Yourstory

Amidst the crowd of thousands of enthusiastic farmers who had come to Bengaluru from all over Karnataka for the National Trade Fair organised by the state government was a beaming 32-year-old. Vikram Sankaranarayanan was exuberantly greeting people at the organic millets fair that he helped organise with Karnataka’s Minister of Agriculture, Krishna Byre Gowda.

The New Indian Express

Some entomologists have pointed to a wide range of potential explanations for this CCD: Heavy pesticide use, viruses, GM crops, monoculture crops, mites and even radiation from mobile towers and phones. Laboratory tests show some bees infected with several pathogens and fungi at the same time. Experts fear that the insects’ immune systems collapse due to malnutrition and viruses.

The Economic Times

NITI Aayog Vice-Chairman Arvind Panagariya today said there is a need to formulate proper policies to ensure farmers get better prices for produce and asserted that there is no question of taxing their income. “We must have policies in place that would give better prices to farmers. And this is where the NITI Aayog, in collaboration with the state governments and on behalf of the Centre, tries to accomplish (the task of proper) marketing of agricultural produce,” he said.

Hindustan Times 

Niti Aayog member Bibek Debroy stirred up a hornet’s nest by proposing tax on agriculture income. Though finance minister Arun Jaitley quickly ruled out taxing farmers, chief economic adviser Arvind Subramanian later waded into the raging debate by advocating tax on rich farmers. The controversy comes just days after Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath announced Rs 36,350-crore farm loan waiver and Punjab CM Capt Amarinder Singh set up an expert group to assess the agriculture debt and suggest ways for its waiver to help farmers

The New Indian Express

The NITI Aayog further writes, “However, there is a strong public sensitivity towards the health and environment safety aspects of these technologies in India and in most of other countries, which cannot be ignored.” In India, only GM cotton is cultivated. Activists have been raising seed monopoly by multinational companies as an issue, along with pest-affected crops leading to losses for farmers.

The Wire

As part of efforts to move towards “climate-smart” agriculture, several countries have shared in a meeting in Rome new experiences on how to produce food in ways that help farmers cope with the impacts of climate change and to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in agriculture. The exchange took place at a special 26 April side-event during a session of the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation– FAO’s executive Council.

The Times of India 

Mangalore Chemicals and Fertilizers (MCF), a subsidiary of Zuari Fertilizers and Chemicals, has restarted its operations. The Mangaluru plant had shut-down for annual maintenance from March 3 after reaching the full production of the re-assessed capacity of 3.80 lakh tonnes of urea for 2016-17.

The Economic Times 

Mahindra & Mahindra says its farm equipment division head Rajesh Jejurikar is on a mission. And the mission resonates with that of the government. “We will look at doubling the income of farmers,” says the 52-year old. The nation’s largest SUV and tractor maker wants to bring the latest farming technologies to India, and see how to customise those for the benefit of the Indian farmer, including the one whose landholding is marginal.

Reuters

BRIEF-Monsanto deal hasn’t affected Bayer business Bayer CEO Bayer AG CEO at AGM * Says Monsanto takeover has so far not had any visible effect on the development of our business Further company coverage:

The Tribune

Some experts believe that genetically modified wheat may be the culprit. Some scientists say that hybridisation of wheat over the decades may have led to changes in the composition which could be a cause of an increased inability to tolerate gluten

Web India 123

Cultivation in 1.54 lakh hectare land in six districts was affected due to thunderstorms in the past few weeks. The state Agriculture department has carried out a study to assess the loss and the preliminary report in this connection was submitted to the department. The final report in this connection will be submitted within a week in which details of the monetary loss due to the natural calamity in agriculture will be mentioned. In the preliminary report it has been mentioned that agriculture in 64 blocks and 1,953 mouzas was affected due to thundershowers and rainfall.

Fianncial Express 

The Securities And Exchange Board of India’s (Sebi) decision to allow options trading in commodity derivatives comes as a shot in the arm for farmers, who can now look to a wider portfolio of derivatives to hedge risks in their produce better. Although detailed guidelines are yet to be out, market participants say even the cost of trading in commodity options (both farm and non-farm items) will likely be only a fraction of that for trading in futures.

The Hans India

The horticulture plantations are giving long-term dividends to the farmers and also standard and guaranteed income to the farmers. Now, the entire village farmers, who installed drip irrigation systems, have taken to horticulture plantations. Sridhar earned Rs 22 lakh net profit in one single crop year prompting other farmers to follow the footsteps of Sridhar. The horticulture plantations are being raised in an extent of 7,344 hectares under drip irrigation systems.

Live mint

Idukki district, which includes Munnar, tops the state’s districts in forest cover (3,770 sq km) and Devikulam accounts for more than one-third of this. There are three national parks in the area, and three rivers originate here. The remote sensing data also shows a massive increase in areas under plantations, agriculture and urban settlements while substantial reduction in open areas in Munnar. The data substantiates official reports of rampant encroachment that has facilitated the emergence of Munnar as a top tourist destination—the single biggest reason for the degradation of the region’s biodiversity.

Financial Express

While distancing itself from Debroy’s comments — “the eventual answer…is also to tax the rural sector, including agricultural income” — the NITI Aayog had issued a press release saying “this is neither the view of the Aayog nor is such a recommendation made anywhere in the Draft Action Agenda document”.

The Economic Times

Haryana chief minister, Manohar Lal said that farmers insured under the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana were provided compensation for not only crop loss due to natural calamity, but also for low yield. The chief minister said that it was for the first time that the farmers were also getting compensation for low yield. He also gave away cheques amounting to Rs 61,30,584 as compensation to 27 farmers of different districts of the State for Kharif-2016 under the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana here today

Business Standard

Government-owned food grains procurement agency, Food Corporation of India (FCI), has suspended purchase of pulses from farmers under the minimum support price (MSP) operations for the current season.

Business Standard

The Food Corporation of India (FCI) has suspended the purchase of pulses from farmers under the minimum support price (MSP) operations for the current season after “surpassing” the procurement target set by the ministry of consumer affairs. The government-owned food grains procurement agency says it is now looking at mechanisms to dispose of its stock.

Zeebiz

Even if one has to club income from farming, livestock, nonfarm business, wages and salary, total annual income of farm households with land holdings of 4 to 10 hectare would be only Rs 2.34 lakh -lower than Rs 2.51 lakh which is the lowest earning limit to pay income tax. Those 0.39% farmers with average land holding of 15 hectare would earn marginally more than Rs 4.28 lakh, at Rs 4.52 lakh in 2012-13.

Financial Chronicle

From being a net importer of urea, India is all set to become a major exporter of the fertiliser by 2021. The government on Thursday unveiled a Rs 55,500 crore plan aimed at reviving mothballed fertiliser units and setting up of gas import and pipeline network connecting eastern India to the national gas grid. India produced 24.5 million tonnes (mt) of urea in 2016-17, while the annual domestic demand stood around 32 mt, making the country import the balance requirement.

Business Standard

India and Cyprus today identified areas of work in the agricultural sector to be rolled out in the current fiscal as per the bilateral pact signed already between the two nations. The work plan was finalised and inked in a meeting between Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh and Cyprus Agriculture Minister Nicos Kouyialis here, an official statement said.

Web India 123

Poland today concluded an agreement for cooperation in agriculture benefitting from each other’s experience in agriculture. This was among a number of agreements signed in the presence of Vice President Hamid Ansari, Minister of State for Micro Small and Medium Enterprises Giriraj Singh and their Polish counterparts.

The New Indian Express

The district administration has decided to supply 37,809 quintals of paddy and 2,268 quintals of non-paddy seeds through Primary Agriculture Cooperative Societies (PACS) to the farmers. The Odisha State Seeds Corporation Limited (OSSC) will produce quality paddy seeds in 1,490 ha under Seed Village Programme.

The Hindu

In the wake of consecutive droughts in the State, the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development’s Karnataka Regional Office, has decided to launch the ‘Save Water’ campaign’ in seven waterstressed districts — Kolar, Tumakuru, Chitradurga, Raichur, Kalaburagi, Vijayapura, and Bagalkot — before the onset of monsoon.

The Times of India

Official think tank Niti Aayog is pushing for a legislature to allow direct buying of agriculture produce from farmers, a move meant to help farmers and buyers fetch better prices and do away with middlemen. The model Agriculture Produce and Livestock Marketing (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, 2017, prepared by agriculture ministry in consultation with Niti Aayog, provides for making entire state’s designated area for farmers to sell their produce, single trader licence, single levy of taxes, and electronic auctioning of crop produce.

The Hindu Business Line

The sectors include education, health, agriculture, rural development, defence, railways, roads and other categories of capital expenditure. Investments in machinery, fertiliser and steel have been named sectors that crowd out investments in activities such as railways, ports, irrigation, power and digital connectivity.

The Hindu Business Line

It is becoming increasingly clear that the Central government has no clear plan to address the problem of low prices faced by pulse growers, especially tur/arhar or pigeon pea growers in States like Maharashtra and Karnataka. The growers’ widespread disappointment over the poor policy responses and tardy procurement can potentially cause New Delhi acute embarrassment in the upcoming kharif season.

The Indian Express

While 960 small farmers would be benefited by the scheme as many as 5,911 farmers coming under “other categories” would be the other beneficiaries. The financial implication for the government as a result of supply of free power to farmers has been estimated at Rs.1.95 crore during the current fiscal, the notification said.

The Hans India

India supports 15% of the world’s population but possesses only 4 per cent of the world’s water resources. World Bank data shows that only 35 per cent of India’s agricultural land is irrigated – defined as the artificial application of water to land or soil. This means that 65 per cent of farming depends on rainfall. Successive Indian governments have done little to conserve water for off-season use.

Bloomberg Markets

The German company is primarily interested in the crop-care assets that Bayer AG is divesting as part of its deal for Monsanto Co., said the people, who asked not to be identified because the plans are private. Having remained on the sidelines of the large-scale mergers and acquisitions that have swept across the agrochemical industry, BASF Chief Executive Officer Kurt Bock is in pole position to pounce on the billions of dollars of crop-care assets that Bayer and others are being forced sell to meet antitrust regulator demands.

Reuters

German drugs and pesticides maker Bayer, which is seeking to complete its $66 billion takeover U.S. seeds giant Monsanto, received another boost to quarterly earnings from its best-selling stroke-prevention pill Xarelto.

The Hindu Business Line

A pilot project on direct benefit transfer of fertiliser subsidies has thrown up mixed results and unexpected challenges, which may force the Centreto either delay its targeted rollout date from June or implement it in phases. Sources familiar with the development said that while the pilot study has shown favourable results, there has been difficulty in authenticating fingerprints of farmers on the point of sale (PoS) machine and transaction times have been longer.

The Times of India

Banana and turmeric are long-term crops that require more water and so does tomato to give a good yield. Thus, many farmers have turned to vegetables like onions, chillies and lady’s finger which are less fleshy and require less water,” said Ramakrishnan.

The Wire

Drought management is the main concern in government agriculture departments, NGOs and farmers groups in Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Kerala. The three states are under severe drought and farmers under distress with declining productivity. The delta region, often called the “rice bowl of Tamil Nadu,” is trying to grapple with the situation. In the last ten years, drought has become more common than floods, but has been managed with little success. No scientific data, government steps or research has been able to help farmers overcome drought.

Currently, 3750 hectares have been certified organic and 1000 hectares more are in the final stages of conversions with crops such as large cardamom, ginger, turmeric, pineapple, and vegetables etc. The crops have high market value offering ample scope for development of organic farming in the state, he said. The challenge now, he said, is to identify crops which are in high demand in the organic market and intensify cultivation under organic farming to increase their production to meet the demand of the market; it is also to ensure that farmers earn premium prices for their organic produce.

The Economic Times

The government has been quick to scotch any speculation that it proposes any change in the status quo on taxing income from agriculture. However, the idea merits wider debate, after having been aired by the Niti Aayog. Technically speaking, agricultural income is not quite exempt from taxation. It falls among the taxes the Constitution assigns to the states, that is all. States do collect tax on agricultural income from plantations. And the Centre also has policies that an economist would say tax agricultural income. If a marketing restriction, foreign or domestic, represses the price of an agricultural commodity below its optimal level, it amounts to an implicit tax.

The Hindu

Thousands of TRS cadres led by Minister for Agriculture Pocharam Srinivas Reddy, on Wednesday, set out their journey in over 100 tractor-trailers from Banswada to attend the public meeting to be held in Warangal on Thursday. They made roofs with bamboo sticks leafy sheets over the tractor-trailers to protect themselves from the heat and put on pink flags all over the vehicles. The Minister was driving one tractor.

The Times of India

The farmer groups can now register themselves under Companies Act by forming ‘Farmers Producers Organisations’ (FPO) and do marketing of their farm produce. Principle Secretary to government of Haryana for Agriculture Department Dr Abhilaksh Likhi visited village Dabodha in district Gurugram on Wednesday. Dr Likhi enquired from the farmers whether they were getting the benefits of government schemes. He directed the officials from the agriculture department to educate the farmers about online facilities available to them.

Telangana Today

Agriculture in Telangana, particularly being carried out by small and marginal farmers, is poised for a rapid transition in the coming years. More so, after the historical announcement of a major policy on promotion of small farmer economy by Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao at the recently-held plenary.

The New Indian Express

Odisha ranked first among 29 States in getting financial support from National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (Nabard) for augmentation of rural infrastructure in the last fiscal, informed Chief General Manager (CGM) KC Panigrahi on Wednesday. Talking to mediapersons here, Panigrahi said while the target was to disburse Rs 28,000 crore in the country, Odisha was the biggest beneficiary to get Rs 2,406 crore under Rural Infrastructure Development Fund (RIDF).

Indian Express

Manohar Singh Sendhav cannot offhand recall the number of trips he has made to the Dewas mandi or to the shining steel silo at Durgapur, some 10 km away. Undaunted by the searing noon heat, this farmer from Chandakhedi village in Dewas district’s Sonkatch taluka watches his tractor driver getting the unloaded wheat weighed at the silo, whose four bins together can store 50,000 tonnes of grain. “The weather’s been good this time, with no frost, unseasonal rains or hailstorm,” he says, making a gesture of gratitude towards the skies.

Tech Digg

It is well-known that we are in the middle of a productivity boom, and that computers have helped with this. However, the Internet of Things has taken this to the next level, because of how it has helped us use machines.

Yahoo! News

Why Arun Jaitley was quick to dump Bibek Debroy’s proposal to tax farm income. It has long been argued that the government should tax agriculture income to increase its tax base. The idea has been proposed and disposed of many times in the past few years, with the latest being from NITI Aayog Member, Bibek Debroy, who, in a press conference, argued that the government should “tax the rural sector, including agriculture income above a certain threshold”.

The Hindu Business Line 

The app provides location-specific soil nutrient information status, fertiliser recommendations and nutrient management advice through a web and GIS navigable digital map interface. The GPS-enabled soil sampling and nutrient analysis was done in Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu by the National Bureau of Soil and Land Use Planning at the Indian Council of Agriculture Research, Bengaluru.

ET CIO

Atos has announced a worldwide first solution which captures agricultural data directly via satellite to optimize farming practices. Together with start-up TerraNIS, Atos is using its business analytics solution Atos Codex to convert data into valuable information for the agriculture sector.

Outlook India

Hyderabad-based Nuziveedu seeds today moved the Delhi High Court against its single judge order rejecting its claim that US-based agro major Monsanto was incorrectly granted patent for BT cotton seeds.

The Hindu Business Line

The Mumbai-based social start-up, which helps farmers reduce their food wastage and get better prices, provides them patented solar conduction dehydration technology and buys back dried products from them, which it processes and markets as healthy fruit chunks and ready-to-eat Indian delicacies for healthy snacking. It packages nutrient-rich, gluten-free vegetables chips as well. It has received grants from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, and recognition from USAID, Dell, FICCI, Bayer and IIM-Ahmedabad, among others.

The Economic Times

There should be no distinction between urban and rural. The threshold for taxing rural agriculture income should be the same as urban income. However, rural agriculture income taxed could be an average of three years as it is subject to weather fluctuations,” Debroy said, explaining the Aayog’s proposal to expand the country’s tax base. The government plans to do away with personal income tax exemptions, an exercise that’s already under way for corporate income.

The Times of India 

Alarmed at reports of a Niti Aayog proposal to tax farm income, BJP MP from Uttar Pradesh Virender Singh Mast, who is also the head of party’s Kisan Morcha, said it would be a violation of the Constitutional provisions and even the “basic culture of the country”.

NDTV Profit

Cotton is the only GM crop currently allowed to be sold in the world’s second most populous country where arable land is shrinking. U.S. company Monsanto Co. dominates the cotton seed market in India, and often faces resistance from local companies over its dominant position.

Business Standard

The roadmap consisting of shifting additional revenues towards high priority sectors: health, education, agriculture, rural development, defence, railways, roads and other categories of capital expenditure. Agriculture: Doubling Farmers’ Incomes by 2022

Business Standard

The Union Minister for Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Shri Radha Mohan Singh said that the central government is giving priority to agriculture sector by allocating maximum funds for the farmers’ welfare. Shri Singh said that the government aims at increasing the agriculture production, determining productivity and boosting dairy/livestock/fisheries while promoting agriculture education, research and extension organisation.

The Times of India The Financial Express The Times of India The Telegraph New Indian Express Hindustan Times The Hindu Business Line Navbharat Times The Economic Times The Asian Age Financial Chronicle Business World Business Standard Kashmir Monitor Free Press Journal

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Wednesday said that the government has no plans to tax agricultural income, a day after a senior economic adviser touched a political nerve by proposing farmers pay income ...

The Times of India 

Describing agriculture as a way of life, chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao on Tuesday unveiled his grand vision to make farming a profitable venture in Telangana. Speaking at a large gathering of farmers, agriculture and horticulture officials at `Rythu Hita’ program at Hitex, he vowed to take steps to ensure that every farmer feels proud of his profession.

The Hindu 

NITI Aayog member Ramesh Chand has said that omnibus farm loan waivers, or excessive support to farmers, can cripple them in the long run, as they disincentive individuals from becoming self-reliant.

Financial Express

The chana production target set by the agriculture ministry is 96 lakh tonne. The crop size last year was lower at 72 lakh tonne because of damage caused by unseasonal rains and hailstorm. Given the satisfactory weather so far and assuming normal conditions in the next two months, there is hope that the chana harvest will touch 85 lakh tonne. In the event, harvest pressure is sure to bring prices down further, according to industry observers.

Business Standard

The Kochi-headquartered Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute (CMFRI) successfully developed the seed production technology of a food fish, a marine ornamental fish and a marine ornamental shrimp which has huge commercial value in the export market.

The Hindu

Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao has announced that an allocation of about Rs. 7,500 crore will be made in the next (2018-19) Budget for the input investment assistance scheme to be implemented from the kharif 2018 in the State, under which the State Government would credit Rs. 4,000 per acre each for kharif and rabi crops, separately.

Business Standard

The Economic Times

Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadanvis has said that the government will use satellite images in case big quantities of tur sold at Nafed centres to verify if the sellers had actually planted tur. The government will take criminal action against traders who sold imported tur at government procurement centres. The CM announced allocation of Rs 1000 crore to procure about 1 lakh quintal tur that was registered at various centres on Aprill 22 for sale as the central government’s ..

Livemint

The National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (Nabard) on Tuesday announced a Rs3.36 trillion lending plan for the priority sector in Maharashtra in 2017-18. The plan includes Rs58,862 crore in crop loans and Rs27,973 crore in agriculture term loan.

Business Standard

Seeking priority to using farm loans for creating durable assets, Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said that banks should focus on bringing back farmers forced out of the formal credit system in the current financial year.

The Hindu

Marginal and small farmers are likely to benefit the most from the input investment scheme proposed to be implemented by the Telangana Government from kharif 2018 as they comprise nearly 86% of total farmers (holdings) in the State with control over 55.5% of agriculture land.

Business World

Despite a ban and dire warnings from the Environment Pollution Control Authority, the burning of wheat stubbles to clear the fields for paddy sowing is a rampant practice in Punjab and Haryana, leading to severe air pollution across the region and in Delhi, too. These days farmers do it in a secret way as there is stringent monitoring and satellite surveillance carried out by the Punjab and Haryana government. Also, after crop fires they term it as an accident.

The Hindu

Experts at a workshop on ‘Impact of climate change on livestock-based livelihood systems’ have called for projects with a climate-change perspective. Presenting a paper on ‘Role of officers with animal husbandry background in changed environment’ at the three-day workshop, D.V. Deshpande, Director, Bankers Institute of Rural Development (BIRD), Lucknow, said compared to previous years, market-centered production has been acquiring momentum in animal agriculture.

The Times of India

Seeking to create abarrier-free market for agricultural produce and livestock across the country, the Centre has unveiled a model law and urged states to adopt it at the earliest.

The Hindu Business Line

One of the major challenges that confronts agriculture in India today is that the children of farmers, by and large, are not interested in their familial occupation. To address this challenge and make agriculture attractive to the youth, the Union Government is rolling out a programme that offers bankable options for the youth in agriculture and allied sectors.

PTI News

Niti Aayog in its three-year draft action agenda on Tuesday suggested a host of reforms in taxation, agriculture and energy sectors with the objective of accelerating growth and increasing employment opportunities. The draft agenda, released by Niti Aayog Vice Chairman Arvind Panagariya on Tuesday, also underlined the need for recalibrating the role of the government by limiting its involvement in activities that do not serve a public purpose.

Business World

Despite a ban and dire warnings from the Environment Pollution Control Authority, the burning of wheat stubbles to clear the fields for paddy sowing is a rampant practice in Punjab and Haryana, leading to severe air pollution across the region and in Delhi, too. These days farmers do it in a secret way as there is stringent monitoring and satellite surveillance carried out by the Punjab and Haryana government. Also, after crop fires they term it as an accident.

Telangana Today

The agriculture extension officers should equip themselves with total data pertaining to farmers in their jurisdiction. They have to have survey number of land holdings, extent of land, name and phone numbers and crops cultivated by the farmers, said Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao here on Tuesday.

Farmers claim banking is not speedy in rural areas. Cotton farmers in Punjab who accepted 80-90 per cent of their payments by cheque till January, are increasingly demanding cash. “This is due to weak banking in rural areas. Farmers want cash for their daily requirements,” said Bhagwan Bansal, president, Punjab Cotton Ginners Association.

“At best what I can do because it is an agriculture income, instead of using agriculture income for one particular year, what I could do is I average it over three-year period or may over five years period as agriculture income is subject to annual fluctuations, barring that threshold should be the same,” he said.

Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadanvis has said that the government will use satellite images in case big quantities of tur sold at Nafed centres to verify if the sellers had actually planted tur. The government will take criminal action against traders who sold imported tur at government procurement centres. The CM announced allocation of Rs 1000 crore to procure about 1 lakh quintal tur that was registered at various centres on Aprill 22 for sale as the central government’s procurement programme ended on Aprill 22.

Union Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Minister Radha Mohan Singh on Tuesday said that the Central Government has been giving priority to the agriculture sector by allocating maximum funds for the farmers’ welfare.

Fadnavis, however, said the tur stock procured by the government was a record in Maharashtra. “Across the country, around 1.1 million tonnes of tur has been procured by the government agencies. Maharashtra alone accounts for 40% of this procurement and our share will go up to 45% after we have procured the remaining stock at centres. This is a record high procurement and no other state has bought this much of Tur. In 2011-12, under a similar scheme implemented by the Congress-NCP government, Nafed procured only 20,000 tonnes of Tur and stopped procurement on 15 March. Our government has procured 2,500% more tur and gave three extensions after March 15,” Fadnavis said.

After the fiery rains and hailstorm wreaked havoc on paddy fields two weeks ago, the fire engulfed nearly 35 acres of paddy field in separate incidents that took place in Nalgonda and Suryapet on Tuesday. In one incident nearly Rs 2 crore worth cotton bales were reduced to ashes. Sources said in Pillalamarri village of Suryapet mandal, as many as 25 acres

The Echo of India

Over 61.63 lakh metric tonnes (MT) of wheat arrived at the mandis in Haryana till yesterday in the current Rabi season, compared to over 58.83 lakh MT during the corresponding period last year. A spokesman of the Food, Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs Department said that over 61.60 lakh MT has been procured by five government procurement agencies at Minimum Support Price, while 3,596 MT has been procured by traders.

The Hindu

In the wake of acute shortage of water in Shettyhalli Wildlife Sanctuary limits in the district, the Forest Department has constructed 40 artificial waterholes there to provide water for the wildlife in the area. Apart from more than 100 natural waterholes, the Tunga, Aihole, and Puradal reservoirs and the Kumudvati river are sources of water for the sanctuary spread over an area of 396 sq. km.

Business Standard

Punjab is reeling under a debt of around Rs 2.5 lakh crore, much higher than the anticipated Rs 1.5 lakh crore, and this will come out in the white paper being produced by June ahead of the budget presentation, Punjab chief minister Amarinder Singh said today. He said that the state was working out the farm debt waiver as promised earlier and the government is working out details as it intends to come out with a “meaningful” loan waiver unlike Uttar Pradesh, whose scheme he termed as a “mere gimmick”.

The Indian Express 

FARMERS IN Sankheda taluka of Chhota Udepur district have gone on a ‘hunger strike’, protesting against the APMC authorities who have ceased the procurement of toor dal since Thursday, owing to a shortage of the mandatory gunny bags provided by the APMC.

Hindustan Times 

A total of 63 case of fire in wheat fields damaging crop on 259 acres due to sagging electricity cables have been reported till April 20, reveals an assessment by Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL). According to principal secretary, power, A Venuprasad, who also holds the charge of chairman-cum-managing director of the PSPCL, the number of fire incidents in the current rabi season are less as compared to last year in the corresponding period when wheat over 223 acres was gutted in 100 incidents.

Yourstory

A number of health-conscious restaurants across the globe are now looking beyond chia seeds and quinoa for superfood options. Millets, long known and hailed as a wonder grain across India and other Asian and African countries, are slowly coming to the notice of food experts across the world.

The Hindu

Organic produce, including the nutrient-rich millet, is gaining popularity in cities. But they are highly priced, making it almost unaffordable for the ordinary middle class. Ironically, farmers who grow them are not getting remunerative prices. Hoping to solve this dichotomy, Karnataka has embarked on an initiative to provide direct interface between organic farmers and the country’s leading organic food retailers.

The Times of India

Over hundreds of farmers from Pacchua Doon conducted a mass rally outside Vikasnagar on Monday against the state government. The farmers said that the government had failed to meet its own election promise of waiving of agricultural loans. They have been protesting for over a week with kisan union head Sandeep Dubey sitting on hunger strike.

Yahoo! Finance

Companies operating in this market focus on product launches as part of their growth strategy; for instance, in the U.S., DOW Agroscience and Bayer Cropscience launched new insecticides, namely, Sequoia, Closerand Sivanto. Key companies profiled in the report are BASF, Bayer AG, DOW Agriscience LLC, Syngenta AG, Cheminova A/S, FMC Corporation, Adama Agricultural Solutions Ltd, Nufarm Ltd, E.I DuPont de Numerous and Company and Monsanto.

Business Standard

In agriculture, officials said the Aayog favours the use of genetically modified seeds discovered by domestic institutions and companies. It also wanted reworking of the PM’s Crop Insurance Scheme and easing of labour laws to boost manufacturing.

Scroll.in

After a 41-day agitation at New Delhi’s Jantar Mantar complex, the 170 farmers from Tamil Nadu who had grabbed media headlines with their heart-rending gestures of desperation, suspended their protest on Sunday after Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswamy promised to solve their problems.

The Economic Times

After advancing the budget, Prime Minister Narendra Modi may have set the ball rolling on another crucial reform – changing the financial year to January-December. He asked states to take initiatives on the proposal, which has already seen several suggestions. Modi also told the states to seriously consider governance issues that are holding back speedier development and to speed up capital expenditure and infrastructure creation to lift growth.

India Today

A vision document underlining development of Jharkhand in the next 15 years by eliminating poverty, developing skills of youths, improving standard of education and improving farmers condition has been submitted to Niti Aayog, states chief Minister Raghubar Das today said.

The Times of India

Chief minister Devendra Fadnavis has demanded Rs 10,684 crore assistance from the Centre for executing various agricultural projects in Maharashtra. In the governing council meeting of NITI Aayog with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Fadnavis submitted a vision document for Maharashtra.

The Wire.in

When the leader of Congress in Lok Sabha Mallikaarjun Kharge recently urged the government to grant an additional bonus of Rs 1,000 per quintal over the minimum support price (MSP) for tur dal, he was demanding a respite for the farmers who were faced with the collapse in prices pushing them deeper into distress. After two years of back-to-back drought, a bountiful monsoon in 2016 was expected to bring cheers for farmers. Backed with a promise of a higher procurement price, farmers had put in all efforts to achieve a record harvest.

The Financial Express

Indian agriculture can overcome problems of climate change and take the path of sustainable and climate-smart agriculture (CSA) by using mitigation techniques and adapting technology and new crop patterns, according to Shyam Khadka. Khadka, the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) representative in India, was speaking at a conference organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII). “The good news for India is that it has well-developed agriculture systems.

Telangana Today

Laying out a virtual blueprint to pull the farming sector in the country out of distress, Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao on Sunday made a strong pitch for various measures including division of the country into crop colonies for specific crops based on agro-climatic regions to achieve the objective of doubling farmers’ income in five years.

The Indian Express

The government is aiming to bring 40 per cent of gross sown area of 194.4 million hectare under crop insurance schemes in 2017-18 season beginning July. In 2016-17 crop year, about 26.28 per cent or 51.1 million hectare of gross area under crops was insured. At present, crops are being insured under two schemes: Restructured Weather Based Crop Insurance Scheme (RWBCIS) and Pradhan Manthri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY). The PMFBY was launched last year.

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A graphene-based membrane produced by the Graphene Centre at the University of Manchester promises to remove over 97% of salt from water, enabling farmers to use far more brackish water for irrigation than they could have done before. It has been demonstrated to be scalable as well.

The Economic Times

Noted agricultural scientist M.S. Swaminathan, hailed as the mentor of the Green Revolution that saw India achieve self-sufficiency in foodgrain, feels GM technology, which has generated much heat in the country, will soon become “obsolete” with the advent of nano-technology and other solutions.

He also felt that it was “very important” that the loans of farmers across the country be waived — as the new Uttar Pradesh government has done — due to the prolonged drought, climatic abe ..

The Times of India

A few patches of black disturb the golden spread of ripe wheat ready for harvesting in Haryana’s Karnal district. These are tracts that were set on fire recently after the standing crop was reaped to ready the field for paddy planting in the monsoon.

Nyooz

Jain Irrigation Systems Ltd (JISL) would build an integrated micro-irrigation project in Karnataka’s Mandya district, a top official of the farm equipment maker said on Friday. “The project is expected to benefit 15,000 farmers and meet the drinking water needs of 51 villages in the region,” added the statement.

Business World 

Various reasons have been offered to explain why farmers commit suicide in India, including: floods, drought, debt, use of genetically modified seed, public health, use of lower quality/quantity pesticides due to less investments producing a decreased yield and also government economic policies. However several studies have also shown that more than one reason is often associated with farmer suicides.

Adoption of technology in farming and use of latest variety of seeds is essential to achieve bumper harvest, opined agriculture scientists. A two-day Zonal Research Extension Advisory Council (ZREAC) meeting was inaugurated at Naira Agriculture College here on Thursday.

Business Standard

The fertiliser sector is witnessing a churn, on a scale not seen for long.   Direct benefit transfer (DBT) in sales, neem-coating of urea, pooled price of gas for urea units, changes in pricing policy and on related to subsidy payments are among some of the recent ones. All are aimed at streamlining the industry and boosting urea production, to ensure more fertiliser is made cheaper, in the highly regulated and subsidised regulated sector.

Deccan Chronicle

Farmers in Telangana state are having problems growing cash crops such as corn and maize because the harvest is being consumed and damaged by a population of wild boars. The animals recently destroyed the crops of a farmer from Hyderabad.

Nyooz

The government wheat procurement centres in Pilibhit district have been illegally charging Rs60 per quintal from farmers to accept their crop under the government purchase scheme. Surprisingly, there was hardly any wheat procurement in some of these villages.

Deccan Herald 

The ‘Organics and Millets 2017 – National Trade Fair’ will be held from April 28 to 30 in the city. The event is being organised by the department of agriculture in collaboration with Karnataka State Agricultural Produce Processing and Export Corporation Limited, agricultural universities and Jaivik Krishik Society.

The Times of India

Lower than expected soybean exports keep lid on prices  wheat was little changed on Friday after dropping to a four-month low earlier in the session, pressured by plentiful global supplies and an improved weather outlook for the winter crop in the United States.

Financial Express

The government’s wheat purchase drive for the ongoing rabi marketing season (2017-18) has picked up pace with the Food Corporation of India and state government agencies procuring close to 15 million tonne (MT) since the operations began on April 1. The quantum of wheat procurement till Thursday is 12% more than grain purchased from the farmers during same period last year.

Business Standard

National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (Nabard) has extended Rs 9,241 crore as refinance support to cooperative banks and regional rural banks (RRBs) in Gujarat for providing crop loans to farmers during 2016-17. The bank has sanctioned Rs 2,274 crore to the Government of Gujarat for irrigation project of SAUNI Yojana.

Livemint

Sunil Munjal, who separated from his brothers in 2016 to carve an independent identity, has formed a new group company called Hero Enterprise that has started selling life and health insurance policies and plans to venture into aerospace parts.

TheWire.in

As the adversities of hydroclimatic aberrations start becoming perceptible in sustainable development strategies around the world and surface waterbodies start falling prey to aggressive human expansions, groundwater is emerging as the mainstay of livelihoods around the world. Roughly two billion lives worldwide thrive on groundwater resources, underlining its importance in sustainable human development.

The Hindu

Now, farmers in Raichur district can use drones for agriculture purpose. Normally, it is the Police Department that uses such equipment to capture aerial photographs for security purpose.

The Hindu Business Line

CIO

On farms and other places far from powerful computers and network connections, there’s a trend away from centralized computing even while most of the IT world is embracing it. In remote places, the internet of things requires local processing as well as data-center analysis. So-called edge computing is coming to industries including manufacturing, utilities, shipping, and oil and gas. Agriculture is getting it, too.

Morung Express

Manipur Deputy Chief Minister Yumnam Joykumar Singh has said that conventional methods of agricultural farming should be replaced by new farming techniques to enhance productivity and agricultural growth.

The Hindu Business Line

NITI Aayog Vice-Chairman Arvind Panagariya has asked States to play a proactive role in enacting reforms relating to state subjects, especially land leasing. Panagariya, who was speaking at ‘National Workshop on Status of Land Leasing Reform and Way Forward’ also recalled the pro-reform views of various States in the meeting held in the past which led the government think-tank NITI Aayog to begin working on the Model Agricultural Land Leasing Act, 2016, a statement said.

The Times of India 

The mega agro-industry expo, which will begin at Putharikandam on Thursday, will be conducted in a venue measuring 75,000 square feet and special theme-based arrangement of stalls will be the key attraction.

The Hans India

One of the worst droughts in decades across south India is forcing tens of thousands of farmers and labourers to take out loans to survive, pushing them into debt bondage and increasing the risk that they may be exploited for work, activists said.

The Hindu

The green corridor infrastructure being created by the AP-Transco to evacuate the renewable energy from production sites and inject it into the grid got a significant boost with the State government allocating .

Polymer Update

Jain Irrigation Systems Limited (“JISL”) through its multi generation Wholly Owned Subsidiary in United States of America (“USA”) agreed to acquire 80% stake in 2 US entities. Two of the United States’ largest micro-irrigation dealers – Agri-Valley Irrigation, Inc. (“AVI”) and Irrigation Design and Construction, Inc. (“IDC”), have entered into an agreement to merge ownership of their businesses into a newly formed distribution company. The new organization is an un-paralleled leader in design, construction, service, and innovative Ag Technology. This entity will provide a unique platform to help growers implement state-of-the-art irrigation technology and achieve “More Crop Per DropTM”. AVI and IDC have been long tenured stable companies with operations in United States of America.

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The mammoth coal-fired Cheyyur electrical station was first imagined by bankers at India’s Power Finance Corporation and senior engineers across town at the Central Electric Authority. That was in 2005, when the country was rich in fossil fuel resources and desperate for electric power. Though India mined more coal than almost any other country, endemic blackouts and brownouts enfeebled its economic prospects.

The Free Press Journal

The ‘Vision-2030’ document presented before the state cabinet on Tuesday has revealed that only 44% of the total Memorandums of Understanding (MoU) signed for bringing investment to Maharashtra has materialised. Accordingly, around 20 departments, including agriculture and allied department, health, irrigation, education, social justice, industries, skill development, made presentation of ‘Vision-2030’ documents before the state cabinet chaired by chief minister Devendra Fadnavis in Mantralaya.

Medianama

Payments and financial inclusion company Fino Paytech will be deploying 5,000 Aadhaar-enabled micro ATMs across villages in Haryana, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, Gujarat and Maharashtra as part of National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development’s (NABARD) push for rural banking.

Nyooz

The free Android app allows farmers to freely list their produce and allows potential sellers to go through them. “Marketyard — an app-based listing solution — allows the farmer to free list and eliminates the role of middlemen completely,” he said. “After tremendous hard work, when farmers take their produce to wholesale markets, middlemen block proper price realisation.

The Hindu Business Line

The Centre’s wheat procurement has gone up by 13.74 per cent to 119 lakh tonnes so far in the 2017-18 marketing year on higher purchases from Punjab and Haryana. Although the wheat marketing year runs from April to March, the bulk of procurement is done in the first three months.

The Asian Age

India Meteorological Department’s (IMD) prediction of a “normal” monsoon this year will boost agriculture growth and will soothe the nerves of investors and markets. Earlier there were reports by private forecasters that monsoon this year may be below normal due to an evolving El Nino phenomenon. A normal monsoon will help GDP growth and will also ease food inflation.

The Asian Age

The banking industry, including the governor of Reserve Bank of India (RBI), may have raised concerns regarding the farm loan waiver, stating it would disrupt credit discipline, but others feel such measures will affect state finances and lead to cut-down in capital expenditures.

The Hans India

The unique identification number is made mandatory for a farmer willing to apply for drip irrigation project. The Aadhaar linkage would ensure transparency and also avoid the involvement of middlemen. This apart, the use of biometric devices would be initiated to make sure the application is being made by the farmer and not middlemen.

Livemint

Drought-hit Karnataka aims to become the top producer of millets, a nutritious variety of grains that require just a fifth of the amount of water needed for growing rice.

Financial Express

In a relief to farmers across the country, Prime Minister Narendra Modi today said the government has decided to extend the deadline for procurement of pulses by one week. Addressing a large gathering here, Modi also thanked the farmers for accepting his appeal to growing more tur dal. The PM hit out at the opposition for attacking him on the issue of price rise of dals within days of his assuming office in 2014.

The Hindu

Paddy purchase at the official purchase centres in the current yasangi [rabi] may not touch the expected levels despite high yield as large quantities of fine variety grain is being transported to Karnataka to be sold at a higher price. Higher rate there, more than what the Government of India fixed which is Rs.1,510 per quintal, is the reason for the low turn out at the grain purchase points here.

Bloomberg Quint

India, the world’s second-biggest consumer of urea, is boosting production of the crop nutrient seeking to end imports in the next five years. The South Asian nation, where agriculture makes up about 14 percent of the economy, produced 24.5 million tons of urea in the year ended March 2016, compared with consumption of around 32 million tons during the period, according to data from the fertilizer ministry.

The Hans India

In Telangana, the contribution of primary sector including agriculture, horticulture and animal husbandry to the Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP) for 2016-17 is only 15.3 per cent. Despite, this as much as 55 per cent of working population is still dependent on agriculture which is mostly dependent on rainfall in Telangana.

The Hindu

“Karnataka has over the last 10 years lost nearly 2.5 lakh hectares of millet growing fields to acacia and neem as cost of production here works out cheaper on dryland cultivation,” said H. Shivanna, Vice-Chancellor, University Of Agricultural Sciences, Bengaluru, at the annual group meeting of the All-India Co-ordinated Project on Small Millets here on Friday. “About 40% of the area that was under millet cultivation has been taken over by horticultural crops,” he said. According to him, Karnataka is now left with approximately 9.5 lakh hectares under millet cultivation.

The Indian Express

The “callous” attitude of Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL) officials has left the farmers helpless in this part of the state where instead of repairing faulty power lines resulting in frequent fire incidents in the “ready to harvest” wheat fields, officials have either disconnected the power or resorted to frequent power cuts for “repair”.

The Hindu

Vegetable growers are a disappointed lot as returns on their investments on the crop are dwindling. While frequent fluctuation in prices of vegetables in the markets hits their incomes hard, these cultivators are faced with another peculiar problem – several farmers are opting to raise the same vegetable variety which in turn is leading to a glut in the market as also a significant drop in the prices.

The Times of India

Agriculture implement manufacturers have got some relief with the Punjab government allowing the registration of new combine harvesters not fitted with super ‘straw management system’ (SMS) till May 31. The state transport commissioner (STC) earlier this week wrote to the district transport officers (DTOs) and motor vehicle inspectors (MVIs) to give relaxation in registration of harvesters without super SMS.

FnB News

The Centre is encouraging farm mechanisation through different policy interventions, including subsidies for power tillers. A dedicated sub-mission on agricultural mechanisation has been initiated with a focus on spreading farm mechanisation to small and marginal farmers and regions that have low farm power availability.

The Indian Express

While the departments of agriculture and pollution control are active enough these days in their campaign to control burning of wheat fields, farmers complain the agriculture department has failed to call any applications from them for seeking subsidy against the agricultural machinery used to pick straws to avoid burning them in the fields.

The Hindu

Birth, death and marriage certificates, for most city dwellers, mean one — at most two — trips to the local corporation office. For most people living in the State’s interiors, these are not privileges handed to them, even though most government schemes can be accessed on the internet.

Business Standard

The area under palm plantations is likely to increase significantly in the coming years, with the government’s relaxation in norms for subsidy and foreign direct investment (FDI), to promote sourcing of vegetable oil from domestic sources.

India Infoline News Service

As per an official release by the GoI, a national consultation, to review the progress of adoption of reforms and other initiatives in the agri-marketing sector, aimed at enhancing farmers’ income was held, under the chairmanship of Dr. Ramesh Chand, member, NITI Aayog.

Yourstory

Last month, the Gujarat University Startup and Entrepreneurship Council (GUSEC) had initiated JumpStart, a pre-seed funding opportunity for startups and innovations, in association with Gujarat CSR Authority–and the winners of this year’s edition of this grand initiative have been announced. Twenty five startups have been chosen from more than 350 applications, and will now be rewarded Rs 40,000 as pre-seed funding, besides mentorship and incubation.

Deccan Herald

The state government is planning to open exclusive repair and service centres for agricultural implements across the state in the coming months. These outlets will be on a par with garages for two-wheelers with basic equipment and gadgets for maintenance and repair of farm tools. The move comes in the wake of demand from farmers for the opening up of such centres in rural areas.

The Hindu

Farmers affiliated to the Tamizhaga Vivasayeegal Sangam (a non-partisan farmers’ association) observed a fast here on Wednesday in support of farmers protesting in New Delhi. A few student-members of ‘Matrathai Nokki’ organisation supported the farmers. Led by State general secretary P. Kandasamy, president ‘Vazhukkuparai’ Balu

Business World

Indian banks are increasingly looking at expanding their agri-tech solutions even as the Prime Minister has stressed on using technology in agriculture and talked about doubling farmers’ income by 2022. Several banks have lined up agri-tech initiatives to provide information on crop patterns, sowing patterns, and prices of various farm produce.

Business Standard

After last year’s slippage, the central government has some cheer on wheat procurement, with its purchase this year till April 12 being six per cent more than in 2016-17 at this date, at 3.8 million tonnes (mt). If the trend stays, the Centre might reach its target of 33 mt in wheat procurement well on time.

PTI News

Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao today batted for more budgetary allocation for the farm sector. “It is high time for the country to have a thorough review of the farm sector….the distress faced by farmers of the country,” he said, speaking to reporters here.

Daily Pioneer

The potential of the state in agriculture and other sectors has not been harnessed properly so far. If places like the Auli ski slope are developed with proper facilities, people will arrive here instead of travelling to Switzerland. Considering the large size of unskilled population, ASSOCHAM which has 10 skilling centres across the nation, has proposed to work in Uttarakhand towards skill development.

Money Control

Farm credit worth Rs 7.57 lakh crore was disbursed by during the first nine months (Apr-Dec) of the 2016-17 fiscal which is likely to surpass the target, Parliament was informed. The agri-credit target for 2016-17 fiscal is Rs 9 lakh crore, while for the current year it is Rs 10 lakh crore.

Telangana Today

Agriculture Minister Pocharam Srinivas Reddy has expressed happiness and thanked the Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao, for fulfilling poll promise to clear Rs 17,000 crore loan wavier within a short span of time. The TRS government is ready to mount pressure against the Centre if it extends helping hand to Uttar Pradesh in clearing loan waiver, Reddy told Pradeep Mandhumula of Telangana Today.

Financial Express

For addressing anomalies in the existing Agricultural Produce Market Committee (APMC) Act and to boost farmers’ income, the Niti Aayog has called a wmeeting of state agriculture ministers later this month where the new model APMC Act would be unveiled.

The Times of India

Within a week or so, the national capital region will see a spike in air pollution levels as farmers across north India are likely to start burning wheat stubble following harvest of the rabi crop. Agricultural experts are recommending a major overhaul in policies to address this “deep-rooted” problem.

India Today

When the fields of Punjab and Haryana are set afire every harvest season, soil nutrients worth hundreds of crores of rupees, nearly equal to the amount spent on subsidising chemical fertilisers and pesticides, go up in smoke. This assumes importance as, by next month, the agricultural landscape of Punjab and Haryana will be dotted with fires billowing out pollutant-laden smoke as farmers will set fire to the residues of the Rabi crop and usher in the Kharif season.

The Asian Age

In post-Independence India, farmer-friendly schemes are nothing new. In 1989, the Janata Dal government floated an agricultural loan write-off plan that waived loans upto Rs 10,000. By 1992, it had benefited 44 million farmers at a cost of Rs 6,000 crores. In 2008, the Agricultural Debt-Waiver and Debt Relief Scheme benefited over 36.9 million small/marginal farmers, along with 5.97 million large farmers, for Rs 71,600 crores.

ET Markets

Traditionally, agri warehousing industry was looked upon as an asset-heavy model which gave importance to creation of the warehousing space alone without any emphasis to efficient handling, scientific processes and management of the same. Lately, we see a shift in focus with increasing importance being attributed to systems and processes which are making agri logistics purely a services-driven sector.

The Hans India

At least 1.5 lakh acres of standing crop has been damaged due to prevailing heat conditions. Officials blame fall in groundwater levels and drying up of wells sooner than expected as the main reason for the drought-like conditions.

The New Indian Express

To find a solution to the problems of chilli farmers in the State, Union Minister of Agriculture Radha Mohan Singh has called a meeting of agriculture and other officials concerned from both state and Centre on Thursday. Singh took the decision after meeting AP Agriculture Minister Somireddy Chandramohan Reddy and Marketing minister C Adinarayana Reddy in the chambers of Union Minister of Urban Development M Venkaiah Naidu in Delhi on Tuesday.

Hindustan Times

The Centre on Tuesday ruled out any waiver of farm loan amid growing demand for such move after Uttar Pradesh government announced a package of Rs 36,000 crore to ease the pain of distressed farmers whose crops failed.

The Times of India

The Telangana government on Tuesday issued a GO releasing Rs 4,000 crore for farm loan waiver. The government had promised to waive a total of Rs 17,000 crore farm loans, which would benefit 36 lakh farmers. The release of Rs 4,000 crore by the finance department, is the last instalment. The agriculture department was issued the budget under the expenditure scheme for the budget year 2017-18.

Zee Business

Farm credit worth Rs 7.57 lakh crore was disbursed by banks during the first nine months (Apr-Dec) of the 2016-17 fiscal which is likely to surpass the target, Parliament was informed today. The agri-credit target for 2016-17 fiscal is Rs 9 lakh crore, while for the current year it is Rs 10 lakh crore.

The Wire

Socially just entrepreneurship where agriculture can be a money earner instead of a losing proposition has been a lifelong dream of Basudeb Sarkar. His dream finally materialised after he set up a Health, Education and Employment (HEE) center at Itahar administrative block in Uttar Dinajpur district of West Bengal with the help of FAIDA (Food and Agriculture Integrated Development Action) and its founders.

Financial Express

Post demonetisation, agricultural lender Nabard has sanctioned an additional amount of Rs 20,000 crore to cooperative banks and societies, to provide farmers with better access to loans. Out of this additional sanction, an amount of Rs 17,774 crore has been disbursed to cooperative banks. This ensured availability of credit at concessional rate during the 2016-17 Rabi Season, Harsh Bhanwala, chairman, National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (Nabard) said on Tuesday.

Bangalore Mirror

Appealing to the farming community, water resources minister MB Patil said, “We are gripped by an unprecedented drought. All our reservoirs have sufficient water only to meet potable purpose. Farmers have to understand that drinking water is more important than using water for agriculture. In the interest of the state and its people, on behalf of the government, I appeal to the farmers not to draw water from canals, rivers and remove their IP (irrigation pump) sets.”

The Times of India

North coast AP has witnessed drastic changes in cropping pattern in the last two decades and the manner in which it is being compensated, said a study by researchers from AU department of environmental sciences. Working on a project concerning climate change and its impact on agricultural productivity in north coastal AP over a period of 20 years, the researchers, who did not wish to be named, noticed that the region was using excessive ground water and encroaching on forest land for agriculture which could lead to a disaster in ecological terms.

Daily Excelsior

Rural India represents around 70 per cent of the Indian population. It is very important to engage the rural youth in a productive way in tandem by providing them credible opportunities for the growth and development. Agriculture is losing the attraction among the rural youths due to less profit. If the youths will generate extra income in agriculture then the interests of the youths in agriculture can be retained.

Huffington Post

According to the United Nations, the population of the world is expected to reach 8 billion by 2025. India accounts for 17.84% of the total world population. By 2025, India’s population is likely to exceed 1.5 billion, simultaneously raising the demand for food grains to over 300 million tonnes as against the current production (2015-2016) of 252 million tonnes.

The Hindu Business Line

Recent events — the UP government’s waiver of farmer loans, dramatic protests by Tamil Nadu farmers in Delhi and a warning from the RBI Governor against loan waivers — have once again brought farm loan writeoffs under public glare.

The Economic Times

India is an agrarian economy however over past some decades the number of farmers employed in this sector has decreased drastically. While the sector heavily relies on natural rainfall and ground water supply, there are other factors as well that are forcing them to quit this old profession.

Arunachal Times

A skill development cum farmers training programme on agro-horticultural crops under BADP was organized at Kaying by the Department of Horticulture.

The Hindu

As per details made available to The Hindu here on Sunday, the government has extended Rs  968.37 crore financial assistance and grants to help over one lakh farmers in the rain-fed areas. Under the Krishi Bhagya scheme, the emphasis is on helping farmers take up water conservation measures such as constructing farm ponds in their agriculture land and saving every drop of rainwater for use during dry spells to protect standing crops.

The Times of India

The government’s move to impose 10% import duty on tur has not helped farmers at home. The duty has been levied in a bid to make imports costlier, so that domestic rates also increase, thus helping farmers get a better price. Tur, which made headlines in 2015 for spiralling rates, is again in news for a huge glut. Farmers are not even able to get minimum support price (MSP), fixed at Rs5050 a quintal. Market rates of tur at present are in the range of Rs4100 to 4200 per quintal in open market

The Hans India

Under the Godavari basin also, farmers are struggling to protect the standing crops due to scarcity of water. Water levels have almost reached dead storage level in Sriramsagar and Nizamsagar. In the backdrop of this situation, the farmers have no other option but to rely on agricultural pumpsets for water supply to their crops

Press Trust of India

Talking to reporters after holding a review meeting with two state Ministers and officials of various departments, Dattatreya said he will discuss with Union Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh about the issues of farmers particularly with regard to those who have grown chili.

The Times of India

The untimely summer rain led by Nor’wester might be comforting the residents, but the unexpected weather developments are leading to problems of plenty for tillers. Agriculture experts say Nor’wester — sudden thundershowers in summer season, also known as Kal Baisakhi — is damaging the standing crops in the agricultural fields. Two particular spells of Nor’wester thunderstorm on March 13 and 26 damaged the standing crops at many places in north Bihar. Hailstorm occurred at Bihta and a few other places in the state on Friday as well.

The Economic Times

About three years ago, while reviewing crop production and cultivation, Karnataka’s Agriculture Minister Krishna Byre Gowda realised that figures were shrinking hugely for the state’s traditional crops — the millets ragi in the south and jola in the north.

The Economic Times

Union Minister of State for Commerce and Industry Nirmala Sitharaman on Saturday said that for a South IndianBSE 0.69 % state, importing wheat from North India is more costly than importing the same from Australia. Talking to the members of Young FICCI Ladies Organisation (YFLO) in Hyderabad, Sitharaman said that the Goods and Services Tax (GST) will actually make Indian goods cheaper for Indian customers rather than importing them.

The Sentinel

As Assam is one of the top 10 rice producing States of the country, in 2016 we produced 52 lakh metric ton of rice and this year our expectation is to have paddy harvest of around 75 lakh metric ton as our production curve is on the upward trend, despite the attack of swarming caterpillars in the initial stage. This has been made possible due to prompt measures taken by our new government as well as favourable environment after the attack.

Bangalore Mirror

Did you know that in Karnataka, 2-4 farmers kill themselves every day? And this is only a conservative figure coming from the government. If one goes by the figures provided by farmers’ associations, the number would swell to 6-7 suicides per day. The record heat and drought of 2017 could spell disaster for the farming community in the state, which has already seen 848 suicides in 2016-17, until February.

Hindustan Times

Not more than 35% of the total agriculture loan is directed to small and marginal farmers though they hold more than 70% of the country’s farmland, banking sources said. A large number of these farmers still take loans from money-lenders and not from the formal banking channel, resulting in farmers’ suicide and distress.

BGR.in

The Agriculture Ministry on Thursday joined hands with the National Remote Sensing Centre (NRSC), a wing of Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO), to geo-tag agricultural assets. Besides, ponds, crop area, warehouses, laboratories would also be geo-tagged for their real-time monitoring and effective utilization.

The Indian Express

The state government has set a target to invest Rs 26,000 crore in agriculture and irrigation schemes to help small and marginal farmers in Maharashtra. Apart from the allocations, the government is exploring the land monetisation model to generate more finances that would help it invest in agriculture and allied sectors.

The Hindu

In the time of drought, the bovine wants what the bovine wants. The varying fodder preferences of cattle in different parts of the district have officials going the extra mile to ensure their procurement. For example, the cattle in Alnavar area of Dharwad taluk have a taste for paddy grass, while in the three other hoblis of Dharwad taluk, the preference is for fodder of jowar stalks, say officials. Interestingly, the cattle don’t like the hybrid jowar stalks and hardly eat it when offered. Similar is the bovine treatment when it comes to the fodder of maize stalks.

Business Standard

Wheat procurement in Haryana has reached the 2.60 lakh metric tonne mark in the ongoing Rabi marketing season, with majority of the crop being purchased by government agencies. Five government procuring agencies and traders have purchased 2,60,036 metric tonnes of wheat which arrived in the mandis till yesterday, a spokesman of the Food, Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs Department said.

Business Standard

Irrigated farmland in the country must increase by 19 per cent and availability of quality seeds by 167 per cent if the Centre wants to double farmers’ real income by 2022-23, according to a plan devised by NITI Aayog.

The Hans India

Monsoon is a familiar though a little known climatic phenomenon. In India, from agriculture to economic policies to disaster management, a lot depends on the Monsoon. The Monsoon is a recurring event i.e. it repeats after a certain frequency of time – a year in our case. But, it may not be uniform in every period (year). There are a lot of factors which affect its duration and intensity over India.

The Hans India

Agriculture department additional director VV Vijayalakshmi said that action plan for kharif for the year 2017-18 will be prepared based on village-level action plans.  She further stated that the state government is aiming at double digit growth in the farm sector.

The Wire

The first cabinet meeting of the newly-elected BJP government in UP, which took place on April 4, announced a Rs 30,729 crore scheme waiving crop loans up to Rs 1 lakh for small and medium farmers. In addition to this, Rs 5,630 crore was allocated for writing off bad loans of around seven lakh farmers, which had become NPAs for banks. This takes the total amount allocated for loan relief to Rs 36,359 crore.

Money Control

We have checked with four states Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh. There is no damage,” Agriculture Secretary Shobhana Pattanayak told reporters. However, the harvesting will be delayed for 4-5 days where the crop is still wet, he added. There have been sporadic unseasonal rains in some of the wheat growing states for last three days. The government is estimating a record 96.6 million tonnes of wheat in the 2016-17 crop year (July-June).

The Hindu

Revenue Minister E. Chandrasekharan told The Hindu that the declaration was based on a memorandum submitted to the Union Ministry of Agriculture seeking assistance for drought relief activities. He said a Central team would visit Kerala on April 18 to assess the situation.

Hindustan Times

The Punjab and Haryana high court on Wednesday questioned the central government over its move to import maize while the crop was not being procured from farmers under minimum support price (MSP) scheme.

Hindustan Times

The threat of damage looms large over the standing wheat crop, following heavy rainfall and high velocity winds across the region on Wednesday. Hailstorms in some parts of the district added to the worries of farmers. Post-inclement weather conditions, besides waterlogging in the fields and flattening of standing crop has been reported from several villages of Ghanaur, Nabha, Bhadson, Patiala and Patran blocks.

The Financial Express

The NITI Aayog is currently preparing a new model contract farming law—the earlier one was recommended 14 years ago—to revamp the system of firm farm linkages in the Indian agriculture sector. The main objective is to assure procurement from farmers at remunerative prices, while mitigating risks arising due to price fluctuations, especially of perishable commodities.

The Hans India

Agriculture in India is the pivotal sector for ensuring food and nutritional security, sustainable development and for alleviation of poverty. It is a key sector for generating employment opportunities for the vast majority of population. For quite some time, agriculture sector, as a whole, has been confronted with numerous challenges linked to food and energy crisis coupled with climate change and degradation of natural resources.

The Economic Times

Agriculture minister Radha Mohan Singh has said that there is unlimited scope for development in the sector by utilizing satellite and remote sensing technologies. He said that in the coming days the satellite technology will be used for land resource mapping, pesticide management, soil health mapping, crop yield estimation as well as assessment of natural calamities.

The Economic Times

Reserve Bank of India governor Urjit Patel has sounded the alarm on state governments waiving farm loans and has called for a consensus on eschewing them to avoid damaging the national balance sheet.

Hindustan Times

Untimely rains in several parts of Haryana since wee hours of Wednesday have rendered the farmers worrying across the state for their standing wheat crop. Farmers in Rohtak and adjoining areas told HT that though the rains were scanty, it hit the standing wheat crop. Similar views of farmers came from Karnal and adjoining areas where too the wheat crop was soon to be harvested.

The Indian Express

Farmers sowed a record 31.56 million hectares (mh) under wheat this time, up from 29.25 mh in 2015-16 and the normal area of 30.17 mh. That was largely courtesy a good monsoon, which helped recharge the soil moisture and aquifer levels. The crop’s overall growth — from germination, seedling development and tillering (production of multiple side stems from the initial parent shoot), to earhead emergence, flowering and early grain development — was also excellent, till the spike in temperatures from around March 21.

DNA India

It was in the year 2000 that eChaupals were launched with much fanfare. Using information technology as an autonomous agent of change, and hailed as the lone success story to bridge the information divide, these eChaupals were projected as the game changer, empowering farmers by providing information and removing ‘corrupt’ intermediaries.

Hindustan Times

In India where annual agriculture waste is about Rs 96,000 crore, farm loan waiver is just a poll sop with no long term economic gain for farmers in distress. The money waived could be invested for creating infrastructure that makes farmers independent of cartel of traders and help them to reap maximum economic benefit of their produce.

The Times of India

Under the MoU, the NRSC will geo-tag all agriculture assets which are created under the ‘Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana’ (National Agriculture Development Plan) in different parts of the country. Such assets include seed processing units, seed farms, soil testing labs, bio-fertilizer production units, seed storage godowns, seed certification infrastructure, labs for production of bio control agents, state pesticide/residue testing labs, machinery to reduce post-harvest losses, poly houses\shade-nets and orchards among lakhs of such facilities across the country.

Sky Met Weather

“If the summer is long and El Niño leads to a delay in monsoon, it could affect three major areas — on agriculture in rain-fed areas; livestock in Andhra Pradesh, Rajasthan, Maharashtra and Karnataka; and the human population, as water demand will rise fast while replenishment of reservoirs, tanks and wells could take longer than usual,” said Bharat Sharma, professor emeritus, International Water Management Institute.

Free Press Journal

The collector Omprakash Shrivastava handed over advanced agricultural equipment to local farmers under the national agricultural productivity programme at a function here on Monday. The equipment have been provided through MP Agro Industries Development Corporation on subsidy provided by Agriculture Engineering Department. Heera Singh of Muderi was provided Raised Planter. Rati of village Madila

DSIJ

After dull performance in last several months due to climatic change and economic disturbances, the Indian farming sector has shown strong signs of revival, which is close to India’s claim of achieving 4% growth in agriculture. The latest sales figures from the industry have proved that this industry is growing at a higher pace. India’s largest farm equipment maker, Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd., claimed a 29 per cent growth in their tractor sales in March as compared to last year. Domestic sales in March 2017 were 17973 units as compared to 13931 units in March 2016. M&M had exported 1364 units, which grew by almost 82 per cent as compared to last year.

The Hindu

All arrangements have been made to procure paddy at minimum support price in the ongoing Yasangi (rabi) season across Telangana by setting up a total of 3,076 purchase centres keeping in view the massive production of the food crop.

The Times of India

What solution do Indian politicians reach for whenever they have a social or economic problem on hand? If it’s not reservations, then it’s a farm loan waiver. Nine years after UPA-1 initiated a nationwide waiver of farm loans to mitigate agrarian distress, they have been resurrected again as a silver bullet to combat stress among farmers – Uttar Pradesh government yesterday announced a Rs 36,359 crore farm loan waiver.

The Times of India

A complete loan waiver immediately cannot bring about any change in the life of farmers, said chief minister Devendra Fadnavis during his visit to Mul on Tuesday. He added that the government was instead focusing on providing irrigation, power supply, agricultural pumps, market and proper support price to agriculture produce and modern agricultural technology to farmers.

The Times of India

There were, however, other states where the farmers fared comparatively well. At the national level the average monthly income of the farmer was Rs 6,436 which was 3.2% more than his consumption expenditure. In some other states, the farmers fared much better. At the top is Karnataka where the average farmer income was 33.3% more than his consumption expenditure.

The Hans India

Agriculture is the main Input to the biotic community for any activity in this planet of Earth. The level of agriculture production and overall availability of food grains is satisfactory and sufficient for human energy. Food grains Stock in Central Pool for current period is about approximately 361.63 lakh MT.

Telangana Today

Cash will be deposited in farmer’s account with 72 hours of procurement at government centres, said Joint Collector Sureshbabu. He was speaking at a review meeting conducted to make arrangements for paddy procurement here on Tuesday.

The Hindu Business Line

The suffering of farmers from the drought-hit southern States appears far from over. Poor harvest aside, they now have to deal with a possible delay in settlement of claims under the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY) for rabi (October-December 2016).

Telangana Today

Telangana government is not just providing subsidies, incentives and timely advises to farmers to maximise their production, it is also offering remunerative prices for their produce. For purchase of Rabi crop, mainly paddy, all necessary arrangements are in place.

The Financial Express

The Centre Has released 1,712.1 crore for Tamil Nadu from the National Disaster Response Fund (NDRF) for drought and cyclone relief and another 1,235.52 crore to Karnataka for drought. The decision comes in the wake of Tamil Nadu farmers protesting here in the national capital demanding loan waiver and other assistance.

The Financial Express

The Sangharsh Yatra (struggle march) organised by the Congress party and the NCP along with other opposition parties to highlight the plight of the farmers in Maharashtra and demand a crop loan—waiver is in the right direction and is a timely one. It seems that the Devendra Fadnavis—led government is not bothered about the plight of the struggling farmers who are living under a mountain of debt; some of them have even committed suicides.

The Financial Express

One part of the turnaround plan is purely mechanical—a 1% rise in irrigation ratio increases Uttar Pradesh’s agricultural-GDP by 1.25%, a 1% increase in road density raises it by 0.5% and a 1% increase in relative prices for agriculture raises the state’s agriculture-GDP by 0.6%.

The Economic Times

The revamped plan, which has already been vetted by the department of expenditure of the finance ministry and the government’s thinktank Niti Aayog, will be known as RKVY-Raftaar (Remunerative Approaches for the Agriculture and Allied Sector Development). For the next two years, emphasis will be given to development of agriculture infrastructure, specifically post-harvest infrastructure and promotion of private investment in agriculture across the country in a big way.

The Financial Express

Addressing the New Development Bank meeting, the secretary for economic affairs, Shaktikanta Das said that India is going ahead with environmental sustainability, though waiting for additional external finance to come in. He also said that India would be focusing on doubling farmers’ income and completing rural road programe by 2019. While speaking at the opening ceremony of the second annual meeting of the Bank, the secretary said that infrastructure was a priority for India and roads in particular would get priority.

Hindustan Times

As per official data, the wheat crop has been sown on 1.88 lakh hectare in Amritsar district. Last season, 18 quintal per acre yield was recorded. This time too, the department of agriculture is expecting a better yield, in view of the fact that the crop was not attacked by yellow rust or any other disease.

Union minister Pon Radhakrishnan today said it would not be possible to waive loans of Tamil Nadu farmers alone as the Centre has to take into account the situation in the country before deciding on the issue. “The situation in the whole country has to be taken into account by the Central government before deciding on writing off farm loans,” he told reporters at the airport here. The Ministries of Finance, Home and Agriculture are discussing the issue, he said. A group of farmers from the state have been protesting in the national capital for the last 20 days demanding a drought relief package of Rs 40,000 crore from the Centre and farm loan waiver.

The Hindu

Deputy Commissioner Srirangaiah has said that a total of Rs 56.17 crore in crop loss compensation has been credited to the accounts of 2.73 lakh farmers in the district.

Fibre2Fashion

The European Commission (EC) has granted conditional regulatory clearance in Europe to the proposed merger of equals between DuPont and Dow Chemical Company. The transaction between these two US headquartered companies is expected to create significant cost synergies of approximately $3 billion with the potential for $1 billion in growth synergies.

Covai Post

Around 60 tribals from the Seayembukarai and Thoomanur hamlets in Periyanaickenpalayam were given training on production of pesticide free crop at the Tamil Nadu Agricultural University (TNAU) on Friday. Organised by the Department of Agricultural Entomology, Centre for Plant Protection Studies at TNAU, the one day programme also saw tribals distributed with seeds.

Entrepreneur Bench

The Climate Corporation still works independently in San Francisco, filtering through 50 terabytes of live soil and weather data at any given time. In a letter to his company, David Friedberg defended the sale to Monsanto, writing: “The people of the Climate Corporation are going to lead the world to revolutionary solutions to historic problems. This partnership enables us to capital, data, and reach we would not have had on our own.” This firm is assisting farmers all over the world.