The Hindu Business Line

India’s agricultural growth has been a cause of concern for some time now. Though the sector is poised to grow at 4.4 per cent in GVA for 2016-17, an impressive jump from the previous year’s growth rate of 0.8 per cent, the swing only indicates the high dependency on the monsoons and the continued reliance on traditional farming methods.

Business Standard

Punjab should seriously consider implementing the crop insurance scheme for farmers as it has neither sent a memorandum to central government for drought relief nor done crop insurance in the last five years, Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan told the Rajya Sabha today. “I have seen the record of last five years. Punjab and its farmers do not do crop insurance there.

The New Indian Express

Last year, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the government’s goal of doubling the farmer’s income by 2022. Simple math tells us that this would require the farmer’s income to rise by around 12 per cent per year on average, over the next five years. This is in nominal terms, i.e. not adjusted for inflation. It’s an audacious goal if you consider the fact that agriculture growth (in real terms) has never averaged more than five per cent over any continuous five-year period, in recent history.

Outlook

The country is expecting “bumper” crop of pulses this year but the supply will fall short of the demand, the government said today, adding India will take two to three years to become self-sufficient in production. Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh, while replying to questions in the Rajya Sabha, said as per advance estimates, production of pulses is expected to be 22.14 million tonnes.

The Hindu

The organic farming policy of the State envisages sustainable and safe-to-eat farming systems, Minister for Agriculture V.S. Sunil Kumar has said. The Minister was inaugurating an outlet of the Startup Village project, a joint venture of Kerala Veterinary and Animal Sciences University, the Pullazhi Kole Sahakarana Sangham and the Thrissur Urban Development Authority at Olari, near here, on Friday.

DNA

Around 94 per cent farmers in Chhattisgarh have been provided with soil health cards against the national average of 50 per cent, a union minister said today. “The government in Chhattisgarh has provided soil health cards to 94 per cent farmers in the state,” Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh informed members in Rajya Sabha.

The Telegraph

The Assembly today passed a unanimous resolution to demand enhancement in the minimum support price (MSP) of paddy from the Centre. The state will now ask the Centre to increase the minimum support price of paddy to Rs 2,930 a quintal. Serious debates on the issue had been going on in the Assembly during the past few days.

NDTV

Union Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Minister Shri Radha Mohan Singh said that in the last two years government has sanctioned 40 percent extra funds for the agricultural universities in the states. He also said that, central government has presented a guideline to establish Central Agricultural Universities to ensure quality assurance in agricultural education. The Minister was speaking at a seminar on Agriculture for Prosperity and Sustainable Development organised by Vidyarthi Kalyan Nyas, Bhopal and Indian Council of Agricultural Research, Pusa, New Delhi.