Media Monitor
Agriculture Industry
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
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 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
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
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
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
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
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.