Media Monitor
Agriculture Industry
New variety of groundnut developed by agro-scientistsedit
A new variety of groundnut that can be grown in summers has been developed by agro-scientists of the Chandra Shekhar Azad Agriculture Technology University (CSA), Kanpur.
17% farmers account for nearly half of all loans due for waiveredit
The fear that rich farmers may corner a substantial portion of the largesse under the farm loan waiver scheme is not without basis. Statistics accessed by TOI from Maharashtra government’s co-operation department shows that just 17% of all defaulting farmers account for 46% of total amount owed to banks in the rural sector.
Barely 10 lakh farmers will gain from loan write-off: Congressedit
Congress spokesperson Sachin Sawant alleged that Fadnavis’ claim that the loan waiver scheme would benefit 89 lakh farmers. “We feel that Fadnavis is misleading farmers. We have analyzed the CM’s statement and the order issued by the cooperation department, since farmers, who had taken loans between April 2012 and June 2016 have been excluded from the scheme. Less than 10 lakh farmers will get the benefit and amount (of loans written off) will not be more than Rs 8,000 crore,” Sawant said.
Contract farming will give a boost to Indian agriculture: Ankur Aggarwaledit
Hands-on, process-oriented approach is needed to meet the challenges of the sector agriculture sector. The emergence of contract farming via revolutionary farm-firm linkages can create unparalleled value addition here. Following announcements by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley in this year’s Union Budget to create a new legislation as a part of the reform measures for agriculture, the NITI Aayog (erstwhile Planning Commission) is preparing an outline structure for the proposed Contract Farming Law, to connect farmers with all stakeholders.
Farm Prices After A Bumper Crop: Managing A Problem Of Plentyedit
Recent episodes of farmers’ distress in Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra have reopened debates on two fronts; the problem of bumper supply in the market, and the public policy response in terms of a loan waiver to manage the agrarian crisis. Loan waivers bring temporary relief, but as Ashok Gulati points out in a recent article, waivers do not address fix the markets.
Farmers to move supreme court against ‘selective loan waiver’edit
As per the budgetary provisions made for the loan waiver, the Punjab government has taken over the loans of up to Rs 2 lakh of 10.25 lakh small and marginal farmers (with land less than five acres). Out of these, around 8.75 lakh farmers have an average loan of Rs 2 lakh each and around 1.5 lakh a debt of over Rs 11-12 lakh. They will also get a relief of Rs 2 lakh each. Loans of around 8,000 farmers who committed suicide will be completely waived off.
Promoting crop insurance scheme among farmersedit
“The important change is that farmers who do not have any crop insurance coverage as per the new guidelines will not be eligible to make any future claim for compensation from the government,” says Deputy Director of Agriculture (Credit) H. Suresh. He adds that the agriculture department, with the support of Krishi Bhavans, will strive to improve farmers’ participation in the project as it is the basic requirement to process future claims.
Punjab CM Amarinder Singh meets farmers’ outfits, explains loan waiveredit
Amid reports of farmers’ suicides even after announcemrny of farm loan waiver, CM Amarinder Singh on Thursday met representatives of farmers’ unions and asked them to tell farmers that their loans had been waived off. As some expressed displeasure saying that the loan waiver was too inadequate, Amarinder told them that a Cabinet sub-committee had already been formed to speak to the Arthiyas to resolve the issue of non-institutional loans.
Telangana, Andhra farmers face Rs. 24,000-crore hit after rolloutedit
As the country gets ready for the Goods and Services Tax (GST) rollout on July 1, farmers are angry as the new tax regime would mean a higher burden. The GST Council has put fertilisers in the 12 per cent bracket, which is likely to impose a burden of Rs. 24,000 crore on farmers in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh. Besides the hike in the tax rate on agricultural pumpsets, sprayers and drip irrigation implements, too, would make life difficult for farmers.
To help farmers, MP govt sets up fund for non-MSP productsedit
The Agriculture Production Commissioner would be the PSF chairperson, while the principal secretaries of agriculture, finance, cooperatives, horticulture and food processing, food and civil supplies, animal husbandry, water resource and fisheries departments would be its members. Besides, the managing directors of State Warehousing and Logistics Corporation, State Civil Supplies Corporation Ltd and State Agriculture Marketing Board would also be members of the new body.
Need to address impact of extreme weather events on cropsedit
Climate change, which for India is predicted to result in higher and more erratic precipitations, will have negative impacts on the productivity of important crops such as rice and wheat. Beyond general climate change trends, what is more critical is the need to address the impact of climate variability and extreme weather events. The latter has an immediate impact on supply, causing price shocks and volatility that spread across sectors and borders.
Now, farmers can breed new Bt cotton varieties without NoC from developeredit
Informed sources said that the authority, under the chairmanship of R R Hanchinal, passed the resolution in its meeting held recently after receiving complaints from the users of GM cotton seeds, popularly known as Bt cotton, about the arbitrariness of the NoC stipulation, which was leading to a monopoly by its developer Monsanto. Based on its earlier decision, the authority obtained a legal opinion that indicated that the NoC stipulation was contravening the legal provisions and giving an undue advantage to trait developers like Mahyco Monsanto Biotech (MMBL).