State Times

Minister for Agriculture, Ghulam Nabi Lone on Monday said the government has taken several innovative measures to boost the agriculture sector in the State. He further informed the distribution of HYV seeds, mechanisation through different farm machineries, adaptation of organic farming, motivation of farmers to adopt new technologies for cultivation of crops, bringing more areas under cash crop like vegetables and potato seeds and establishment of new units of apiculture and mushrooms are the steps taken towards future planning to promote agriculture production in the State under different interventions of flagship programmes of Government of India like Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchai Yojana (PMKSY) and Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY).

The Times of India

The farmers of Gautam Budh Nagar have sent a wish list to Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley ahead of the annual budget. The list sent by the farmer’s association Kisan Sangharsh Samiti (KSS) has urged the government to increase the monthly credit limit of the kisan credit card from Rs 20,000 per month to Rs 2 lakh per month. Other key points of the letter are to generate employment in villages for the farming community, make technology easily available and to help in increasing credit limit on the kisan credit card.

Zee Biz

Agriculture sectors and farmers become the cornerstone of every budget in India. Union Budget 2017 seems to be no different. With good monsoons and 7th Pay Commission bounty, analysts expect rural India to do well. However, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s demonetisation programme that started on November 9, 2016 has put a spanner in his works.

Live Mint

The Narendra Modi-led government at the Centre has set a target of doubling farm incomes by 2022. A severe handicap is not what steps to take to achieve the target but knowing what current levels of farm incomes are. India does not collect data on farm incomes in regular intervals, except for one off surveys by the National Sample Survey Organisation (NSSO).

The Economic Times

The government is planning to incentivise states that implement agricultural reforms mooted by the Centre as it steps up efforts to help the sector register over 6% growth after two years of slowdown. The incentives, which would include price insurance for some crops and higher interest subventions among others, will also pave the way for private players to enter the sector.

Live Mint

The farm credit target is likely to be raised by a whopping Rs1 lakh crore to Rs10 lakh crore in Budget 2017 in order to increase credit flow in the agriculture sector. According to officials, the government may increase the agriculture credit target to Rs10 lakh crore for 2017-18 fiscal from the existing Rs9 lakh crore.

The Hans India

The rural economy has been stagnant and more volatile for the last three years. Although the area under rabi crops is 2% higher than normal this year, fertilisers use decreased by 7%, indicating slowdown in input use and probable reduction in output. Overall, agricultural sector growth may not exceed 3.5% per annum.

The Hindu Business Line

Intra operability between the NAM (National Agriculture Market) and State markets is another crucial area. Some States have taken a leaf out of the successful Karnataka model and embarked on modernisation of their primary markets. In view of the enormity of the task, a multi-agency approach at the State level, with a clear roadmap of integration of the State markets with the national market, would be a far effective solution.

Zee News

Agriculture is consistently losing its importance in India’s economic growth. The agriculture sector contributes to just 15 percent of India’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP), but over 50 percent of the population is still dependent on it. Backed by continued technological innovations in the sector, India’s food grain production has more than doubled over the decades, but the same is not being capitalised to increase the revenue and profit margins of farmers. There is still a large dependency on rainfall and other climatic conditions for good yield, and post-harvest logistics remains an area of concern.

First Post

Indian agriculture is a conundrum of paradoxes. Over 50 percent of the country’s workforce depend on agriculture as a livelihood, while agriculture and allied activities contribute to only a little over 15 percent to India’s Gross Value Added (GVA). Farmers, despite being at the heart of agricultural production, receive only a paltry portion of the price paid by consumers. On an average, the income of a farmer in India is less than $2 per day. According to an NSSO survey in 2014, the income of an average farm household is about Rs 6,000 ($90) per month, only 50 percent of which comes from farming.

DNA India

For the sector that employs nearly half of the Indian population but had a mere 17% share in country’s gross domestic product (GDP) in 2014-15, Budget 2017 is a crucial one. While some are very positive that the government would dole out goodies for agriculture and allied activities, others believe the focus would be on measures such as housing, infrastructure, employment and income tax relief.

The Hindu

The interaction between people and land is as old as human evolution. When early hunter-gatherers started to settle down in the Neolithic transition and practice agriculture, they began to change their relationship with land in a major way. Starting with the Holocene, approximately 11,500 years ago, many plants were domesticated for agriculture.

First Post

Farmers’ body Jai Kisan Andolan, a movement of Swaraj Abhiyan, in association with various farmers’ organisations and unions has sought a complete overhaul of policy framework related to agriculture and all segments of rural primary production.

The Pioneer

Amid this, the Niti Ayog’s index on reforms in the farm sector offers a clear idea about the health of this crucial sector across all States. In a first of its kind exercise, the Ayog presented a ‘Agriculture Marketing and Farmer Friendly Reforms Index’ of all States. This is based on the initiatives taken by the States in implementing farm sector reforms. Therefore, when the apex court is harping on having a national policy to rescue the distressed farmers, the Government is already on its way to address the decades-old problem.

The Indian Express

The records released by the Indian Pulses and Grain Association (IPGA) for the months of October, November and December, showed that more than 24 lakh MT of imported daals had arrived in the country. Masur,Matar and Chana daals constituted the bulk of the imports. Also, sizable consignments of tur daal had arrived in the country. Pravin Dongre, Chairman of IPGA, said in view of the low prices of the commodity in the market, most of the importers would be incurring losses. “We expect a sharp price correction in chana daal from February onwards,” he said.(Farmer)

Web India 123

The government has decided to appoint a multi-purpose expansion officer to each of the 1,000 hectares of agriculture land to ensure the strengthening of agriculture expansion. 4,354 such officers would be appointed across the state, official sources said.

The Economic Times

Referring to the submission made to the inter-ministerial central team that had visited the district early this week to assess the crop loss, Kalyanam appealed to the state government to seek release of compensation for crop damage from the National Disaster Response Fund (NDRF) at the rate of Rs 30,000 per acre. The state government should also request the Centre to entrust the entire crop insurance scheme to the Agriculture Insurance Company of India and avoid private insurance companies, which are oriented only towards profit, he added.

India Infoline

An additional fund of Rs 2000 crore could be provided in this budget to meet the same objective. An interest subvention of 1.80% along with NABARD’s administrative cost of 0.20% will be provided as per the scheme run by the Department of Agriculture, Cooperation and Farmers Welfare (DAC&FW).

The Times of India

With the northeast monsoon failing to impress, farmers of Visakhapatnam district who have planted their second crop of the year are worried about the impact of the dry weather and falling water tables. The second crop in the district, especially in the upland areas and dry plains, are chiefly lentil crops such as sesame, horse gram, black gram and other types of dal.

Hindustan Times

Next generation satellite INSAT-3DR has opened new frontiers in India’s weather forecasting and is set to equip the country with the ability to detect farm fires — which intensify air pollution in the northern region seasonally, leaving Delhi gasping for breath.

The Hans India

Purchasing of paddy through government agencies is remaining on papers and traders are procuring it from farmers by offering Rs 150 less than the minimum support price (MSP). The government fixed Rs 1,510 as MSP for A grade and Rs 1,470 for normal variety of paddy, but traders are paying Rs 1,360 and Rs 1,320 to farmers per quintal.

International Business Times

The total area sown under Rabi crops in India until January 27, 2017, reached 63.7 million hectares, up 6.2 percent from 60 million hectares sown for the same period during 2015-16, as per the sowing data released by the Ministry of Agriculture.

 

India Today

Jai Kisan Andolan of Swaraj Abhiyan and a few other farmer organisations are planning to hold a Kisan Sansad that is Farmers’ Parliament at Jantar Mantar parallel to the presentation of the Union Budget on February 1, same day and time when the Union Budget will be announced.

The New Indian Express

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley will have Bharat on his mind when he unveils the 2017 Union Budget for India, on Wednesday, under the heavy shadow of demonetisation. Multilateral agencies have lowered India’s GDP growth projections for the next financial year to about 6 per cent from 7.3 per cent.

The Hans India

25 years of economic reforms in India have failed to achieve expected growth in the field of agriculture, expressed the speakers at the International Conference on ‘25 years of Economic Reforms in India’. However, the reforms regime has helped the private corporate sector to thrive albeit with fluctuations in domestic markets, regional imbalances, disparities in the inter-state growth rates. The post reform period has not been inclusive, the experts opined.

The Hindu Business Line

There is little doubt that demonetisation has affected rural livelihoods even though its mid-term impacts remain uncertain. In this context, many expect the Budget to make substantive announcements that can significantly impact rural livelihoods. A comprehensive agri-rural package is required to put the economy back on a sustainable growth path.

Business Standard

Keeping the farm activities in mind, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) has decided to set up weather stations in 660 districts of the country, a plan which will be further taken up to the blocks level. In the first phase, the IMD plans to set up the system in 130 districts which have already been shortlisted.

The Times of India

Wheat sowing has neared the final stages and the acreage under the main rabi crop has gone up by 7.87 per cent to 315.55 lakh hectare with rains in some states boosting crop prospects. Barring rice and coarse cereals, other crops were covered in wider area in the ongoing rabi season of 2016-17 crop year (July-June). Sowing of rabi (winter) crops begins from October and harvesting from April.

Business Standard

Government-promoted apps also face stiff competition from other agriculture-related mobile apps that provide faster updates for farmers, especially for services like crop price information and weather updates.

Business Standard

The Budget can look at strengthening the distribution network of agri-inputs to ensure availability at the time of sowing or beginning of the season. The rabi sowing has been more or less normal while the offtake of fertiliser has also not been dampened due to cash crunch at the time of demonetisation.

The Hindu

Drought and demonetisation of Rs. 1,000 and Rs. 500 currency notes appear to have cast a spell on rural credit in Tamil Nadu. Fewer farmers have taken short-term crop loans through primary agricultural cooperative societies (PACSS) during the current financial year. As on December 31, 2016, the number of farmers who availed themselves of loans was around 5.44 lakh, about 3.25 lakh lower than the previous year on the corresponding day.

Nagaland Post

With 4-5 days still to go for sowing operation of rabi crops, the country is looking at the prospect of having the highest acreage of winter crops in the past five years. Adding to the good news, rains in some parts of the country in the past couple of days could also mean a better yield situation as well.

The New Indian Express

“Educated youth should take up agriculture as their profession; they can make it profitable if they adopt integrated farming practices. We can blend our traditional and modern techniques,” says  M Sankaranarayanan (49), a farmer from Puliyankudi in Tirunelveli district, who received State’s special award from the Chief Minister on Republic Day. The honour was for the highest yield under the System of Rice Intensification method. The award  carries `5 lakh and a medal.

Business Standard

India Meteorological Department (IMD) plans to change its weather advisory service for farmers, linking it to a dynamic crop calendar of each district, based on the onset and progress of the monsoon.

Deccan Herald

While efforts are being made the world over to increase the production of food and to better distribute it, very large quantities of it are being wasted. According to the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), about 1.3 billion tonnes of food, which is over one-third of all food produced for human consumption, is lost or wasted. It is worth about $750 billion.

The Hans India

Successive droughts, ill-timed demonetisation and unseasonal rain have put farmers in distress. Lack of any assured income has further abetted farmer suicides. Going by the reports, more than one farmer committed suicide every hour in 2015. The Union Budget 2017-18 should primarily confront this issue by ensuring guaranteed income. Currently, guaranteed procurement is only confined to two crops – wheat and paddy. Government should chalk out plan to extend this facility to other grains.

The Hindu Business Line

The unremitting wave of farmer suicides has resurfaced, now haunting the farming heartlands of Tamil Nadu. Troubled by a severely deficit monsoon which triggered the worst drought in 140 years, over 100 farmers, mostly in the Cauvery delta, have reportedly committed suicide during a period of one month, and the number continues to rise unabated.

 

The Asian Age

Agriculture, infrastructure and service sectors are also expected to get due attention and support.” Marico too is looking for a Budget in which the government would focus on boosting the rural sector and agricultural productivity besides providing benefits to the salaried taxpayers in order to increase disposable income in the urban markets, which would drive consumption.

The Wire

A majority of Singh’s agricultural holdings is situated outside the barbed wire fence that the BSF erected in the late 1980s to keep a check on the infiltration of terrorists and arm smuggling. The distance from the border to the fence is anywhere between half to three kilometres. Since the area in between is controlled by the BSF, it has adversely affected the livelihoods of many residents of these border villages whose agricultural holdings lie in this no man’s land.

 

The Hindu

“The monsoon failed us while Karnataka denied us precious Cauvery water causing our samba and thalady paddy crops on more than nine lakh acres in Thanjavur, Tiruvarur and Nagapattinam districts to wither. Much like our crops, the delta tour of the high-level team constituted by the Supreme Court in October last also did not yield anything significant. We fervently appeal to the Central government through your team that the entire relief amount sought by the State government needs to be sanctioned immediately to provide us some solace and compensation,” desolate farmers pleaded with the team that conducted field inspections in the delta region on Tuesday.

The Times of India

With a 62% deficit in the north-east monsoon, Tamil Nadu has been declared a drought affected state. Dr K Ramasamy, vice-chancellor of Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, estimated a 40% drop in paddy production in the current samba crop due to a huge shrinkage in area under paddy crop — from the normal 9 lakh ha to 3-3.5 lakh ha. This in turn will impact severely on rural incomes. The state’s relief for crop loss may alleviate the distress of farmers to some extent, but there is a need for a paradigm shift to impart health to the state’s agriculture that contributes a mere 8% of the state’s GDP.

Live Mint

More than half of India’s labour force is still connected directly or indirectly to agriculture for its livelihood. This sector gets one-seventh of the national income. Its income share is shrinking rapidly but its employment share is not. Hence the dual challenge is to increase its income share, and increase the rate of employment absorption into industry and services.

Business Standard

Agriculture, which is the largest informal sector and the main driver in the Indian economy, experienced distress due to the demonetisation drive. With the Budget 2017 being preponed, expectations are running high especially in the Indian agricultural sector. Many companies are yet to realise that there is a scope behind it, by which the current scenario can change for good with logical budget allocation and implementations.

Mint

After consecutive years of drought in 2014 and 2015, rural India was looking at a turnaround following the normal monsoon in 2016 but a bumper kharif harvest and the cash crunch following demonetisation of high-value currency notes took a toll on crop prices, especially for vegetables and pulses. Earlier this month the government estimated that agriculture growth will bounce back to 4.1% (in 2016-17) from the low 1.2% and a contraction of 0.2% in 2015 and 2014, respectively. However, this is yet to translate into higher income for farmers.

Daily Excelsior

Stating that the Government is focused on giving a fillip to the Agriculture and allied sectors, the Minister for Agriculture, Ghulam Nabi Lone Hanjura today said several Centrally and State sector schemes have been introduced to infuse vibrancy in the agriculture, horticulture, floriculture and sericulture sectors.

Business Standard

Infrastructure development initiatives for post-harvest products are in its preliminary phase. Post-harvest losses account for Rs 92,651 cr. Instances of crop failure due to adverse climatic conditions is another major issue faced by the agricultural economy.

SME Times

Farmers mostly buy agriculture inputs like seeds, fertilisers etc with cash or on credit because the technology has not yet fully reached rural areas. In order to enable farmers for cashless transactions NABARD has asked credit societies and cooperative banks to open saving accounts directly or under Jan Dhan. Farmers can buy seeds, fertilisers and other farming equipment through RuPAY cards. 200,000 point-of-sale (PoS) machines are planned to be deployed in 100,000 villages, for NABARD has allotted funds of Rs 120 crore. These PoS machines will be installed by commercial banks. NABARD will give Rs 6,000 per equipment incentive to the commercial banks for purchase of PoS machines.

The Times of India

Tamil Nadu farmers say that the two-month interest waiver for farm loans, announced by the Union government to mitigate the effects of demonetisation, is inadequate since it doesn’t address crop losses due to drought. Primary Agriculture Cooperative Credit Societies (PACCS) in Trichy, Thanjavur and Madurai, want the Centre to grant them 100% waiver in view of the state government declaring the “drought-hit.”

The Times of India

An inter-ministerial central team visited three villages in Madurai district on Monday to assess the damage to crops caused by drought. Director (trade, extension & drought management) at ministry of agriculture Vijay Rajmohan and assistant advisor, ministry of drinking water and sanitation Santosh, along with the managing director of the Tamil Nadu water supply and drainage board, Dheeraj Kumar visited Alampalacheri, Poosalapuram and Kuppalnatham.

The Economic Times

The rice industry has urged the government to monitor traceability in paddy to boost exports and check rejections of overseas consignments. More than two dozen industry leaders, who attended a CII round-table on opportunities and challenges in the rice industry in India and the way forward, also sought stronger agricultural market boards, agencies and transparency in price recovery to ensure better returns to farmers.

The Economic Times

India may see a bumper wheat harvest this year as higher planting, cold waves in the past two weeks and a forecast for more rainfall and chilly weather have boosted crop prospects after worries that a moderate winter would hit yields.

Daily Excelsior

Kissan Union Samba and JKEDA Jammu have expressed their serious concern over the proposed budget share of 4% for agriculture and its allied sectors in the State and demanded 50% budget for agriculture.

Money Control

Finance minister Arun Jaitley may announce several measures to revamp farm infrastructure and support farmers, an official familiar with the matter, told Mint.

Deccan Herald

Anyone who listens to Lakshmavva’s discourse on the basics of agriculture will change the notion that only formal schooling makes one wise and knowledgeable. An illiterate person, she has been inspiring farmers through her talks on the intricacies of farming and practical guidance to make a living out of it. Lakshmavva lives in a modest house in Pattalachinti village of Koppal district, and is an expert in growing short-term crops, mainly floriculture.

Sify News

Mansouri said that UAE wants to have strong agricultural ties with India. “Agriculture is very important to us and we already had some discussion on that regard. India and UAE can act as a major storage and redistribution for a lot of the agricultural products from India, including rice that could be major redistribution center for the rest of the region,” he added.

New Delhi Times

According to the United Nation, by 2050 the world’s population is expected to expand by more than two billion people and half of that will be born in Sub-Saharan Africa and another 30 percent will be born in South and Southeast Asia. While a growing world is certainly a good thing, the tragedy is that the Sub Saharan region is one that is hit the hardest by drought, heat waves and the agricultural output is very poor putting the food supply in danger. Over the years, agriculture has boomed in Southeast Asia and other countries, while Africa has been lagging behind. Famine has come to represent certain African countries like Somalia, Ethiopia and Jordan.

The Huffington Post

Agricultural growth in India fell 0.2 % in FY 2015 and grew at 1.2 % in FY 2016, largely because of back-to-back droughts. As per Crisil’s Report, “Crisil Outlook Fiscal 2017”, the agriculture sector was expected to grow 4 % in FY 2017 on the back of a good monsoon, but demonetisation is likely to dent this forecast.

The Times of India

Agriculture-technology is emerging as one of the hottest sectors for investors this year, primarily for the mountains of data these startups are able to harvest. Leading venture capital firms including Accel India and SAIF Partners are evaluating several agritech firms to invest in, according to entrepreneurs and investors ET spoke with. IDG Ventures-backed Agrostar, a platform for farmers to procure raw materials, is in advanced talks with Accel to raise $10-12 million.

Forbes India

With more than 150 million hectares of agricultural land and diverse agro climatic zones, India is at a resource advantage in the field of agriculture which plays a vital role in the country’s economy, but the growth rates in agriculture have been fluctuating between 1.5 percent to -0.2 percent in recent years

Business Standard

Ever since the Modi government came to power in 2014, agriculture has been one of its key focus areas. It ought to be considering the fact that 60 percent of the country’s population is dependent on farming and allied sectors for livelihood.

 

The Hans India

In India, out of 121 million agricultural holdings, 99 million are with small and marginal farmers, with a land share of just 44 per cent and a farmer population share of 87 per cent. With multiple cropping prevalent, such farmers account for 70 per cent of all vegetables and 52 per cent of cereal output.

Business Today

Minister of state for agriculture and farmers welfare Sudarshan Bhagat has urged scientists to focus on technologies that will increase productivity with less production costs. Interacting with scientists after inaugurating a Pollen Collection Chamber at Sugarcane Breeding Institute here last evening, he said sugarcane could play a significant role in achieving Prime Minister Narendra Modi a vision of doubling income of Indian farmers, provided improved cane varieties were evolved to tackle new challenges like climate change and less water availability.

Business Standard

This e-marketing platform is expected to help farmers in facilitating better price discovery through efficient, transparent and competitive marketing platform; better marketing of agricultural produce; reducing wastages; and getting market related information and with access to large number of buyers from within and outside the State through transparent auction processes.

 

Deccan Herald

In a scenario, when most of the youth in the country are not finding interest in the agriculture sector, Gold Farm decided to venture into the field. AK Surya Power Magic, a Bengaluru based technology startup that focuses on the farming sector, launched Gold Farm, a mobile application that helps farmers get farming equipment on rental basis, in September 2015. The company, founded by Karthic Ravindranath and Abhilash Thirupathy, was earlier based in Coimbatore, and shifted to Bengaluru seven months ago.

Arunachal Times

Nari-Koyu MLA Kento Rina encouraged the farmers to adopt modern farming technologies to increase crops yield and profitability. The MLA, who inaugurated the two-day Agri Expo-2017 at College of Horticulture & Forestry, Pasighat on Saturday, asked the farmers to obtain advice, technical support and guidance from the scientists to resolve any problem related to agriculture and horticulture farming.

The Hindu

Agriculture growth in the last five years has been negative though it has been compensated by contribution from allied agricultural activities in Telangana, said the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (Nabard) in a report presented at the credit plan seminar on Friday. Expressing the bank’s perspective with regard to doubling farmers income in the State within six years as enunciated by the Central Government, the bank said a multi-sectoral, multi-agency approach is required to increase productivity in different sectors to increase the income of farmers substantially.

 

The Hindu

As expected, the cultivation of crops in the ongoing rabi (yaasangi) season, particularly that of paddy, in Telangana has gained momentum in the recent weeks in spite of the adverse impact of the cold wave conditions on the nurseries, and demonetisation.

The Hans India

Maize prices are expected to rule steady in the next half year from now, on account of renewed interest of stock holders and failure of rabi crop in some pockets. However, during the current season, the prices remained at Rs 1400- Rs 1500 per quintal. Despite the drop in the export volumes and bounty harvest in kharif season, the prices remained high due to some extraneous factors. Kharif production was estimated at 17.6 million tonnes while the total production during the current year is expected to touch 22.98 million tonnes as against the demand of 22 million tonnes.

Live Mint

The first green revolution, helmed by visionary scientists like Norman Borlaug and M.S. Swaminathan, born of a near-death food crisis, turned around Indian agriculture through an increase in farming land, development and use of grains hardened against pests, use of fertilizers and pesticides, multiple cropping, higher farmer credit and better irrigation techniques.

Live Mint

Finance minister Arun Jaitley may announce several measures to revamp farm infrastructure and support farmers as the National Democratic Alliance government seeks to win over this politically important section of society before crucial state elections next month, a top official familiar with the matter said.

The Economic Times

Agriculture-technology is emerging as one of the hottest sectors for investors this year, primarily for the mountains of data these startups are able to harvest. Leading venture capital firms including Accel India and SAIF Partners are evaluating several agritech firms to invest in, according to entrepreneurs and investors ET spoke with. IDG Ventures-backed Agrostar, a platform for farmers to procure raw materials, is in advanced talks with Accel to raise $10-12 million.

Business Standard

Lauding ICAR-Sugarcane Breeding Institute for its efforts in enhancing the economic status of farmers across the country by evolving high-yielding sugarcane varieties, he urged the scientists to focus on technologies to increase productivity with less production costs.

The Wire

Hundreds like Bhullar line up at the market at Talwandi Sabo, which has been holding a mirror to the state of agricultural affairs in Punjab for the last two decades. First started in 1989, the tractor mandi picked up business only around late 1990s. This was the period when government, through different policy measures, started to withdraw many agricultural subsidies, leaving agriculturalists completely unprotected from the market variables.

The New Indian Express

The decision was taken after National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) had advised all the district cooperative banks and the state cooperative banks to complete the process of waiver of interest and credit the interest amount to the farmers’ short-term loan accounts by Wednesday. Hence, farmers may approach the primary agricultural cooperative societies concerned to avail the benefit of interest waiver announced by the Centre, the communique said.

The Hindu

The yasangi [earlier called rabi] activity which was slow till the Sankranti festival started picking up in the last few days and farmers are busy with paddy transplantations in the command area of major and medium irrigation projects and also under bore-wells.

WebIndia123

Union Minister of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Radha Mohan Singh said there is a need to optimize the resources’ use efficiency while keeping the farmers’ interest foremost in research programmes. He was addressing the plenary session of ninth Berlin Agriculture Ministers’ Conference at Berlin, Germany yesterday. In his address, Mr Singh said water is certainly the most critical resource for agriculture, gaining primacy even on other important inputs like soil.The use of water for agriculture and non-agricultural purposes, inefficient irrigation practices, injudicious use of pesticides, poor conservation infrastructure, and lack of governance have lead to increasing water scarcity and pollution worldwide.

The New Indian Express

Bringing major relief to the state’s farming sector, Kerala State Cooperative Bank Ltd has decided to waive the interest on short-term loans availed by farmers during April-September last year.

The Economic Times

Agriculture should be the focus of this year’s Budget, according to a Twitter poll conducted by the ministry of finance last week that saw some 66% of more than 21,400 respondents seeking a more agriculture-focused Budget. Not infrastructure. Not the services and manufacturing industries. But agriculture. Clearly, to enhance the ‘feel good’ factor, agriculture has to pick up. Demonetisation compelled farmers to move towards cashless payments and digitalisation. Now they need greater ‘ease of doing business’ to harness that momentum. Here are five steps the Narendra Modi government could take to make that possible.

Firstpost

To combat the continuing slump in the agri-economy, the government should open up FDI in agricultural sectors other than those where it is already allowed. This would help jump-start the sector through investments in technology and technical expertise, irrigation infrastructure, and modern agriculture practices.

Jagran Josh

In order to ensure income security for farmers, allied activities of agriculture must be given enough attention. As announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in April 2015 in Toronto, India should take up the challenge of ‘four-coloured’ revolution — Green (agriculture), White (dairy farming), Saffron (energy) and Blue (tapping marine resources) to achieve all-round development.

News18.com

After Congress and AAP promised to waive farm debt, Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) president Sukhbir Singh Badal on Saturday said SAD-BJP alliance will waive off farm debts of all small farmers if voted to power for the third consecutive time.

 

India Today

Stressing that distribution of water resources in India is uneven, Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh today said 10 per cent increase in level of efficiency in irrigation projects and a modest investment can bring in additional 14 million hectares under irrigation. Addressing the Plenary Session of 9th Berlin Agriculture Ministers Conference at Berlin, he said distribution of water resources across the vast expanse of the country is uneven, therefore, as incomes rise the need for water also rises.

The New Indian Express

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s plan to double the farmers’ income by 2022 is in jeopardy. While demonetisation left them high and dry in the Rabi crop sowing season, state governments are allegedly destroying the edifice on which the Prime Minister had banked to double the farmers’ income. The NITI Aayog recently complained to the Modi that each agrarian reform measure spearheaded by the Centre has been blunted by the states.

The Economic Times

As 2016 proved to be the hottest year in recent times, MS Swaminathan, the architect of India’s Green Revolution, thinks that it is time for India to take anticipatory action to insulate major crops from adverse impact of high mean temperature. The veteran expressed his concerns about rising temperature trends and gave suggestions for securing the country’s food security with a series of tweets.

State Times

Technology founds wide application when it has wider social dimensions. Agriculture sector in India is very crucial one. It plays a vital role in the nation’s economy as about 58 per cent of the rural households depend on agriculture for their livelihood. Therefore any technological intervention in this field means that it will have implications for a large majority of the population in the country. Agriculture in India has come of ages.

Business Today

Agriculture is the mainstay of the Indian economy because of its high share in employment creation and GDP. The sector accounts for 17 per cent of India’s GDP and employs almost 53 percent of the country’s workforce. Despite technological advancements, agriculture in India is still dependent on nature. With this year’s budget we have several expectations in order to boost the economy which in turn will help India achieve the national goal of food security and doubling the farm income.

India Infoline

The Pre-Budget expectation from PWC on Agriculture sector. The budget would be presented on February 1. The Union and Railway Buget will be announced on same date.

Times Now

“We have some new plans, including for logistics parks on highways,” Gadkari said, adding that agriculture has become a key priority. In Madhya Pradesh, the agriculture growth is at around 20-23% because of irrigation. We are constantly working on deep irrigation. We are also planning on making new seeds available that have good potential of production,” he said.

Sify.com

The Cabinet, chaired by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on Wednesday gave its approval for the 12th Plan Proposal of the DARE/ICAR Plan Scheme for the establishment of Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI) in Jharkhand. It will have an estimated outlay of Rs. 200.78 crores (100% ICAR share) on 1,000 acre land provided by the Government of Jharkhand at the Gauria Karma Village in Barhi Block of Hazaribag.

The Hans India

To promote farming activity among SC and ST communities and to make agriculture a profitable profession, State government has introduced a new scheme providing 95 per cent subsidy to the beneficiaries who adopt modern farming techniques and also promote horticulture.

The Indian Express

Just across the road from the sprawling, leafy campus of IIT-Madras lies the main office of Samunnati Financial Intermediation and Services on the first floor of a non-descript glass-fronted building. Led by Anil Kumar, an ex-banker with nearly 25 years of hands-on retail lending experience, it’s one of a handful of new-generation non-banking finance companies (NBFCs) breaking fresh ground in agricultural financing. Samunnati is the kind of institution that, with the right policy support, could be the key to reducing the role of cash in farm financing, while bringing vast numbers of borrowers currently ignored by mainstream banks into the ambit of formal credit.

The Economic Times

Pericles said the key is not to predict the future, but to be prepared for it. 2016 saw some epic power shifts and new ways of doing business. Here are the six big trends that will shape next year for farmers and consumers and give us another chance to get it right:

The Hindu

A one-day workshop, held at the Zonal Agricultural Research Station (ZARS, V.C. Farm) on the outskirts of Mandya town on Wednesday, has underlined the need for farmers to hold group discussions and visit farmlands of progressive cultivators to improve farming practices and thereby yields.

The Hindu

The sluice gate on the Bhakra main line canal in Khanauri-Kalan village in Sangrur district, Punjab, has become infamous. According to reports, it is a suicide point for farmers and their families. Typically, 30-45 corpses are found in the canal on average every month. Farmers’ suicide in Punjab is a major worry: over 2,632 farmers are reported to have committed suicide between 1995 and 2015,in the land famed for its Green Revolution, according to State government records. Mansa district alone accounts for 1,334 suicides. Adding farm labourers raises the total to 4,687 reported suicides. The reasons for this vary: cotton crop has been whittled by whiteflies, basmati’s market price has declined, the local moneylender has hiked up ...

The Hindu

Drought and dry spell due to the failure of north east monsoon and the ban on ‘jallikattu’ dampened the Pongal celebrations. People used to cook pongal, the sweet delicacy, with freshly harvested rice grains but this year, they bought rice from shops and celebrated the festival. This year, there was no harvest and paddy crop withered even before flowering. Yet farmers thanked the nature and sun god.

Money Control

Indian importers have purchased 2.7 million tonnes of wheat from Australia, France and Ukraine so far this fiscal and additional 1.2 million tonnes of grain is expected to arrive by the end of next month. However, traders have not signed any import deals for wheat delivery beyond March as they are skeptical that the government may reimpose customs duty on the grain when the harvesting of the new crop starts from April 2017.

The New Indian Express

The Centre has approved the State Government proposal for extension of Kharif paddy procurement deadline to April 30. Paddy procurement is in full swing in most of the districts except Kandhamal where the the process will start from next week, Joint Director (Procurement) in the Food Supply and Consumer Welfare department B K Prusty said.

The Times of India

The mobile app offering instant help for farming-related issues along with a SIM card that facilitates sharing of expert advice through calls and SMSes — both initiative of Indian Farmers Fertiliser Cooperative (IFFCO) — have found growing number of takers from the farming community across the country.

State Times

Agriculture continues to be an occupation and way of life for more than half of the Indian population. The agriculture, which is an engine of growth and development and a significant contributor to the national economy, has been greatly influenced by the process of globalisation. There is a matter great concern about imbalance of total production, the urban-rural divide, national food security and economic access to food. The agricultural strategy in the country seeks to bridge the product and production gaps.

Business Standard

Union Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh will lead a five member Indian delegation to Germany for participation in the Global Forum for Food & Agriculture from 19-21 January and G-20 Agriculture Ministers Meeting on January 22 in Berlin.

First Post

This year’s budget is expected to focus on the need to remove bottlenecks in production and distribution of food products as well as pave the way for cashless transactions in the sector. The expectations of people-friendly reforms by the government have increased even further post the announcements of demonetisation and GST implementation.

State Times

Agriculture in the country has largely been done by conventional methods. These conventional methods are largely crude which depleted our natural resources, require more labour, inputs and money. Despite more labour and inputs the production is not optimum besides a huge damage to soil and human health and loss of biodiversity. Greater stress is now being laid on adopting practices which conserve the natural resources, do not compromise with the soil health, does not harm the diverse flora and fauna and also give adequate yields.

The Times of India

The Madhya Pradesh government has earmarked Rs 1,600 crore for the expansion of training infrastructure and skill development capacity over the next five years. The scheme is to generate employment for youths and provide manpower to industries as per their requirement.

The Times of India

The state government is worried that disruptions caused to the state’s agriculture activities, including sowing, germination and maturity of crops, by climatic change and accompanying erratic weather conditions have become real, but what is more galling is the fact that no immediate solutions are in sight to alleviate farmers’ problems.

The New Indian Express

While the Centre is yet to respond to the demand for assistance to the tune of Rs 22,573 crore for restoration and reconstruction work in the aftermath of the cyclone Vardah, the Tamil Nadu government on Monday approached the Union with another request, this time for a grant of Rs 39,565 crore for drought relief measures in the districts reeling under severe water shortage.

The Financial Express

Pinning hopes on conducive weather conditions prevailing currently and an increase in sowing areas of rabi crops — wheat, pulses, oilseeds and coarse cereals — compared to last five years, the government is aiming at a bumper foodgrains output for the ongoing crop year (2016-17) after two consecutive drought years.

Kashmir Images

However, one sector offers a glimmer of hope: Agriculture, and its allied sectors, which registered a jump from 1.2 per cent last year to 4.1 per cent this year. This sector engages almost half the workforce of the country and provides food security. Droughts hurt this sector badly in the last two years. So, the anticipated growth of 4.1 per cent brings much needed relief, although it is far lower than the 5.5 per cent agri-GDP growth NITI Aayog officials were projecting for some time.

The Economic Times

Indian importers have purchased 2.7 million tonnes of wheat from Australia, France and Ukraine so far this fiscal and additional 1.2 million tonnes of grain is expected to arrive by the end of next month.

The Hindu Business Line

Agricultural sustainability is intrinsically linked to food security, and therefore critical to India’s progress and socio-economic development. One of the biggest challenges facing Indian agriculture today is to make it economically remunerative for the farmer, while ensuring that operations are socially sustainable as well as climate-resilient.

The Hans India

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley recently called for focusing on higher agricultural productivity through the use of latest technology and high-yielding crop varieties to help double farmers’ income by 2022.

DNA India

A cess, unlike tax, is an amount levied and collected to raise funds for a specific purpose. For example, collections from Education cess, Secondary and Higher Education cess are solely used for funding primary, secondary and higher education respectively. In that sense ‘Krishi Kalyan Cess’ (KKC), where Krishi means ‘farming’ and Kalyan means welfare in Hindi, is levied to finance activities for the improvement of agriculture and farmer welfare.

The Times of India

Union agriculture minister Radha Mohan Singh has urged the cooperative sector to adopt cashless methods to ensure transparency on a daily basis.

The Times of India

“There was a consensus on a proposal not to tax on farm equipment and products used by the farmers. Similarly, we have also demanded that there should be no tax on the goods that are used by common people and have extensive consumption. We will sort out the remaining issues in the next meeting scheduled on February 18,” said Etala Rajender.

The Financial Express

In Madhya Pradesh’s tribal districts of Dewas and Khargone, the NGO, Samaj Pragati Sahayog, discourages cash transactions for agricultural inputs. The interest rates are usurious and vary according to commodities. For fertiliser, it is dheda—loan for the stuff has to be repaid 1.5 times over by the end of the harvest season. For pesticides it is sawa, or 1.25 times. Even barter can be extortionate. One quintal of seed has to be repaid duguna or twice the quantity. The grain given in repayment may not fetch the same price as seed, but could be 1.6 times the value, for a four-month period. Such transactions are more like wealth transfer operations.

The Indian Express

The first advanced estimates of GDP growth for the financial year 2016-2017 (FY17) show a marginal decline from 7.6 per cent last year to 7.1 per cent this year. Of the various sectors, gross value added at basic prices (2011-12), mining and quarrying is down from 7.4 per cent to minus (-)1.8 per cent; manufacturing from 9.3 per cent to 7.4 per cent, construction from 3.9 per cent to 2.9 per cent; trade, hotels, transport, communication from 9 per cent to 6 per cent and financial, real estate and professional services from 10.3 per cent to 9 per cent. The sector that shows a big increase — from 6.6 per cent to 12.8 per cent — is ...

DNA

Move over onion, it’s tomato’s turn to make you cry now. As India celebrates the triumph over black money and corruption, farmers in Jharkhand are grief-struck that their freshly harvested tomatoes fetch just around 50 paise per kg (Rs 50 per quintal in wholesale market). They blame it on the bumper crop (due to good rains this season), and dump the produce as the price it fetches is not even meeting the cost of transportation.

The Pioneer

The Indian agricultural sector has definitely grown by leaps and bounds in the past years. However, the revolution ushered in during the late 20th and early 21st century has been noteworthy, despite being sporadic to a few selected crops or regions. Ensued by such hitches, the sector’s growth with sustenance has been moderate. Marking the beginning of agricultural reformations in 1991, the overall growth in the gross domestic product (GDP) was around three per cent per annum, with some thick and thin experiences in the sector.

The Hindu Business Line

Last January, Prime Minister Narendra Modi introduced a new crop insurance scheme with the aim of bringing 50 per cent of the country’s farmers under insurance cover in three years. Data shows that in kharif 2016 — the first season after the scheme’s launch — crop insurance coverage had risen. However, despite the Centre’s claims, this growth is mainly due to the increase in insurance coverage of farmers who have taken crop loans (loanee farmers).

State Times

Majority of the villagers belong to the farming community and majority of them are marginal farmers having limited income from their agricultural enterprises. Scattered terraces and levelled fields are the prominent features of this village with sandy loam to clayey loam soil. Irrigation facilities are available in the low lying areas whereas, the area at upper reaches and sloppy land is majorly rainfed. Farmers primarily grow paddy in the low lying fields and maize on sloppy land during Kharif.

The Times of India

Karnataka has been hit hard by both drought and demonetisation. The state is anticipating a significant drop in agricultural output, particularly foodgrain production in 2016-17. This is expected to have a huge impact on the growth of agriculture and allied sectors, and food self-sufficiency.

The New Indian Express

Agriculture insurance has a long way to go in helping farmers manage risks in farming. A lot of awareness and simplification of norms are the need of the hour, say stake holders from the sector. In a country, where agriculture is largely influenced by climatic conditions and remunerative prices for farm produce are a distant dream, crop insurance can be of great help. But, surprisingly, instead of being a sought-after avenue for risk management, crop insurance schemes failed the farmers when they needed it the most.

The Indian Express

The minister informed that the government is implementing cooperative education, training and developmental activities with the help of National Cooperative Union of India (NCUI), National Council for Cooperative Training (NCCT) and National Cooperative Development Corporation (NCDC) through integrated scheme on agricultural cooperation. “In the execution of the scheme, VAMNICOM is playing a very important role,” he said.

The Times of India

A comprehensive study on the ground reality of agriculture was the need of the hour, opined Arun Raj, CEO of Orisys India Consultancy Services, who took part in the debate on ‘challenges of IT initiatives in farming sector’ held in the state capital.

The Economic Times

The National Human Rights Commission issued notice to the Tamil Nadu government, based on news reports, that 106 farmers have died or committed suicide in the state due to crop failure. On January 10, Chief Minister O Panneerselvam said the state would soon be declared as drought-hit. He also said 17 farmers had committed suicide due to crop losses.

The Hindu

It is the time of the year when expectations about the Budget take centre-stage. While there are hopes and apprehensions on the extent to which the Budget provisions would revive investment and demand, questions abound on how the Budget can be inclusive in its approach and delineate a roadmap for creation of job opportunities. Besides, the Budget would have provisions to push up living standards of the common citizen. All this and more is likely to be unveiled in the forthcoming Budget.

The Economic Times

Sowing area under wheat has risen 7 per cent to 309.6 lakh hectares while that of pulses is up 11 per cent to 155.35 lakh hectares so far in the ongoing rabi (winter-sown) season on good monsoon and higher support price. However, the acreage of paddy and coarse cereals is lower than last year’s

The Hindu Business Line

After two back-to-back years of drought, India’s rural economy benefited in 2016-17 from a normal monsoon and helped raise demand for boosting the GDP. Demonetisation impacted the agricultural marketing system where payments are largely made in cash by intermediaries, which is then used immediately for purchase of inputs. As access to formal and digital financial systems is limited in rural areas, Budget 2017-18 would need to pay special attention to villages for spurring overall economic growth.

The Indian Express

Maharashtra saw the highest disbursement of agriculture loans in the first half of the current fiscal, according to Lok Sabha papers. The state saw agencies such as commercial banks, regional rural banks and cooperative banks together disburse Rs 1.04 lakh crore of agriculture loans in the first half of 2016-17, said the reply to a question by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley. The state accounted for 13.87 per cent of the Rs 7.55 trillion loans in agriculture disbursed all over India by these agencies. Maharashtra was followed by Andhra Pradesh, where Rs 62,693 crore of agri loans were disbursed. In the third position was Punjab with Rs 54,399 crore followed by Rajasthan with Rs 52,230 crore and ...

Yahoo News

Centres decision to stop providing Kisan credit cards to the farmers has affected the farming community in Bengal. This was followed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi further announcing that Rupay debit cards will be issued in place of the Kisan credit cards. A few days back the district magistrates (DMs) of all the districts sent a letter to the state headquarter at Nabanna expressing the difficulties the farmers are facing after the Centre stopped issuing fresh Kisan credit cards.

The Financial Express

The e-platform of National Agriculture Market (eNAM), or digital market place for farmers, which was launched by PM Narendra Modi last year, has made a sluggish start with only 250 mandis in 10 states carrying out online trading within their Agricultural Produce Market Committee (APMC) yard rather than going for intra-state trade. In the absence of reforms to allow inter-state trade, NAM so far achieved little in terms of multiplying the farmers’ choice of buyers.

The Hindu Business Line

It is clear that the projected population growth and urbanisation rates will have dramatic impacts on food security across the world by 2050. The impacts are multi-sectoral and extend well beyond food into infrastructure, healthcare, and technology. However, technology has the potential to re-shape these trends for the benefit of society. Technology is disrupting all areas of agricultural value chain, driving countless opportunities and challenges particularly around profitably feeding the 9.6 billion people on Earth by 2050.

The Times of India

Hundreds of farmers who attended Mati-Tilak Pratigya, a convention organised by BJP for them here on Friday, said demonetisation was a good step for taking on black money but pointed out that they faced severe inconvenience and losses due to unavailability of cash. Farmers told TOI that as they could not withdraw money from banks, they failed to get adequate amount of fertiliser, affecting quality of crop. Many said they were forced to take loans from moneylenders to buy agricultural inputs.

Live mint

The area planted under wheat is over half a million hectares higher than the seasonal area, shows data on the progress of winter sowing released by the agriculture ministry on Friday. So far, farmers have planted 30.96 million hectares under wheat, higher than the normal five-year average area of 30.4 million hectares.

Live Mint

As farmers in the state of Tamil Nadu stare at their withered crops, the benefits announced by the Tamil Nadu government on Tuesday haven’t offered much solace. Earlier this week, Tamil Nadu chief minister O. Panneerselvam declared all the 32 districts of the state as drought-hit and said the Centre’s aid would be sought in tackling the crisis.

The Hindu

There is increased resentment and discontent among delta farmers over the quantum of relief and ‘over dependency on crop insurance.’ Some organisations are planning to organise agitation to exert pressure on the State Government to increase the quantum of relief.

The Times of India

Air pollution is “slow death” high court said on Thursday, asking Punjab to put in place plans to prevent paddy crop burning by farmers this year. “We are of the view that the air quality of Delhi and surrounding areas is deteriorating each day and has attained alarming proportions. The action plan of Punjab should be substituted by a new one to ensure there is no paddy burning in 2017 itself,” a bench of Justices B D Ahmed and Ashutosh Kumar directed.

News 18

Air quality of Delhi and nearby states is deteriorating day by day and has attained alarming proportions, the Delhi High Court on Thursday said while asking the Centre and the Punjab government to work out a plan to stop from this year paddy straw burning in the state, a major contributor to air pollution.

The Hindu

Harvest of ‘TRY (R) – 3’ variety at a research plot at the Tamil Nadu Agricultural University – Anbil Dharmalingam Agricultural College and Research Institute at Navalur Kuttapattu near here, is expected to register a marginal fall in yield and also the harvest of the paddy variety is being delayed by a fortnight due to monsoon failure.

The Financial Express

Despite the nationwide rollout of the National Food Security Act (NFSA), the Centre’s food subsidy budget may not see a big spike in FY18; it could be around R1.45 lakh crore — roughly the same as the likely revised estimate for the current fiscal year.

The Hans India

Government’s policy decisions and ground reports are in conflict with official data on sowing, production and agriculture insurance. The Centre’s claim of 94 million metric tonnes (MT) (2015-16) of wheat production, good sowing acreage and success of agriculture insurance scheme is not in sync with reality as government’s own data do not match agriculture ministry’s claims.

Zee Biz

Referring to agriculture, the NITI Aayog’s document said that the raising productivity in agriculture is the immediate means to bring relief to vast number of poor. “Growth in these sectors would help create good jobs for workers with limited skills thereby allowing workers in agriculture and informal sector manufacturing and services to migrate to the formal sector.”

Live Mint

Global food prices fell for the fifth straight year in 2016, the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) said on Thursday. In 2016, FAO’s global food price index averaged 161.6 points, 1.5% below the 2015 level, and nearly 30% lower than the 229.9 points recorded in 2011.

The New Indian Express

Notwithstanding objection from BJP, the State Government will go ahead with distribution of RuPay debit cards to farmer members of primary agriculture cooperative societies (PACS) from February 1. The Government has set a target to distribute RuPay debit cards to 11.40 lakh farmers and install point of sale (POS) machines in all PACS of the State by March 31, 2017.

The Hindu

Tamil Nadu’s move to declare a drought, ironically on the eve of the harvest festival of Pongal, is an important step to address the agrarian distress that is sweeping the State following poor rainfall during the northeast monsoon. Even with relatively better governance structures, desperation among farmers has resulted in a spate of suicides, particularly in the Cauvery delta rice belt that has received little water from Karnataka in recent times.

PTI News

Maharashtra government has decided to give additional financial incentives of Rs 200 per quintal than the minimum support price sanctioned by the Centre for paddy for 2016-17 sowing season. “The decision will provide big relief to paddy growers who are burdened by cost of production,” state Agriculture Minister Pandurang Phundkar said.

The Hindu

Contrary to the popular belief that paddy is a water-guzzling crop, this progressive farmer from T. Narsipur in Mysuru district has reaped rich dividends this drought-hit season with just 25 per cent of the normal water usage. With reduced cost of cultivation, M.K. Kailash Murthy has turned the current agricultural economics upside down at a time when many of his ilk are abandoning the profession because of poor returns and increased expenditure.

The Hans India

State Congress official spokesperson Kolanukonda Sivaji demanded that the State government provide Minimum Support Price (MSP) to paddy farmers. In a press release here on Wednesday, Sivaji said farmers were being denied MSP in the kharif season and they were at the mercy of rice millers.

Kashmir Images

Finance Minister Haseeb Drabu on Wednesday said that the state has worked out a comprehensive insurance scheme for nine crops and asked the government departments to submit inventories of machinery and equipments so they are insured. “Despite the spate of natural calamities in the past and recurring violent civil strife that we are faced with, the state has neither insured its own assets nor has it been able to give insurance cover to private businesses, be it in agriculture, horticulture, other crops or to SMEs,” said Drabu in the legislature.

The Hindu Business Line

In the recent numbers released by the National Crimes Records Bureau (NCRB), Telangana stood second only to Maharashtra, with 1,400 farmers and farm labourers ending lives in the year 2015-16. The State had accounted for nearly 10 per cent of all 12,000 farm suicides reported that year.

Hindustan Times

Enthused with spike in maize production in four districts of southern Rajasthan, the agriculture dept now plans to increase the sowing area for the crop next season. The move, if implemented systematically, will improve the income of tribals, said agriculture minister Prabhu Lal Saini.

The Indian Express

THE ASSOCIATED Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India aka ASSOCHAM released a paper on Wednesday, highlighting Punjab’s slow economic growth in the past 10 years along with its dismal performance in service as well as agriculture sectors. The paper, titled ‘Action agenda for new government of Punjab’, says the state’s overall economic growth rate reached its lowest level of 4.9 per cent in 2014-15 from 10.2 per cent in 2006-07. A marginal improvement was witnessed in 2015-16, when it increased to 5.96 per cent compared to the previous year but Punjab’s contribution to India’s economy has declined from 3.3 per cent in 2004-05 to 2.9 per cent in 2015-16.

The Indian Awaaz

India Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Minister, Radha Mohan Singh Wednesday met Israeli delegation led by the Agriculture and Rural Development Minister of Israel, Uri Ariel to discuss issues relating to bilateral cooperation in agriculture between India and Israel. Both sides expressed satisfaction over the progress made in cooperation in the agriculture and allied sectors between the two countries.

India.com

India and Kenya have signed a Memorandum of Understanding on Cooperation in the agriculture sector and allied sector and Line of Credit for USD100 million for agricultural mechanisation. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta held delegation level talks and praised the strength of the re-invigorated partnership between the two countries, which serves to increase stability, prosperity, and security in the Indian Ocean region and in the Asia-Pacific.

Business Standard

National Institution for Transforming Indian (NITI) Aayog is in favour of keeping the threshold for the income tax (I-T) exemption intact at Rs 2.5 lakh. Instead, they want to extend the tax (10%) on the Rs 5 lakh slab to Rs 7 lakh. Officials said that the Aayog favours expansion of the tax base to enable more people to pay taxes, rather than expanding the exemption limits.

The Arunachal Times

The National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) has launched the Potential Linked Credit Plan (PLP) for Changlang district on Wednesday. It was launched by Deputy Commissioner Wajong Khimhun, and District Development Manager, NABARD, Changlang Kamal Roy.

Live Mint

With only few days left before the election code of conduct comes into force for civic and zilla parishad polls, Maharashtra government on Tuesday took three major decisions for paddy, soyabean, and tur farmers. Maharashtra’s revenue, agriculture marketing, and relief and rehabilitation departments announced a financial incentive of Rs200 per quintal for paddy farmers, direct monetary grant of Rs200 per quintal for soyabean farmers, and ordered a revised survey to measure the damage to tur crop in parts of Vidarbha and Marathwada.

The Financial Express

The Centre’s demonetisation drive did not have any impact on rabi sowing and prices of crops like paddy, soyabean and maize, Niti Aayog member Ramesh Chand has said. “Tentative estimates of area sown are provided by the Ministry of Agriculture each Friday of the week. This data shows that up to November 11, which can be considered as start of demonetisation, rabi sowing was completed on 14.6 million hectare area which was 5.7 per cent lower than the normal crop coverage.

The Hindu Business Line

The fact that Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu are in the grip of a severe drought has somehow not received the national attention it deserves. Both the south-west and north-east monsoons have failed these States, raising fears of farm distress. Rabi acreage under rice, oilseeds, coarse grains, maize and pulses has fallen steeply in Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. The Kerala government expects a major drop in winter rice output, with over 7,000 hectares of farmland in Palakkad district and another 4,700 hectares in Thiruvananthapuram district being affected.

NDTV

Madhya Pradesh aims to raise production of pulses by 60 percent in the next three years to help Prime Minister Narendra Modi achieve his goal of making the country self-sufficient in the staple, the state’s chief minister said. India, the world’s biggest consumer of pulses, faces an acute shortage of the protein-rich food, forcing the country to fork out about $2.65 billion a year to import the scarce commodity from Canada, Austria, and Ethiopia among others.

Bangalore Mirror

Stating that the policy decision to provide free or subsidised electricity has been a key driver for widespread groundwater exploitation, estimates by ICAR-Indian Institute of Soil and Water Conservation, Research Centre, Ballari, reveal that in Karnataka, groundwater depletion has forced farmers to drill up to depths of 200 to 300 metres, costing about Rs 2.5-3 lakh for a successful bore-well.

The Economic Times

Playing down the impact of demonetisation on agriculture, NITI Aayog member Ramesh Chand said even post demonitisation the growth story of agriculture is intact as there is small and insignificant effect on growth of output as well as farmers’ income since November 8 when the government decided to cancel the legal tender of Rs 500 and Rs 1000 notes, thus rendering 86% of the currency redundant.

Business Standard

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday expressed his happiness at the significant progress in partnership with Israel in the agriculture sector, an official said. “Indian farmers had successfully adapted to the knowledge and expertise imparted by the Israeli Centres of Excellence. The new agriculture work plan would also promote cooperation in the areas of water and dairy,” he told visiting Israeli Agriculture Minister Uri Ariel in a meeting on the sidelines of the Vibrant Gujarat Global Summit, said a Ministry of External Affairs statement.

Live Mint

After two successive years of drought, 2016 was turning out to be a relatively better year for farmers till 8 November. The decision to scrap high-value currency notes, announced on that day, seems to have hit the farm sector the hardest. While credible and timely data on farm incomes and output is hard to come by, a look at the trends in farm prices suggest that the sector may have been adversely affected by the note ban. As the chart below shows, the prices of farm products, especially that of perishables such as fruits and vegetables, fell sharply in November.

The Times of India

Traders at the APMC (Agriculture Produce Market Committee) yard in Bengaluru’s Yeshwantpur say their businesses are back to normal – or almost normal – after some disruption in the months of November and December following demonetisation. The APMC yard is the wholesale trading hub for foodgrains and pulses.

The Pioneer

About 77 per cent of rabi season sowing target has been achieved in Chhattisgarh so far, according to officials. Agriculture Minister Brijmohan Agrawal informed that the Agriculture Department has made preparations for taking up sowing activity in  18.30 lakh hectares of land  for sowing seeds for food grains, oilseeds, pulses and vegetables.

The Hans India

Land holding is a significant input for agriculture. The average land holding in Telangana in 2010-11 was 1.12 hectares (2.8 acres) against the all India average of 1.16 hectares, as per the Agriculture Statistics of Telangana 2015-16. Increase in population has put pressure on land, leading to fragmentation of holdings.

The Hindu

Karnataka is likely to fall short of its foodgrain production target for 2016-17 by a massive 36 per cent owing to drought, according to an assessment by the Karnataka Agriculture Price Commission (KAPC). The State had set a target of achieving production of nearly 135 lakh tonnes for 2016-17. But drought, said to be among the worst in 40 years, had affected production of various crops, states KAPC’s report ‘Perspective and Forecasting’.

Business Standard

In what could be a relief to millions of farmers and the government, India Meteorological Department (IMD) has said severe cold wave conditions are likely in Punjab, Haryana and northern Rajasthan from Tuesday till the morning of Saturday. This, after the slight drizzle over most of North India since Friday, could be a lifeline for the standing wheat and mustard crops, facing moisture stress due to a warmer than usual winter.  IMD had said last month that temperatures in all sub-divisions were likely to be warmer than normal between December and February.

The Economic Times

In a distinct example of technological success in agriculture, farmers in Andhra Pradesh’s Kurnool district increased their per hectare groundnut yield by 30% owing to the use of cloud technology and business intelligence.

The Hans India

Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY) is the new crop insurance scheme launched by Central Government in January 2016 to replace the existing two schemes National Agricultural Insurance Scheme (NAIS) as well as Modified NAIS which have had some inherent drawbacks.

The Financial Express

However, there is one sector which brings a glimmer of hope, and that is agriculture and allied sector, which registers a jump from 1.2% last year to 4.1% this year. It is a critical sector, engaging almost half the workforce of country and providing food security. It suffered in the last two years, thanks to back-to-back droughts. So, an anticipated growth of 4.1% brings much-needed relief, although it is far lower than 5.5% agri-GDP growth that NITI Aayog officials have been talking about for some time now.

First Post

What is equally significant to note is that in spite of being such a large state, and with some of the most fertile alluvial plains in the country, the contribution of agriculture to the state’s GDP has kept on falling. In fact, most of the farmers from UP and neighbouring Bihar can often been found working in the fields of Punjab, Haryana and Chattisgarh.

The Hindu

In the first pre-budget consultations held at the Interim Government Complex at Velagapudi in Guntur district on Monday, Finance Minister Yanamala Ramakrishnudu discussed with experts the shortcomings of agriculture and micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME) sectors and the steps that the Government is expected to take to bring a turnaround.

Live Mint

A Twitter poll by the finance ministry inviting suggestions on which sector needs most focus in the upcoming budget has, midway through the vote, overwhelmingly picked agriculture, putting the farm sector over infrastructure, manufacturing and information technology (IT) and other services.

The Times of India

Although it has been two months since the Centre’s sudden and dramatic decision to withdraw the old Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes from circulation, there appears to be no end to the troubles of the agrarian community in the state. Cash deficit, coupled with lack of adequate infrastructure to conduct cashless transactions, threw life of farmers in Karnataka into disarray; more than 60 days after demonetization was announced, the farming community is still struggling to come to grips with the altered circumstances.

The Times of India

State municipal administration and rural development minister SP Velumani has said more than 12,000 hectares of crops have been hit by drought in Coimbatore district. Velumani, who inspected the drought-hit villages on Sunday as part of the state-wide drive to assess crop loss, said maize, corn and cereals have been worst hit by the monsoon failure in the district. The state government would take measures to provide 100% compensation for the crop loss, he said.

The Times of India

Known for its large vegetable mandis and for being the agricultural trade centre for Unnao region, Bangarmau will soon become an industrial hub with the Agra Expressway attracting traders to come and set up agro-based industries there.

The Times of India

Following large-scale irregularities and graft in agriculture produce market committees (APMC), the BJP-led government in the state has proposed to give farmers voting rights to elect the committee members.

The Sentinel

Agriculture was at the centre-stage of priority sectors for the government in 2016, upstaged only at the fag-end of the year by the demonetisation drive of the government. Significantly two consecutive droughts did not dampen the indomitable spirit of Indian farmers who, as per the fourth advance estimates for 2015-16 crop year, produced 252.22 million tonnes of foodgrains as against the output of 252.02 million tonnes last year.

The Hindu

The samba harvest season during Pongal will see a 35 to 40 per cent drop in paddy production, according to the Tamil Nadu Agricultural University. “The paddy production last samba season was around 86 lakh tonnes and this year, it will be around 55 lakh tonnes. This is because the area under paddy has also come down,” said TNAU vice chancellor K. Ramasamy.

The Hindu

Report on drought condition prevailing in the district and crop damages will be submitted to the State government immediately. Officials have been advised to ascertain the damages accurately without any omission, said Vellamandi N. Natarajan, Minister for Tourism.

The Hindu

Standing crops in 42,943 acres were affected owing to acute drought and failure of monsoon. The State and Central Governments will make certain announcements about relief measures on January 11 or 12, said Minister for Forests C. Seenivasan.

 

PTI

Area sown to rice in Tamil Nadu fell by over 39 per cent to 7.18 lakh hectare so far in the 2016-17 rabi season due to poor northeast (NE) monsoon. Sowing of rice and other rabi crops begins from October-November and harvesting starts from April.

New Kerala

During his visit, the Minister will take part in the inaugurations of Vibrant Gujarat and an Indo-Israeli Agricultural Project (IIAP) Center of Excellence in Kolar, Karnataka. In the course of his visit, the Minister will meet in Gujarat with PM Modi and CM of Gujarat Rupani, in Delhi with Minister of Agriculture, Radha Mohan Singh and Minister of Water Resources, Smt. Uma Bharti, and in Mumbai with Minister of Agriculture of Maharashtra Fundkar.

DNA India

As the construction and other infrastructure related works have slowed down across the country due to cash crunch post demonetization, the rural populace, farmers, and labourers had pinned their hopes on the jobs available to them under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS).

Odisha TV

Following the announcement by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to convert Kisan Credit Card to RuPay cards, the Odisha government has set a target to provide RuPay card to 11.40 lakh farmers by March this year. Talking to media persons today, Cooperation minister Damodar Rout said the state government is bound to implement the RuPay card scheme of the Centre. He, however, said it is not possible to tell about the benefits of this scheme. “The outcome of this new scheme would be known only after its implementation,” he pointed out.

WebIndia123

The land available for cultivation in Telangana is declining due to conversion of agricultural land to non-agricultural uses. The pressure on agricultural land is ever increasing for industrialization , urbanization, housing, infrastructure and others. All these factors are forcing for conversion of agricultural land to non-agricultural uses. As a result of it, the scope for expansion of the area available for cultivation is coming down to that extent, ultimately decrease in next area sown, a report by the state Directorate of Economics and Statistics which released here for the year 2015-16 said.

PTI

Haryana government has deicided to launch a Rs 510 crore project to boost infrastructure-related facilities for farmers with a focus on ‘Baagwani Villages’, Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare Minister O P Dhankar said today. The ‘Crop Cluster Development Programme on Farm and Marketing Support to Horticulture Farmers’ in 2016-17 would be executed in three years during which infrastructure-related facilities would be created with a focus on Baagwani Villages.

The Hindu Business Line

Sowing in the on-going rabi season maintained its pace of low growth in the new year with rice and coarse cereals posting a decline and oilseeds remaining stagnant compared with the average of the last five years. Total sowing till January 6 increased 2.76 per cent to 602.75 lakh hectares (lh) compared with the previous five year’s average (normal of corresponding week) of 586.55 lh in the comparable period, according to figures released by the Agriculture Ministry on Friday.

ET Markets

A spell of rain is expected to lash the northern and northwestern regions over the next 24 hours, which agriculture experts say would help boost planting of wheat, chickpea and mustard. Rains at this time of the year are beneficial for the standing wheat crop as well. Agriculture officials and companies said this would help improve yields and production will be higher than last year.

The Economic Times

Delay in sowing of wheat, mainly due to demonetization, seems to be beneficial to farmers this Rabi season in Northern states where winter rains are late and the prevailing temperature is higher than normal. Sowing period was extended by 10-15 days by farmers due to demonetization in many districts in Punjab and Haryana this season.

The Hindu

A dip in temperature following rainfall in the country’s key wheat-producing States of Punjab and Haryana will boost the wheat crop, easing concerns about the adverse impact of unusual warm weather on the crop, officials and experts told The Hindu on Saturday. The showers during the past 24 hours have been widespread and ended the long dry spell in parts of Punjab and Haryana. A mercury dip is a good sign for the “temperature sensitive” wheat crop, they said.

The Economic Times

In an effort to make budget-making exercise more transparent and inclusive, the Finance Ministry is seeking people’s views on Twitter on the focus of Budget 2017. The ministry is running a poll on its official Twitter handle—@FinMinIndia—which is on for six more days, till January 13.

Deccan Chronicle

The Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices (CACP) has recommended to the Centre to extend interest subvention to non-crop agri loans to boost farmers’ investment in technological upgradation. “In a recent Niti Aayog meeting with the Prime Minister, we have recommended extending the benefit of interest subvention even for non-crop agri loans,” CACP Chairman Vijay Paul Sharma said here today.

The Economic Times

A spell of rain is expected to lash the northern and northwestern regions over the next 24 hours, which agriculture experts say would help boost planting of wheat, chickpea and mustard.

India Today

The Centre has chalked out a strategy to impart farm-related knowledge and develop agri skill sets among 6.33 lakh farmers by 2022 and about Rs 3.5 crore fund has been set aside for 2016-17. Developing farmers skill sets is part of the governments national skill development policy launched in 2015. The Agriculture and Skill Development Ministries will together provide farmers skill development training from this month onwards.

Counter Currents

Emerging evidence indicates that demonetisation was not done to curb corruption, ‘black money’ or terrorism, the reasons originally given. That was a smokescreen. Modi was acting on behalf of powerful Wall Street financial interests. Demonetisation has caused massive hardship, inconvenience and chaos. It has affected everyone and has impacted the poor and those who reside in rural areas (i.e. most of the population) significantly.

The Assam Tribune

Stressing the importance of augmenting the income of farmers, Agriculture Minister Atul Bora has said that the government has undertaken a slew of initiatives for the welfare of farmers, which will further give an impetus to the economy of the State.

Business Standard

The government may announce increase in agri-credit target to Rs 10-12 lakh crore in the 2017-18 Budget and even reduce the interest rates considering excessive cash flow in banks after demonetisation, consulting and accounting firm PwC India said today. For the current 2016-17 fiscal, the government has set a target to disburse agri credit of Rs 9 lakh crore, of which, Rs 7.56 lakh crore credit has been disbursed to farmers till September this year, as per the government data.

Press Trust of India

As per the plan, the Agriculture Technology Management Agency (ATMA) will coordinate to organise these five-days long festivals for the next three years. These events are planned be held in all the districts of Maharashtra except Mumbai city district and Mumbai suburban district.

The New Indian Express

Ahead of district Collectors taking stock of the standing crops across the State to ascertain the impact of monsoon failure, farming associations here have sought the committee to include farmers in respective districts to ensure authenticity of field study.

Business Standard

The Haryana government has decided to prepare a database of progressive farmers in all districts of the state. Besides, 340 villages have been identified for development as horticultural villages to promote horticulture in the state. Haryana State Horticulture Development Agency Chairman Abhilaksh Likhi said that an action plan for these villages has been prepared and the scheme would be implemented in a phased manner.

Live mint

The cabinet on Wednesday approved signing of an agreement between India, Portugal and Kenya for cooperation in agriculture and allied sectors. The agreement will pave the way for exchange of scientific and technical information relating to agriculture, animal husbandry and irrigation, among others, as well as formation of joint working groups to chart out detailed programmes and monitor their progress.

Orissa Post

With the state government yet to open mandis in Basudevpur area of Bhadrak, paddy farmers are mulling distress sale. In Basudevpur, billed as rice bowl of Bhadrak, the farmers have got a bumper harvest of the crop. Absence of mandies in the block has encouraged traders to make a beeline for the village to buy paddy at low prices.

Mumbai Mirror

Satellite imagery system has reached farmers, giving them 99 percent accurate information about the nature of their land’s soil and the crops that will grow well on that soil. The National Remote Sensing Agency (NRSA) has carried out satellite imagery for farmers on a pilot basis near Pune and has got 99 percent accuracy, according to a presentation made by Pune Agriculture College students at the 104th Indian Science Congress in Tirupati on Wednesday.

IANS Live

The Union Cabinet, at a meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday, approved the signing of an MoU between India and Kenya on agriculture and associated areas, said an official release. “The Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi has approved signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between India and Kenya on bilateral cooperation in the field of agriculture and allied sectors,” said a Cabinet release.

The Hindu

Minister for Agriculture V.S. Sunil Kumar has said that the decline in agriculture combined with climate change is edging the State towards a crisis. Opening Urvaram- 2017, a three-day district-level farmers’ meet at Koottalida here on Monday, he said an agriculture action force would be formed in 500 panchayats with a State-level nodal officer to monitor them.

The Hindu

There was abundant rainfall and all irrigation projects including major, medium and minor were filled to the brim. Besides, the groundwater table was also recharged considerably. Yet, the farmers were unable to take up cultivation this rabi and the reason cited was the cash crunch following demonetisation.

The Times of India

Madhya Pradesh is expecting a bumper output of more than 2 crore metric tonnes of wheat this season after record sowing and good rain. A good monsoon led to the presence of a veritable moisture in soil, a record Rabi sowing in 1.05 crore hectares, the highest in the country, has been completed in state. For past three years, wheat production in MP has steadily increased.

The Hans India

The vast integrated agriculture farm at Hampapuram village in Raptadu mandal established by N Rama Krishna, a progressive farmer bustles with activity with hundreds of visitors, farmers and government officials coming to have a glimpse of the model farm and study the best agricultural practices.

The Hans India

A model farmer, Mummidi Naga Maheswara Rao (Sekhar) of FK Palem in Pithapuram mandal, is reaping wonderful benefits cultivating the Annapurna model of agriculture department raising 20 varieties of crops without application of fertilisers in his one-acre land holding. With input costs dwindling, the farmer is reaping wonderful benefits.

The Hindu

To draw the attention of the authorities to the plight of farmers, who suffered crop loss on account of monsoon failure and were unable to even feed their livestock, Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam cadres brought cattle to the Collectorate here on Monday.

The Hindu Business Line

As one travels to villages in western Uttar Pradesh and across the industrial town of Moradabad, it is common to come across angry people criticising Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his “thoughtless’’ move of note-bandi (the term used in the Hindi heartland for demonetisation). With most of the cash sucked out of the State’s economy, and the banks — especially the rural ones — unable to meet demand for new notes, livelihood of hundreds of people has come to a grinding halt.

The Hindu Business Line

The fertile land of Punjab is lush with the promise of greener harvests to come, but the mood of the State’s cash-strapped farmers is decidedly downbeat. With most small farmers having taken loans against their land, the sharp fall in the prices of perishable vegetables in the wake of demonetization has put them on slippery ground, unable to recoup even their production cost.

The Hindu Business Line

There is a need to adopt business as “unusual” to sustain and improve farm sector because farmers’ condition is deplorable even though farming has improved, new NAAS President Panjab Singh said on Monday. “While farming has improved, the condition of our farmers who feed us all continues to be deplorable and needs our utmost attention,” said Singh after taking charge as President of think-tank National Academy of Agricultural Sciences (NAAS) for a period of three year.

The Financial Express

Improved water storage in reservoirs and higher crop prices (particularly of wheat, pulses and corn) are leading to an increase in sown area. Farmers have largely managed the sowing activity through credit and wide-spread acceptances of old currency notes during the peak sowing time. Improved water storage in reservoirs and higher crop prices (particularly of wheat, pulses and corn) are leading to an increase in sown area. Farmers have largely managed the sowing activity through credit and wide-spread acceptances of old currency notes during the peak sowing time.

Business Standard

PRADHAN MANTRI FASAL BIMA YOJANA: About 309 lakh farmers of 23 states had been covered under Fasal Beema during previous Kharif Season 2015 in which 294 lakh farmers were lonee and 15 lakh farmers were non-lonee.  During Kharif 2016, however, 366.64 lakh farmers have been covered out of which 264.04 lakh farmers are lonee and 102.60 lakh farmers are non-lonee. Pradhan Mantri Fasal Beema Yojana has been implemented by 21 states during Kharif 2016.

 

Business Today

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has 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.

Business Standard

With agriculture in the country facing numerous challenges because of uncertain weather, the Centre is expected to increase allocation to fight climate change in the Budget for 2017-18. The allotted funds could increase to about Rs 900 crore — nearly 45 per cent more than current allocation. Senior officials said the allocation could be under various heads, spread across all three wings of the Ministry of Agriculture: Department of Agriculture, Indian Council of Agriculture Research and the Department of Animal Husbandry, Dairying and Fisheries.

Indian Cooperative

In his New Year message IFFCO MD Dr U S Awasthi has listed the challenges facing the cooperative behemoth, its achievements over the years and its goals for the future. But most of all, he talks of two things- technology and digital platform. Thanking farmers for displaying their continued trust in IFFCO products he says the secret of staying ahead is to remain abreast of the latest know-how.

The Times of India

Demonetization seems to have helped private moneylenders in Maharashtra. Of the Rs 13,558 crore of loans required for the rabi season, banks could disburse only about Rs 2,400 crore, or close to 18% of the total requirement, because of a shortage of cash. Also, there are restrictions on district co-operative banks (DCCBs). Officials said the crisis has given moneylenders an opportunity to get rid of defunct notes as loans were disbursed in old notes and they will be paid back in new notes.

Navhind Times

With demonetisation completing 50 days, the situation for the farmers has almost become normal. However the farmers have certainly faced difficulties during the initial days of demonetisation.

Business Standard

The big-bang announcements of Prime Minister Narendra Modi on New Year eve to alleviate the pain of demonetisation may fall short of easing the problems of India’s 140 million farming families because most of the measures do not address the difficulties arising out of the cash crunch.

FnB News

Radha Mohan Singh, minister of agriculture and farmers’ welfare, listed the achievements of and initiatives taken by his ministry during the last two-and-a-half years, and stated that demonetisation has not had an adverse impact.

Live mint

“In the last few weeks, an impression was sought to be created that the agriculture sector has been destroyed (following demonetisation),” the prime minister said before announcing the relief measures, adding, “farmers themselves have given a fitting reply to those who were doing so. Rabi (winter) sowing is up by 6% compared to last year. Fertilizer offtake is up by 9%.”

First Post

In the last few weeks, an impression was sought to be created that agriculture sector has been destroyed. Farmers themselves have given a fitting reply to those who were doing so. Rabi sowing is up by 6 per cent when compared to last year. Fertiliser offtake is up by 9 per cent during this period,” Modi said. The government has taken care to ensure that farmers do not suffer for want of access of seeds, fertilisers and credits, he added.

The New Indian Express

Agriculture Minister V S Sunil Kumar told ‘Express’ that the aim this year is to bring 50,000 hectares of land in the state under organic cultivation. It is with this aim that the government kicked off the Haritha Kerala Mission by which a ‘Janakeeya Munettam’ is under way to protect water, soil and agriculture.

INC42

On-ground services are not available to Indian farmers and because of that they keep using old agronomy practices. Indian farmers spend approx 22% to 35% on mechanisation and almost nothing on services. Research and development of new technologies and innovation in agriculture has not reached quickly and in totality at ground level, this is a huge gap for Indian farmers. Till the time we will not build an ecosystem where farmers get the knowledge in a personalised and usable manner, this challenge will remain.

The Times of India

The Potential Linked Credit plan prepared by National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) for Madurai district has taken agriculture, MSME and housing as thrust areas envisaging the proposed credit plan at Rs 9216 crores for 2017 18. The proposed plan is 12.56 % higher than 2016 17, according to bankers.

Business Standard

The Jammu and Kashmir government has decided to implement the new crop insurance PMFBY in the ongoing rabi season, covering a dozen crops including wheat and paddy. With this, total number of states and union territories implementing the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY), launched early 2016, has reached 27.

The Echo of India

Agriculture was at the centre-stage of priority sectors for the government in 2016, upstaged only at the fag-end of the year by the demonetisation drive of the government. Significantly two consecutive droughts did not dampen the indomitable spirit of Indian farmers who, as per the fourth advance estimates for 2015-16 crop year, produced 252.22 million tonnes of foodgrains as against the output of 252.02 million tonnes last year.

The Hindu

By several accounts, Tamil Nadu is in the thick of a severe agrarian crisis after several seasons of crop failure. The death/suicide of farmers, being reported across the State — five deaths were reported on Friday alone — is probably the far end of the spectrum.