July 2017
CategoryStories
Agriculture Industry282
Budget2
Technology in Agriculture1

Agriculture Industry

UP linking Aadhaar nos of farmers with loan waiver schemeedit

The Financial Express

To Ensure That the benefits of ‘Fasal Rin Mochan Yojana’ percolate to the deserving and genuine beneficiaries, the Uttar Pradesh government is linking the Aadhaar number of farmers with the scheme, a minister said.

Govt nod to agri connection policy for small farmersedit

Nyoooz

Summary: Jaipur: Rajasthan government on Sunday approved agriculture connection policy-2017 for power connections to small and marginal farmers. As per the new provisions, small and marginal farmers belonging to below poverty line (BPL) category will get priority over others in receiving agriculture connections of 5 horsepower. The farmers can also erect electric lines if the option was given during the deposit of demand draft.

Farm operations at brisk paceedit

Telangana Today

Agricultural operations for kharif season are moving at a brisk pace in Telangana. Nearly 30.24 lakh hectares of agricultural land has been brought under cultivation, covering nearly 70 per cent of normal cultivation area of 43.24 lakh hectares as on Saturday. As the State continues to receive light to heavy rains, the Agriculture Department officials are optimistic that the crop yield would be bountiful.

Fadnavis Urges Centre To Extend Crop Insurance Deadlineedit

The Indian Express

With the last date for availing crop insurance expiring on July 31, the state government has urged the Centre to extend the date to help farmers across Maharashtra avail the scheme. Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis had last week written to the Centre in this regard keeping in view the long queues in front of financial institutions.

Demonetisation and fluctuating fortunes of tomato farmers of Tamil Naduedit

The New Indian Express

It is the cascading effect of the crisis that had hit farmers at the start of the year that is being felt in kitchens across the State seven months later. It was brought about by a variety of events including glut in the previous season, which was worsened by demonetisation, which led to a severe cash crunch in the market in those months. There was not enough currency available to make any purchase other than essentials.

Conditions for Maharashtra farm loan waiver leave farmers confusededit

Live mint

Farmers foxed by the fine print of Maharashtra’s loan waiver have flooded a government helpline with calls and chosen to file paper applications instead of going online, state government officials said. On 24 July, Maharashtra launched an online process to identify farmers eligible for the loan waiver. Alongside, the state’s information technology (IT) department opened a telephone helpline for farmers. A day later, chief minister Devendra Fadnavis said offline applications will also be accepted at nearly 26,000 facilitation centres after verifying the applicant’s identity through biometrics.

Export-centric agrochem firms to gain more than home-focused onesedit

Hindi Business Standard

With normal rain this monsoon season, agrochemical companies are looking at better profitability in the coming quarters, following bumper sale of seed and pesticide. An HDFC Securities’ report of last week said companies with a focus on export, such as UPL, would see 10-13 per cent growth in their net profit. And those with a domestic-centric business like PI Industries or Dhanuka Agritech would report a five to 8 per cent growth in profitability during the quarter ended June.

Farmers taught ways to augment incomeedit

The Assam Tribune

He specifically emphasised on the use of location-specific improved agricultural technologies at the appropriate time in the right manner and requested the farmers to accept right type of technical knowledge and skill from the expert scientists of Assam Agricultural University and its Krishi Vigyan Kendras located in each district. He also asked the participant farmers to use only certified seeds of crops with balanced use of fertilizers in the right quantity and in the right time and further asked them to change seeds every 3-4 years.

Universal Basic Income Is Not Feasibleedit

Financial Chronicle

The Niti Aayog has certainly come out from its shell. Over the last three years, the Aayog has brought about complete transformation in not only its own functioning but also in the functioning of the government through insightful policy interventions and prescriptions for growth. (You talked about adoption of GM crops, which some say is giving in to corporates… No policy has universal acceptance.

Rise in acreage has cotton prices Under Pressureedit

Financial Chronicle

Until last week the area under cotton was 11.155 million hectares, which included 9.905 million hectares under Bt cotton varieties and 1.25 million hectares under non-Bt. In the corresponding period of last year, the acreage was 9.233 million hectares – 7.644 million hectare under Bt and 1.589 million hectares under non-Bt. In Maharashtra, which is the country’s largest cotton growing state, the acreage has increased to 3.847 million hectares from 3.627 million hectares in the year-ago period.

Fruits of an agri eMarketedit

India Today

Farmers in Karnataka are smiling. For ages, they were at the mercy of traders and commission agents who dictated prices, even for premium produce. But suddenly now, the world has become their marketplace. Among the early movers in implementing agriculture market reforms, the state has connected 157 of its 162 agri markets to the United Markets Platform (UMP), a portal that facilitates online bidding for produce. Consequently, Tiptur’s prized copra (dried coconut kernel) is this year a bestseller in faraway China.

Crop insurance scheme worksedit

Business Standard

Insurance companies have collected premiums totalling around ~22,345 crore and paid out claims worth just ~5,876 crore to farmers so far for the last kharif and rabi agricultural seasons under the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY). Insurance claim payouts are always low in normal years. Unlike in 2014 and 2015, India had a “normal” monsoon last year, with most parts of the country receiving above-average rainfall. Crop damage claims were bound to, then, be generally lower. That said, the PMFBY is not without flaws. To start with, the premium subsidy under the scheme is to be equally shared between the Centre and the states.

Centre wants states to procure pulsesedit

The Times of India

TOI has learnt that this is being worked out after Centre failed to procure enough pulses at MSP post the bumper harvest, which has resulted in distress sale by farmers. Secondly, the Centre is also struggling to dispose off the old stock of about 1.8 million tonnes of pulses since states are not picking them up from the central pool. According to sources, the central outgo for compensating the states for their loss is estimated about Rs 1,800-Rs 2,000 crore. The proposal, which was presented to a committee of secretaries headed by Cabinet secretary, was recently discussed with state food secretaries.

Prominent health experts urge PM not to allow release of GM Mustardedit

Web India 123

In the case of GM mustard sought to be introduced in India, evidence points to the fact that even the limited number of tests that were done on Bt brinjal (it was because of these tests and the results being made public that Bt brinjal was found to be unsafe and put under a moratorium) were not taken up for GM mustard safety assessment”, they informed. ”There were no chronic and inter-generational health impact studies done, and the longest test was for sub-chronic toxicity, for 90 days

Seed firms see anomaly in GST levy on cerealsedit

The Hindu Business Line

Seed companies selling paddy, maize (corn) and millet (bajra) are perplexed over the levy of 5 per cent GST, which they say is an anomaly. Under the new norms, seeds, fruits and spores of the kind used for sowing are exempt from GST under Chapter 1209, but there is no specific mention of paddy, maize and millet. Instead, these are covered in Chapter 10, which levies 5 per cent GST on cereals sold in containers and bearing a registered brand name.

NABARD To Spend Rs 500 Crore In Himachal In 2017-18edit

The Financial Express

The National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) has earmarked Rs 500 crore to be spent on various rural schemes in Himachal Pradesh, a top official of the agency said. Kishan Singh, managing director of HP regional office, NABARD, told PTI that Rs 500 crore shall be spent by the financial institution in the state in 2017-18. Singh further said the money will be sanctioned on different rural schemes of bridges, roads, irrigation and water supply schemes etc.

Maharashtra farmers can fill loan waiver forms on mobile appedit

Hindustan Times

The Maharashtra government plans to launch a mobile app where farmers can fill their loan waiver forms. Around 89 lakh farmers, who will benefit from the farm loan waiver of Rs34,022 crore announced last month, are expected to fill their personal and loan-related details in the forms. The app will have a two-page form in which the farmers will have to put their personal details, including name, PAN and Aadhaar numbers, details of the loans they have taken and a declaration that the applicant is eligible for the loan waiver. It will also have details of loan waiver schemes, nearest service centres and schemes launched for farmers.(Agri)

IFFCO Looking Beyond Fertilizers for Farmers & Rural Indiaedit

The Echo of India

To make these products available to the north eastern farmers, IFFCO will also be opening at least two IFFCO e-Bazar centers in each of the seven-sister states. On the developments, Dr. U.S. Awasthi, Managing Director, IFFCO said “We always focus on better quality products & value addition for the farmers produce and off course better competitive prices for the consumers. We want to focus on Bio-Fertilizers & Bio-Pesticides along with organic product range.”

GST for PACS ,registration within 15 daysedit

Premaya

The GST Council provided relief to farmers reducing the tax rates on fertilizers from 12% to 5% and tractor parts from 28% to 18%, hours before the Friday midnight transition to the new system. Through these PACS, farmers are provided seeds, fertilizers along with agricultural loans without hassle.

Govt to bring organic farming act soonedit

The Pioneer

The ACS said that the State Government would soon bring an organic farming act to promote organic farming in the state. He informed that the state government has decided that the licenses for industrial hemp can be distributed by the District Magistrates. The ACS further added that the World Food India is a unique opportunity for the food processing industry and it will provide the ideal platform to connect with the all key stakeholders.

Government has taken a number of measures to curb malpractices in neem coating of urea: Shri Mansukh Lal Mandaviyaedit

Business Standard

Minister of State for Road Transport & Highways, Shipping and Chemicals & Fertilizers, Shri Mansukh L. Mandaviya, said that the Government has taken a number of measures to curb malpractice of using spurious/cheap oil in lieu of neem oil in neem coating of urea, which are as follows: Department of Fertilizers (DoF) from time to time has issued instructions to urea units for ensuring the quality of neem oil and to procure it from genuine neem oil manufacturers only.

Defaulting farmers to be eligible for fresh loansedit

Dainik Bhaskar Dainik Jagran Punjabi Tribune The Tribune Daily Post

“The (RBI) has promised the Punjab Government that nationalised and commercial banks will give fresh loans to farmers who have stopped repaying their crop loans in anticipation of a debt waiver. This assurance was given by top RBI officials during a meeting with a delegation of the state government in Mumbai last evening. The delegation, including FM Manpreet Singh Badal had sought the apex regulatory bank’s intervention, apprehending that the farmers’ loans would be declared bad/non-performing assets (NPA).

DBT for fertilizer subsidies to be rolled out by end of current FY: Mandaviyaedit

Knowledge & News Network

“Government has planned for National Roll Out of DBT for fertilizer subsidies by the end of current financial year. All the preparations for launch of DBT at National level including deployment of PoS machines are in progress as per National Roll Out Action Plan,” Minister of State for Road Transport & Highways, Shipping and Chemicals & Fertilizers, Mansukh L. Mandaviya, informed the Rajya Sabha.

Agri Distress: 55% crop insurance claims pendingedit

IB Times

Farmers are suffering, and the issue is not new to India. The farmers in the country are facing a tougher time now as under the flagship Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana, at least 55 percent of estimated claims haven’t received any insurance compensation, according to the latest numbers from the agriculture ministry, Mint reported.

States slow in issuing soil health cards: Agriculture Ministeredit

Dainik Yashobhumi

Seven states, including Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Punjab and Bihar, are lagging behind in issuing soil health cards to farmers and have been asked to expedite the process, Union Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh said today. Against the target of 12 crore, nine crore soil health cards have been issued so far.

Low yields to blame for high prices for tomatoedit

ET Markets

“It has increasingly become difficult to plant tomatoes during April and May due to high temperatures. The yields are falling drastically by 50-60 per cent,” said Ajay Belhekar, a farmer from Narayangaon. Sunil Waman, a tomato broker, said, “All the farmers who had sown late crop could not get good yields. Those who planted early, could not recover cost of production due to low prices.” In the Himalayan hills, tomato crop was affected due to intermittent rains and heavy heat, which reduced yields as well as quality.

IRRI’s South Asia Regional Center to come up in Varanasiedit

Curriculum

Government has approved the establishment of the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), South Asia Regional Center (ISARC) at campus of National Seed Research and Training Center (NSRTC) in Varanasi. Under the proposal, a Centre of Excellence in Rice Value Addition (CERVA) will be set up in Varanasi.

Agri loan waivers increses troubleedit

Hindi Business Standard

Agri loan waivers in Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra have not only added stress to HDFC Bank, which has considerable direct exposure in the sector in these states, but Bandhan Bank, which doesn’t even have a direct agri exposure has also come under stress as a result of the government scheme.

A Month After GST Rollout, Business Still Blindsided by Unclear Rulesedit

The Wire

While vegetable seeds remain tax exempt, paddy, cereal and corn seeds now attract 5% tax. This has hit sales at companies such as Monsanto, whose local seed merchants have no experience of paying tax. “Our sales are getting hammered at a time when they would normally be booming,” Arindam Lahiri, Monsanto’s taxation lead in Asia & Africa, told Reuters. “This anomaly needs to be fixed urgently.” Revenue secretary Hasmukh Adhia, overseeing the GST rollout, tweeted this week that nearly eight million businesses were enrolled to pay the tax and the transition “is going on smoothly.” He did not respond to a request for comment.

Point-of-Sale devices being distributededit

The Hindu

Hereafter, fertilizer sales would be done through this device only. Farmers should produce their Aadhaar card and affix their fingerprints before buying fertilizer. The new system would prevent diversion of fertilizers for non-agricultural purposes. Above all, it has increased accountability of stakeholders and enhance transparency, he added.

Crop Insurance: A flagship scheme that may flatter to deceiveedit

The Indian Express

For farmers, a uniform 2 per cent premium rate on sum insured (SI) for all kharif or monsoon season foodgrains and oilseeds, while 1.5 per cent for rabi winter crops and 5 per cent for annual commercial and horticultural crops, is the lowest they can hope for. Written by Harish Damodaran | New Delhi | Updated: July 27, 2017 4:37 am The country couldn’t possibly have, at least on paper, a better agricultural crop insurance scheme than the From Plate to Plough.

Agri Minister blames UPA for farm distressedit

The Hindu Business Line

The Opposition staged a walkout from the House after accusing the Minister of making no effort to improve the situation of farmers. They added that none of the issues raised during the short duration discussion on the farmers’ distress was addressed. Congress leader Digvijaya Singh said it was a mistake on his part to seek such a discussion in the House.

Will not permit GM mustard in Tamil Nadu: Agriculture ministeredit

Daily Hunt Deccan Chronicle

Tamil Nadu Government will not allow genetically modified (GM) mustard in the state, agriculture minister R. Doraikannu said on Wednesday. He also said the state government would not even allow testing of the GM mustard in Tamil Nadu. “We will not allow GM mustard to be introduced in Tamil Nadu. We will not even allow their testing in Tamil Nadu. The Chief Minister will take every step to ensure that GM crops are not introduced in Tamil Nadu,” Doraikannu said.

Will not permit GM mustard in TN: agri minedit

Deccan Chronicle

Tamil Nadu Government will not allow genetically modified (GM) mustard in the state, agriculture minister R. Doraikannu said on Wednesday. He also said the state government would not even allow testing of the GM mustard in Tamil Nadu. “We will not allow GM mustard to be introduced in Tamil Nadu. We will not even allow their testing in Tamil Nadu.

Panel for action against farmers using herbicides on GM mustardedit

The Hindu

The Genetic Engineering Appraisal Committee’s (GEAC) sub-committee has drafted several recommendations on GM mustard before it approved the crop for commercial release in May this year. However, anti-GM activists question how effective such regulation will be, drawing attention to the experience with Bt cotton, the country’s first and only commercially released GM crop. The GEAC had recommended plant refuges wherever Bt cotton was planted to ensure pests did not develop resistance to the Bt toxin.

GDP growth in last 2 years of UPA rule below projections: Niti Aayogedit

Money Control

“Elsewhere in the world, most notably the United States, GMO seeds have been in use for over two decades with no adverse effects on either other crops or those consuming the products of those seeds. China has been far ahead of us in this regard. Our own experience with BT Cotton seeds has been a success,” the government-think said.

Panagariya wants to tax those using agriculture to sidestep complianceedit

Financial Chronicle

Panagariya said no policy has universal acceptance and that’s why debate and dialogue are there. “We consult people who are experts on this and based on that, we take a call,” he said. The NDA government is yet to approve a recommendation of the Genetic Engineering Appraisal Committee (GEAC) to allow cultivation of GM mustard. The UPA government had not allowed cultivation of Bt brinjal, even after GEAC nod.

India’s protectionist bent for agri productsedit

Dainik Yashobhumi The Economic Times The Financial Express

Australian trade minister Steve Ciobo has said India has adopted a “reasonably protectionist bent” for its agricultural products, delaying any achievement in the talks for the long-pending Free-Trade Agreement (FTA).

Oppn, BJP trade blame over farmers’ distressedit

Press Trust of India The Indian Express One India Outlook Business Standard India Today India

Praful Patel of NCP pitched for modern farm technologies like genetically modified crops to boost farm income,. “It is unfortunate. I am sorry to say that we have neglected science and technology. There may be different views on BT technology but we have data how it benefits. We need to take benefit of it,” he said.

‘Government’s Crop Insurance Schemes Failed Farmers, Helped Insurance Companies’edit

The Wire

A big reason for the low claim settlement in relation to premium collected could also be because of delays in states releasing their share of the subsidy; CSE analysis says this was 32% of the claims reported. In PMFBY, the rule says claims must be paid to farmers within three weekdays of yield data by insurance companies; yet, on-ground claims made for kharif 2016 were not fully settled.

Full ban on stubble burning hardedit

The Times of India

The National Green Tribunal-appointed committee on air pollution headed by Union environment secretary held a meeting last week where it was decided that steps will be taken to make crop stubble profitable by creating a market for it so that farmers don’t burn stubble. “We can’t just arrest farmers for burning crop residue. It’s a livelihood issue for them. We need to create a market instead for crop residue so that farmers get an economic value for the stubble,” said a senior official who attended the meeting.

Insurers turn to drones to minimise risk of loss in crop schemesedit

Money Control

In the earlier crop insurance schemes that were based on weather, a few instances of farmers submitting fraudulent claims with respect to crop yield data and crop loss. For this, physical assessments used to be carried in locations to determine the extent of the loss. The agriculture ministry has called for use of modern technology like remote satellites and drones for the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY) which is a crop insurance scheme subsidised by the government. The government is also encouraging insurers to use smartphones and remote sensing to reduce crop cutting experiments and help cut delay in payments to farmers.

PM Fasal Bima Yojana is big step forward; here is how to insure against failureedit

The Financial Express

When a government reply to a Parliament question says insurance companies collected Rs 20,374 crore of premium in Kharif 2016 and Rabi 2016-17 but paid out just Rs 3,656 crore—total claims made were Rs 5,650 crore—it is not surprising to feel insurance firms have made a killing in the Prime Minister Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY). More so since, as Centre for Science and Environment points out, if the percentage of claims-to-sum-insured exceeds 35%, the government will make good the difference. Indeed, many argue that if the government is paying the bulk of the premium anyway, why not just compensate farmers for losses directly and cut out the insurance company profits.

Tamil Farmers’ protest: Leader Ayyakannu meets Tamil Nadu CMedit

Deccan Chronicle

He further added that the CM has assured them that he will take up the matter with Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The Tamil Nadu farmers have been protesting at Jantar Mantar from over a month now demanding loan waiver.

Onion hits 8-month high on supply disruptionsedit

Hindi Business Standard

Onion prices saw a remarkable jump, hitting an eight-month high on account of a sharp increase in demand by stockists in both, domestic and overseas markets amid reports of low arrivals in the country’s major mandis. Data compiled by the National Horticultural Research & Development Foundation (NHRDF) showed that the model price of onion in Maharashtra’s Lasalgaon mandi almost doubled to Rs 8.70 per kg, from its earlier low of Rs 4.50 per kg.

Tomato prices go through the roofedit

Business Standard Dainik Yashobhumi The Hindu Business Line

Tomato prices breached the ~100 per kg-mark in Mumbai and Delhi on Tuesday due to severe shortage of supply. In Mumbai, prices of tomatoes have shot up to ~150 a kg in the retail market while in Ahmedabad and Delhi it is around ~100 per kg. The lack of supply has impacted the prices, traders said. Karnataka is the second-largest producer of tomatoes. It supplies to the markets in south India, West Bengal and Bangladesh. In the past six-nine months, tomato farmers had price realisations of less than ~5 per kg, making it unviable for them to grow the crop.

Monsoon at ‘above normal’ level, to boost kharif sowingedit

The Financial Express

After covering the entire country last week, the south-west monsoon has been active over western, central and eastern parts of the country last few days. With the exception of Kerala, south interior Karnataka and Tamil Nadu, the quantum of monsoon rains has been widespread and is currently at ‘above normal’ range which would boost kharif sowing activities.

Supreme Court Asks Govt to Apprise it About Any Adverse Impact of GM Mustard Cropedit

News 18 .Com Top News Today HT Syndication Hindustan Times

The Supreme Court on Monday asked the Centre to apprise it by July 28 about any adverse impact, based on research, of the commercial release of genetically modified (GM) mustard crop. A bench comprising Chief Justice J S Khehar and Justice D Y Chandrachud said that if the commercial roll out of the GM mustard crop has adverse impact, then the government would have to take a “well-informed” view before coming out with a policy decision on it.

Big farmers may have to give up subsidyedit

The Hans India

The survey conducted by the Agriculture department in coordination with the Revenue department has found out that 60 per cent of the farmers hold less than 2.5 acres of land, 25 per cent own 2.5-5 acres, 10 per cent possess 5-10 acres and 3 per cent own land between 10 and 25 and 2 per cent have more than 25 acres of land in their possession.

Organic Farming In India: A Vision or Challenge To National Food Securityedit

Business World

India along with the other third world countries at large had been practically following an organic agriculture till the 50’s decade (World organic agriculture & TSR report). In light of the previous statement, organic farming or agrarian practices may not be called as a new state of the art technology. In fact, any traditional farming practitioner will suggest the current trend of organic farming as the repeat of the history. Organic products are developed without the support of chemical based fertilisers and pesticides.

Commercial launch of GM mustard at least two years away, govt tells SCedit

The Financial Express Daily Hunt Deccan Chronicle India Today DNA Business Standard Outlook The Hindu The Times of India Deccan Herald Hindustan Times Business Standard

The Centre On Monday told the Supreme Court that the decision for environmental release of genetically modified (GM) mustard crop is yet to be taken and it will take at least two years for actual commercial production to start if planted now. Stating that the apex court does not have the advantage of the scientific reports, data, details ...

Agrarian crisis: Rashtriya Kisan Manch demands formation of ‘Kisaan Aayog’edit

First Post

“The problems and plight of farmers will virtually remain the same, unless and until a kisan aayog with constitutional powers is set up,” Dixit said. He said the commission would “save” the agriculture sector. “Otherwise, Mandsaur-like situation may occur elsewhere in the country,” Dixit warned. Six persons were killed and as many injured in the police action during the farmers stir in Mandsaur district of Madhya Pradesh, last month. On Wednesday, the Opposition parties had cornered the government in Lok Sabha over the issue of farmer suicides across the nation.

Govt should focus on structural issues of agriculture sector: Reportedit

Money Control

There are no quick fixes for farmers’ distress and the government should focus on structural issues instead of resorting to short-term policy measures like farm loan waiver schemes, says an UBS report. Despite a bumper crop in the rabi season, farmers in many states are in distress because of sharp fall in prices in both domestic and global market.

Denying a government press statement issued last weekedit

The Indian Express Hindustan Times

The state government on Monday took the first step towards fund allocation for the farm loan waiver by tabling supplementary demands in the state assembly with a budgetary allocation of Rs20,000 crore for it. Though decks have been cleared for the funding so that banks can clear outstanding loans of farmers, the actual disbursement to farmers is unlikely for at least another two months.

Telangana Govt keen to encourage rich farmers to give up subsedit

Deccan Chronicle

Having announced financial assistance of Rs 4,000 per acre for every farmer in Telangana state from the next Kharif season in June 2018, the government is now keen to encourage “rich farmers” not to avail of the scheme, which will place a heavy burden on the state exchequer. Hard reality kicked in when the agriculture department conducted a survey of agriculture landholdings between May and July to assess the number of beneficiaries.

Where Did We Let Them Down?edit

Business World

On 14 June, the Union Cabinet met and approved an interest subvention scheme for farmers running into Rs 20,339 crore. It met again the following day to approve a 10 per cent increase in the minimum support price (MSP) for pulses, cotton and oilseeds for the 2017-18 financial year. Incidentally, the MSP for pulses has catapulted every year and yet, a lentil farmer swallowed poison in mid-June, because his earnings from his produce did not match up to his debt to the village money-lender.

IFFCO enters organic space in JV with Sikkimedit

The Hindu Business Line The Financial Express

Moving beyond its core chemical fertiliser area, cooperative fertiliser major IFFCO on Monday announced setting up of a joint venture with the Sikkim Government to enter the organic farming sector. The fertiliser cooperative will hold 51 per cent equity in the new joint venture — Sikkim IFFCO Organics Limited — where it will make an initial investment of Rs 200 crore, a company statement said. The investment will be increased to Rs 500 crore subsequently.

Indian banks’ recovery still far awayedit

Deccan Herald

Recovery in the banking sector seems to be far away, going by the recent report released by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). The latest Financial Stability Report of the RBI, for the six months ended June 2017, brings to fore the low Return on Assets of the banks in India. While profitability ratios of Scheduled Commercial Banks showed a marginal increase, public sector banks as a group continue to show a negative return on assets (RoA).

State giving top priority for sprinkle, micro irrigationedit

The Hans India

Agriculture Minister Somireddy Chandramohan Reddy on Sunday said that the government was giving top priority for micro and sprinkle irrigation by allocating adequate funds. Taking part in Zilla Parishad general body meeting here on Sunday, the minister said in view of making agriculture as profitable profession, the government was giving top priority for micro and sprinkle irrigation.

Andhra agricultural varsities bring up the rear in ICAR’s all India rankingedit

The Times of India

Out of 57 agricultural universities (AU) ranked by the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) recently, not a single agricultural university from Andhra Pradesh has found a place in the top ten. This was the first time it has undertaken such an exercise for agricultural universities across the country.

Maize prices projected to be steadyedit

The Hans India 

World maize production in 2016-17 was seen at a record 1.03 billion tonne, up from a previous projection of 1.017 billion tonne and the prior season’s 969 million tonne. The US, the world’s top maize producer, was projected to harvest a crop of 379 million tonne. India is set to produce 19.1 million tonne of maize in 2016-17 as against 15.2 million tonne last year. This is mainly because the area under kharif maize (2016-17) saw a jump to 84.26 lakh ha. There is a bearish trend in the global maize market due to over production in key maize growing countries led by US.

‘In 3 years, we will witness farmers’ income growing’edit

Sunday Guardian

While farmers’ protests continue in Delhi, experts say that implementing new policies can help increase farmers’ income. In a conversation with The Sunday Guardian, Rajju Shroff, chairman of the Crop Care Federation of India (CCFI), shared his views about the state of agriculture in the country, the case for increasing farmers’ income and why health myths about use of pesticides in farms are baseless.

Implement Food Act, Supreme Court to centre, statesedit

Deccan Chronicle

The Supreme Court has pulled up both the Centre and the states for the tardy implementation of the National Food Security Act and said a law enacted by Parliament as a part of its social justice obligation must be given its due respect and must be implemented faithfully and sincerely and positively before the end of this year.

Certified paddy seeds for increased agricultural productionedit

Anupam Bharat

The Ministry of Agriculture, in its report has recommended introduction of production subsidy to enhance production of certified seeds, inbred high yield varieties and hybrid seeds in the country. Currently, the seed subsidy is provided mostly for distribution and marketing and transport and not so much for production.

SC urges Centre to decide on policy for commercial release of GM cropsedit

FnB News

He also pointed out that the recombinant DNA technology was best used for introducing characters related to drought, floods, coastal storms and other non-biotic stresses. In the case of biotic stresses, including Bt cotton, there will be mutations and a need to replace the variety frequently.

Agree in the starting of the yield insurance in the stateedit

Anandabazar Patrika

To activate the Prime Minister’s yield insurance project, if the states wants then they can start their own the yield insurance company. On Friday in Rajya Sabha, central agriculture minister, Radhamohan Singha said that if any state have any difficulty in paying back the part of the premium then they can start their own yield insurance company.

Tamil Nadu tops in banana yield in India: ministeredit

The Times of India

Tamil Nadu is the only state which produces over 18 varieties of banana, while many other states produced only four varieties, he said. Government’s initiatives like subsidy for drip irrigation, tissue culture and liquid fertiliser were helping the farmers create record production.

Agrarian crisis: the challenge of a small farmer economyedit

Live mint

This complacency about the misfortunes of Bharat is quite dangerous. Agriculture is still the core of our food security. With over 1.3 billion mouths to feed, imports will not solve our problem if there is a severe drought and food shortage. Those old enough will recall the desperate years of 1964-65 and 1965-66. Moreover, though agriculture now accounts for less than 15% of gross domestic product (GDP), it is still the main source of livelihood for nearly half our population. It was, therefore, reassuring to see Nitin Gadkari candidly recognize in a recent TV interview that there is a crisis in Indian agriculture. But what are the roots of this crisis? And what is ...

PM calls for focus on agriculture and clean energy researchedit

Hindustan Times

Prime Minister Narendra Modi met with top officials in the ministry of science and technology on Thursday and called for greater focus on technologies that will help in solving the country’s problems, particularly emphasising on agriculture and clean energy.

Revamped crop insurance scheme falters in settlement of claims in drought hit areasedit

Mint

A revamped crop insurance scheme launched by the government in 2016 has brought more crop area under insurance but faltered in its promise of faster settlement of claims and providing relief to farmers in states hit by severe drought in an otherwise normal monsoon year.

Govt. mulling new Seed Actedit

The Hindu

The new seed act has been contemplated as the provisions of the existing legislation are found to be outdated, Agriculture Minister Pocharam Srinivas Reddy has said. The Minister was speaking after entering into a memorandum of understanding with Germany as part of Indo-German Cooperation on Seed Sector Development here on Thursday. The agreement envisages bilateral cooperation between the two sides for strengthening and developing sustainable agriculture.

No proposal to write off farm loans: Governmentedit

Sambad

The government today said there is no proposal under consideration with regard to farm loan write-off. the Centre informed Parliament that there is a facility has been put in place for farmers to avail concessional debt.

Problem in agriculture sectoredit

Sambad

The government is implementing various schemes for increasing farm production and productivity and for doubling farmers income. Policy paper was shared with the states for devising a relevant strategy so as to realise the goal of doubling farmers’ income by 2022.

GM mustard: towards food security?edit

Deccan Herald

The GM crops have been a contentious issue in India for over two decades. After BT cotton was approved in 2002, India has not been able to approve any other genetically modified crop for cultivation. The GEAC cleared BT brinjal in 2010 but was put on hold by then environment minister Jairam Ramesh following protests from civil society groups. Activists convinced the government to put an indefinite moratorium on BT brinjal.

Time to focus on ‘more crop per drop’edit

The Hindu Business Line

Familiar scenes play out in urban India in the summer. As the heat drives up demand for water, tankers crisscross city streets supplying water to parched homes. Residents line up to get their share. Most tankers can carry 5,000-10,000 litres, which can meet requirements of 10 to 20 families for a day. (BASF)

Telangana Government is committed to welfare of farmers: KT Rama Raoedit

Telangana Today

Addressing a public meeting after laying the foundation stone for feeder channel works in Narmala, he said that with a view to making agriculture profitable to farmers, the government has taken up a number schemes. Construction of a project to provide water to one crore acres, 24×7 power supply to agriculture sector, supply of pesticides free of cost, special drive to maintain land records and Mission Kakatiya were a few programmes initiated by the government for the welfare of farmers. With this, the farmers would become self-sustainable.

Rains resume, give fresh impetus to kharif sowingedit

The Indian Express

With the rains having picked up pace over the past few days across the state, sowing activity for the kharif season has once again regained momentum. In the backdrop of considerable rainfall in the past few days across the state, so far, sowing has been completed on 1.01 crore hectares of land, which is 72 per cent of the 1.39 crore hectares on which kharif crops are grown.

Rain brings cheers to farmers in Telangana, cities live in flood fearedit

The Times of India

The agriculture department said the rains that occurred during the last two days are good for all crops. The rainfall across the state is good for all crops. There has been no damage to any crop,” agriculture commissioner M Jagan Mohan told TOI. Revenue officials claim they have been monitoring the situation and even all district collectors have been asked to do so. The rain may be good for agriculture, but some other sectors have been adversely hit. Coal production in Singareni Collieries at Manuguru was affected.

Opposition targets government over agrarian crisis, farmers’ suicideedit

The Economic Times

Opposition members in Rajya Sabha today strongly raised the issue of agrarian crisis in the country, saying farmers were being forced to do distress sale of crops in the face of cheaper zero-duty imports. Several members gave notices under rule 267 that allows adjournment of the proceedings to take up a discussion on an issue.

No proposal to write off farm loans, says govtedit

The Times of India

To ensure availability of concessional debt, Union Minister of State for Agriculture Parshottam Rupala said the government is providing interest subvention to make short-term crop loans up to Rs 3 lakh for a period of one year available to farmers at the interest rate of 7 per cent per annum and in case of timely repayment, the same gets reduced to 4 per cent.

Nitish takes stock of agricultural schemesedit

Outlook

Chief Minister Nitish Kumar today took stock of progress related to Bihar’s agricultural roadmap and arrangements regarding distributing subsidised diesel in the event of drought-like situation. He took stock of the rainfall in the state this year and sowing of kharif crops and directed officials to prepare a plan for proper use of sewage water for irrigation to boost agriculture.

Karnataka agri markets see higher volumes despite drought hurting farm outputedit

The Hindu Business Line

The electronic trading platforms in the agriculture markets of Karnataka have caught the attention of chilli and paddy growers in neighbouring States such as Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, who are seen increasingly bringing their produce to the markets here, seeking better prices.

ICAR sets target for doubling farmer’s incomeedit

India Infoline

Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) has developed 596 high yielding climate resilient crop varieties/ hybrids of field crops for cultivation in different agro-ecologies of the country during the past three years, said an Agriculture Ministry release.

GST effect: Trichy farmers unable to buy fertilizersedit

The Times of India

Farmers in the district are left in the lurch as they are unable to purchase fertilizers such as urea and potash, as the concerned Primary Agriculture Cooperative Credit Societies (PACCS) have not been allotted a GST registration number by the tax department. Farmers are being sent back by the PACCS authorities stating that they cannot generate bills with GST.

‘Centre doing little for farmers’edit

The Hindu Business Line

Leading Opposition parties, including the Congress and the Biju Janata Dal (BJD), on Wednesday launched a frontal attack on the Narendra Modi government for being “insensitive” to the problems of farmers across the country. While the Congress, represented by Jyotiraditya Scindia sought the implementation of the MS Swaminathan Committee report, the BJD’s leader in the Lower House Bhartruhari Mahtab called upon the Centre to revisit the controversial minimum support price (MSP) mechanism.

What Happens When the Goals of Scientific Innovation Are Defined by Profitedit

The Wire

Their attempts through litigation to prevent and delay the entry of affordable drugs, even the ones listed by WHO as essential medicines in the Indian and other developing-world markets, show no signs of stopping. The lobbying for genetically modified agricultural crops also continues and many experts refuse to recognise the basic conflict-of-interest issue.

Trending 4 Top Tech Innovations Within Agriculture May 17edit

Green Ecosystem

Each unique product provides the farmer with useful insights into the efficiency and productivity of their farming practices, improving consequential impacts to crop growth and yields.In an increasingly mechanised and automated sector,companies are making huge developments in the power and accuracy of digital technologies. Farmers are able to gain a wealth of data and insight into the complex processes affecting their farm’s productivity. farm management practices.

Division Of Farm Land Responsible For Downfall In India’s Productivity’edit

Business World

The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) has recently published its report on world food production trends for the fiscal year 2017-18. It is important in nature as the report had specific projections for Indian agrarian produces for the coming year. The USDA had published its projections soon after organization for economic cooperation and development (OECD) report had been published for the coming decade. For Indian perspective there is a bunch of study for rice and cotton including projection for kharif season.

Centre to promote bamboo as source of bio-fueledit

New Kerala

Suggesting certain measures aimed at ensuring growth and development of agriculture sector, Gadkari highlighted the need to bring down costs per acre and also to promote allied sectors like dairy, fisheries, poultry and others. “In the current scenario, we need to boost productivity to promote economic viability which would lead to job generation and boost the gross domestic product (GDP), besides promoting agro-processing industries and bringing down costs of power, seeds, fertilisers and insecticides is equally imperative,” he said.

Draw up strategy for doubling farmers’ income by 2022: Centre to Statesedit

The Indian Express

The Centre has asked states to chalk out relevant plans to achieve the goal of doubling farmers’ income by 2022, Parliament was informed today. The average monthly income per agricultural household from various sources is estimated to be Rs 6,426, according to the survey done by the National Sample Survey Office in 2013. Replying to queries raised on farmers’ income, Minister of State for Agriculture Parshottam Rupala said a roadmap has been outlined by the Niti Aayog for farm sector reforms and doubling farmers’ income by 2022.

Farmers from across India rally at Jantar Mantar, want Modi govt to waive all loansedit

Business Standard India Today The Indian Express The Hindu Business Line

Thousands of farmers from all over the country demonstrated at Jantar Mantar today, participating in a a Kisan Mukti Sansad to voice their demands. The farmers have made two specific demands: farming should be made remunerative and that their debts should be forgiven. Farmers from Tamil Nadu, who have relaunched their agitation, were also part of the Kisan Mukti Sansad, which saw children of farmers from Maharashtra who committed suicide perform a skit to bring attention to their plight.

Punjab farmers biggest gainers of crop loansedit

Business Standard

Farmers in Punjab are bigger beneficiaries of the enlarged rural credit flow through the Centre-subsidised institutional mechanism than their counterparts in other states that have announced debt waivers. On average, an account-holder among Punjab farmers availed of crop loans of around Rs 2.23 lakh in the first 11 months of 2016-17. Repaying the short-term loan, which is taken usually for a year for most crops except sugarcane, becomes a problem if the price the crop gets is abnormally low, and this leads to mounting debts.

Non-BJP states line up for agri reformsedit

The Hans India

However, we have already started taking steps to set up private and direct markets,” according to Maharashtra Agriculture Minister Pandurang Fundkar. Maharashtra has issued 43 licences for private marketing and licences for direct marketing have been issued to 566 companies, including Saguna, ITC. However, the JD-U-led Bihar government is not ready to adopt the new model act, apparently for political reasons. The Bihar government has said its marketing system was more liberal than the one the Centre has come up with.

Agro honour for farmer Vaishali tiller gets award for cauliflower farmingedit

The Telegraph

This is not the first time he has got an award. Earlier, Sanjeev got a national silver medal from the Indian Institute of Vegetable Research in 2009, the progressive farmer award in 2010 from the Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI), the Udyan Ratna Award by the Uttarakhand government in 2011, the Best Farmer award by the Gujarat government in 2013 and the innovator farmer award by Rajendra Agricultural University (RAU) Pusa, Samastipur in 2014.

Profits of fertiliser firms set to jumpedit

Business Standard

The profitability of fertiliser companies is likely to jump by a staggering 44 per cent in the April-June quarter due to a sharp increase in sales volume driven by expectations of normal monsoon for the second year in a row. An ICICI Securities study attributes the estimated growth in net profit of non-fertiliser businesses to a lower base in the fertiliser segment of some companies.

GM mustard release faces another hurdleedit

The Hindu

The plant had gone through adequate tests and was declared “safe” and passed regulatory muster. The Academy, according to Mr. Singh’s letter, was also cognisant of the “massive negative propaganda” on GM crops by “activists” that was causing “serious damage” to Indian agriculture.

Hybrid paddy crop introduced in Visakha Agency to double yieldedit

Nyoooz

A new variety of paddy is being introduced in Visakha Agency to double the yields. According to experts from Chintapalli Agriculture Research Station, the new hybrid developed by a private firm is a hardy one and is also pest-resistant, requires less water and can be directly seed-planted. Speaking on the extent of land needed to cultivate the variety, joint director of agriculture, Visakhapatnam, V Satyanarayana said, “This variety has been planted on 5,000 hectares in Visakha Agency and on a smaller extent in Vizianagaram Agency .” It saves me at least 20 days in comparison with traditional varieties.

It’s time to reclaim the right to safe foodedit

Your Story

We are what we eat. This saying had been long established by our traditional system of medicine, Ayurveda. Since modern science has also verified it through a series of experiments, we are much more willing to accept that whatever we consume from our environment, decides our physical well-being, social behaviour and thinking. However, despite being granted this wisdom, we have added poison to the food we eat in last 60 years. Starting from chemical fertilisers in the soil, spraying of pesticides and insecticides on plants, unnatural processing methods and now the efforts to introduce genetic modifications, we are not moving but running towards destruction.

Climate-resilient farming model in Pune wins Equator Prizeedit

Money Life

This changed five years ago when she adopted the so-called one-acre model, an innovative way of practising climate-resilient agriculture. Starting off with half an acre, she today manages around 3.5 acres of land and cultivates vegetables, wheat, pulses and turmeric with 100 per cent organic inputs.

Government wants to give a better price to the farmer: Shobhana K Pattanayak, Agriculture Secretaryedit

The Economic Times

I can tell you that last year we had a bumper production in agriculture and this year the things are also looking up and expect we will repeat the performance. The spread of monsoon has been quite good and the enthusiasm among the farmers continue to be there. Having said that, I can tell the broad thrust of the government is basically to give a better price to the farmer.

Govt buying of pulses falls 86% short of targetedit

Business Standard

After a big success during the earlier kharif season, government agencies have failed in pulses procurement in the ongoing rabi marketing season, missing their target by 86 per cent. Data compiled by the government-owned grain procurement agency, Food Corporation of India (FCI), showed that the only nominated agency, National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India (Nafed), procured only 19,779 tonnes of masur (red gram) as on July 3, against the target of 100,000 tonnes.

Subsidy means Good business for insurers but heavy load for Centreedit

The Financial Express

The crop insurance coverage hasn’t spread as fast as many expected, partly because many state governments, which had been laggardly in implementing the pre-PMFBY schemes that most farmers found unaffordable, have remained reluctant to fund the new scheme as well.

Global rice processing facility to come up in Mysuruedit

The Hindu

Rice milling and processing may soon get a new dimension with the Mysuru-based Central Food Technological Research Institute (CFTRI), a premier CSIR laboratory, in the process of establishing a state-of-the-art global rice processing facility on its premises here.

Nuziveedu Seeds to focus on core seed businessedit

Agro Pages Green Ecosystem

Having grown into the largest Bt cotton seed firm in the country, and given multinationals such as Monsanto a run for its money, NSL will stay focussed with a series of new varietal and product launches in the crops identified. It has beefed up marketing infrastructure in newer regions of East and Central India.

GM mustard release faces another hurdleedit

SSARP Education

Dissent has crept in among agricultural scientists of the National Academy of Agricultural Sciences (NAAS) over the possible release of genetically modified mustard. Background In May, NAAS President wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, endorsing DMH-11, a variety of mustard developed by Deepak Pental of Delhi University, a NAAS Fellow, that employs genes from soil bacterium. If approved, it would be the first transgenic edible crop to be grown in Indian fields. The plant had gone through adequate tests and was declared “safe” and passed regulatory muster. The GEAC, India’s apex regulator for genetically modified seeds, had cleared GM mustard for environmental release and use in farmer fields on May 11 this year. (BT Cotton)

Online trading in regulated markets soonedit

The Hindu

About 15 agriculture regulated markets in the State are expected to join the electronic trading portal of National Agriculture Market (e-NAM) this year.

Centre planning shakeup of NITI Aayogedit

The New Indian Express

The Centre is likely to make sweeping changes in the upper echelons of the NITI Aayog, the premier planning think tank, in order to sharpen its focus on the economic agenda. This could happen when the Union Cabinet is expanded, which is expected to happen after the monsoon session of Parliament.

India will become self sufficient in pulses, oilseeds: Radha Mohan Singhedit

The Economic Times

Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh today exuded confidence that India will become self- sufficient in pulses and oilseeds production in the coming years with the government taking steps to boost yields through use of better quality seeds and technologies.

Maharashtra govt plans Rs 4,000-crore projects to boost farmers’ income: Devendra Fadnavisedit

The Indian Express

Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis Sunday said the state government would invest Rs 4,000 crore in 15 drought-hit districts of Maharashtra to boost agriculture production and provide higher remuneration to farmers. The government also plans to lower the interest rate on crop loans provided by financial institutions to farmers.

Farmers dependent on agri income to avail loan waiver: CMedit

India Today

“Farmers having the annual turnover of over Rs 10 lakh are excluded from the loan waiver scheme. The reason behind such bar is that those having higher income are basically earning from non-agricultural activities as well. As they have another source of income, they will be kept out of the loan waiver bracket. We want to offer loan waiver only to those farmers who are totally dependent on agriculture for their livelihood,” Fadnavis said.

Low response from Maharashtra farmers to Rs 10,000 loan schemeedit

The Indian Express

The state government’s decision to extend a fresh crop loan of Rs 10,000 to debt-ridden farmers whose previous loans up to Rs 1.5 lakh have been waived off has not received good response. The total disbursement of loan under the scheme has not exceeded Rs 2,300 crore in the last three weeks. The demand for the loan from the backward regions of Vidarbha and Marathwada has been higher compared to economically prosperous districts of western and north Maharashtra.

Maharashtra loan waiver: State to develop software to prepare list of eligible farmersedit

First Post

The Maharashtra government is developing a software to prepare the list of farmers eligible for crop loan waiver. The move is aimed at bypassing manual interference in list preparation, keeping a check on malpractices that crop up during the process and ensure that only eligible farmers reap the benefits of a loan waiver.

No Breach of Farm Subsidy Limits, India Tells WTOedit

The Economic Times

India has informed the World Trade Organization (WTO) that it did not breach the permissible farm subsidy limit between 2011-12 and 2013-14. India recently submitted its farm subsidy details for these three years to the multilateral body.

Why India’s largest fertilizer company doesn’t want subsidies the way they areedit

The Times of India

In the 2016-17 budget, the union government’s allocated Rs. 51,000 crore to subsidy for urea alone. In addition, Rs 19,000 crore has been allocated as subsidy on other fertilisers. This 70,000 crore-figure has come down in the last 2-3 years but is still astounding not just as a percentage of GDP but also when compared to other social sector spending.

Release of GM mustard faces another hurdleedit

The Hindu

Dissent has crept in among agricultural scientists of the National Academy of Agricultural Sciences (NAAS) over the possible release of genetically modified mustard.

Maximum support, maximum priceedit

The Hindu

Bt cotton costs more but is high yield and therefore more lucrative for farmers. When a new variety that is advertised as high yield comes, farmers will take to it for profits,” says Lakhwinder Singh, an agriculture expert at Punjabi University, Patiala. Many farmers also took to it as it was advertised as resistant to bollworm, a pest that affected cotton. However, Singh cautions, the pest resistance is only for three-four years.

Release of GM mustard faces another hurdleedit

The Hindu

Mr. Kesavan emphasised that using genetically-modified technology to produce hybrid seed varieties was a “failed experiment” as evidenced by the experience of Bt cotton. Though the latter occupied 95% of India’s acreage, its yields were on the decline since 2006, largely due to insect resistance, and that it nearly tripled the cost of producing cotton between 2006-2013, he argued in his letter, a copy of which was sent to the PM as well.

Farmers, scientists meet to discussedit

The Times of India

Farmer representatives from six states came together for a day-long discussion on how the scientist-farmer interface could be strengthened. The discussion was held at M S Swaminathan Research Foundation on behalf of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research.

Tomato price hike: Govt to monitor supplies from major producing statesedit

Business Standard

Data furnished by the department of agriculture showed that till Friday, kharif crops have been sown in around 56.31 million hectares of land, which is almost 8 per cent more than the area covered during the same period last year.

Crop planting up by 39 per cent in week of good rainsedit

The Economic Times

Acreage under kharif crops increased by 39 per cent in the last one week as crop planting picked up pace with adequate rainfall in most parts of the country. As of Friday, the total area under crops stood at 56.32 million hectares, up 8 per cent from 52.18 million hectares achieved a year ago, the agriculture ministry said.

Farmer lodges complaint against met departmentedit

The New Indian Express

Regional centres of the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) at Mumbai and Pune gave wrong monsoon forecasts causing a grave loss to me and several other farmers across the state. This amounts to cheating and hence a case needs to be registered against the IMD, Thawre said in his complaint.

‘GST on biological agri inputs double-edged for farmers, MSMEs’edit

SME Times

Highlighting the importance of biofertilisers, the trade body said these are manufactured primarily by micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) and also provide farmers an option towards sustainable agricultural practices like organic farming. Besides, biofertilisers are highly beneficial as they are an alternative to chemical fertilisers that tend to spoil both soil and environment

KVKs -Harbingers of Second Green Revolutionedit

Daily Excelsior

In 1973 The ICAR constituted a committee under the chairmanship of Dr. Mohan Singh Mehta which further gave the recommendations for the establishment of KVKs in the country. The first Krishi Vigyan Kendra (KVK) was established in 1974 at Pudducherry under Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore by the ICAR. Presently, the ICAR has established 673 KVKs across the nation. In Jammu and Kashmir ICAR has established 20 KVKs under two agricultural universities SKUAST-Jammu, SKUAST-Kashmir and one KVK under Central Institute of Temperate Horticulture (CITH).

Farm sector demand ups energy consumptionedit

The Hindu

“In the absence of any significant precipitation since June-end, the crops taken up with the help of early monsoon rains are facing moisture stress in some pockets and they are being given periodical wetting to keep their growth healthy,” a senior official in the plant protection cell of the Agriculture Department said. Had there been a couple of good rains in between the dry spell, there would not have been any need for wetting such crops.

‘Food Production Increased To 273 Million Metric Tonnes In FY17’edit

Business World

Union Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Minister, Radha Mohan Singh said as per the third advance estimates food grain production in the country has increased to 273 MT in 2016-17, oil seeds to 32.5 MT, and sugarcane to 306 MT. Fruits and vegetable production has increased to 287 MTs, according to the second advance estimate.

Govt making speedy efforts to reform agri-mkts: Agri Minedit

Mydigitalfc

Singh said the state governments have been asked to amend their mandi laws according to the model law. Rajasthan has partially implemented it. He also quipped that had the previous government initiated agri-market reforms, the farmers would not have faced the problem at present. Rajasthan Agriculture Minister Prabhulal Saini, NCDEX Managing Director and CEO Samir Shah, Monsanto India CEO Shilpa Divekar Nirula, among others were present at the event.

Potato Farmers of Uttar Pradesh Suffer Woes of a Bumper Harvestedit

The Quint

The potato farmers in Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh are an unhappy lot. Their produce sold for over 900 rupees per quintal last year, but 2017 has brought wholesale prices crashing down by half.

State’s granary losing substantial groundedit

The Hindu

Agriculture Secretary Gagandeep Singh Bedi says the State would, in the future, adopt two varieties of paddy recently developed by the Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, which are said to be flood and drought-tolerant. Though the work on introducing climate resilient crop varieties is only beginning, the efforts of the State thus far have placed greater focus on promoting efficient use of water in agriculture through the expansion of the System of Rice Intensification (SRI).

Fertilizer sector sees tremendous futureedit

The Hindu

The Indian fertilizer sector has ‘tremendous’ growth potential in the coming years, CARE Ratings has said. Fertilizer production in India is growing at a compounded annual growth rate of 4% from FY13 onwards and the agency has estimated that production touch 460-470 LMT (Lakh Metric Tonnes) by 2020. This compares with production of 413.24 LMT in FY17.

State to oppose commercial cultivation of GM mustardedit

The Hindu

Karnataka, which was indifferent to the Centre’s move to clear Genetically Modified (GM) mustard for commercial cultivation, is set to oppose the decision and will make its position clear to the Prime Minister.

Namboothiris target Rs 500 crore in two yearsedit

The Economic Times The Hindu Business Line

Namboothiris has entered into an agreement with Chennai-based Pay Agri Innovation, an agro fin tech company, for the procurement of pesticide-free products from more than 60000 farmers in Tami Nadu, directly by eliminating middlemen.

Agricultural produce options are very limitededit

Dainik Jagran

The options for farmers to sell produce are very limited, the government has made efforts to increase the efforts. For this, the process of mandi improvement has been increased. Most states have agreed to implement the Model Mandi law of the center. In a function organized in FICCI, Union Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh said that the government is the high priority of the farmers to get the fair value of their produce.

Food grains production breaks all records: Agri Ministeredit

India Infoline The Economic Times

Union Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Minister, Radha Mohan Singh said that as per the third advance estimates food grain production in the country has increased to 273 MT in 2016-17, oil seeds to 32.5 MT, and sugarcane to 306 MT.

The Facade of Fasal Bima Yojanaedit

News Click

The Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY), the crop insurance scheme designed to compensate farmers in case of crop failure, was rolled out in 2016 with much fanfare and publicity. More than a year after it was implemented, we take a look at the numbers to see how well it has done. As an earlier report by Newsclick highlighted, the ratio of the amount of premium collected to the amount of claims settled is shocking. Most of the premium collected has gone on to profit the selected insurance companies.

Why Tatas and Birlas are exiting fertiliser businessedit

Money Control

When two of the country’s largest, oldest and most reputed industrial conglomerates decide to exit from a sector, it is time check if the best days for the sector are over. The Tatas and Birlas are exiting from the fertiliser sector and that too in a short span of time. Tata Chemicals sold its urea business to Norway’s fertiliser and chemicals major Yara for Rs 2,670 crore, in what it termed as a move toward value-unlocking.

‘Traditional mustard output adequate, don’t need GM mustard’edit

India Shafaqna Shoonya Web India 123 Bulletin of India Business Standard WN Net India123  Dainik Bhaskar Naya India The Financial Express NDTV

Rajasthan, India’s top mustard producing state on Friday, expressed its reservations over commercial introduction of Genetically Modified (GM) variety of mustard, saying output from the traditional varieties was adequate. Rajasthan’s Agriculture Minister Prabhu Lal Saini said it did not want to be dependent on any company for seeds. “Production of mustard is quite good in our state. We are getting 32-33 ...

When big retail meets small farmersedit

Livemint

The knock-on effects of the Indian grocery store going big and coming online stretch far beyond consumer benefits. From strengthening infrastructure in the farm sector to streamlining the food supply chain, thereby increasing productivity, farmers stand to benefit as well. The Union government clearing US e-commerce giant Amazon’s $500 million investment in the food retail sector earlier this week should be seen in this context.

Rich Harvests Have Benefited Agricultural Workers, Affected Farmers, says Pranjul Bhandari of HSBCedit

Smart Indian Agriculture

Normal monsoons last year after two years of drought, and rich harvests have affected rural workers and farmers differently, writes Pranjul Bhandari, Chief India Economist at HSBC in a research report. Lower rural unemployment and higher wages benefited the landless, who own less than 2.5 acres of land, and account for 70 percent of the farmers, as their income comes mainly from wages. The income of the landed comes from selling their produce, whose prices have fallen, so their incomes have suffered.

Yes, There is a Case for Lower Ratesedit

The Economic Times

Change in the Consumer Food Price Index is in the negative territory, at –2.1%. The obverse of this fall in prices is farm distress, manifesting as farmer suicide, agitations across rural India and knee-jerk farm-loan waivers. The fall in the consumer price index, in other words, is not cause for celebration, but a fit case for reversal by policy action, which would probably take the form of higher minimum support prices, sooner rather than later.

GST is no game changer for farmers, yetedit

The Hindu BusinessLine

In 1991, India saw an LPG blast — liberalisation, privatisation and globalisation that changed the face of the country permanently. After 25 years from 1991, a fortnight ago, we experienced another revolutionary reform — GST with the promise of “One country-One tax”. Like any other person, I started reading GST from the view point of how it affects me and our work with small farmers on providing climate-smart farming solutions such as greenhouses. It appears to me that the GST is good for our farmers.

Haryana govt to introduce first seed bill, says Om Prakash Dhankaredit

The Indian Express Sify

Haryana Agriculture Minister Om Prakash Dhankar on Thursday said a seed bill would be introduced for the first time during the next session of the Assembly, “which would address all species of seeds related to agricultural and horticultural crops”. “The Bill should also have full details on pesticides and insecticides management. This would be the first-of-its-kind Bill in the country,” he added.

Maha govt to frame guidelines for farmers’ loan waiveredit

DNA The Economic Times

The Maharashtra government is planning to come up with a fresh set of guidelines for an effective implementation of the loan waiver scheme for farmers, an official has said. Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis had last month announced the “historic” loan waiver of Rs 34,022 crore for farmers and subsequently laid down the eligibility criteria for availing it.

Modi’s Crop Insurance Scheme Adding to Farmer Woesedit

News Click

The new insurance scheme, along with a weather based insurance scheme, are replacements of the earlier two insurance schemes, NAIS (National Agriculture Insurance Scheme) and MNAIS (Modified NAIS). It is meant to cover all the loopholes and problems that arose in the previous schemes. The last two schemes were only covered by government insurance companies, and the coverage of farmers under them remained dismally low.

Niti Aayog for moving workforce from agriculture to industryedit

Dainik Jagran

Niti Aayog vice chairman Arvind Panagariya today made a strong case for shifting workers from agriculture to industry and encourage small enterprises to grow big with a view to accelerate economic growth. He further said that at the aggregate macro level, bringing about rapid growth is most critical as no major success in poverty alleviation is likely to happen without it.

Cotton farmers fear damage due to legal impasse in seed technology rowedit

Green Ecosystem

Following representations by cotton farmers claiming Monsanto charged different seed prices across states, the government issued the Cotton Seeds Price (Control) Order, 2015, under the Essential Commodities Act to fix seed prices based on the “trait value” along with a patent fee for the developer.

‘A farmer should know the price he will get at the time of sowing’edit

The Hindu Business Line

A fundamental transition is happening from a production-led agriculture to demand-driven agriculture. Agriculture in the past primarily catered to shortages — because there’s not enough food, we need to produce more. We’re in a transition to a multi-consumer segment based, demand-driven agriculture.

Dry spell in state may affect crops on 20 lakh hectaresedit

The Times of India

“There has been an issue with sowing due to the long, dry spell and crops like soyabean, moong, tur, rice and sugarcane will be hit. Cotton which is grown on a large scale in the state will not see a lot of problems as it sustains on the moisture of the soil, but if the dry spell continues then cotton too will be affected,” said a senior official.

Maharashtra: Banks meet only 27% of kharif credit target in Q1edit

Live mint

Institutional lenders have met only 27% of their total crop credit target in Maharashtra for the current kharif season, data released by the Pune-based State Level Bankers’ Committee (SLBC) says. Of the total crop credit target of Rs 40,547 crore set for the kharif season in Maharashtra, banks have disbursed just Rs 11,034 crore to more than 1.6 million farmers in the quarter ended 30 June.

Agriculture dept uses WhatsApp to reach out to farmersedit

The Times of India

In a bid to help farmers stay abreast of its latest schemes, the agriculture department in Uttara Kannada has decided to leverage technology by using WhatsApp to reach out to the peasants and farmers’ associations.

ASSOCHAM seeks review of GST rates for specific agriculture inputsedit

UNI

Apex industry body ASSOCHAM has urged the union government to review GST (Goods and Services Tax) rates for select agriculture inputs like bio fertilizers, bio pesticides/bio control agents (BCA), organic manures/vermicompost/farmyard manure (FYM) and others.

New doppler weather radar commissionededit

The Hindu

A state-of-the-art, indigenous doppler weather radar, capable of predicting with increased accuracy weather events such as cyclone occurring in 500-km radius from Kochi, was inaugurated by Harsh Vardhan, Union Minister for Science and Technology, Earth Sciences, Forest, Environment and Climate Change, at Palluruthy in West Kochi on Wednesday.

Agricultural agencies should come together for research, development’edit

Hindustan Times

The chairman of Punjab State Farmers’ Commission, Ajay Vir Jakhar visited Punjab Agricultural University (PAU) to have an overview of latest research developments at PAU on Wednesday . During his visit, Jakhar interacted with vice-chancellor Baldev Singh Dhillon and extended his support in the agricultural development of PAU. “We can make a difference,” he said.

Hindustan Times The executive members of Communist Party of India (CPI), Ludhiana, has opposed levying of goods and services tax (GST) on the agricultural inputs which would further add to the farmers’ sufferings.edit

The Financial Express

Apart from that, other benefits given to farmers are per every acre annuity for crop loss will be paid Rs. 30,000 for dry and Rs. 50,000 for Jareebu lands for a period of 10 years. Ten percent of enhancement of annuity is assured. One time additional payment up to Rs. 1 lakh for gardens like lime, sapota, guava, amla and jasmine will be given and up to Rs. 1.50 lakh in agriculture loans has been waived for each family.

CPI members oppose GST on agricultural inputsedit

Hindustan Times

The executive members of Communist Party of India (CPI), Ludhiana, has opposed levying of goods and services tax (GST) on the agricultural inputs which would further add to the farmers’ sufferings.

Soil health card scheme in shamblesedit

Financial Chronicle

The central government’s flagship soil health card scheme seems to have been detailed by shoddy implementation as some states have hired private agencies, which have employed not properly qualified people for testing the condition of the soil, a Niti Aayog study has found.

State think-tank wants to further ease loan waiver schemeedit

The Times of India

Vasantrao Naik Shetkari Swavalamban Mission (VNSSM), a state government think tank on agriculture, has put forth proposals to further relax conditions of the farm loan waiver scheme. This comes after Devendra Fadnavis announced extension of the scheme to cover farmers who had defaulted on loans from April 1, 2009, to June 30, 2016, also. The earlier plan only covered defaults from April 2012 to June-end 2017.

TN farmers urge Centre to implement Swaminathan Commission reportedit

One India

Though Prime Minister Narendra Modi had time and again assured that the right minimum support price (MSP) would be fixed for farmers’ produce on the lines of the recommendations, the NDA government had so far failed to act, Federation of Tamil Nadu Agriculturists Associations secretary, S Nallasamy said in a statement.

Cotton Prices Likely to Riseedit

The Economic Times

Indian cotton prices, which have remained range bound for one-and-a-half months, are expected to increase by about 3% once the cotton-based yarn, fabric and textile industry, thrown out of gear post-GST, resumes work in full swing in a couple of weeks. “Cotton selling declined by about 30-40% after the new tax code came into force. We hope revival in demand after the cotton-based industry comes back to normalcy,” said a Maharashtra-based ginner, who did not want to be identified.

UP sets aside Rs 36000 cr for farm loan waiver in budgetedit

The Financial Express

The Yogi Adityanath government in Uttar Pradesh on Tuesday presented a Rs 3,84,660-crore budget for 2017-18 — up 10.9% from the previous year — in the state assembly with a special provision of Rs 36,000 crore to enable waiver of crop loans of small and marginal farmers.

Monsoon lull hits soybean sowing operationsedit

The Financial Express

The lull in the progress of monsoon and bearish trend in soybean prices does not augur well for the growers this Kharif season. Several areas in the soybean growing regions of Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Rajasthan are yet to be covered, thanks to the slow progress of rains and the break in the monsoon could possibly mean re-sowing for those who have already completed operations, according to top industry people. Concerned over these factors, there is a growing fear that farmers may turn to alternative crops, thereby reducing soybean acreage, which may fall below last year’s 110 lakh hectares.

Government keen on promoting hybrid vegetablesedit

The Times of India

The state has also planned to set up 597 ‘pack’ houses to add value to the horticulture produce in districts. Similarly, 160 sub-agricultural extension centres will be built, in addition to 146 centres coming up in block level to help farmers get the services of agriculture department, including seeds and micro-nutrients. The chief minister said the Centre of Excellence for Bio-Technology will be established in the Tamil Nadu Agriculture University in Coimbatore at an estimated cost of Rs 430 crore, with the preliminary sanction of Rs 51 crore this fiscal year. Adequate infrastructure facilities will be provided in agriculture institutions across the state at a cost of Rs 108 crore.

Farmers see crops wilt due to dry spelledit

Deccan Chronicle The Asian Age

Farmers in India run the risk of planting too much, too fast in the current monsoon season as an unexpected dry spell starts to wilt summer-sown crops, raising fears of lower yields and potentially forcing some farmers to resow crops. Lower yields or crop failure will increase discontent among farmers that has triggered protests in the big agrarian states in recent months and forced the state governments to waive billions of dollars of farm loans.

Dry spell threatens Indian summer crops, could raise farmers woesedit

The Economic Times

The ongoing dryness is affecting central, western and southern India, key producing regions for cotton, soybean, corn, sugarcane, pulses and rice. Poor output of summer crops could also raise food prices, restricting the central bank from cutting lending rates, crucial to boosting Asia’s third-biggest economy. “Farmers sowed crops on time, but now they will wilt unless rainfall revives in next few days,” said Faiyaz Hudani, deputy vice president at Kotak Commodity Services Pvt Ltd.

CSCs to sell crop insurance to small, marginal farmersedit

DNA

Common Service Centres (CSCs), falling under the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, have started offering crop insurance scheme to small and marginal farmers who have not availed any loan from any bank or financial institution. The initiative was launched in June and will cover only ‘non-loanee’ farmers, CSC e-Governance Services India Ltd CEO Dinesh Tyagi told DNA Money.

Centre urged to increase farm credit cover to 100%edit

The Pioneer

“We have proposed five-year credit term to cover all expenses of farmers such as cultivation, children’s education, house construction and marriage of daughters. The present coverage of the farm credit is 20 per cent. We have asked the PMO to widen its coverage to 100 per cent on an urgent basis,” said Tiwari, who is a farmers’ leader as well.

Arunachal govt favours RS technology for better crop yieldedit

India

He said that remote sensing instruments could be an effective tool for planning in agriculture and horticulture. He requested Agriculture Minister Wangki Lowang to conduct another round of meeting with the officers of RSI and NABARD and get the required data from RSI by letting them conduct land mapping for the state. This is published unedited from the PTI feed.

Agricultural Reforms Should Help Farmersedit

The Navhind Times

Another example is the food procurement and Public Distribution Scheme. These were aimed to achieve three objectives with one instrument: that of food security, price stability and farm viability. It has been a partial success, since PDS offtake is very low in States with high poverty. In the past, it has also led to anomalous situations of high food stocks in government warehouses and also high food prices. Similarly, various rural development initiatives have met with limited success, as is testified by the fact that the bulk of India’s poverty is still within rural areas and in agriculture.

Banks should look at funding unorganised sector, says Arun Jaitleyedit

Dainik Yashobhumi

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley today exhorted financial institutions, including Nabard, and banks to focus on funding the unfunded so that employment in the unorganised sector goes up. “It is a fact that people in the unorganised sector are much higher than the organised sector, but the former gets credit with a lot of difficulty,” he said at an event organised by the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (Nabard) here.

‘Indian Agro-Economy Faces Serious Disadvantages Due To Various Restrictions’edit

Business World

This government has done enough of work though for, micro irrigation, fertilisers, soil-health, crop insurance even 4 per cent rate of farm credit is good enough. These efforts are only on input side of farming, it still did not work for output. Shetkari Sangathan also believe that freedom of technology is not for farmers, any and every NGO simply move to court against GM seed and government kept watching or fighting cases. Declining farmers’ income stems from central dictates’ and states keep struggling with periodic loan waivers. Shetkari believes in the mantra of, “Undoing socialist strangle hold on farmers and liberalize”.

How renewable farming can solve problems of climate change and conflictsedit

Your Story

With organic farming, emissions will drop to zero and the pollution of earlier times can also be handled as these plants will absorb the atmospheric carbon through photosynthesis. Estimates suggest that if the whole world turns organic, climate change can be dealt with in 10 years. So, it’s very important that we think beyond solar or wind energy because even the best of that is not based on life. It doesn’t include photosynthesis GM.

China Agriculture Sector Given a Boost by Toria Investmentedit

IT News Online

The goal is to create a ‘smart’ farming culture where farmers are better informed by using data generated by sensors placed in the fields. This data is then used by Artificial Intelligence systems that will adjust device settings to determine optimum water volume to be sprayed on crops, and will also adjust temperatures through mechanical roofing to ensure optimal levels of soil fertility. This framework relies on integrating information technology with every aspect of the farming process. Biotechnology is another attractive technological agricultural advancement. Genetically Modified Organism (GMO) crops are engineered to suit local farmers.

Karnataka woos traders from other States to its online agri platformedit

The Hindu Business Line

In addition, bulk buyers such as ADM, Cargill, ITC, Reliance, Metro Cash & Carry, Godrej Agro, Pepsico India, Max Hypermarket and Trinetra Super Retail have been participating in these markets. “We want more traders from the other States to purchase the commodities traded at APMCs here,” Rajan said. States such as Bihar, Rajasthan, West Bengal, Delhi and Chennai are the major destinations for the ball copra or edible copra produced in Karnataka.

Maharashtra’s farm distress, on loopedit

The Financial Express

History Repeats Itself, and does so when it is least expected. In 1979, Maharashtra saw its first farmer movement, led by Sharad Ioshi in an area near Pune for a single crop, onion, that then expanded to cotton, sugar and tobacco. The recent strike, that subsided after the announcement of the state’s loan waiver, emanated precisely from the same belt of comparatively prosperous western Maharashtra with richer, accessing better irrigation, more market-clued and progressive farmers.

Dry spell takes toll on 20% cultivated land across Maharashtra; farmers forced to resowedit

Hindustan Times

Besides resowing, the dry spell has delayed sowing of crops that are cultivated after the monsoon sets in. Chief minister Devendra Fadnavis had appealed to the farmers to delay the sowing until the agriculture department issues its next advisory. “The break in the monsoon has made conditions unfavourable for sowing,” he said. The government has announced it will provide seeds to farmers in areas affected under the dry spell. It has asked agriculture officials to visit areas where resowing is being undertaken and conduct panchnamas so that farmers are provided seeds and compensation.

Farmers urged to insure crops under Fasal Bima Yojanaedit

Deccan Herald

In case of crop loss due to natural disasters, such as drought, farmers should enrol for Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojna (PMFBY) instead of depending on the input subsidy, said Deputy Commissioner D Randeep. Addressing a media conference, after holding a meeting with Agriculture and Horticulture department officials, at his office, here, on Monday, he said, the input subsidy is meagre when compared to the expenses incurred by the farmers to cultivate the crops, so the only solution to recover the costs, in case of crop loss, is to get insurance claims.

Get it right on fertilisersedit

The Financial Express

With The Prime minister’s office (PMO) quite firm that sales of subsidised fertiliser have to be linked to Aadhaar numbers of farmers, chances are the fertiliser ministry will have to stick to the target even though it wants the January 1, 2018, deadline extended. Under the scheme, fertiliser companies will have to authenticate the Aadhaar ID of farmers as part of the Aadhaar-enabled Fertiliser Distribution System (AeFDS) and, once this is done, they will get paid the subsidy based on the amounts sold.

Mysuru farmers encouraged to opt for crop insuranceedit

The Hindu

Contingency plan, with a list of alternative crops for sowing, kept ready in case rains fail this month Even as the monsoon has been playing truant across the district with deficient rain recorded in June, the district administration and the Agriculture Department are hoping to bring more farmers under crop insurance coverage to protect them against crop loss on account of natural calamities.

NITI Aayog Calls for Competitive Cooperative Federalism in Statesedit

The Economic Times

Reiterating the goal of his government to double farm income, PM Modi shad stressed on eliminating wastage in farm produce and emphasised that states focus on food processing. “The Prime Minister called for states to focus on agriculture reforms and eNAM in particular,” the NITI statement said. Earlier in the day Panagariya made a strong case for shifting workers from agriculture to industry. “If we set the output per worker in agriculture equal to 1, then output per worker in industry is 5 and that in services 3.8.

Reforms still ignore farmers’ plight in countryedit

Free Press Journal

There is however one area where economic reforms have failed to deliver, perhaps more by intent and not by oversight. That is the area of agriculture. The spirit of deregulation, delicensing, less government control, more free markets, has been absent, or pursued with very little enthusiasm when it comes to farm issues. Agriculture remains a protected and subsidised sector among most members of the World Trade Organisation.

Dry spell takes toll on 20% cultivated land across Maharashtra; farmers forced to resoedit

Hindustan Times

Besides resowing, the dry spell has delayed sowing of crops that are cultivated after the monsoon sets in. Chief minister Devendra Fadnavis had appealed to the farmers to delay the sowing until the agriculture department issues its next advisory. “The break in the monsoon has made conditions unfavourable for sowing,” he said. The government has announced it will provide seeds to farmers in areas affected under the dry spell. It has asked agriculture officials to visit areas where resowing is being undertaken and conduct panchnamas so that farmers are provided seeds and compensation.

Despite the Myth, Sustainable Farming Methods Can Lead to High-Yield Agricultureedit

The Wire

The recent unrest of farmers has prompted a lot of rethinking about alternative farming policies and strategies. However the search for genuine alternatives is still hindered and distorted by the longest prevailing myth in the context of agriculture – that ecologically-destructive methods may be detestable but still are necessary to increase farm production. It is by deliberately foisting this myth that agriculture was made heavily dependent on chemical fertilisers and pesticides in the first place.

CPI demands complete loan waiver for farmersedit

The Times of India

The Communist Party of India (CPI) has demanded a complete loan waiver for farmers in all states. The party has decided to launch a court arrest campaign in this regard from July 24 to 26. It has demanded complete loan waiver, implementation of the Swaminathan committee recommendations, starting of social security schemes like pension for aged farmers, farm labourers and implementation of the land ceiling Act.

Niti Aayog for moving workforce from agriculture to industryedit

Dainik Yashobhumi

Niti Aayog vice chairman Arvind Panagariya today made a strong case for shifting workers from agriculture to industry and encourage small enterprises to grow big with a view to accelerate economic growth.

Direct benefit transfer for fertilizers may begin in Augustedit

Live mint

Point of sale (PoS) machines which will capture details of the farmer, the retailer and the transaction have been deployed in most of the states, the official said, asking not to be identified. States like Gujarat, Rajasthan, Delhi and Goa have nearly completed the exercise.

eNAM remains nonstarter as just 4 pct of wholesale trade in farm commodities shifts to it; Haryana tops in salesedit

The Financial Express

Since the electronic national agriculture market (eNAM) project was launched in April last year, hardly 4% of the wholesale trade in farm commodities has shifted to it; as far as inter-mandi/inter-state eNAM trade is concerned, it has remained a non-starter, meaning the objective of empowering farmers with a wider buyer base hasn’t been met.

Fake seeds continue to trouble farmersedit

The Hans India

According to him, several farmers like him have invested Rs 50,000 to Rs one lakh on chilli cultivation. But they all landed in heavy losses following the failure of the crop showing the plants with stunted growth. ‘We have taken the issue to the notice of the officials several times during the past two months but there is no response,’ chilli farmers Mara Ramana and Velthoju Ramesh told The Hans India.

Organic farming picks up pace in districtedit

The Hindu

The Vegetable and Fruit Promotion Council Keralam’s (VFPCK) efforts to promote organic farming under the Participatory Guarantee System India (PGS), a decentralised organic farming certification system of the Union Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, has gathered momentum in the district with ten farmers’ local groups registered in just over a year. Each group has only five to seven members since the focus is not on forming larger groups. Farmers engaged in organic farming are considered for membership.

Why ‘one nation, one MSP’ is not workingedit

The Hindu Business Line

This is because the cost of production of various crops differs from State to State and from farmer to farmer. But CACP averages the costs of all the States to fix the MSP for a crop. So, farmers in States with a higher cost of production are unable to get a healthy spread over the guaranteed price.

‘Centre should extend Rs 40,000 crore package to state’edit

The Indian Express

The Centre should provide a financial package of Rs 40,000 crore to the state government to cope with the loan waiver and meet other agriculture commitments, Maharashtra Farm Commission chairman Kishore Tiwari said on Saturday.

BJP Imposed Highest Tax In The Name Of GST: Surjewalaedit

Hindustan Times

Terming the new tax regime as anti-farmer, he said farmers of the country are already reeling under the lack of appropriate MSP and a cycle of indebtedness and GST seeks to further tax the farmer and agriculture sector as taxes will be imposed on fertilisers and pesticides.

India, Israel agree to boost trade to $20 billion in next 5 yearsedit

Samaj

India and Israel agreed to boost trade from the current $5 billion a year to $20 billion annually in the next five years, an official said .The India-Israel CEO Forum also set up six committees covering start-ups, pharmaceuticals and life sciences, homeland security, agriculture, energy and water sectors.

Arunachal govt favours RS technology for better crop yieldedit

Business Standard

He requested Agriculture Minister Wangki Lowang to conduct another round of meeting with the officers of RSI and NABARD and get the required data from RSI by letting them conduct land mapping for the state.

TNAU’s insect trap gets patentedit

The Covai Post

The Tamil Nadu Agricultural University (TNAU) has got the nation’s patent for its device to monitor insects in bag stacks in warehouse without bait. The ‘stack probe trap’ was invented by Dr S Mohan, professor of agricultural entomology in the varsity. The trap is made of plastic and has a main hollow tube having a 1.8-2 cm diameter with equip-spaced perforation on its upper portion and a bend at one end which ends in a transparent collection unit to collect the insects. “I have 35 years of experience in this field. It is happy that my device got Indian patent and can commercialise the product at a low cost for the benefit of ...

‘Organic farming reduces input cost, generates safe & healthy food’edit

The Times of India

Even as organic farming is gaining ground, it is not without challenges. It not only needs patience and perseverance by the farmers, but also a lot of support from the consumers as well as the government to continue the trend. Rashmi Mategaonkar Marpakwar, a lecturer from SB City college and research scholar at Nagpur University, conducted a research titled ‘A study of the economic aspects of increasing production level by organic farming in Nagpur district’ for her doctorate thesis under the guidance of T Kalyani, former vice-principal and head of commerce department of LAD & SRP College for Women.

Decoding farm insurance and the players benefiting from the planedit

The Economic Times

Insurance companies offering Insurance companies offering crop insurance did not respond to TOI queries except one ­ Bajaj-Allianz ­ which claimed that they actually did not earn a profit because their payout for the weather based insurance scheme was much more. “Instead of transferring thousands of crores to insurance companies directly as profit why can’t the govt. use that money to compensate the farmers?

Farmers weed out middlemenedit

Nyooz The Times of India

But in the tribal hamlets of Chhota Udepur, farmers have made unprecedented gains. “Vadodara-based Spyron Masala Mills is the biggest buyer of charoli from Bordha with annual contract of 200 kg. Tomatoes and potatoes have been dumped on roads as agitations erupt for minimum support prices or loan waivers. But Ramesh Rathwa, a 48-year-old farmer in the remote Manka village of Chhota Udepur, never got cash for charoli, the crunchy almond-flavoured dry fruit that he collected from the forest near his hut. Realizing the exploitation, the forest department took it upon itself to help them earn profit through an ‘alternative livelihood through resource generation programme.

Need potato production increasededit

Dainaik Jagarana

The Federation of Cold Storage Associations of India (FCAOI) is an all India association with members in most of the states in the country. There is a huge need for cold storage facilities in India leading to the formation of state level associations who look after their concerns.

Need to encourage start-ups for double-digit growth: NITI Aayog CEOedit

The New Indian Express

Kant said India needs thousands of incubation centres and not just in the field of technology but also for manufacturing, agriculture and other sectors. “We need incubators which are able to ensure that our farmers are able to get seeds and fertilizers depending on soil and weather conditions. So we need major technological breakthroughs in social innovation, in agriculture and in manufacturing.

NFL signs MoU with Dept of Fertilizersedit

The Times of India

National Fertilizers Limited signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Department of Fertilizers, Government of India, for the fiscal year 2017-18. Under the MoU, the company has targeted production of 38 lakh MT of Urea and sales turnover of Rs 7500 crore. The MoU was signed between Bharathi Sivaswami Sihag, secretary (Fertilizers) and Manoj Mishra, CMD, NFL. Senior officials of the department of Fertilizers and NFL directors were also present on the occasion.

A hardy millet yields its genetic codeedit

India News Web The Hindu

Karnataka Agriculture Minister Krishna Byre Gowda said the scientific advance would help dry land farmers cope with recurrent droughts. Consumers would get a nutrient-rich food through research involving a non-transgenic process. “In fact the actual process of taking technology to dry-land farmers would now begin as the genome sequencing marks the beginning of focused research towards developing improved crop varieties,” he observed.

30% of normal area sownedit

The Times of India

According to data released by the state government, sowing has been completed on 30% of the 85.76 lakh hectares normally sown. Interestingly, this time round a higher proportion of the sowing completed has been for groundnut rather than cotton. Groundnut has been sown on 7.46 lakh hectares, about 54% of the 13.88 lakh hectares normally sown with the crop.

Agitation for discount fertilizer and seed and rise the MSP of paddy and free agriculture loanedit

Anupam Bharat

Angul, during the monsoon season the farmer needs the seed and fertilizer. The agriculture dept had not properly executive the plans to help the farmers. Govt shop must provide the subsides seed and fertilizer to farmers to accelerate the cultivation works. The govt must free the agriculture loan to farmers. The farmers demand the paddy MSP must increase for the current season.

Govt. targets 25% growth in agriculture, allied sectorsedit

The Hindu

Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu has set a target of achieving 25% growth in agriculture and allied sectors this year. Addressing a teleconference with officials from agriculture and allied sectors here on Friday, Mr. Naidu said that the government’s objective was to make agriculture profitable with latest technologies.

HDFC ERGO to implement crop insurance scheme in Andhra Pradeshedit

The Hindu Business Line

HDFC ERGO General Insurance Company has been authorised by the Andhra Pradesh government to implement the Weather Based Crop Insurance Scheme (WBCIS) for farmers. Those cultivating groundnut, sweet lime, tomato, chillies, cotton, and oil palm crops in Anantapur, Chittoor, East Godavari, Guntur, Kadapa, Kurnool, Prakasam and West Godavari districts will be covered under the scheme.

Jain Farms to take ultra-high-density mango planting to TN, Karnatakaedit

The Hindu

“Project Unnati is a sustainable agriculture initiative, introduced initially in Andhra Pradesh in 2011. Over 22,000 farmers have been successfully trained in AP in the pilot phase of this project. We are now extending it to the farmers in Tamil Nadu and Karnataka. This programme is in association with FMCG major Hindustan Coca-Cola Beverages,” Deshpande said.

JNAU Unit to reshape as agri entrepreneurs incubation centreedit

The Hitavada

Transforming agriculture entrepreneurship into a vibrant stream, Jawaharlal Nehru Agriculture University (JNAU) to reshape its Business Development and Planning Unit as Agri-Entrepreneurs as per mandate of READY programme incepted by 5th Deans Committee of Indian Council of Agriculture Research (ICAR).

VSoft Technologies announced ‘ROOTS’ software that powers the Rupay Enabled Kisan Credit Cardedit

Odisha Bhasakar Sanchar Samaj Nitidina

To ensure a far more efficient agricultural loan infrastructure for Indian Farmers, V Soft Technologies, a global provider of information and technology solutions for financial institutions, has today announced their breakthrough ‘ROOTS’ software that runs Rupay Enabled Kisan Credit Card (KCC).Currently, Farmers who are members of Primary Agricultural Credit Societies (PACS)don’t have access to real-time money because they are not connected to the National Financial Switch (NFS) and the payments& settlements system.

Farmer’s Notebook: How Group Organic Farming Empowered Tribal Farmers in Tamil Naduedit

The Wire

“We took a chance and tried something different,” said Rajan, a farmer from a small tribal village called Sadivayal in Tamil Nadu. “The result was selling a new crop for double the price of anything we had grown before. Not only that, but the seeds we planted gave us a double yield.”

Nanotechnology can make biopesticides more effectiveedit

Down To Earth

Researchers at the University of Agricultural Sciences at Raichur in Karnataka have developed a new technique to do so. They have converted secretion of a bacterium, Photorhabdus luminescens, into nanoparticles and found that its efficacy improved significantly. The bacterium is used as a biocontrol agent against a wide range of crop pests like mite, aphid, and mealy bug.

Basmati exports ban will affect livelihood of farmers: KRBLedit

Money Control

Ban will come in effect from January 1, 2018. The industry has already started conducting workshops to educate farmers about EU decision and to impart knowledge of good agriculture practices to minimise these residues. Industry is also requesting the government to be given one year period. The chemical used is the most useful chemical for this plant and is being used for so many years, he further mentioned.

Maharashtra govt to use CM relief fund to finance schemeedit

Dainik Yashobhumi

In a bid to tide over the paucity of funds, the Maharashtra government, which recently announced a Rs 34,022 crore farm loan waiver, has decided to draw money from the Chief Minister’s Relief Fund to finance the debt write-off.

Agriculture sector made slow progress under SP rule: UPedit

India Today

Uttar Pradesh minister Surya Pratap today said the agriculture sector made slow progress under the previous Samajwadi Party government. He said the previous government did not complete the testing of 18 lakh soil samples for possible cultivation. The Yogi Adityanath dispensation inherited the backlog, he said.

GST on fertilizers add to farmers’ woesedit

The Hindu Nyoooz

The Agriculture Department has instructed all retailers to display the revised rates prominently in shops and adhere to the same, failing which severe action will be initiated. A representative of a prominent company said the fertilizers were exempt from any tax in Tamil Nadu till the introduction of GST though some states have been taxing them at 4% or above. The uniform tax rate will help prevent diversion or transport of fertiliser from one state to other.

Insurance Companies Collected Huge Premiums From Farmers but Failed to Pay Claimsedit

The Wire

According to this analysis, insurance companies under PMFBY and RWBCIS have so far honoured just 17% of the total claims raised during the 2016 Kharif season. There were insurance claims of Rs 4,270.55 crore under the two schemes, according to the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare as has been quoted in the new report. Out of the total claims, only Rs 714.14 crore was paid to farmers by March 2017.

Loan waivers help less than 10% of farmers in distress, says NITI Aayog memberedit

Hindustan Times

Even as states like Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Punjab and Karnataka announced farm loan waivers amounting to thousands of crores, only less than a tenth of those in distress will benefit from such packages, a key agriculture expert at the government’s policy think tank, NITI Aayog, has said. Pitching for “targeted relief rather than blanket loan waivers”, Prof Ramesh Chand, member at the Aayog, told HT, “Some deserving people get excluded while non-deserving ones get the benefit.”

Manipur govt to distribute rice seedlings to farmersedit

Nagaland Post

The chief minister further announced that 12,000 metric tons of rice available with the state consumer affairs, food and public distribution (CAF&PD) department will be distributed to the people at Rs 22.53 per kilo. Addressing a news conference at his office chamber, Singh said that the state government has taken up various relief measures and immediate steps have been taken to tackle the present flood situation of the state. The flood has so far affected 40,000 hectares of agricultural land, according to a report of the state agriculture department.

New transplanting system for tur cultivationedit

The Hindu

The Agriculture Ministry has decided to extensively promote the new transplanting system for cultivating tur in the State. The new method is believed to have better result and help save time and money. Speaking to media persons at a farm in Atharga village of Indi taluk on Thursday, Agriculture Minister Krishna Byre Gowda said that after successful trials, the department has decided to introduce the system in around 500 hectares of land in the State, mainly in North Karnataka region where tur is extensively cultivated.

Niti Ayog to discuss agriculture distress in next meetedit

The Times of India

Pushing agriculture reform to address agrarian distress across the country is on the agenda of a high-level meeting of top bureaucrats from states and UTs been called by Niti Aayog on Monday. The meet is crucial as the states have shown resistance to implement agriculture reforms critical for preventing spread of farmer unrest in several parts of country.

Only 5.34 crore farmers benefited from welfare schemes: Govt tells Supreme Courtedit

Hindustan Times

Several states including, Punjab and Uttar Pradesh, have waived of farmers’ loans in the wake of agitations by peasants who are saddled with mounting debts over the years. Last month, six people were killed when police opened fire at farmers in Madhya Pradesh, sparking a violent backlash by protesters. The farmers were demanding loan waiver and better prices for their produce.

PADB worried over recovery of long-term loans from farmers following waiver announcementedit

The Times of India

Confusion and uncertainty among farmers over loan waiver has made the Punjab State Cooperative Agricultural Development Bank (PADB) jittery. The bank, which mainly advances long-term loans for farm-related activities, is worried about farmers’ refusal to repay the amount. This has led to the bank experiencing one of its lowest-ever recovery of loans at only 10% till June 30.

Organic certification may help boost profits for mango farmersedit

The Times of India

Major post-harvest losses of the mango value chain from farmer to local market -due to improper handling, transportation, grading, packaging and storage has finally caught the attention of the government, just as the season draws to a close. To stem these losses, the government is now looking to introduce a system of organic certification to increase scientific harvesting and storage of the fruit

Bayer launches insecticide, plans two more productsedit

The Hindu

Agrochemicals firm Bayer CropScience on Thursday launched Sivanto, an insecticide to primarily address Sucking pest in the crops. South Business Unit Head Mohan Rao said the product is a plant extract and thus eco-friendly and safe for honeybees. The insecticide is for use in vegetable crops, especially okra. The company, he added, is also conducting trials for its application on cotton crop.

GM Mustard not harmful, says expertedit

The Hindu Business Line News Boss

Recently, India’s Genetic Engineering Appraisal Committee (GEAC) recommended (to the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change) commercialisation of GM mustard—the first genetically modified food crop to be approved in India.

PAU to hold training course for young farmersedit

Hindustan Times

The directorate of extension education, Punjab Agricultural University (PAU), has invited applications from the young farmers of Punjab for the three-month training course on “Integrated Crop Production ,”to be held from August 1 to October 31. Young and matriculate farmers within the age limit of 20 to 40 years are eligible for the course.

Soil health cards to be given to 12 cr farmers not 14 cr: Govtedit

India Today

“There are some states like Bihar and Uttar Pradesh which are lagging behind, but they too will pick up in the coming months,” Singh noted. For instance in Uttar Pradesh, soil health cards been issued to one crore farmers so far against the target of 2.3 crore farmers, a state government official who attended the meeting said. The process has been fastened under the new administration in the state and hope to achieve the target soon, the official added. As per the central governments plan, soil of farm fields of 12 crore farmers will be tested once in two years on 12 parameters including the status of micro-nutrients.

Scope of loan waiver expanded, 3-4L more farmers may benefitedit

Hindustan Times

Following criticism by farmers’ outfits and the Opposition over eligibility criteria for the recently-announced loan waiver, the Bharatiya Janata Party-led government on Wednesday extended the scope of the package. Now, the cut-off date to waive loans has been fixed to April 2009. Earlier, the government announced that farmers who took loans between April 2012 and June 30, 2016 could avail of the loan waiver.

Rice exporters seek PM’s help to protect Basmati exports to EUedit

The Hindu Business Line

Rice exporters have sought Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s intervention in convincing the European Union to postpone by two years its decision of bringing down the tolerance level for fungicide tricyclazole, used by Basmati farmers, to ‘near-zero’ levels.

Paddy growers in a quandaryedit

The Hindu

Seeds supplied by PACSs ‘fail’ to sprout Paddy growers in several villages of Bonakal mandal have suffered a setback at the threshold of Kharif sowing after the paddy seeds of a particular variety supplied to them by the Primary Agricultural Cooperative Societies (PACSs) allegedly failed to sprout during the pre-germination process.

No minuses for area sown under pulsesedit

The Financial Express

Contrary To Expectations that the cropping area under pulses might shrink this year following a sharp fall in prices, the area sown at 18.8 lakh hectares (till June 30) is surprisingly 44% higher than the 13.04 lakh hectares in 2016-17. The acreage under cotton too has risen sharply to 46.10 lakh hectares, from 19.07 lakh hectares last year. However, these are early days since the sowing season has just got off to a start.

KVK empowers farmers with field-level trainingedit

The Times of India

Agriculture experts P Ratha Krishnan, P S Manoj and K K. Aiswarya handled sessions at the programme. Agriculture Officers P Renu, Krishi Bhavan, Thurayur and K K Abdul Basher, Krishi Bhavan, Keezhariyur were also present. The project was funded by ATMA (Agriculture Technology Management Agency) and farmers were selected from Payyoli, Thikkodi, Thurayur, Mappayur and Keezhariyur Panchayats.

India, Israel sign pact to set up $40-m R&D fundedit

The Hindu Business Line

India and Israel today signed seven agreements to increase cooperation in key sectors like space, agriculture and water conservation after Prime Minister Narendra Modi held indepth talks with his Israeli counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu. A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed for setting up of $40 million worth India-Israel Industrial Research and Development (R&D) and Technical Innovation Fund.

India, Israel agree on strategic partnership in water, agricultureedit

Sify

This will focus on water conservation, waste-water treatment and its reuse for agriculture, desalination, water utility reforms, and the cleaning of the Ganga and other rivers using advanced water technologies,” it stated. According to the statement, the partnership will also include the reinforcement and expansion of the existing centres of excellence in agriculture set up by Israel in India under the stewardship of the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ Agency for International Development Cooperation (Mashav) and the Indian Ministry of Agriculture to promote commercially viable business models involving farmer producer organizations (FPOs); the provision of quality planting material; and the transfer of post-harvest technical know-how and market linkages involving the private sector through PPP, B2B & other models”.

India asks FAO to remove hurdles in accessing climate fundsedit

Press Trust of India

India today asserted that climate finance is necessary for sustainable agriculture and the UN body -Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) -should remove capacity constraints in accessing and effective use of the fund in developing countries. Since climate change impact on agri sector is a ‘certain’, there is a need to diversify crops from rice, wheat and maize to millets, which is a climate smart nutri-cereal, Junior Agriculture Minister Parshottam Rupala said at the 40th session of FAO conference in Rome, Italy.

Gujarat Farmers Reap Sweet Fruits of Indo-Israel Partnershipedit

Oh My India

The scientists had chosen dwarf mango varieties from Israel for this experiment. Dwarf plants require less space and bear fruits early during the flowering season. Earlier, farmers planted the Kesar plants at a distance of 10 mt from one another. After grafting them with the Israeli variety, the new dwarf hybrids required less space (around 5 mt) on fields. Thus, farmers can grow more trees in limited space.

CM Devendra Fadnavis’ loan waiver list finds 813 farmers in Mumbaiedit

The Indian Express

Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis took to twitter on Monday late night to announce the list of farmers whose loans would be written off on account of his government’s Rs. 34,022 crore farm debt waiver. But the list share by him ended up attacting attention for all the wrong reasons. The Chief Minister’s list contended that the Mumbai metropolis would have 813 farmer beneficiaries. This included 694 farmers in the island city of Mumbai and another 119 in suburban Mumbai.

Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu allays farmers’ drought fearsedit

The Hans India

Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu assured the farmers of all help even if monsoon plays truant. Addressing a mammoth public meeting at Muktapuram village in Kanaganapalle mandal in Raptadu Assembly constituency represented by Paritala Sunitha here on Wednesday, the chief minister said that despite rains eluding Krishna delta, water was released to Krishna delta by the end of June.

Blame garlic boom for farming crisisedit

The Times of India

Shaitan Singh, father of Gopal Singh, said that the deceased had taken a loan and dug a tube well and incurred debts because of it. Former jilla pramukh of Jaisalmer Abdullah Fakir said that many farmers were committing suicide in the state. Singh was the first such case in Jaisalmer. He asked the government to provide compensation and a job to a family member.

Agri pact with an eye on doubling farmer incomeedit

Hindustan Times

The strategic partnership in water and agriculture with Israel is aimed at the Indian government’s goal of doubling farmer incomes by 2022, said foreign secretary Subrahmanyam Jaishankar on Wednesday. We have announced strategic partnership in water and agriculture and we really think that it has major potential. The key point here that there is a declared goal by the government of doubling farmer incomes by 2022 and that’s only possible through technological advancement” Jaishankar said.

Agri department to issue 68,000 Soil Health Cards to farmers in Jalandharedit

The Times of India

For bringing the scientific expertise pertaining to the soil health for better agricultural crop yield, the agriculture department will issue as many as 68,000 Soil Health Cards (SHCs) to the farmers in Jalandhar district.

J&K: Govt. organises ‘kisan mela’ to boost agricultureedit

Business Standard

The Jammu and Kashmir government (J&K) organised mega machinery ‘cum seed festival’ to benefit the farmers, and boost the overall agricultural sector of valley in Srinagar on Tuesday. The event was organized by authorities of Sheri Kashmir University of agriculture science and technology (SKUAST) in the university’s campus.

A novel cropping pattern that can multiply mango yield 3-foldedit

The Times of India

Several farmers in the Dharmapuri-Krishnagiri belt, which is famous for its varieties of mangoes, have started chopping their mango trees. Lack of rainfall and innovative technologies were their major concerns. Some said the trees were very old they were planted nearly 30 years ago. Another farmer Malaisami from Palamedu in Madurai is also facing a similar situation. “I have a 3-acre farm with mango trees. But I have decided to chop them,” he said.

President Pranab Passes Two State Laws as Parting Shotedit

The Economic Times

The laws include the Minimum Wages Amendment bill that would benefit several lakhs of people in about 60 labour occupations by raising the minimum wages for them. The other pending laws are an amendment to the Land Reforms Act that will give rights to tribals and dalits rights to the land they have illegally built houses on, another amendment strengthening the Goonda Act, the Good Samaritan and Medical Professional (protection and regulation during emergency situations) bill which protects people who assist others in accidents and other emergencies and an act for fixing prices and compensation for genetically modified cotton seeds.

NSL research focuses on short-duration crops to beat monsoon vagariesedit

India

While the company has been the largest Bt Cotton seed company in India — the only GM crop cultivated in the country, its focus is on addressing the key challenges plaguing Indian agriculture like drought, pests and diseases, nutrient-use efficiency, low productivity and the like, through a combination of conventional plant breeding and modern biotechnologies using non-GM or transgenic strategies.

 

Crop insurance boon for farmersedit

The Hans India

The Telangana government has decided to extend the scheme to crops like cotton, chili, oil palm and lemon in the state, the Collector added. He advised the farmers to pay premium within time. Last date for paddy crop premium payment is August 31, and for commercial crops it is July 31.

Food deficit J&K making progress in farm output level: Agri Minedit

Business Standard

Highlighting the farm initiatives taken in the last three years by the Modi government, the minister said the government has launched new schemes including distribution of soil health card, expansion in irrigation facilities, low-cost organic farming, national e-market among others.

Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah writes 2nd letter to PM Narendra Modi for farm loan waiveredit

The Economic Times

Siddaramaiah, however, has admitted to this and has put the onus on the Centre to resolve the problem. In his letter to the PM, he said: “We have waived off crop loans which amount to 76% of the outstanding short-term loans of cooperative societies. However, the above relief would not bring succor to all the farmers in Karnataka as those who have availed the crop loans from commercial banks, private banks and rural banks are not covered.

Maharashtra farmers’ affidavits for loan waivers won’t be verified, says revenue minister Chandrakant Patiledit

India Today

Maharashtra revenue minister Chandrakant Patil on Tuesday made it clear that the state government won’t verify the affidavits to be submitted by farmers to be eligible for loan waivers. He said non-eligible farmers would be identified at later stage. After the Maharashtra government announced the “historic” loan waiver of Rs 34,000 crore to the state’s farmers, it has asked them to approach the banks where they have loan accounts. The farmers will need to submit a self-attested affidavit declaring that they’re eligible for a loan waiver.

Punjab loan waiver: Govt will bear liability of over 7,000 farmers’ from state, says chief minister Amarinder Singhedit

First Post

Amarinder Singh stressed that his government was committed to bailing out the beleaguered farming community in the state from the burden of loans. He said that the total outstanding loan of farmers with banks was over Rs 59,620 crore in over 20 lakh loan accounts.

Post GST, fertiliser retail prices may be lower: ICRAedit

The Economic Times The Hindu Business Line

In a release, ICRA said the move would reduce the cost of a 50 kg bag of urea by Rs 3 and lead to a similar drop in prices of other fertilisers. In the earlier tax regime, fertiliser sales were taxed from 1 per cent to 6 per cent.

Scheme sans substanceedit

Frontline

“If Uttar Pradesh can do it, why not our government”, was the refrain that came up, almost immediately, from farming communities in other parts of the country. The refrain gathered momentum in the next one month and culminated in intense agitations in Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra and relatively lesser shows of resentment by farmers in Rajasthan, Haryana and Punjab. Following this, the BJP governments in Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra announced waivers.

Onion, tomato, carrot are costly trio as prices spiraledit

Nyoooz

There seems to be no respite to the common man as vegetable prices in the district continue to remain largely high, with tomato, onion and carrot being especially costly. This ensured that farmers got a price, which was even better than the market price, a senior VFPCK official said. “On an average, vegetable prices continue to be 20 per higher than what it was a month ago, though prices of some vegetables have dropped slightly,” said K.K. A scene from the Ernakulam market on Tuesday. Vegetable prices in the district remain on the higher side .

Vegetable prices are increasing due to rainedit

Hindi Business Standard

Rain has spoiled the kitchen budget. With the loss of vegetables due to rain, their prices are increasing rapidly across the country. A few months ago, the prices of tomato which were to be drowning on the road after the farmers did not get the price.

Cotton planting almost double this seasonedit

The Financial Express

Cotton planting in the country has doubled in terms of area compared to the same period last year. Good monsoon and high prices for cotton have prompted more and more farmers to opt for cotton over pulses and soya, top officials of the Central Institute of Cotton Research (CICR), Nagpur, said.

Farmers whipped on cottonedit

Hindi Business Standard

There is a lot of cotton sowing in the country. In the first month of Kharif season, the highest cotton sowing has been done in June. As on June 30, cotton has been sown in 46.10 lakh hectare which is about 142% more than last year.

Bt cotton falling to pest, Maha tensededit

The Times of India WN

A research report by Dr K R Kranthi, former director of Central Institute of Cotton Research (CICR), shows that pink bollworm has developed resistance to Bollgard-II Bt cotton not only in Maharashtra but other cotton-growing states as well. Bollgard-II is the Bt hybrid variety that was introduced in 2010. “There are only two benefits of Bt cotton. One, it controls bollworm, due to which the yield is protected.

How Experimental Economics Could Help Solve The Farmers’ Crisisedit

Huffington Post

The violent nature of the Mandsaur agitation has brought the agrarian crisis back to the forefront of the political discourse in India, and much of the discussion is focused on alleviating the farmers’ immediate suffering. Crushing debt is forcing farmers to commit suicide every other day, compelling state governments to offer farmers debt waivers in a bid to prevent the situation from escalating into a political disaster. But while short-term measures ease the pain, policymakers need to focus on long-term measures that work.

Nalgonda Ivy gourd farmers seek fair dealedit

The Hindu The Hans India

Earlier, farmers dumped similar quantities of ivy gourd and blocked roads near Angadipeta on Saturday. “We are forced to sell a 50 kg bag for Rs 100 or Rs 200.” They demand a minimum support price of Rs 1,200 for 100 kg tindora, want pending subsidies to be released into accounts, and setting up of a cold storage facility in the mandal.

Sugar trade awaits clarity on GST; cotton industry welcomes moveedit

ET Markets

The GST on cotton is 5 per cent, the lowest slab. “2017-18 will be a good year for the cotton textile industry with a sound tax ecosysytem and real-time governance coupled with avail ability of surplus cotton,” said Senthil Kumar, chairman of the Southern India Mills Association (SIMA).

Fertiliser companies get to print MRP with new GST on unsold stockedit

The Indian Express Live mint

Last week, the Goods and Services Tax (GST) on fertilisers was reduced to 5 per cent from 12 per cent in the interest of farmers. The lower GST will bring down retail prices. “The consumer affairs ministry has given exemption to fertiliser companies to print or stamp the MRP on unsold stock by incorporating the new GST rate,” a senior fertiliser ministry official told PTI. The companies have been asked to declare revised MRP by way of stamping or putting sticker or online printing, as the case may be, after complying with some conditions, he said.

Over 3 lakh farmers in Belagavi district welcome loan waiveredit

The Times of India

The state government has issued circular seeking details of all farmers, who have obtained loans, along with relevant information about the loan. “The circular has been sent to all 186 branches of BDCC bank, and the 903 PKPSs,” Alagundi told TOI. Latest Comment Instead of waving farmers loan using public money why dont this competent government using the public money to have some solution for drought which will help farmers from defaulting loan amount?

SC Stays HC Order on TN Agriculture Loan Waiveredit

The Economic Times Live mint Outlook The Times of India

The SC on Monday stayed for now a Madras HC order directing the Tamil Nadu government to extend its loan waiver scheme to all farmers, a benefit the state had restricted to farmers with small land holdings. A bench, headed by Justice Madan B Lokur, also issued notices on the state’s appeal against the HC’s April 4 order. The HC had asked the state government to extend the scheme to the affected farmers within 3 months.

Small, marginal farmers take advantage of crop insuranceedit

The Hindu

Small and marginal farmers in the district who mainly grow coconut and banana have responded positively to the Agriculture Department’s revamped crop insurance promotion campaign , which was launched on Saturday. As many as 2,321 farmers under the small and marginal category submitted applications through various Krishi Bhavans on day one itself and got their doubts clarified.

Waive all farm loans, govt. urgededit

The Hindu

Addressing a gathering on the occasion, Ravikiran Punacha, president, Dakshina Kannada unit of the KRRS, said that the State government has now waived farm loans up to Rs 50,000 taken from cooperative banks. But that was not enough. The entire farm loan availed of by farmers from all banks should be waived.

India produces 286 MTs of horticulture products, using 15 pc of total agri landedit

Web India 123

Describing horticulture as one of the most viable income generating sectors for the farmers in India, Union Minister for Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Radha Mohan Singh today said India produces 286 Million Tonnes (Mts) of horticulture products by using only 15 per cent of the total agriculture land. He said the Union Government was paying focused attention to further promote it and exploring possibilities to extend the activities in potential areas.

Tomato at Rs 70, peas at Rs 120/kg as vegetable prices soaredit

The Economic Times The Times of India

Retail prices of tomato have more than doubled from Rs 30 per kg to Rs 65-70 per kg while that of peas have risen sharply from nearly Rs 70-80 per kg to Rs 110-120 per kg, traders said today. Traders said tomato prices have soared due to short supply. The supply of tomato has reduced drastically from states like Himachal Pradesh, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh and Haryana after monsoon rains. Retail prices of other vegetables including beans, round gourd, cucumbers have also increased.

Farm mechanisation picking up despite challenges: Govtedit

Business Standard

As per the government data, the centre has allocated Rs 3,088 crore to state governments for farm mechanisation under various schemes in the last more than three years. The fund allocation for the Sub-Mission on Agricultural Mechanisation (SMAM) has been increase substantially in the current year.

TNAU-stack probe trap for grain storage godowns gets patentedit

Covai Post

The TNAU stack probe trap is made of PVC, comprising a main hollow tube having a diameter in the range of 1.8 to 2.0 cm with equi-spaced perforation in the range of 1.8 to 2 mm on its upper portion with a bend at one end which ends in a transparent collection unit to collect the insects falling down from the bend, the other end of main tube being closed, it said.

Tindas on your terrace are good business for startupsedit

The Times of India

Arijit Mitra, 39, CEO and founder of Bengaluru-based Greentech Life, explains how current farming practices are rendering vegetables tasteless and low in nutrition. “Commercial farmers use NPK — nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium — fertliser to grow everything. NPK just makes vegetables bigger, blander and poorer in nutrition. This, and rampant use of pesticides, is contributing to the spread of lifestyle diseases. People are slowly realising this and hence want to grow their own food,” says Mitra.

India needs to focus on higher order skillsedit

The Financial Express

New technologies, ever-changing skills requirements and outdated curricula are challenging India’s higher education system in its efforts to equip graduates with job-ready skills. “Our workforce needs skills aligned to technology shifts and market needs,” says Vanitha Narayanan, chairman, IBM India. Narayanan has over 29 years of experience working in IBM across several countries. (IOT, AGRI, CLOUD)

In Maharashtra, a New Procurement Strategy Is Shielding Farmers From Price Crashesedit

The Wire

A noteworthy feature of the management of MAHAFPC is the team of young educated farmers who are steering the organization. Yogesh Thorat, Managing Director, is one of the key promoters of one FPC in Ahmednagar. He is also the lead person in the formation of the apex organization. A graduate in agriculture and postgraduate in management, he represents the new face of farmers, those who have close connections with the community but are also linked to the changing dynamics of the market.

Exclusive farm budget from next yearedit

The Hindu

Chief Minister Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao has said that an exclusive budget for agriculture will be introduced in the State Assembly from next year with a view to enhance the funds substantially for the sector. At a review meeting on agriculture, Mr. Rao announced formation of 2,500 clusters with 5,000 acres under each one of them for higher yields. An Agricultural Extension Officer will be appointed for each cluster to formulate plans and educating farmers on scientific methods of cultivation.

Bihar farmers wait for rain God to smile on themedit

Morung Express

Echoing his sentiments, Mahender said: “Only the rain god can save us. We fear that our paddy seeds would become dry if it doesn’t rain soon. We are praying to God to save our lives.” The state Agriculture Department has already alerted the districts and asked the officials concerned to prepare for cultivation of optional crop that require less water.

Agriculture department pushes for inter-cropping of vegetables in 5,000 hectaresedit

Nyoooz

An adequate monsoon has prompted the agriculture department to scale up the cultivation of gourd and other vegetables through inter-cropping in the district. Elaborating on the plans, officials noted that they are mulling the introduction of inter-cropping in over 5,000 hectares in the upland orchard plantations.

State to take up collective farming for value additionedit

The New Indian Express

An official note here stated that the Development of Humane Action (DHAN) and Dr Vadivelu, retired dean, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, both experienced in forming farmers’ groups, would be State consultants to handle the entire FIG/FPG/FPO formation process. Small and marginal farmers in contiguous areas would be identified and grouped as Farmers Interest Groups (FIG). Five FIGs will be integrated into Farmer Producer Group (FPG). Each FPG would have at least 100 farmers. About 10 such groups in a contiguous area would later be federated into Farmer Producer Organisation (FPO).

Hybrid seed companies favour licensing for plant breedersedit

Orbit Collection Business Standard Business Standard Smart Investor Shafaqna Green Ecosystem News Boss Biz News Index Trading Calls

Companies such as Monsanto, Mahyco, and others engaged in agricultural research fear a major hurdle to fresh investment in agricultural research, especially in India, when the PPVFRA dispenses with the requirement of licences from the technology provider.

Little gourd farmers in a fixedit

Telangana Today

Little gourd (donda in telugu) growers dumped their produce on the road and staged “rasta roko” at Angadipet village of PA Pally mandal in Nalgonda district demanding setting up of a vegetable market at PA Pally and Minimum Support Price of Rs 600 per pack of the vegetable, on Saturday.

GST impact: Good news for farmers, tax rate on fertilisers reduced from 12% to 5%edit

The Financial Express

The farmers of the country would benefit to the tune of Rs. 1261 crores under GST regime. Under the new GST rates announced by the Council, average weighted MRP will decrease to Rs. 5909/ Ton (or Rs. 295.47/ 50kg bag) as compared to the existing All India weighted Average of Rs 5923/ Ton (or Rs. 296.18/50 kg bag),” said Ananth Kumar.

Conference on farming technologiesedit

The Hindu

According to Vanitha Mohan, president of the chamber, there are many youngsters who are doing weekend farming. Traditional farmers also want to switch over to new technologies and systems. The speakers have contributed to making agriculture viable and enjoyable. Some of them are integrated farmers who have taken up value addition.

Sarson Satyagraha: Activists up in arms over genetically modified foodedit

The Indian Express

In May this year, a regulatory body under the Ministry of Environment and Forests, had given its go-ahead for cultivation of genetically modified mustard. Earlier, it was Bt cotton that was genetically modified and its ill-effects on the ecology are for all to see. Now mustard, a traditional and important crop linked to good health, will be manipulated so that traditional seeds of this crop will be destroyed in a systemic manner.

Punjab CM Amarinder Singh meets farmers’ outfits, explains loan waiveredit

Ajit Jalandhar

Amid reports of farmers’ suicides even after announcement 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.

Bacteria that create natural colour pigment discoverededit

The Hans India

Koffas’ lab has been investigating a production method of anthocyanins involving genetic engineering since 2005. Sixteen genes govern the production of anthocyanin in plants. But transferring those genes, and the molecular pathway they trigger, from a plant to a bacteria is not a straightforward process, said J. Andrew Jones,

Budget

Farm loans: ‘RBI to release Rs 1,700 cr to Telangana banks’edit

The Hindu Business Line

Bandaru Dattatreya, Union Minister of State for Labour and Employment, has said the Reserve Bank of India will on Monday release around Rs 1,700 crore towards farm loans to banks in Telangana. Speaking to media here on Sunday, Dattatreya said RBI oicials responded positively to the complaints about the tardy progress of obtaining Kharif farm loans.

GST on fertilisers and pesticides may burden `500 cr on farmersedit

Daily Post

The implementation of Good and Service Tax (GST) from Saturday may increase the figure of farmers suicidal deaths in the state as agricultural cost is going to increase with the imposition of 12 per cent tax on the fertilisers and 18 per cent tax on the pesticides. In the existing tax system both the items were taxed at zero per cent.

Technology in Agriculture

Fertilizer, tractor parts to cost lessedit

Pragativadi Sambad

The GST Council provided relief to farmers reducing the tax rates on fertilizers from 12% to 5% and tractor parts from 28% to 18%, hours before the Friday midnight transition to the new system. The fertilizer industry was disappointed with the previous rates and made several representations to the government.

Browse by Month
Browse by Month