Media Monitor
Agriculture Industry
Scientists devise way to collect leftover paddy strawedit
Burning of agriculture waste and paddy straw is one of the main reasons behind rising levels of pollution. To resolve this issue, scientists in Chhattisgarh have devised a way to collect leftover paddy straw from the fields by using a steel-mesh attached to a tractor. With the use of this low-cost steel net, one can collect up to seven quintals of paddy husk from an acre without the help of human hands.
Centre launches e-hub for farming sectoredit
The agriculture ministry on Wednesday launched an ICAR data centre -connecting 274 specialised institutions and universities -which will act as an information hub for the farm sector and eventually link the rural population with high speed internet network.
Sowing of rabi crops to end in next 2 weeks: Govtedit
The sowing of key rabi crops —wheat, oilseeds and pulses — is expected to be completed within next two weeks, thus belying concerns over large-scale delays because of the demonetisation drive, agriculture minister Radha Mohan Singh said on Wednesday.
MS Swaminathan warns against cheap imports of wheatedit
Renowned agricultural scientist M S Swaminathan on Wednesday said farmers should be given very serious consideration based on a careful analysis of the impact of wheat imports at subsidised rates.
Boosting women farmers would dramatically cut world hungeredit
If women farmers were given the same access to land, tools and credit as men, the boost to crop yields would dramatically cut world hunger, but this must be done fast before climate change closes the window of opportunity, hunger experts said on December 16. Agricultural yields would increase by almost a third if women had the same access to resources as men, said Neven Mimica, European Union commissioner for international cooperation and development.
German know-how benefits farmersedit
Unlike other blocks, farmers of 16 villages in Dhenkanal Sadar and Kankadahada blocks have scripted several success stories in multicropping of paddy and non-paddy varieties. The technical expertise of German-based ‘Climate Change Knowledge Network’ in Indian Agriculture has helped them in boosting crop output. The network is in use in Ganjam district besides Dhenkanal to facilitate agriculture and cash crops.
Foodgrain output may scale peak next year, agriculture growth at 5.5%edit
The agriculture sector is all set to bounce back leaving two years of drought behind and may well pull off record foodgrain output of 270 million tonnes in 2016-17 on good rains, but farmers’ woes may continue due to adverse impact of notes ban and low sales realisation. The farm growth is estimated to rise at over 5 per cent this fiscal, from 1.2 per cent in the previous year, on the back of record kharif foodgrain production at 135 million tonnes (mt) and likely bumper output in the ongoing rabi season, helped by good monsoon in most parts of the country.
Govt. ready to bear the burden of interest paid by farmers: KCRedit
The State government announced its intention of taking the burden of interest charged by banks from farmers despite the crop loan waiver scheme being in operation in the State. Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao said his government was resolved to repay farmers the interest they paid to the banks. “We are willing to pay even though the fault is not ours,” he said. The Chief Minister directed Finance Minister Etala Rajender and Agriculture Minister Pocharam Srinivas Reddy to review the loan waiver scheme and obtain details, bank-wise, on the interest charged from farmers so that they could be reimbursed.
Farm sector flourishing: Pocharamedit
Agriculture Minister Pocharam Srinivas Reddy today informed the Assembly that the TRS Government was committed to strengthen farm sector by providing timely succor to the farmers. During a short discussion on agriculture, Harish Rao slammed the Congress and other members for faulting the government on crop loan waiver. The government had released Rs 16,500 crore out of Rs 17,500 crore committed by the government and the rest will be released by making allocations during the next budget, he said. The TRS Government proved that agriculture was yielding positive results though it was proved otherwise during previous regimes, he said.
Foodgrain output may scale peak next year, agriculture growth at 5.5%edit
The agriculture sector is all set to bounce back leaving two years of drought behind and may well pull off record foodgrain output of 270 million tonnes in 2016-17 on good rains, but farmers’ woes may continue due to adverse impact of notes ban and low sales realisation.
Bring certain agricultural activities into income tax net: Experts tell Jaitleyedit
In an attempt to curb people from converting black money into white, economists in their pre-budget consultative meeting with Finance Minister Arun Jaitley in New Delhi on Tuesday suggested the minister to bring certain type of agriculture income under tax net. Moreover, the economists expressed their need to widen the tax base and to reduce the tax slabs, the Press Information Bureau (PIB) said in recent press release citing the Government of India as stating.