The Tribune

Twenty million tonnes of stubble is produced in Punjab, out of which only 2 million tonne is utilised, while the remaining 18 million tonne becomes a threat to the air, water and earth, thereby badly damaging the natural bio-diversity.

Deccan Chronicle

Ahead of World Environment Day on Tuesday, experts said India must take a pledge to minimise the use of plastic. Creative use of plastics must be made to reduce the burden at dumpsites.Environmentalist B.V. Subba Rao said, “Plastic usage should be minimised especially the usage of plastic bags which has many safe alternatives but continue to be ignored. Plastic carry bags, flexi bags and others should be replaced by bags made of cloth or jute.”

The Economic Times

The ongoing 10-day farmer strike called by the Rashtriya Kisan Mahasangh has so far made no major impact on the market, although traders said they are watching the situation closely. Supplies and prices of fruits and vegetables remained stable in most places, including the big cities of Delhi and Mumbai, with the impact of the agitation remaining limited to isolated pockets like parts of Punjab and Maharashtra.

Jagran Josh

The Union Ministry of Agriculture and farmers’ welfare has launched the Krishi Kalyan Abhiyaan from June 1, 2018 till July 31, 2018 to aid, assist and advice farmers on how to improve their farming techniques and raise their incomes.

The Times of India

The Punjab Farmers’ Commission has proposed restricting the state’s power subsidy to non-income tax-paying farmers in its draft Punjab State Farmers’ Policy. The objective is to stop giving subsidy to those farmers who have other sources of income.The draft policy was released on Monday by chairman of the Punjab State Farmers’ Commission Ajay Vir Jakhar and state agriculture commissioner Balwinder Singh Sidhu. It also proposes a flat rate of power initially at Rs 100 per BHP per month for a farmer owning four hectares of land or more.

The New Indian Express

The State government and the Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) on Monday singed a historic Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for providing life insurance coverage to around 50 lakh farmers in the state.  Telangana farmers group will be the largest group for LIC. The insurance scheme will come into effect from August 15.

Pune Mirror

As far as the state government is concerned, a selfie is a solution for all manner of problems. In a bid to woo farmers amidst their ongoing strike, minister for agriculture Sadabhau Khot has ordered officials from his department to reach out to farmers and click selfies with them. The minister has claimed that this way, officials will understand the problems that farmers are facing first-hand. Unsurprisingly, farmers and organisations have criticised the move.

The Pioneer

Worried over farmers’ anger reflecting in the recently-concluded bypolls which the BJP lost badly and their ongoing agitation in eight States, the Narendra Modi Government has decided to aid, assist and advise the farmers on how to improve their farming techniques and raise their incomes in 115 ‘aspirational’ districts. The Government has also deputed director-level officers to get feedback for its flagship programmes, including schemes launched for welfare of farmers and rural development.

The New Indian Express

Farmer activist Kishore Tiwari today condemned Union Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh’s remark that the protest by farmers in various parts of the country were attempts to get media attention.Tiwari, who heads Vasantrao Naik Sheti Swavalamban Mission, said the minister’s remark are “unfortunate” and amount to “rubbing salt on the wounds of dying agrarian community”.

Deccan Chronicle

Nature has almost fulfilled human beings’ requirements. But on World Environment Day, I recall the words of Mahatma Gandhi which we should imbibe: “There is a sufficiency in the world for man’s need but not for man’s greed.” Kerala’s agriculture ministry has decided to make the farming sector environment-friendly on the occasion of another World Environment Day. The important step towards environment-friendly farming is to achieve self-sufficiency. We have to evolve ourselves from commercialisation to attaining self-sufficiency. If we start cultivating organic farming in all the homesteads, the pesticide-laced vegetables will disappear. A mass drive to have organic farming across the state has come as a revolutionary change. Last year, organic farming was done in 67,858 hectares ...

The Hindu

“Time has come for intelligent and technique-based farming to realise good returns from agriculture. With unity comes better bargaining power and with it prosperity for farmers and the State. About 50% of people are dependent on agriculture and the State will soon show how one can thrive on agriculture,” he said adding there was pressure from farmers in other States to implement Investment Support scheme, he added.

The Hindu

Since June 1, many farmers are on an unusual 10-day ‘strike’ to draw the government’s attention to distress in the fields. A federation of 130 farmer bodies has decided to stop supplies of vegetables and dairy produce to major cities and hold a dharna on 30 national highways, without blocking vehicular passage. Prices of vegetables and fruits are inching up in urban centres given the supply shock created by this ‘Gaon Bandh’; in cities like Mumbai fishermen have joined the cause. The farmers’ demands are not new — enhancement of the minimum support price regime for crops in line with the M.S. Swaminathan Commission’s recommendations, higher prices for milk procurement and loan waivers to offset low or negative returns ...

The Times of India

The state government has come up with another bonanza for farmersand will provide subsidy to procure agricultural machinery, including tractors and harvesters. Chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao announced this at HICC here at a meeting of farmers’ coordination committee members and officials to educate them on the farmers’ insurance scheme.

Free Press Journal

Meet Anil Pachauri, a farmer from Lamhetaghat village of Jabalpur district, whose agricultural income skyrocketed after he went for Solar Pump Scheme. His annual farm income has spiralled from paltry Rs. 25000 to over Rs. 3 lakh, thanks to Chief Minister Solar Pump Scheme. He is not the only farmers reaping benefit of the scheme as a total of 7,000 solar pumps of different capacities have been installed in farms.

Business Standard

Quint

Farmers across the nation are on strike, cutting off vegetables and milk supplies to cities, demanding better prices, loan waivers, power supply and ethanol as fuel — all this hailing from the Swaminathan Commission’s recommendations. It makes one wonder if the agricultural sector is indeed competitive, given its vulnerability to temperature changes and dependence on monsoon. Are we forgetting the agriculture sector and allied activities in the name of progress?