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.

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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.