Mint

The use of unmanned aerial vehicles in agriculture is an integral part of agro-industry in the developed world. In India too, drones are being sought out for functions such as crop field scanning. This is what prompted 23-year-old Pranav Manpuria to return to India after completing his bachelor’s in business administration from Illinois Tech in Chicago, US. Along with Kunal Sharma, an engineering graduate from RNSIT, Bengaluru, he co-founded the agro-tech enterprise, VDrone Agro, last year.

The Hindu

Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao has ruled out the demand from certain organisations and political parties to extend Rythu Bandhu investment support scheme to tenant farmers too.Addressing the awareness meeting on Rythu Bandhu Life Insurance Scheme here on Monday, Mr. Rao said some leaders do not know how to face the TRS and hence come up with such demands.

The Asian Age

Today is the first anniversary of the killing of some half a dozen farmers by the police at Mandsaur in Madhya Pradesh, and the country’s farmers are on the move once again. A large numbers of agriculturists have been on a 10-day “strike” from June 1. Their “gaon bandh”, or village shutdown, is planned to culminate in a Bharat Bandh on June 10.

The Hindu Business Line

With the crisis in agriculture telling on its recent electoral fortunes, especially the by-poll to the Kairana Lok Sabha seat, the BJP on Tuesday made a peace offering to agitating farmers for a “dialogue without condition”.Reports of the Centre’s plans to announce a package of ₹8,000 crore to clear sugarcane arrears coincided with the BJP’s Kisan Morcha President Virendra Singh Mast making a fervent appeal to “all farmers in distress to initiate dialogue”.

The Pioneer

To ensure that the State’s beleaguered farmers reap what they sow, Punjab will soon have a full-fledged agriculture policy. The State’s Farmers’ Commission, which has been working on the same, has come up with a draft policy recommending doing away with the power subsidy to big farmers and setting up a special fund for the non-MSP crops, among other things.

Financial Express

Thank God for asymmetric information. Without it, many leap-of-faith enterprises, floating on hope, driven by optimism but ending in failure, would not have been attempted. We would not embark on journeys whose destinations changed in the light of experience along the course. Life, in short, would not be an adventure. It is inadequate information and the audacity of infatuation with the idea of pristine agriculture that goads Venkat Iyer to privilege “Moong Over Microchips” (the title of his book, published by Penguin) and extinguish a 15-year career in the information technology industry to be reborn as a farmer.

Mumbai Mirror

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) recently shared a report with the parliamentary standing committee on agriculture. Among other things, the report showed that small and marginal farmers are getting only 30 to 40 per cent of the credit meant for the sector. Basically, those who need financial assistance the most are being left out.

The Hans India

The agriculture department and Tobacco Board officials organised an awareness camp for the farmers on green manure fertilisers and seeds at the Ongole 1 Tobacco Auction Centre on Tuesday.

The Times of India

National Agriculture Cooperatives Marketing Federation of India (NAFED) would start procuring pulses at the minimum support price (MSP) from the farmers of Nalanda, Lakhisarai, Sheikhpura and Patna districts “very soon”, said state cooperative department minister Rana Randhir Singh on Monday. “The phrase ‘very soon’ here means a fortnight or so,” he said. The types of pulses to be procured are gram, moong, arhar and masur.

The Free Press Journal

The farmer’s stir in parts of the country seems to be petering out. On Monday, under pressure from the producers of milk and vegetables, the leaders of the farmers’ unions in Punjab spearheading the protest decided to call it off. They faced the wrath of the vegetable growers and dairy farm owners and vendors who all feared loss of incomes as a result of the ill-considered and politically-motivated stir. Not all farmers’ unions were party to the protest.

The Tribune

Mansa Deputy Commissioner Balwinder Dhaliwal honoured 123 farmers from 44 villages who have not burnt paddy stubble this season in Mansa. The farmers were given letters of appreciation by the Deputy Commissioner for not burning the paddy stubble in the 1,700 acres of agricultural land in their respective villages

The Statesman

State’s agriculture produce commissioner Raj Pratap Singh said that soon 90 lakh Rupay credit cards will be given to small and marginal farmers. This would be done through NABARD and is sure to come as a respite to those farmers facing financial crises. Singh was in Meerut to discuss ways and means to improve income of farmers during divisional meeting about Kharif crop on Monday.

The Times of India

Over 33 lakh farmersin the state are waiting to get their crop insurance claims of the previous season. Even as it is the fifth season of Prime Minister Agriculture Insurance Scheme, the claims for last year’s cropping season have been delayed by over two months.

The Economic Times

Chief minister HD Kumaraswamy can make a meaningful programme out of farm loan waiver by including all loans without a cut-off date, say bankers with direct knowledge of agriculture lending in Karnataka. The government could also set a cap on the loan amount eligible for waiver, they suggested ahead of a meeting the CM plans to hold with officials of public sector banks on the subject.

The Hindu

Parthasaradhi, Principal Secretary, Agriculture and G. Satyanarayana Shastry, Regional Manager, LIC signed the MoU on behalf of the State Government and the LIC and exchanged the documents in the presence of Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao and LIC Chairman V.K. Sharma. Farmers aged between 18 years and 59 years will be eligible for the insurance scheme, which will come into effect from August 15.

Mint

The ongoing 10-day strike by farmers across the country is the latest episode of the crisis in agriculture spilling out on to the streets. Meanwhile, the chief minister of Haryana, Manohar Lal Khattar, and the Union agriculture minister, Radha Mohan Singh, have made rather insensitive remarks about the strike, gloating about what they think have been the successful policies of their government. Data shows, however, that the farm crisis is real and persisting.

Odisha TV

Farmers of Bargarh district staged protests and locked up banks alleging that even though crop loss reports have been submitted to the concerned insurance companies, they are being deprived of their claims.As per reports, the insurance companies have denied disbursal of insurance claims due to anomalies in data related to crop cutting and actual yield for Kharif Season 2017.

The Northlines

Director Agriculture Jammu, Hari Krishan Razdan today reviewed the progress of the implementation of ongoing farmers’ welfare programmes and schemes in Poonch district here at a meeting of officers and field functionaries of the district.

Business Standard

The Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY), the flagship crop insurance scheme of the Narendra Modi government, has entered its third year of operation, albeit with a substantial decline in farmers’ enrolment in its second year, the data reveals.Between FY16 and FY17, the number of farmers enrolled in the scheme declined from about 57.3 million to about 48.5 million, a fall of around 15 per cent.