Media Monitor
Agriculture Industry
Centre gives Rs 1,712 crore to TN, Rs 1,235 crore to K’taka for droughtedit
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.
Loan waiver for Maharashtra farmersedit
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.
How CM Yogi can fix UPedit
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%.
Govt to revamp farm growth plan with ‘Raftaar’edit
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.
Focus on doubling farmers’ income by 2019, says Economic Affairs Secy Shaktikanta Das at NDB meetingedit
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.
Except temperature, all factors favourable for good wheat yieldedit
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.
Centre can’t waive loans of Tamil Nadu farmers alone: Union Minister Pon Radhakrishnanedit
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.
2.73 lakh Chitradurga farmers get relief for crop lossedit
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.
EC nod for European merger of DuPont & Dowedit
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.
Training tribals to produce pesticide-free agro productsedit
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.
5 Startups That Are Transforming Agriculture World: Crop For Future Generationedit
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.
Technology in Agriculture
Stubble burning: Punjab to use satellites to spot offendersedit
Based on imagery provided by the NASA satellites, officials in the Punjab agriculture department and the Punjab Pollution Control Board (PPCB) will track the cases of burning and act accordingly, sources in the department told IANS here. In the past, governments in Punjab and Haryana have offered rewards to people or farmers reporting cases of stubble burning, imposed a ban on combine harvesters (a machine that reaps, threshes and cleans a cereal crop in one operation) during night hours, imposed penalties on farmers and even got cases registered against farmers. But none of these measures have stopped the farmers from indulging in stubble burning.