The Indian Express

The debate over chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao being conferred with Agriculture Leadership award by Indian Council for Food and Agriculture (ICFA) intensified with the Telangana Congress alleging that ICFA is an organisation with dubious background and conferring the award on Rao, who did nothing for the agriculture sector in the past four years, is shocking. TPCC president N Uttam Kumar Reddy on Wednesday said, “In the last four years of his governance, Rao pushed the farming community into the most serious crisis ever.

The Indian Express

In the Union Budget of 1998-99, the then Finance Minister Yashwant Sinha announced the issuance of Kisan Credit Cards (KCC) to farmers, with the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development being asked to formulate a “model scheme” for uniform adoption by Indian banks. The product was introduced in August 1998 and turned out to be an instant hit with farmers. The KCC mode of financing not only helped accelerate farm credit flows, but also resulted in significant changes in their composition and the shares of different institutional lending agencies.

Agriculture Minister Somireddy Chandramohan Reddy said that the State government has allotted Rs 18,000 crore for agriculture with a view to make agriculture a profitable activity and help the farmers. The government is ready to further allocate another Rs 1,000 crore to the sector, he said.

The Economic Times

Fields have been flooded in many states, damaging standing crops, but officials said there would be no major impact on output as farmers can replant rice, castor and pulses after water recedes and the industry expects prices to be unaffected because of adequate food stocks, making rainfall in September critical. “Overall the floods will not make a major impact on production but it will locally impact farmers and livestock,” said AK Singh, DDG-Agricultural Extension, Indian Council of Agricultural Research.

The Indian Express

Despite having announced a one-time settlement scheme, the Punjab government may not get back its dues from “defaulter rice millers”, several of which even sold their machinery years back and shifted to other businesses. Around 250 to 300 defaulters, most of them from Gurdaspur, Amritsar, Sangrur, Firozpur, collectively owe the state government Rs 2,000-2,400 crore. Most of these mills owe between Rs 5 crore and Rs 10 crore each to the government.

News Nation

Marking a noteworthy advancement, scientists have invented high-tech “twistron” yarns that can produce electricity when it is stretched or twisted. According to the researchers, these yarns that are made up of carbon nanotubes can be used to harvest energy from the motion of ocean waves or from temperature fluctuations.

Business Standard

Leaders of women farmers from different parts of the country have gathered here for an interface with various government agencies to demand they be legitimately recognised as farmers and that their rights as farmers be upheld. They are participating in the “National Consultation of Women Farmers”, being organised at the Constitution Club here to discuss the subject -“Realizing the Rights of Women Farmers: Developing a Roadmap for Action”.

The Financial Express

Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh on Tuesday said sugarcane farmers should be encouraged to adopt inter-cropping to boost their income. Intercropping is cultivation of two or more crops simultaneously on the same field.

Hindi Business Standard

The Union food ministry has imposed stock limits on sugar mills for the next two months, in a bid to keep sugar prices under control during the festive season. While making the announcement on Twitter, Food Minister Ram Vilas Pawan added there was “no shortage of sugar for domestic consumption in the country”.

The Hans India

She said that they would give the address of the farmers if customers wanted to know authenticity of produce. Siva Kumar, who also started the organic shop, one decade ago in the city. Now, he is maintaining the shop successfully and importing the organic products from Rajasthan, Gujarat, Odisha, Karnataka, Maharastra and other states. He said that they are selling nearly 100 varieties of food items.

FnB News

Agri Culture and Agri Business was the theme of the ninth essay of India Foodex and AgriTech India, which commenced at the Bangalore International Exhibition Centre yesterday. The concept of the three-day event, which spans two halls and has been organised by Media Today Group, is moving from agricultural farms to complete food products.

The Better India

They ran campaigns in villages and were on the lookout for farmers willing to join them. Around 50 farmers had never seen a non-Bt cotton seed. The team helped them start organic farming. A firm in the U.S. has already committed itself to purchase the cotton lint produced by these farmers, while some European companies have expressed an interest too.

The Hans India

In a major digression from the current discourse on GM crops, the report claimed that the farmers in India have “enthusiastically embraced” GM seeds for they need less fertiliser and pesticide. Agricultural experts, on the contrary, are carrying on a sustained campaign against GM crops observing that they are not a sustainable pest control strategy. In fact, they are adding to the pest problem. In Gujarat, farmers are trying to get rid of BT cotton crops after pink bollworm pest wreaked havoc.

Afternoon

The long wait for India’s landmark tax reforms, Goods and Services Tax (GST), is over and the industries in various sectors including agrochemicals have geared up for the changes that would be resultant of the GST. The two major segments of agrochemicals have different tax rates under new tax regime; chemical fertilizers are to be taxed @12% and pesticides @18%. For fertilizers, the proposed tax rate is higher than 0-8% Value Added Tax (VAT) before the GST roll out, depending on raw materials used and in which states the products are sold.

The Hindu

After a prolonged dry spell from June to mid-August, the district received 113 mm of rainfall as against normal rainfall of 146 mm in the last week of August. The rainfall recorded by Karnataka State Natural Disaster Monitoring Centre (KSNDMC) shows that farmers in 29 of the 32 hoblis in Kalaburagi district have deficit rain up to 57% , while three hoblis including Afzalpur, Aland and Madana hipparaga received 114 mm, 152 mm and 159mm against the normal rainfall of 104mm, 142mm and 137 mm respectively.

Business Standard

The total sown area as on 25th August 2017, as per reports received from States, stands at 1013.83 lakh hectare as compared to 1019.60 lakh hectare at this time last year. It is reported that rice has been sown/transplanted in 358.28 lakh ha, pulses in 135.96 lakh ha, coarse cereals in 178.85 lakh ha, sugarcane in 49.78 lakh hectare and cotton in 119.67 lakh ha.

Business World

Agriculture requires focus as a business and even venture capitalists have started finding it as a potential area to invest. There are loop holes remaining in agriculture trade, unlike confidence factor in healthcare industry.

The Economic Times

Access to reliable and trusted information is creating a huge difference in the way agriculture is done in India,” says Arvind Nevatia, SVP – consumer segment, Vodafone India. The telecom company has an information service package (Vodafone Kisan Mitra) for farmers. According to a report prepared by Vodafone titled ‘Connecting farmers in India’, close to 62% of Indian farmers own less than one hectare of agricultural land. Companies such as Crofarm procure directly from farmers and sell to food processing majors and small retailers.

The Hindu Business Line

The farm ministry is mulling NITI Aayog’s proposal to introduce a price-deficit mechanism for kharif crops this year, a senior Government official said. Mooted by NITI Aayog in 2015, price-deficit mechanism proposes that Government compensate farmers the difference between modal price of a crop and its minimum support price, in case the modal price falls below the minimum support price (MSP).

The Times of India

Cotton sowing has reached a record high of about 120 lakh hectares in the country during the ongoing kharif season on the back of good rainfall in key growing regions. The area under cotton has grown 6.4% year-on-year, or an increase of 7.23 lakh hectares, as on August 24, data with the union agriculture ministry showed.

The Times of India

Each group will be given a corpus fund of Rs 5 lakh. All these groups will be integrated to form Tamil Nadu Farmers Agri Business Consortium with funding from National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD). Madurai has been sanctioned Rs 375 lakh grant for 2017-18, collector said. Joint director of agriculture, A Selvapandi said the department will sensitise farming community about the collective farming to enrol them into farmers’ interest groups.

Deccan Herald

A Bengaluru-based startup has developed an app that keeps farmers up-to-date on demand and supply since lack of such information leads to excess production and price crash.

The Indian Express The Economic Times Business Standard

The Centre has told the Supreme Court that it aims to double the income of farmers by 2022 to tackle suicides among them. The Ministry of Agriculture also proposed to make special efforts to ensure adequate flow of credit in under-serviced areas, eastern states and Jammu and Kashmir.

The Economic Times

This will reduce handling costs, bring economies of scale, reduce prices and increase returns for farmers. The idea has been discussed at the highest level of the government and the Centre is likely to reach out to states for such an enabling provision after full consultation with the ministry of consumer affairs, a senior government official told ET.

The Hindu

Buoyed by higher price in the open market than the minimum support price announced by the Centre last year and good rains, farmers across Telangana have cultivated cotton crop in the highest ever extent of over 18.6 lakh hectares during this kharif season.

The Economic Times

The idea is good but two policies cannot co-exist, meaning there cannot be simultaneous MSP for agri products if we want to remove them from the Essential Commodities Act,” DK Pant of India Ratings said. According to Pant, opening up trade of agriculture commodities to a handful of big players would also require the government to put in place a stringent checks and balances mechanism so that no hoarding and price manipulation happens.

The Hindu Business Line

Within a gap of just 18 months, the prices of major pulses categories have witnessed their peak and trough. The latest WPI inflation data of July’17 shows a fall of 32.56 per cent (YoY) in the overall prices of pulses. Currently, majority of the pulses, especially tur, moong and urad, still trade below their minimum support prices despite imposition of import curbs.

The Hindu Business Line

Arrivals of the new urad crop started in some parts of Karnataka on Thursday last week. A total of 100-150 bags (1 bag=100 kg) arrived in Gulbarga on Thursday, unchanged from a year ago, while prices ruled at Rs 6,000-6,100 per 100 kg compared with Rs 5,500-6,000 per 100 kg a year ago, traders said. Arrivals of urad have also started in the Sedam and Chittapur regions in Gulbarga, Karnataka.

Live mint

The six industrialized countries (the EU is regarded as a single unit, although it is made up of 28 countries) are entitled to providing farm support through de minimis. In addition the US and EU provide more than $150 billion through what are called the green box subsidies that are also found to be trade-distorting.

The Hindu Business Line

The Indian Farmers Fertiliser Cooperative Ltd (IFFCO) will sell farm inputs such as fertilisers, agro-chemicals and insurance services on the government’s Common Services Centre website. Village-level aggregators will be able to place bulk orders that will be transported by IFFCO at district levels to be supplied further to villages. Products like plant growth regulators, telecom services, voice based agricultural information services can also be purchased through IFFCO’s link on the Common Services Centre website.

The Financial Express

The prime minister, in his Independence Day speech, referred to farmers 12 times. He mentioned several specific achievements in agriculture, from soil health cards given to 9 crore farmers to enhanced crop insurance scheme, from completion of 99 projects under Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayi Yojana by 2019 to encouraging FDI in food-processing and handholding farmers, from supply of inputs to marketing of produce.

The Hindu

Mr. Sisodia, who holds the Education portfolio, said that along with the agriculture sector, the education sector needs to be strengthened. The Delhi Government has led by example by spending 25 % of the total budgetary allocation on education. As a result, government-run schools have been empowered by providing necessary infrastructure and trained teachers.

The Times of India DNA

Just as when the government is readying its response in favour of genetically modified (GM) mustard for submission in the Supreme Court, a parliamentary panel on Friday flagged several loopholes in existing methods of field trials of transgenic crops and asked Union environment ministry to examine the impacts of such crops thoroughly before taking its final call.

Press Trust of India Business Standard India Today Outlook The Statesman The New Indian Express

The department-related parliamentary standing committee on science and technology and environment and forest chaired by Congress leader Renuka Chowdhury made its recommendations in its 301st report on ‘GM crop and its impact on environment’. The panel’s comment came in the wake of India’s GM crop regulator Genetic Engineering Appraisal Committee (GEAC) recently recommending the commercial use of genetically modified mustard in a submission to the environment ministry.

The Pioneer

In a major setback to the supporters of genetically modified technology in farm crops, a parliamentary panel, headed by Congress MP Renuka Chowdhury, has asked the Government to put on hold introduction of GM crops unless its bio-safety and socioeconomic desirability is evaluated by an independent process and an accountability regime is put in place.

Manorama Online

Genetically modified (GM) seeds have emerged as a powerful new technology promising high productivity, improved quality and lower use of fertilisers, weedicides and pesticides in the last one to two decades,” Niti Aayog said. Indian farmers have adopted the GM seeds by growing BT cotton, the only crop allowed for commercial cultivation.

Free Press Journal

Madhya Pradesh, particularly Indore, which was once considered as a golden bowl of soybean because of high production, is losing its glitter now. This year sowing of soybean has dropped by six per cent and farmers have given preference in sowing of pulses and other cash crops.

The Economic Times

Crop planting this kharif season has so far covered 3.84% higher area over the previous week but seen a 0.57% less area than that of last year. Sugarcane and cotton have seen the biggest expansion in acreage at 9.07% and 16.71%, raising expectations of a bumper harvest.

Telangana Today

Mahindra Agri Solutions Ltd is expecting its turnover to almost double to Rs 1,500 crore in the current fiscal on new product launches, good monsoon and business acquisition in Europe, a top company official said. It on Thursday it today launched an advanced insecticide ‘Tromph’ to be used mainly in rice and cotton crops and aims to have 20 per cent share in this Rs 150 crore segment, its MD & CEO Ashok Sharma said.

Hans India

IIIT-Hyderabad and National Institute of Agricultural Extension Management (MANAGE) signed an MOU to start an Agri Tech Startup Accelerator Program. The Agri Tech Startup Accelerator Program will identify, support and facilitate idea-stage enterprises using latest technologies and innovations to solve agriculture specific issues faced in India.  

The Hindu

Plan to raise at least one crop utilising sharp showers Farmers in rain-fed areas are very busy preparing field to raise at least one crop, mostly pulses, cotton and maize, utilising the sharp showers that rocked the district for the past one week. Thousands of hectares of rain-fed land remain barren since last year owing to failure of monsoon. Early rain in August encouraged several farmers to kick-start farm work.

Business Standard The Financial Express

Optimistic that organic farming is set to expand in India, NITI Aayog Chief Executive Officer Amitabh Kant suggested that standards set by export promotion body Apeda (Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority) should be followed for organic products to push deeper into global as well as domestic markets.

The Hindu Business Line

It is a good sign that the beleaguered pulses sector is now beginning to draw policymakers’ attention. Quickly following the quantitative restriction on import of tur/arhar (two lakh tonnes for fiscal year 2017-18) import of urad and moong have also been placed under a ceiling of 3 lakh tonnes.

The Hindu Business Line

A substantial increase in input costs of materials has led to a decline in crop income over the years. This has resulted in the purchasing power of farmers not improving even though there was an increase in farm output, an official report has said.

Hindustan Times

India’s rainfall deficit for the June-September monsoon season has widened to 6 percent as of Wednesday, the highest since the season’s start on June 1, data compiled by India Meteorological Department (IMD) showed. Rainfall that is nearly a fifth lower than normal so far in August has raised the deficit and stoked concerns about the production of summer-sown crops such as rice, cotton, oilseeds and pulses.

Business World

India’s agriculture strength has grown up substantially, I have been a witness to it for many decades. There will be a day when we will be able to feed the foreign nations as well. Agriculture in our country is a livelihood industry. Our first task is to produce enough food to fulfil the commitments of the Food Security Act. We should always produce more than other nations to earn additional income for our farmers. This will require greater attention in post-harvest technology and management.

The Financial Express

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) today approved renaming the new central food processing scheme SAMPADA as Pradhan Mantri Kisan Sampada Yojana (PMKSY) with an aim to benefit 20 lakh farmers and generate 5.30 lakh jobs by 2020.

The Financial Express

The biggest challenge start-ups usually face is attracting investors and scaling up operations. The challenge is much bigger in the case of agri start-ups. Buoyed by the response to its first accelerator programme for agri start-ups, the National Academy of Agricultural Research Management (NAARM) is launching its second edition of accelerator programme christened ‘Agri Udaan’ for start-ups in food and agriculture segments. Managed by the Indian Council of Agricultural Research, ‘Agri Udaan – Food and Agribusiness Accelerator 2.0’ will help select start-ups scale up operations in the agri value chain.

BW Business World

Agricultural marketing in India involves two major stakeholders, on one end, it’s the farmers and on another, the consumers. Consumers may include end consumer, processor, retailer and somehow the exporter. Intermediaries and the other entities in the chain enable movement of goods and carry out other supportive activities.

Farmers in the existing chain mainly suffer issues like a minor lot of individual nature for sale, poor knowledge of market requirements and mainly the inadequate ability of post-harvesting infrastructure along with financing issues.

Financial Chronicle

A sudden spurt in a few food items and essential vegetables like onion and potato has spoiled the mood at the beginning of the festival season. With the Ganesh Chaturthi and other festivals in the days and weeks to follow, prices of essentials could go up even further. Prices of tomato are still ruling at Rs 70-80 per kg, while many items such bottle gourd, green banana, cucumber and ladyfinger are available for not less than Rs 40 a kg each.

The Financial Express

The government has, historically, tried to compensate farmers for lack of marketing freedom by giving them more subsidies but the latter, in turn, is what is preventing the government from hiking public investments meaningfully. Though government subsidies to agriculture, as a proportion of agriculture output, has fallen from the high of 12% in FY09, it is still a high 6% even today, with the lion’s share comprising fertiliser subsidies.

Nyoooz The Hindu

This would help the government to release the subsidy to the fertiliser companies for the exact quantity of fertiliser sold to the farmers, thus preventing any kind of malpractice. The Department of Agriculture in the two districts is all set to roll out the Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) fertiliser subsidy scheme to farmers on September 1, making sale of subsidised fertilisers only through Point of Sale (PoS) machines to farmers who have Aadhaar cards.

DNA

Agriculture has contributed nearly as much to climate change as deforestation by intensifying global warming, according to U.S. research that has quantified the amount of carbon taken from the soil by farming. Some 133 billion tons of carbon have been removed from the top two meters of the earth’s soil over the last two centuries by agriculture at a rate that is increasing, said the study in PNAS, a journal published by the National Academy of Sciences.

The Hindu Business Line

Prime Minister Narendra Modi said the Centre wants to move towards making India a less-cash society and to achieve this he asked young CEOs to partner with the government to build momentum. He was addressing young CEOs under the ‘Champions of Change Transforming India through G2B partnership’ initiative, organised by NITI Aayog here on Tuesday.

BW Business World

India’s Gross Domestic Productivity (GDP) is expected to grow at 7.1 per cent in the Financial Year (FY) 2016-17. It is believed to be led by growth in private consumption, while GDP of agriculture is expected to grow beyond the old trend and could grow at 4.1 per cent to reach at Rs 1.11 trillion. As per the second advance estimates, India’s food grain production is expected to be 271.98 million metric tonnes (MMT) in 2016-17.

State Times

The GM crop debate is back with the development of GM mustard and its approval by the Genetic Engineering Appraisal Committee (GEAC). This has again intensified the conflict among supporters and detractors of Genetically Modified crop technology. As we know, Bt cotton was the first GM crop to be approved by the country’s regulatory bodies. Therefore, taking Bt cotton as the reference point, supporters and detractors of GM technology have been engaged in building two contrasting narratives. Supporters have been showing data indicating an immense increase in cotton Monsanto.

Business Standard Outlook The New Indian Express

After a months-long pursuit in which it raised its offer price several times, Bayer won over Monsanto’s management in September 2016 for the buyout that would create the world’s largest integrated pesticides and seeds company. But the deal has provoked criticism from environmental groups, because of Monsanto’s long history of promoting genetically modified crops.

Money Control Manish Chandra Rediff Green Ecosystem Biz News

The US has asked India to liberalise a larger share of the agricultural market. US suggested that India should adopt better biotechnological mechanisms, such as GM (genetically modified) crops, to fuel its economy. The Indian market is restrained by trade barriers, blanket bans for certain commodities, stringent technical requirements, high tariffs on agri-based imports, according to a senior US government official on Monday, as reported by Business Standard.

Business World

Implementation of reforms is crucial in making any plan effective and delivering the intent in all its aspects. Many outlooks published by agencies like United Nations and the United States Department of Agriculture had termed the main focus areas of Indian agrarian economy with two major issues, where raising required returns for farmers and reducing costs for buyers are addressed.

Deccan Herald

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday directed the Agriculture Ministry to provide soil health cards to farmers in their local dialect for better understanding and involve start-up entrepreneurs in this exercise. Reviewing the progress of the soil health card and crop insurance scheme – two flagship initiatives of the government, the prime minister was informed that over 90 lakh farmers had benefited from the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana that was launched in January last year. Officials said claims of over Rs 7,700 crore had already been paid during the Kharif and Rabi seasons last year.

Financial Chronicle

The government has capped imports of green gram and black matpe at 300,000 tonnes, the government said in a notification on Monday, as the prices of the pulses have plunged due to record production.

The Financial Express

The Prime Minister was informed that claims of over $7,700 crore have already been paid to farmers under the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana, according to a statement issued by the Prime Minister’s Office.

The Financial Express

According to IMD, the other two regions of the state — north-interior and coastal Karnataka — have received ‘normal’ and ‘deficient’ rainfall so far in the season. “In the past few days, Karnataka has received widespread rainfall which is expected to help in sowing of short-duration kharif crops,” said Shobhana Pattanayak, secretary, department of agriculture and cooperation. In the last couple of years, Karnataka has been facing drought-like conditions in several districts.

Himvani

He gave an example of drinking water which could be purified by using several layers of clean cotton cloth which could prevent about 65% of water-borne diseases. Rest could be taken care of if we stop throwing industrial waste and effluent in water bodies. Students must question their teachers and seek reasons. Accepting thing as told is not scientific. He also quoted an example of death due to carbon-monoxide poisoning in newspapers. Proper reporting with reasons is not done. Several lives are lost due to repeated similar accidents such small science would bring big impact. The lecture was attended by about 400 college and school students.

The Hindu Business Line Business Standard The Financial Express

India is not keeping pace with its peers like China in adopting innovative farm technologies, especially biotechnology, a US embassy official said today, cautioning that the country’s agri import may rise if crop yields are not raised. The comments come against the backdrop of US biotech major Monsanto Indian arm’s legal battle with the government and domestic seed companies over the royalty issue and logjam over allowing genetically modified food crops such as mustard and brinjal for commercial cultivation.

Daily World Suryaa Green Ecosystem Business Standard Web India 123 India Andhra Vilas

GM crop which was developed by Indian scientists was not permitted in India but grew in neighbouring countries, he added. “India’s neighbours like Bangladesh are taking up this technology. Bt brinjal was developed by Indian scientists in Indian universities for Indian farmers but is being used by Bangladeshi farmers.

Deccan Chronicle

We have the example of the BT brinjal, not very distant in our memory. Notwithstanding all the fraudulent scientific data Mahyco, the Indian arm of the agribusiness giant Monsanto, provided, the Independent expert committee, constituted by the Hyderabad-based Centre For Sustainable Agriculture, comprising some eminent members, of which I had the privilege to be the chairman, said an unambiguous “NO” to Bt brinjal, because, like mustard, the Indian sub continent is the place of origin for brinjal.

The Hindu

The farmers in the tail end areas of various irrigation projects need to allow the paddy plants to grow longer than suitable height as sowing operation normally gets delayed owing to delay in irrigation water reaching their fields.

The Hindu Business Line

The National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India Limited and NCDEX e-Markets Limited have signed an agreement to create an e-platform for procurement of oilseeds and pulses directly from farmers, a release said. The e-procurement platform will enable farmers to sell the commodity to NAFED and NCDEX e-Markets online. This will also provide end-to-end solutions for the commodities for its storage in warehouse and its disposal.

Deccan Herald

It was always known, but when a United Nations Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO) report in 2003 explained in detail how devastating cheaper imports of agricultural commodities and products have been to domestic production, and presented a chart detailing out how a surge in imports acted as a strong blow to the local economy, I thought the world would sit back and take notice. On the contrary, international trade negotiations have now taken a more aggressive stance.

The Hindu Business Line

SEBI recently gave the nod for NCDEX and CDSL to launch commodity repository service. In an interview with BusinessLine, Samir Shah, MD & CEO of NCDEX, talks of the changes that will take place with the move. With a commodity repository, the warehouse receipt will be more trusted and bring down borrowing costs for farmers, he adds.

Sify

Every one-degree-celsius rise in temperature beyond 20°C (degrees Celsius) during the growing season on India’s farms causes 67 suicides, with 59,300 suicides since 1980 attributable to climate change, according to a new study by Tamma Carleton, a doctoral student in agricultural and resource economics at the University of California-Berkeley, USA.

The Hindu

For years, the consumer, the producer (farmer) and the middleman have had a clash of interest when it comes to agricultural commodities. While the consumer wants to buy a commodity at the lowest price, the producer (farmer) desires to sell the produce at the maximum price. The middleman, on the other hand, wants to maximise profits. Striking a balance among these stakeholders could possibly address the issue of price fluctuation to some extent. Vegetable producers, especially small landholders, depend on intermediaries to sell their produce.

Business Standard

Following are today’s quotations (in Rs per quintal): Wheat MP (desi) Rs 2,100-2,350, Wheat dara (for mills) Rs 1,770-1,775, Chakki atta (delivery) Rs 1,775-1,780, Atta Rajdhani (10 kg) Rs 260-300, Shakti Bhog (10 kg) Rs 255-290, Roller flour mill Rs 965-970 (50 kg), Maida Rs 990-1,000 (50 kg)and Sooji Rs 1,040-1,045 (50 kg).

The New Indian Express

Farmers have their fingers crossed as the granary of Kerala appears to have fallen out of favour with the rain gods. The deficiency in rainfall to the tune of nearly 30 per cent this year has cast a pall over the future of paddy cultivation. “Due to the failure of the Northeast monsoon last season, Palakkad district cultivated only 25 per cent area for the second crop of paddy,” general secretary of the Desiya Karshaka Samajam, Muthalamthode Mani, told Express.

The Tribune

Official sources say that the Food and Civil Supplies Department has held several meetings with the finance authorities, asking them to hurry up with the release of Rs 1,098 crore. With the farmers’ unrest over the delay in implementation of crop loan waiver and the continuing auction of their properties simmering, the government is keen on having a second smooth procurement of foodgrain.

Telangana Today

India has always been known as an agriculture-based economy and lists among top nations globally in terms of its farm output. Despite developments in other fields, agriculture still remains one of the largest source of livelihood in the country. On the flipside though, while many farmers are leaving the profession for more lucrative options, individuals from other sectors are turning urban farmers in hopes of a better future and a dream to create a sustainable environment.

Samaj

Agriculture seems to have been reduced to a traditional compulsion rather than an economic option in Odisha. The outcome is visible. Majority of farmers and agricultural labourers are leaving their villages to participate in more remunerative off-farm works.

Business Standard

The management of prices of agricultural produce securing the interests of the producers and the consumers has been through minimum support price (MSP) limited to key staple crops, and tweaking import/export prices/permits. In the absence of a price safety net for nonMSP crops, farmers flood markets on harvest, resulting in a price crash, specifically when rumours of excess production circulate.

The Times of India The Hindu

The Indian Council of Food and Agriculture (ICFA) on Saturday announced the Global Agriculture Leadership Award to Telangana chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao. According to ICFA, the Leadership Awards committee said KCR was selected after studying the innovative and yeoman services rendered by him for the welfare of farmers and agricultural sector.

The Times of India

There were other, lesser-known concerns. Leo Saldanha and Bhargavi Rao of Environment Support Group and organic farmers Vivek and Juli Cariappa realized that farmers like Lakshman, considered owners of local varieties, had no clue about how their crop was being put to use. Bt brinjal was India’s first GM food crop that got approval for commercialization. “Sixteen farmers’ varieties, all popular ones, were accessed by seed company Mahyco with three Indian institutes to be modified, tested and commoditized since 2003-04.

Business Standard

Surging onion prices have toppled governments in India. Now there’s a new threat looming for policy makers. Tomatoes. After touting better food management as a reason for record-low inflation during much of the summer, a surge in the costs of vegetables and fruits is causing price pressures to simmer.

The Hindu Business Line

The figures emerging from Network Programme on Climate Change, ICAR, paint a disturbing scenario. A reduction of 4.5 to 9 per cent in agriculture yields is expected in the medium term (20102039), and over 25 per cent in the long term (2040 and beyond) if no corrective measures are taken. What this means for India’s GDP growth in the medium term is a hit of up to 2 per cent per annum.

Millennium Post Hindi Business Standard The Pioneer

Sowing operation in the kharif season begins normally with the onset of the south-west monsoon and picks up pace from July. Paddy, tur, moong, urad, soyabean, sunflower seed and cotton are the main crops grown during this season.

The Hindu Business Line

Deficient rains in parts of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Telangana seem to have hit kharif sowing this year with the total area covered coming down for the first time from the corresponding period last year. The total sown area during the ongoing kharif season had dropped to 976.34 lakh hectares (ha) by the end of the week, against 984.57 lakh ha during the same time last year, according to data released by the Agriculture Ministry on Friday.

The Hindu Business Line

Passing of the Nabard (Amendment Bill) 2017 and transfer of the Reserve Bank of India’s token stake in the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development to the Centre has evoked mixed reactions. Union Minister of State for Finance Santosh Kumar Gangwar had tabled the Bill in the Lok Sabha, saying Nabard will have a major role in realising the Centre’s professed objective of doubling farmers’ income by 2022.

Prajatantra

Farmers are not deriving the promised benefits under the Centre’s crop insurance scheme, and instead it is private insurers who are profiting. The delay in claim settlement is due to state governments delaying paying their share of premium and delays in carrying out crop-cutting experiments to estimate yield loss.

Live Mint

As the window for the sowing of rain-fed Kharif crops nears an end, farmers in India have planted less of pulses, coarse grains and oilseeds year-on-year and increased the area under sugarcane and cotton, shows data released by the agriculture ministry on Friday. Overall, during the 2017-18 Kharif crop season, farmers have planted 97.6 million hectares under different crops so far, about 0.8% lower than the area planted by this time last year.

The Economic Times

In the last phase of planting mostly in rainfed regions of the country, crop acreage saw an increase of 3.5% in the past one week. However, compared to the previous year it was 0.84% less covering 97.63 million hectare, according to the Agriculture ministry data. The government has set a target of planting crop on 105.86 million hectare this kharif season.

The Times of India

Extreme weather events are costing India $910 billion annually and climate change is projected to impact farm productivity with increasing severity from 2020 to the end of the century. In a recent submission to a parliamentary committee, the agriculture ministry said productivity decrease of major crops will be marginal in the next few years but could rise to as much as 1040% by 2100 unless farming adapts to climate change-induced changes in weather.

Millennium Post

After examining the varieties, agricultural scientists opined that the weather and soil are conducive for the production of these types of rice. The cultivation is carried out without any artificial chemicals and these rice varieties are free from health hazards.

The Financial Express

According to agriculture ministry data, despite a sharp decline in arhar, overall kharif pulses sowing, till Friday, had been around 130.68 lakh hectare, which is about 3.5% less than compared with last year, indicating another bumper output like last year. Recently, the government had put imports of pigeon peas and arhar under the restricted category and fixed a quota of only 200,000 tonne per annum.

Business Standard Trading Calls Hindi Business Standard

“India has commercialized desi cotton variety which has potential for much higher yield than Bt cotton and also benefits of pests and weeds resistance capability. Also, the desi variety is longer staple in nature which might replace some quantity of long staple cotton. Thus, the desi variety offers better realization than Bt and other conventional varieties of cotton.

The Financial Express

Sandip Das’s excellent story in this paper last month, based on his visit to the Karnal mandi in Haryana, brought to light the sorry fate of the much-touted National Agriculture Market (e-NAM), the electronic portal for trading in agricultural produce launched by the prime minister in April last year. The story once again highlights the distance between policy announcements and implementation, ever the bane of developmental interventions in India.

Dainik Yashobhumi

The National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India (NAFED) and NCDEX e Markets Ltd. (NeML) have signed an agreement for creating an e-platform for procurement of pulses and oilseeds across the country.

BW Business World

The Agricultural Prices Commission was set up in early 1965, to advise the government of India on a regular basis on matters related to price policy of agriculture Minimum Support Price: Minimum support price (MSP) is one of the instruments of Agricultural Price Policy (APP). APP basically means government intervention to influence agricultural productivity and/or farm input prices. The kind and degree of intervention (or the policy instruments and their objectives) vary with the stage of agricultural development.

The Financial Express

India’s agricultural exports have risen to $25 billion to take a share of 9% of its total exports—from 7.1% in 2010-11. Today, a marginal farmer from Heran, a village in Punjab, finds markets in the UK for his produce of baby corn. India ranks second in fruits and vegetables production in the world. Its exports of cereals, spices, fruits and vegetables in 2016 stood at $11.4 billion, accounting for 3.5% of global exports. India enjoys the second-largest arable land size after the US and is home to 14 agri-zones, offering a range of climates and soil conditions conducive to agri produce diversification that can address world markets successfully.

The Asian Age

An additional interest subvention of 3 per cent per annum will be available to “prompt payee farmers”. “This also implies that the farmers paying promptly as above would get short-term crop loans at 4 per cent per annum during 2017-18,” it said. In order to discourage distress sale and encourage farmers to store produce in warehouses, it said the benefit of subvention will be available to small and marginal farmers with Kisan Credit Cards for a further period of up to 6 months post harvest at the same rate as available to crop loans against negotiable warehouse receipts. The warehouses should be accredited with the Warehousing Development Regulatory Authority (WDRA), it said.

The Hindu Business Line

Ideally, the government should encourage more research in building climate smart farming solutions for small farmers like affordable greenhouses, low tunnels and the like to create more reliable income earning opportunity for small farmers. These are preventive measures. In our work at Kheyti with small farmers, we are experiencing the need and the urgency perceived by farmers to have such reliable income generating asset. This is more of a permanent and a pro-active solution. These take time to reach millions, but surely should reach every farmer like Appala Venkatesh one day.

The Times of India

The challenge is particularly urgent for Indian agriculture where productivity for crops like rice does not compare even with neighbours like China. The possibility of a further dip due to climate change will be particularly worrying as it could turn India into a major importer of milk and pulses. By 2030, it may need 65 million tonnes more of foodgrains than the expected production in 2016-17.

The Hindu Business Line

APLM rollout sought The committee also urged the Union Agriculture Ministry to roll out the Model APLM Rules so that States can make the act operational. States could upgrade existing facilities such as warehouses and silos as markets, it said. The demand for rural retail markets could be met by upgrading the existing over-20,000 rural periodical markets as Primary Rural Agricultural Markets, it suggested.

The Hindu

Mr. Ramakrishnudu said the State and the Central governments had allocated Rs 1,476 crore for the development of horticulture in the State. The agriculture sector contributed 24% to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) while the horticulture 18 to 19%. The voluntary organisations and the farmers associations also should come forward in creating awareness on the advantages of horticulture.

The Times of India

A special control room had been set up in the finance department to coordinate with financial institutions and the agriculture department and procure a list from all over the state of farmers who were under debt. Verification was sought of their land records and Aadhar from the authorities concerned. The scheme has put a burden of Rs 36,000 crore on the state exchequer.

The Times of India

Bankers say the numbers are low because a large section of farmers are not eligible for credit owing to earlier defaults. The previous year was considered among the favourable times for agriculture, yet repayments are at a low for this period. Political parties mounted pressure on the government to grant a loan waiver. As it brought mileage for political outfits, farmers too reneged on repayment.

DNA

Thailand’s multibillion-dollar seafood sector has come under fire in recent years after investigations showed widespread slavery, trafficking and violence on fishing boats and in onshore food processing units. Last month, Thai Union the world’s largest canned tuna company in an agreement with environmental group Greenpeace, said it would take steps towards sustainably caught tuna while ensuring all workers are “safe”.

Live Mint

It, however, noted that these impacts will also vary substantially for crops and regions and highlighted that a “reinvigoration of national research and extension programs is urgently needed to offset future impacts of climate change, including temperature increase on agriculture by using cropand region-specific adaptation strategies”.

The Times of India

Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Wednesday said that farmers need to mandatorily link Aadhaar numbers to their accounts to avail subsidised farm loan. In line with the government’s policy, the RBI on Wednesday said farmers can avail of short-term crop loans of up to Rs 3 lakh at subsidised interest rate of 7% that could go down to 4% on prompt repayment.

New Kerala

Currently no effective treatment against the bacterium Candidatus liberibacter, the causal agent of Citrus Greening, is available. Under the long-term research agreement, Bayer will provide access to its Disease Control know-how and will coordinate public and private research to find novel solutions for Citrus Greening in Florida and beyond.

Business Standard

We are halfway through the monsoon season. Rains have been inadequate in some parts of the country, while others have experienced floods. Will it increase risk in the farm loan portfolio? Agriculture is always like that. We have de-risked our agriculture loan portfolio substantially. Crop loans are sensitive. Most of agri-loans are happening through tie-ups, gold loans or are asset backed.

The Hindu Business Line

We have collection centres at the farm gate in Malur and Chickballapur where we source tomatoes and other veggies. We also buy from consolidators in Ooty the hill vegetables. We buy onions from Nashik where we have a full-fledged procurement team. Today 85 per cent of our purchases are directly from farmers.

The Financial Express

Modi lauded farmers and the agricultural scientists for record crop production this last year. He said the government had procured 16 lakh tonnes of pulses this year, far in excess of the procurement of previous years.

The Economic Times

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday said the government would handhold farmers right from procurement of seeds to access to the markets in order to improve their lives.

The Financial Express

More than a year after the rollout of the NDA government’s flagship Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY), the response has been mixed. Union agriculture minister Radha Mohan Singh spoke to Sandip Das on implementation aspects of the crop insurance scheme and other hey issues impacting the agricultural sector.

The Hindu

He said that the dams have only 43 tmcft of water, with cities such as Mysuru and Bengaluru requiring 35 tmcft of water for drinking purposes. “In such a grim situation, the government is forced to advise the farmers not to cultivate sugarcane and paddy crops which required huge quantum of water. We have been urging farmers to cultivate more short-term and rain-dependent crops this year as water should be saved for drinking purposes,” he said.

The Times of India

The report says that the climate change would surge production of potato in Punjab, Haryana and western and central Uttar Pradesh by 3.46% to 7.11% by 2030, but in rest of India potato production may decline by 4% to 16%. The 31-member committee, headed by Bihar MP and former Union minister of state Hukumdev Narayan Yadav of BJP, also submitted that irrigated rice in north-west India comprising Haryana and Punjab is projected to reduce by 6% to 8% by 2020. Whereas in other parts of the country the loss would be below 5%.

Business Standard

The Centre is exploring a mechanism to assist states in depositing the losses suffered by farmers into their bank accounts, instead of purchasing their produce. The move would give some relief to the states, which were finding it difficult to dispose tonnes of onions, pulses and other commodities purchased from growers during a price crash.

The Hindu Green Ecosystem

There are many methods of plant breeding, of which molecular breeding is one. Genetic modification has both advantages and disadvantages. One has to measure the risks and benefits before arriving at a conclusion. First, we need an efficient regulatory mechanism for GM in India. We need an all-India coordinated research project on GMOs with a bio-safety coordinator. We need to devise a way to get the technology’s benefit without its associated risks.

Deccan Chronicle

Speaking on the occasion, Kamal said, “To prevent insects from spoiling the saplings and seedlings grown out of hybrid and genetically modified seeds, we spray pesticides, which may turn poisonous. So, avoid these hybrid seeds and use only traditional varieties of seeds for cultivating our food. We have lost 70 percent of heirloom seeds and let’s all strive to preserve the rest of 30 percent of our seed varieties. To save it, each one of us should become a farmer.” Kamal also requested his fans welfare associations to join hands with the team to ensure its success.

Punjabi Tribune

The Punjab Agricultural University will be launching a mass awareness drive in connection with World Suicide Prevention Day which is celebrated on September 10 every year in response to a call by World Health Organisation (WHO) and International Association for Suicide Prevention (IASP).The Vice Chancellor of PAU stated that suicide should not be portrayed as a method of coping with personal problems.

Nava bharat

Data compiled by the Directorate General of Commercial Intelligence and Statistics under the ministry of commerce and industry showed India’s exports of agri and allied products declined by 25 per cent to $24.7 billion for financial year 2016-17, as against nearly $33 billion in 2013-14. In contrast, import of agri and allied products jumped in the same period to $23.2 billion, from $13.5 billion.

Business Standard

The average income of a farmer household estimated at ~96,703 in 2015-16 (at current prices) is targeted to rise, by government effort, to ~2,19,724 (at current prices) by 2022-23. The figure has been estimated in an initial report of the official committee on doubling farmers’ income.

The Financial Express Hindustan Times Pudhari Navakaal Aapla Mahanagar Punya Nagari

Farmers In Maharashtra went on agitation on Monday, blocking major highways across the state in response to a call for a ‘chakka jam’ given by the steering committee comprising of majority of the state farmer units.

Dharitri

The progress in agriculture needs to be evaluated in terms of outcomes such as catching up with global yields of various crops as a means to increase incomes of farmers. Credit is an important mediating input for agriculture to improve productivity. The predominance of informal sources of credit for farmers is a concern. There is regional disparity in the distribution of agricultural credit which also needs to be addressed.

The Tribune Dainik Yashobhumi

For a targeted 10.41 per cent annual increase in farmers’ income, the required rate of increase in investment on private account is estimated at 7.86 per cent per annum, it said. The estimated increase in weighted public investment (together in agriculture, irrigation, rural roads and transport and rural energy) is pegged at 14.17 per cent per year.

The Times of India

There are 96 cooperative societies with more than three lakh farmers as members in the district. These societies provide seeds, fertilizer, pesticide and agriculture equipment at subsidized rates to farmers.

The Hindu

The Agriculture Department hosted a day-long seminar for its officials to brief them on the concept. Speaking on the occasion, Minister for Agriculture R. Doraikannu observed that the State can make big strides in increasing productivity through the collective farming initiative. Explaining the rationale behind the concept, K. Shanmugam, Additional Chief Secretary (Finance), observed that collective farming could help farmers overcome the two main risks posed by natural vagaries and price fluctuations.

The Times of India

Meanwile, Puliyur A Nagarajan, state organizer of the farmers’ wing of Tamil Manila Congress said that the package is being disbursed to the farmers who have transplanted nurseries using machine. Others were not eligible to get the money, he said. “We have been demanding the government to relax the rule asking to extend the benefit to those transplanting nursery using agriculture labourers. This is because when they utilise man power, both farmers and labourers are benefitted,” he added.

ET Energy World

Farmers whose agricultural land is acquired for erecting high-tension power transmission towers will now get compensation. Uttar Pradesh Electricity Regulatory Commission (UPERC) has recently issued a direction in this effect.

The Hans India

Following prevalence of adverse conditions in the present Kharif season as most of the mandals in Kadapa district have received very poor rain fall, it has become inevitable for farmers to migrate elsewhere. The farmers are now turning house construction workers in the cities like Bangalore, Hyderabad, Chennai, Bombay etc and some are going to delta areas as agriculture labour along with their families for livelihood. This particular scenario is being witnessed in mandals like Rayachoti, Kasinayana, Kalasapadu , Porumamilla, B.Koduru mandals.

Odisha Bhasakar Prajatantra Pragativadi

“The government plans to bring a new policy to promote use of biofuels in transport fuel that will catalyse Rs. 1 lakh crore of investment in the entire value chain, Oil Minister Dharmendra Pradhan said today. “Promoting biofuels creates jobs, fosters economic growth, supports farmers and helps improve energy security for the country,” he said. He said that besides bringing down pollution, biofuels produced indigenously from agricultural waste, plants like bamboo, non-edible oilseeds, or municipal waste will help reduce the country’s huge import burden.”

The Times of India

Tto protest against the state government’s “inaction in curbing the agrarian crisis in the state”, a steering committee of farmers will launch a state-wide agitation from Monday. The committee, which had been set up in June to negotiate with the government on the loan waiver issue, has said that one of the main demands is a blanket loan waiver for all debt-stricken farmers across the state — a demand that the government has not yet accepted.

The Times of India

The Karnataka government directive asking farmers to either take up cultivation or give their fallow land on contract has raised the hackles of farmers, with many saying it will only compound their problems in times of drought. “How can anyone take up cultivation if there is no water or money to invest? This is ridiculous at a time when the state is staring at third consecutive drought,” said Kurubur Shanthakumar, president, Karnataka State Sugarcane Growers’ Association.

Nitidina

Training cum awareness programme for farmers organized under National Mission on Agricultural Extension and Technology in Baranga block. District Director said with the farmers of the village urged to adopt scientific based technology in their field and aware the farmers regarding the importance of soil health card and soil samples before sowing the crop which is the need of the hour keeping in view the production and the productivity.

New Kerala

Due to capping of premium under erstwhile schemes, the sum insured was consequentially reduced, as a result of which the farmers were denied the expected benefits and complete compensation for their crop loss. However, under PMFBY, in order to provide maximum risk coverage to farmers, sum insured has been equated to Scale of Finance (SOF). As a result the farmers now get timely settlement of claims for entire sum insured, without any deduction and are being compensated for entire crop loss.

The New Indian Express

IN a bid to boost coconut farming, the Agriculture Department will soon launch the ‘Kera Gramam’ project in the state. The project will be implemented on cluster-level basis and a total of 44 ‘Kera Gramams’ each having 250 hectares of coconut farming will be formed this year. The project envisages to provide financial assistance of `25,000 per/ha for farmers to make basins around coconut trees, adopt weed control measures, prepare organic manuring, dehusking, plant protec-tion and replacing aged unproductive trees with new ones.

Aapla Mahanagar

The state government had taken strange steps to resolve the farmers’ problems and as a result the farmers’ movement. The government also kept the Centre in the dark about the ground reality of the farmers’ situation. The loan on agriculture has increased several folds. The crop insurance had added one more burden on farmers, as the actual profit was received by the companies and not them. From the total amount only 23.17 per cent had been distributed

The Indian Express

The Chief Minister had earlier declared that the government’s farm loan waiver scheme would benefit 89 lakh farmers in the state. Official records show that NPA accounts and the restructured loan accounts made up for 24.01 lakh farmers. Farm loans totalling Rs 12,629 crore in the state have turned bad over the years. Another Rs 10,001 crore bad loans have been restructured.

The Times of India

Efforts taken by the Trichy Corporation to promote use of organic manure have started paying rich dividends as farmers and residents have expressed happiness over the results. The corporation, till June 30, has distributed a total of 218 tonnes of manure produced from 2,215 tonnes of garbage collected in four compost units. K Jaya, 39, who has cultivated cotton in nine acres at Pullambadi in the district said that she was happy with the manure which was distributed free-of-cost. While attending a meeting organised by the city corporation officials held here on Friday, Jaya said she has been using organic manure instead of chemical fertilisers for the past three months.

The Financial Express

Farmers throughout the country are getting financial assistance by the AYUSH Ministry to encourage cultivation of herbs and other medicinal plants, parliament was informed on Friday. Subsidy, as high as 75 per cent, is being given as part of a Centrally Sponsored Scheme. In a written reply in the Lok Sabha, Shripad Yesso Naik, Minister of State for AYUSH (Ayurveda, Yoga and Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha and Homoeopathy) said: “Under National Ayush Mission scheme, there is a component on ‘Medicinal Plants’ which is primarily aimed at supporting cultivation of herbs and medicinal plants on farmer’s land with backward linkages through establishment of nurseries for supply of quality planting material, and forward linkages for post-harvest management.”

Live mint

Kaveri Seed is building its vegetables seeds business, expanding the rice and maize seeds portfolios and strengthening its distribution network Kaveri Seeds’ revenues during the June quarter are up 20%. Kaveri Seed Co. Ltd, dubbed by some as a one-trick pony, is stepping up efforts to shed that perception. The June quarter results presentation provides details about how the company is trying to reduce its dependence on the cotton seeds business.

Zeebiz India Today

Taking the statement on record, the apex court disposed of the plea filed by environmental activist Vandana Shiva challenging the notification of 2007 with regard to selling of GM food products. Sinha said that without the regulations in place, the notification cannot be enacted upon. The Centre said the Food Safety and Standards Act (FSS), 2006 provides for 30 days period for the notification to be implemented during which objections if any can be raised.

DNA

Maize rabi prices remained higher for the second session and added Rs 15 to Rs 1,310 per quintal in futures trade today as traders raised holdings in line with upbeat spot cues.

The Hindu

Farmers in the Cauvery and Kabini command area are disheartened following the government’s decision to release water only for replenishing tanks and the restriction on cultivation of paddy and sugarcane.

Nasdaq

Agriculture has been at the core of the evolution of human civilization, thriving alongside humanity. However, despite its crucial role, the agricultural industry has advanced at a slower pace as compared to other trades. This is partially because of the complacency in the farm sector. However, this is fast changing. Here are some of the challenges facing agriculture, and how advanced technologies are getting integrated to benefit the farming sector.

The Indian Express

The poor rate of Basmati (fine quality aromatic rice) which Punjab farmers have been getting for the past few years has resulted in reduced acreage and, in the past four years, the area of cultivation has decreased to nearly half under the crop. Scientists say that due to decrease in Basmati cultivation, the area under paddy rice (Parimal varieties) has increased automatically which is bad news for Punjab where 102 out of 141 agricultural blocks have already gone dry.

The Financial Express

Pink bollworm pest has affected cotton crop in parts of Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh (AP) and Maharashtra as resistance to the pest in some transgenic varieties has reduced. The Central Institute for Cotton Research (CICR) in Nagpur has reported damage due to the pest in the three states, minister of state for agriculture Parshottam Rupala informed parliament recently.

The Hindu

With early onset of monsoon rains in June, farmers had sown crops well in advance. Cotton was sown in 1.98 lakh acres followed by paddy in 40,000 acres, red-gram in 38,000 acres, maize in 32,000 acres and soya in 31,000 acres. However, prolonged dry spell for more than three weeks made the crops wither and some of them had even reached the stage of wilting.

The Hindu

These laboratories would certify the quality of the farm produce arriving at the market so that farmers could obtain remunerative prices to their produce, Agriculture Department Secretary C. Parthasarathi said. Setting up of these labs comes under e-NAM, a pan-India electronic trading portal, being put in place in the interests of farmers and the Government would invest in the infrastructure and equipment needed for the laboratories.

Live mint

The government could launch a long-term bond where individual investment is capped at, say, Rs 2 lakh per investor with attractive terms such as tax deductibility of principal and not just interest. Additional checks and filters can be included to incentivise low middle-income earners to invest. The proceeds would be earmarked expressly for agriculture infrastructure investment.

Business World

APLM also has the provision of single-point levy of markets fees and single trading licensing across state. It will also create conducive conditions such as inter-state trading license, standardisation and grading issues (for quality parameters) and quality certification for promoting nationwide single agriculture market. APLM act has also carried various provisions of earlier model APMC act for special commodity market yard, market rationalisation and commission charges etc. The willingness of implementation will matter once again.

The Times of India

“The time to plant the regular variety ended on July 8.There hasn’t been enough rain to sow even ragi, which consumes only a portion of the water needed for paddy,” joint director (agriculture) MN Rajasulochana told TOI. “This is for the first time in decades that there is absolutely no paddy in the district, according to farmers and officers who have served here. There had been some paddy in all previous droughts,” she added. Ragi should have been sown in 65,859 hectares, but only 4% of the target has been sown as of August 9.

The Wire

The ‘Seeds for Needs’ project was first initiated in Madhya Pradesh and the second phase has been launched in Morapakkam village, said N.K. Krishna Kumar, the country representative of Bioversity International. The programme for the launch was inaugurated by K. Ramasamy, vice chancellor of Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore, who emphasised that women empowerment was essential for any agricultural project or initiative to succeed. Without the participation of women, the likelihood of farm work succeeding is low, he said.

Navbharat Times

In 2010, GEAC allowed Bt brinjal, but the then Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh had refused to sign the decision because it was being strongly opposed by the civil society. So far only GM cotton has been allowed in the country, which is a non-food crop. This issue is also under consideration in the Supreme Court. The government has told the court that it will make a decision till September.

Deccan Herald

“The Centre has not specifically asked us for an opinion. Nevertheless, I have informally asked our biotechnology secretary to deliberate on this issue and advise the government,” Gowda told DH. “I’ve asked for a group of experts to be set up if necessary.” Asked if the government was open to GM crops, Gowda referred to the experience of Bt Cotton, which is being cultivated commercially in Karnataka since 2002.

The Times of India

In stiff opposition to the plans for commercial release of genetically modified (GM) Golden Rice, green activists and voluntary organisations supporting farmers in Kerala have raised concerns that it would contaminate existing indigenous rice varieties and pose grave threat to food safety and consumers’ health. It forms part of the national and Asian campaign against golden rice.

YourStory

70 years after Independence, India’s farming community has seen little progress. With little access to land holdings, limited formal credit, and continued droughts & crop failure, farmers face a bleak future.

Business World

Observing and speculating agriculture and its economics in a nation like India can be misguiding at times. A key reason of selective players in world trade to malign image with the intents, termed unconvincing. In the words of S Ganeshan, chairman of international treaties expert committee from Indian chemical council “From suicide to productivity ground reality is very much emotionally driven and this makes it vulnerable for misrepresentation”.

The Indian Express

For Policymakers wanting to wean away Punjab farmers from water-guzzling paddy, 1.35 lakh hectares (lh) area sown under maize this kharif season may not seem bad, even if it is way below the 29.11 lh for the former.

Hindustan Times The Economic Times

It was time for a nutrition revolution in India and it is important to work to achieve that to end malnutrition, renowned agriculture scientist Prof MS Swaminathan said here on Wednesday. Stating India was a country with the largest number of people with malnutirition, he said this was despite adequate food production and availability of cereals.

SME times

The NITI Aayog has drafted a three years action plan for all the sectors including agriculture for a Evergreen Revolution, said Minister of State for Agriculture & Farmers Welfare, Parshottam Rupala, in on Tuesday. In a written reply to a question in Lok Sabha, Rupala said the action plan on agriculture deals with remunerative prices for farmers and raising productivity.

Forbes

The Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare came up with a Participatory Guarantee Scheme for India (PGS-India) which aims at encouraging the small and mid-sized farmers to take up organic farming and promote it in the domestic market on a large scale.

The Times of India

Facing the drought for the third consecutive year, Mandya farmers haven’t taken up paddy production this time — a first in many years. By July-end, paddy was to be planted in 60,067 hectares in the once-bountiful district, considered a rice bowl of Karnataka.

The Indian Express

From The 1970s, a lot of private investment in tube-well irrigation, farm mechanisation and allied agricultural activities took place with bank credit support. After the establishment of National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) in 1982, institutional credit flows not only accelerated, but also exhibited diversification to fund livestock and horticultural along with assorted non-fami rural activities.

The Times of India

Agriculture Price Commission chairperson T N Prakash Kammardi said the loss of land was a serious concern, and will be worse in the coming years. “Our estimates place a total loss of 6.9lakh hectares in the past decade alone, with 20,000 acres going out of agriculture each year,” he said.

The Hitavada

In this Government through different agencies like state agriculture departments, panchayat bodies, non-government organisations supported by the National Bank Agriculture and Rural Development, Co-operative Banks, etc have initiated work on constituting self-help groups and other such bodies to perform target oriented works.

The Covai post

The Tamil Nadu Agricultural University (TNAU) has come up with a solution that would prevent the loss of fruits and vegetables during the post-harvest season. Around 30 to 35 per cent of fruits and vegetables (worth Rs. 2,40,000 crore) are lost every year in the country during the post-harvest period.

The Economic Times

The government is in no hurry to introduce genetically modified food crops in the country three months after the sector regulator gave its nod to commercialisation of GM mustard, because of widespread opposition from different quarters.

The Economic Times

The government is in no hurry to introduce genetically modified food crops in the country three months after the sector regulator gave its nod to commercialisation of GM mustard, because of widespread opposition from different quarters.

Business Standard The Tribune Trading Calls

Bt cotton seeds claim to possess protection against bollworm. But, India’s cotton crop has witnessed sporadic bollworm attacks in the last few years. “Pest attacks have become a regular phenomenon,” said Arun Sakseria, a cotton trader and exporter. An agriculture ministry bulletin on August 4 estimated India’s cotton acreage at 11.43 million hectares, 18 per cent more than 9.65 million hectares at the same time a year ago.

Inc42 YourStory ETRise

In a country with 157.35 Mn hectares of agricultural land, about 250-odd agritech startups are working to support a cultivating population of over 118.9 Mn. With the aim of improving the efficiency and output of the farming process, these startups are shouldering the ambitious task of revolutionising the agriculture industry in India. Two agritech startups i.e. EM3 Agri Services and Crofarm, have disclosed their funding today.

The Times of India

The state government has decided that a group of five ministers, to be headed by agriculture and farmers’ welfare minister O P Dhankar, will tour the state and interact with farmers to resolve their grievances. They will be organizing ‘Kisan Panchayats’ across the state. The announcement to this purpose was made by minister of state for social justice and empowerment Krishan Kumar Bedi while interacting with newspersons here on Tuesday. The decision to constitute the group of ministers was taken in a meeting chaired by chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar.

The Financial Express

India is Primarily an agrarian economy, yet its farmers continue to be among the poorest in the world. The country’s farm productivity too remains way below the global standards. A niche start-up is trying to break traditional stereotypes for increasing agricultural productivity by bringing in technology and mechanisation for the fanning community on a pay-for-use basis.

The Indian Express

The Maharashtra Agriculture Produce Marketing (Development and Regulation) Bill was passed in the House with the support of the BJP and Shiv Sena. The legislation will now be referred to the State Legislative Council before it becomes an Act.

The Financial Express

India’s farm sector received Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) worth Rs 354.77 crore during April-May this year, Parliament was informed on Tuesday. The data in this regard was placed before the Lok Sabha by Minister of State for Agriculture S S Ahluwalia.

Business World

India is among the top-five producers of most of the commodities, in addition to being a major consumer of bullion and energy products. Agriculture contributes about 22 per cent to the gross domestic product (GDP) of the Indian economy. All this indicates that India is a major center for trading of commodity derivatives. However participation on commodity exchanges is very limited. Globally, the Open Interest /Production ratio ranges from 20 to 40 per cent across commodities with that of Soybean being 41 per cent and wheat at 28 per cent. In India, however, it’s is only marginal at 1.8 per cent for soybean and 0.1 per cent for wheat. This also highlights the huge opportunity that exists ...

The Economic Times Green Ecosystem

Consolidation at the global level of Monsanto-Bayer, Dow Chemical-Du Pont and ChemChina-Syngenta, among others, is triggering a corresponding consolidation of their arms in the Indian agrochemical space. With global acquisitions, the global agrochemical and seed industry is now being controlled by four big players, as against six earlier, commanding a market share of 55-60%, according to a Deloitte report.

Deccan Chronicle The Asian Age

On March 10, 1995, Mahyco (Maharashtra Hybrid Seeds Company), a collaborator with Monsanto, imported 100 grams of the Bt Cotton seed without approval from the GEAC, which under Rules for the Manufacture, Use, Import, Export and Storage of hazardous Microorganisms Genetically Engineered Organisms or Cells, 1989 — framed under the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986 — is the only body that can grant permission for importing genetically engineered substances.

Anupam Bharat

Africa and India are gearing up to further enhance cooperation in agricultural science, technology and innovation, and move beyond dialogue to a range of practical options from a virtual biotech platform to agribusiness centres, seed investments and even joint donor-aided projects. The meeting, which included ministers, heads of biotechnology organsiations, seed industry representatives, officials and scientists, generated a slew of proposals to enhance agricultural collaboration.

The Indian Express

Although autarky on Indian farms is a distant dream, as the 71st year of Independence dawns, penury-ridden farmers are still committing suicide by the thousands— a consequence of decades of short-sightedness, while economists and scientists are still equating food sufficiency to farmer sustainability.

DinaThanthi

Notwithstanding crop damage due to floods in Gujarat, the largest cotton producing state, India’s cotton output in the forthcoming 2017-18 season starting October is seen increasing by 10-15 per cent on rise in acreage across the country. Besides, a favourable monsoon in most parts of key growing states such as Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh, and in North India, is aiding the output.

The Economic Times

The Commerce Ministry issued a notification on August 5, making changes in the import policy of tur (pigeon pea) by putting restriction of 2 lakh tonne in imports during a financial year. The restrictions will apply until 2018. Although the trade still awaits clarification on transit cargo in the high seas and bound for Indian shores, it is also of the opinion that the move would protect local farmers.

Financial Chronicle

Issuing a strong warning, the government said no contract would be registered from November 1 unless accompanied by a testing report from an accredited laboratory. The European Union has rejected an Indian demand to relax the norm for another year, sources said, following which the government’s agri-export promotion body, the Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (Apeda), has issued a notification, making testing of Tricyclazole mandatory for contract registration.

The Indian Express

As Maharashtra reported more than 90 per cent sowing, moisture stress is now threatening the survival of standing crops in various parts of the state. As per early estimates, around 2 lakh hectares of standing crops in western Marathwada and parts of Vidharbha have been affected, and in absence of immediate rains, farmers in these areas may face crop loss. According to experts, June has been a good month for the state, with farmers speeding up sowing. However, absence of rains towards the end of June, mostly in Marathwada and Vidharbha regions, had harmed the crops during the crucial growth phase.

The Indian Express

The Maharashtra government said Monday almost 70 lakh farmers out of the total 1.36 crore across the state had registered themselves for the crop insurance scheme this year. The figure almost meets the state target of 78 lakh envisaged in the beginning of the kharif season, even as farmer leaders said 40 per cent farmers could not avail the benefit.

The Hindu

Krishna Byregowda, Karnataka’s Agriculture Minister, spoke about the interventions made in the State to include nutri-millets in the food basket. “We have procured millets for the State PDS system in Karnataka and are also paying a higher price to farmers supplying them,” he said, adding that agricultural scientists should focus on improving the yields of nutritional crops and make them remunerative for farmers to encourage them to grow these.

PR Newswire

For more than a century, FMC Corporation has served the global agricultural, industrial and consumer markets with innovative solutions, applications and quality products. Revenue totaled approximately $3.3 billion in 2016. FMC employs approximately 6,000 people throughout the world and operates its businesses in three segments: FMC Agricultural Solutions, FMC Health and Nutrition and FMC Lithium.

The Economic Times Reuters New Kerala

Consolidation at the global level of Monsanto-Bayer, Dow Chemical-Du Pont and ChemChina-Syngenta, among others, is triggering a corresponding consolidation of their arms in the Indian agrochemical space. With global acquisitions, the global agrochemical and seed industry is now being controlled by four big players, as against six earlier, commanding a market share of 55-60%, according to a Deloitte report.

HTDS The Pioneer

To look at seed-based solutions for problems in our food and farming systems is faulty. It’s time that public funds are spent on lasting solutions for India’s edible oil crisis, and not on hazardous distractions India spends a whopping Rs 66,000 crore on the import of edible oil, annually. Meeting the requirement of oil from within the country perhaps requires both right policy interventions and ecological solutions. And genetically modified mustard, proponents of which are going ballistic over as a ‘solution’ to fix the import bill issue, has nothing to do with it.

The Financial Express India Gist Shafaqna Times Mumbai

So Bhargava was not actually opposed to putting a toxic gene in a living organism; he was opposed to somebody else doing it for what he considered a fat price. Bhargava then went on to make charges against DBT secretary Manju Sharma during whose tenure Bt cotton, developed by Mahyco Monsanto, got approval for commercial cultivation in 2002. Critics say Monsanto has profited immensely from the technology in the past 15 years.

The Economic Times

While India reaped the benefits of the Green Revolution in the 1960s, her neighbour China is now taking the lead in another area of sustainable agriculture — developing crops that meet the challenges posed by global warming.

The Times of India

A research study has revealed that more than four-fifth of the farming and farm labourer households are under debt in all three regions of Punjab.

Live Mint

Voting rights for farmers to elect members to local APMC boards may soon be a reality in Maharashtra, with the govt preparing to seek legislative clearance for a new bill this week

Business Insider

It’s not happening for the first time. But tomatoes and onions get expensive price tags in August and continue till the autumn breeze touches the subcontinent. And this year, tomatoes are already selling at Rs 70 a kilo in wholesale markets, which means it will touch Rs 120Rs 140 when it reaches retail market. So is the case with onions. Having touched Rs 30 a kilo at wholesale markets, you can expect to buy those for Rs 70 or more.

The Hans India

The farmer in question is Pulapa Acchibabu of Kolanka village. He brought banana vegetable variety seed, purified using A 40 solution, from Nagaram. He even supplied the same to fellow farmers. The seed is free from pest attacks. He is not experimenting with other seeds as the ones he has are of high quality.

The Times of India

FPI has given financial help to 250 cold storage projects, and would provide such economic assistance to 50 to 60 such projects in coming days, Meena said. “It is worrisome that potatoes and tomatoes are thrown on the roads in one state or another annually,” he said apparently referring to the farmers’ stir in June in Madhya Pradesh during which the cultivators to press for satisfactory price for their produce, threw it on the streets.

The Hans India

Farmers can raise five crops in a year. The market prices are highly remunerative. Processing centres would be set up in the mandals concerned involving unemployed youth. Polishing of millets would be done at the cluster vicinity itself as they are in high demand among consumers. Joint Director of Agriculture Srirama Murthy told ‘The Hans India’ that agriculture officers were creating awareness among farmers to take to millets cultivation as they are highly remunerative. The Centre too had announced minimum support price for millets.

Business Standard

There were more farmer suicides after the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) waived Rs 60,000 crore in farm loans in 2008, minister of state for agriculture Purushottam Rupala claimed in the Rajya Sabha on July 25. National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) data on farmer suicides second Rupala. Farmer suicides increased seven per cent to 17,368 in 2009, from the 2008 count of 16,196.

The Hindu

With the southwest monsoon entering its final phase, experts fear it is unlikely that rains during August can make up for the shortfall in June and July — reckoned to be two of the wettest months. Hence, agricultural activity and crop production for the kharif season is set to take a hit though intermittent rains as being witnessed since the last few days may help salvage the standing crop to a certain extent. Besides, agriculture takes place under rain-fed conditions on 2,82,000 hectares, while only 1,14,100 hectares comes under irrigated land. Hence, inadequate moisture is bound to affect crop yield.

The Pioneer

Miffed over the soaring prices of tomato and onion, the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) has asked NITI Aayog to make a strategy to find a permanent solution to the issue. Despite the bumper crops of tomato and onion, neither the farmers are getting appropriate price for their produce nor are the consumer able to buy them cheap.

Dainik Yashobhumi Millennium Post

Foodgrain output in the ongoing 2017-18 kharif season is likely to surpass last year’s record of 138.04 million tonnes due to higher acreage and a good monsoon for the second straight year, Agriculture Secretary Shobhana K Pattanayak said today.

The Wire

He was one of the best institution-builders in India as he could integrate the Indian culture of togetherness with the western culture of hard work. Several people who went on from CCMB to other institutions have tried to replicate such an ethos. So have several others who have seen it work so effectively at the CCMB. Beyond the flamboyance and everything else, PMB was a great inspiration.

DNA

Both Marathwada and Vidarbha faced a dry spell of over three weeks for which the IMD failed to issue a timely advisory. For instance, till June 20, the Latur district Agro Advisory Bulletin advised “sowing of rainfed Bt cotton” and sowing of black gram and green gram. It was only on June 30 that the advisory recommended spraying potassium nitrate on crops to deal with water stress.

Business India

Monsanto launched BT Cotton trait with a nod from GEAC in 2002, but the variety was not successful till 2005 due to non availability of leading hybrids with good agronomic performance. Monsanto formed a JV, Mahyco-Monsanto Biotech (India) Private Limited (MMBL) for GM trait commercialisation for signing licences with Indian seed companies.

Live Mint

Madhya Pradesh CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan, who holds the happiness ministry, takes pride in calling his state a sort of utopia, one that was shattered by the farmer unrest

The Economic Times

Nashik and other tomato-growing regions in Maharashtra have also been seeing an uptick in temperature. Farmers say seeds/seedlings are unable to withstand 34-36 degree Celsius. “Seed companies will have to come up with heat-tolerant seed varieties,” says Kalia of IARI.

Samaj

Agriculture is a very important sector of the Indian economy. It is because it provides employment to roughly half of India’s workforce and contributes to 17% of India’s GDP. Since independence, a lot of changes have been observed in the sector. It is often termed as ‘green revolution’ that was focused on improvements in inputs leading to betterment of output.

India Today Business Standard

The Odisha government today decided to draft an organic farming policy within two months to provide support for growth of the organic sector and marketing of organic products. The decision was taken at the agriculture cabinet meeting chaired by Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik here. “The proposed policy will enable farmers to get higher returns for their produce,” a senior official said after the agriculture cabinet meeting. Odisha is the third largest contributor to the public distribution system, said agriculture minister Damodar Rout while highlighting the states policies for the rise in paddy production in Odisha.

The Times of India

India’s summer crops planting area was 87.82 million hectares in the week ended Aug. 4, up from 85.59 million hectares in the same period last year, the country’s farm ministry said on Friday. Cotton planting was up 18.5 percent from a year earlier at 11.43 million hectares, accounting for the lion’s share of the rise in the overall sowing area.

India Infoline

In order to further intensify cooperation among BRICS countries in agricultural research policy, science and technology, innovation and capacity building, including technologies for smallholder farming in the BRICS countries, an MoU on establishment of the Agricultural Research Platform was signed by the Foreign Ministers of BRICS countries in the 8th BRICS Summit held on October 16, 2016 at Goa. BRICSs ARP will be the natural global platform for science-led agriculture-based sustainable development for addressing the issues of world hunger, undernutrition, poverty and inequality, particularly between farmers’ and non-farmers’ income, and enhancing agricultural trade, biosecurity and climate resilient agriculture.

Nava Bharat

Agriculture Minister Prabhalal Saini said that through the National Agricultural Markets (e-Names), the farmers would be able to get fair prices and increase transparency in trade. Saini was addressing a one-day national agricultural marketing workshop organized on Thursday in Pant Krishi Bhawan.

News Click

The other major demands included, the hand over of forest lands, temple/shrine land, pasture land with pattas to the cultivating peasants, scrap the pro-corporate Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana and provide comprehensive insurance security to all farmers, provide pension of Rs 3000 per month to poor and middle peasants and agricultural workers aged 60 and above; ensure at least 200 days of work and minimum wage of Rs 350 per day to agricultural workers under MNREGA.

Nitidina

The Agriculture Ministry today said it received Rs 16,094.13 crore in the April-June quarter of the current fiscal for implementation of various schemes. The amount is 53 per cent higher compared to Rs 10,498.90 crore received by the ministry in the same period last year, it said in a statement.

STL Today WN Wopular Farminguk News Dump Half Desi Sorozatwiki Green Ecosystem

As Monsanto, the Creve Coeur-based seed and pesticide giant, prepares to merge with Germany’s Bayer, observers wonder how the marriage will affect the company’s reputation in India, one of the largest markets in the world.

Rural marketing

Stressing on the need of reforms in agriculture marketing, Shilpa Divekar Nirula, Chair, FICCI National Committee on Agriculture and CEO, Monsanto India said, “With changes in production scenario it is necessary to have effective agricultural marketing reforms to ensure that the farming is remunerative” On creating infrastructure for post harvest management, Nirula said, “Around 75 percent of agriculture happens in Kharif only. It produces surplus commodities, thus there is a need of developing huge infrastructure for the post-harvest management, especially for perishables.”

Kashmir Reader

To review the state/centrally sponsored schemes 2017-18 and implementation of special projects a meeting was chaired by Director Agriculture, Kashmir Altaf Aijaz Andrabi on Saturday.

Science Chronicle The Hindu

A rice variety originally from West Bengal is able to accumulate high concentration of the metal in its grain.

The Hindu Business Line

Weak arrivals and the government’s move to allow export of pulse seeds have lifted the prices of majority of pulse seeds, with masur (bold) quoted at Rs 3,350 a quintal, while masur (Madhya Pradesh) ruled at Rs 2,900-3,000.

Hindi Business Standard

Last two years have witnessed the emergence of start-ups even in the farm sector. Their count is still quite small compared to those in other fields but given the huge scope for offering technology and innovations-based solutions to the problems faced by the farmers, these enterprises seem set to proliferate rapidly.

Millennium Post

The government is working to revive five fertiliser plants, having a production capacity of 65 lakh metric tonnes, to turn India from being an importer to an exporter in the field of urea and fertilisers, the Rajya Sabha was informed on Friday. During the Question Hour, Minister of Chemicals, Fertlisers and Parliamentary Affairs Ananth Kumar said the government was working to revive the fertiliser plants at Sindri, Talcher, Barauni, Ramgundam and Gorakhpur.

The Financial Express

The Central Government may lift a decade-long ban on export of pulses in abid to shore up domestic prices which have fallen sharply because of abundant supplies. India currently only allows export of organic pulses.

The Economic Times

Crop planting has grown 2.6% from a year ago, government data on Friday showed, with increase in acreage seen mostly in cotton, sugarcane, rice and pulses. With the planting season at its fag end, crops now cover 87.82 million hectares, or 83% of the targeted acreage, agriculture ministry data showed. While the area under coarse cereal is similar to the previous year’s, there’s a 10% decrease in acreage for oilseed.

The Hindu Business Line

The concept of cheaper food should not endanger the lives of the farming community, said Devinder Sharma, a food and trade policy analyst. Delivering a lecture on the way forward for Indian agriculture at the Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Sharma emphasised that productivity-oriented agricultural income alone would not augment the income of farmers.

Deccan Chronicle

Due to drought conditions and meagre water levels, around 28 per cent of crops sown in catchment areas of projects may dry up. The worst-affected crops are paddy, maize and cotton.

Financial Chronicle

Some sections ascribe this constant pressure from extreme right wing outfits as the prime reason for Panagariya’s exit. But, people close to him said that such attacks did not affect him at all and, undeterred, he fielded policy prescriptions that were in the best interests of the country. This is how the Air India’s privatisation and strategic disinvestment in PSUs took shape. Also, despite opposition on the ground, he also favoured adoption of GM crops for farmers.

The Indian Express

He marked the unique boundaries of science in India through his engagements with campaigns to protect food sovereignty and biodiversity and his vociferous resistance to GM crops on the one side, and his total and absolute commitment to justice for the victims of the Bhopal disaster.

Capital Khabar

Significantly we should remember that earlier during the brouhaha about Bt Cotton, the Supreme Court had set up a Technical Expert Committee (TEC) in 2012 to assess the safety of GM crops. The TEC in its 2013 report had, among other things, recommended a ten-year moratorium on field trials of GM crops in all edible food crops.

Indian News Web The Hindu

“For about 5 years, I had been living out of a suitcase until I met Uma, my wife. It was our common interest in food and movies that brought us together. In those days, I was neck-deep in work trying to collect information and explain to the public why we had to oppose plans to bring in Bt brinjal into India.

News Today

“Starting from Green Revolution initiative in 1960s, agriculture sector has always been supported by government both at the Central and State level. Since independence, there has been consistent improvement in total production, yields and many other indices. However, a lot more improvement is required,” says KisanKraft MD, Ravidra Agarwal.

Bizztor Inc42

Under the AGRI UDAAN, start-ups will get incubation space to run their businesses and have access to research laboratories and libraries. AGRI UDAAN will also help the selected start-ups with regulatory services like company registration and environmental compliances.

The Times of India

Paddy, pulses and other crops are being sown on 75 per cent of the average sowing area so far in the ongoing kharif season with coverage of paddy, pulses, cotton and sugarcane higher than year-ago, the Agriculture Ministry said today. Sowing in the Kharif (summer) season begins with the onset of southwest monsoon. As per the Met Department, rains were five per cent above the long-term average till July 26 across the country.

The Pioneer

Agriculture in India is not only the source of sustenance and livelihood for millions but is considered to be the backbone of the economy. However, challenges and setbacks have been plaguing this sector increasingly and making it extremely difficult for the ordinary farmer to eke out a decent living. Incessant drought, electricity shortages, crop failures, floods amid mounting debts have left the farmer with no option but to take the unfortunate step of committing suicide. The increasing rate of farmer suicides has now become an inalienable feature in the Indian agricultural landscape.

The Indian Express

The expert panel on the farm loan waiver in Punjab, led by T Haque, met farmers to get their feedback at Punjab Agricultural University (PAU) in Ludhiana Tuesday. The panel, which has been constituted by Punjab CM Captain Amarinder Singh to assess situation of farmers debt in the state, was clearly told by the farmers that loan waiver is not a solution to end farmer suicides in Punjab.

E-PAO

Agriculture Minister V Hangkhanlian today announced that the Government would start distributing paddy transplants to farmers whose paddy fields were flooded during the recent flood . Hangkhanlian made this statement in the State Assembly while clarifying to policy cut motions raised by Opposition members to the demand for Agriculture Department which amounted to Rs 215,96,89,000 . Three varieties of paddy seeds which can be harvested within three months were sown over 95 hectares and they are now fit for transplantation.

The Hindu Business Line

Financial distress, lack of timely help and crop failure have often been blamed for the spiralling numbers in farm suicides in India. Now, a US study has added climate change as another significant factor that is driving the disaster northwards. Just a degree rise in temperatures above 20 degrees during the crucial crop growing season (June-September) could push up the number of suicides by 70. In the last 30 years, a total of 59,000 farmer suicides in India have been attributed to the direct cause of rising temperatures by the study published by the University of California, Berkeley researchers.

Sify

The Union cabinet on Wednesday gave ex-post facto approval for a MoU between India and BRICS countries to set up a BRICS-Agriculture Research Platform (BRICS-ARP).

DSIJ

The Agriculture Ministry has drafted a model namely, the Agricultural Produce and Livestock Marketing (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, 2017, said a government release on Tuesday. It provides for progressive agricultural marketing reforms, including setting up markets in private sector, direct marketing, farmer-consumer markets, de-regulation of fruits and vegetables, e-trading, single point levy of market fee, issue of unified single trading license in the state, declaring warehouses/silos/cold storage as market sub-yards and Market Yards of National Importance (MNI) so that more markets are available for farmers to sell their produce for better prices.

Business Standard

The Union Agriculture Ministry on Tuesday signed a Memorandum of Association (MOA) with International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) in order to establish IRRI-South Asia Regional Centre (ISARC) in Varanasi.

The Week

Cotton output has jumped fourfold since India allowed the genetically modified (GM) variety in 2002, transforming the country into the world’s top producer and second-largest exporter of the fibre. Monsanto’s lab-grown seeds yield nearly all of the cotton produced in India. India grows cotton on 11-12 million hectares and is likely to have harvested 33.63 million bales (1 Indian bale = 170 kg) in the 2016/17 season that started on October 1, slightly down from 33.78 million bales a year earlier, according to the Cotton Association of India.

The New Indian Express

He had opposed the approval of GM in India and called for a moratorium of at least 15 years on genetically modified crops in the country, it said. Bhargava had returned his Padma Bhushan award in 2015 in protest against the alleged intolerance in the country thus facing flak from various quarters. I have decided to return the award. The reason is that the present government is moving away from the path of democracy, moving towards the path of making the country Hindu religious autocracy just like Pakistan. This is not acceptable… something I find unacceptable,” he had said then.

DNA

During his two and half years at Niti Aayog, Panagariya also had run-ins with several RSS affiliated organisations. Earlier this year, RSS-affiliated think tank Swadeshi Jagran Manch had objected to several of the think tank’s recommendations over dismantling National Pharmaceutical Price Authority (NPPA) and its endorsement of GM seeds, among others, saying that the Aayog is serving the interests of MNCs.

The Hans India

GM mustard is being hailed as a Swadeshi technological invention! But a “Swadeshi” technology should not be a homegrown version of a destructive “terminator” technology developed elsewhere, but rather one that is sustainable both eco-logically (like the SMI i.e Systemic Mustard Intensification) & economically. (BT Cotton)

The Times of India

The Punjab government would come up with an agriculture policy soon to ensure the welfare of farming community, said Punjab finance minister Manpreet Singh Badal. “We will not restrict waiving the debt of small and marginal farmers up to Rs 2 lakh, but will go beyond that to support farmers in many ways through a new agriculture policy. Only waiving debt is not the complete solution,” he told TOI.

The Times of India

A group of eight farmers from Irugur, under the aegis of the Tamil Nadu Farmers’ Association, on Monday took out a march to the district collectorate carrying a large plough and petitioned the collector, T N Hariharan, against the government’s policy of outsourcing crop insurances to private players and urged the state government to take up and run all crop insurances.

Hindi Business Standard

Despite plentiful rains in most parts of the country, monsoon has been patchy in some areas of Punjab and Maharashtra, prompting the two state governments to initiate steps to stop pest attacks. “We are a little concerned because of deficient rains in about six districts of the state and that’s why we have reached out to farmers to help fight pest attacks, if any,” Balwinder Singh Sidhu, Punjab’s agriculture commissioner, told Reuters in a telephone interview.

DNA

Earlier, the apex court had asked the Centre to take a “considered” and “well-informed” view before taking a policy decision on the commercial release of Genetically Modified (GM) mustard crop. The government had said it was yet to take a policy decision on the commercial release of GM mustard crop and has been considering suggestions and objections on the issue.