in

Punjab is heading for record paddy production this year. The state agriculture department has estimated the harvest for the 2016-’17 kharif (monsoon) season will be 186 lakh metric tonnes, nearly 10 lakh metric tonnes more than last year’s yield. State officials are jubilant as it is “an all-time high output”. With an eye on the Assembly elections next year, Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal has ordered the immediate lifting of the paddy crop from farmers and sought daily reports on the progress in procurement. Punjab’s high-steroid growth, which started with the Green Revolution in the 1970s, it appears, is refusing to slow down.