The Pioneer

To keep a check on the practice of burning paddy stubble in the state, Haryana Government is contemplating to prepare bio-fuel from stubble. “Talks are on with various companies to prepare bio-fuel from stubble. Besides, the Government will also provide agriculture implements to the farmers on subsidised rates to control burning paddy stubble,” said Chief Minister Manohar Lal.

The Financial Express

Demonetisation has slowed down the sowing of rabi crops —wheat, pulses and oilseeds — in Uttar Pradesh to an extent, but things have picked up lately and the target could be met. According to state agriculture department data, around 90% of the target of 129 lakh hectare has been sown till now. “Sowing of rabi crops usually continues till the end of December and some farmers sow in January, too, especially the wheat crop. We are sure to achieve the target,”, Gyan Singh, state director (agriculture), told FE. He also said in comparison to last year, the sowing has been better this year.

The Hindu Business Line

The Centre’s decision to scrap import duty on wheat should be withdrawn immediately, farmer leaders from Punjab, Haryana, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Outer Delhi–all members of farmers’ body Bhartiya Kisan Union (BKU)–have demanded. Instead, a 40 per cent cess should be imposed on imports to prevent distress sale during harvest, they suggest.

Business Standard

Falling wheat prices have partially offset the benefit offered to traders through import duty waiver. The import duty was brought down to nil from 10 per cent, in order to ensure cheaper supplies of the cereal in Indian markets.

The Indian Awaaz

Centre has decided to provide additional grace period of 60 days to farmers, whose crop loan dues fall between 1st of November and 31st December, 2016. Agriculture Ministry said, the decision was taken in view of the constraints faced by the farming community in repayment of loans due to demonetization of high value notes.

The New Indian Express

The Haryana government is in talks with various companies for the domestic production of bio-fuel from stubble and also has plans to provide agriculture implements to farmers on subsidised rates to keep a check on the practice of burning paddy stubble in the State, Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar said.

Scroll.in

After November 9, when notes of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 – 86% by value of Indian currency in circulation – were declared invalid, the government pushed for cashless transactions and digital payments. Patil, with access to banking and a cell phone, could, in theory, move to cashless transactions, but in reality there is no Internet access where he lives, the closest ATM is at least 25 km away, the closest nationalised bank is 15 km away and the government has currently placed restrictions on the district cooperative bank that hosts his account.

Business Standard

With the government pushing for digital payments ecosystem even in rural areas and agriculture sector, National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (Nabard) has planned to provide RuPay cards to over 34 million farmers in villages across India. These cards will be provided through cooperative banks and farmers’ credit cooperative societies.

Tech Story

Agricultural sector is a lucrative field for investors and budding entrepreneurs. There is a huge potential for technological innovations and startups as the farmers are facing lots of problem such as lack of labourers, unavailability of water, inability to access fair market apart from other problems. India is either first or second in the world in terms of overall production of many agricultural commodities, but it is very much behind in terms of productivity, that is the yield per unit input.