The Wire

On July 24, the minister of agriculture and farmers’ welfare responded to this Lok Sabha question, “Whether there is a proposal to provide identity cards to women farmers, so that they can be recognised as cultivators in their own right; if so, the details thereof; and if not, the reasons therefor?”

The Northlines

Krishi Vigyan Kendra (KVK), Reasi of Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology-Jammu (SKUAST-J) and Govt. Higher Sec. School (Boys), Reasi organised training programme on “Commercial Agriculture and Retailing” for school children under the Rashtriya Madhaymic Shiksha Abhiyan (RMSA) here today at Govt. Higher Sec. School (Boys), Reasi. 40 school children from different villages of Reasi district participated in the programme. The programme was co-ordinated by Associate Director Extension and I/C KVKs of SKUAST-J, Dr. RK Arora and the Principal of Govt. Higher Sec. School (Boys), Reasi Reasi, Sh. Sudarshan Kumar.

The New Indian Express

Agriculture must be made nutrition-sensitive, making the vital connection between agriculture and nutrition, said Vice-President Venkaiah Naidu while inaugurating the National Consultation on Leveraging Agriculture for Nutrition at the MS Swaminathan Research Foundation (MSSRF) on Sunday.

The Economic Times

Agriculture sector must grow at 4 per cent or higher in order to achieve GDP growth rate of 8-10 per cent, Niti Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant said today. This, he said, is achievable by digital farming and connected farm services which can increase farmers’ income.

Devdi course

The private sector says that command agriculture has placed a firm foundation towards the change of the domestic agricultural sector with the country slowly moving towards arriving its breadbasket status.

India TV

The Agriculture Ministry has suggested several measures including setting up of a system for forecasting demand, green logistics corridor for perishables, and use of e-commerce, to boost shipments of agri commodities to USD 60 billion by 2022.

CNBC TV18

the US treasury secretary today insisted that agricultural issues were discussed in President Donald Trump’s talks last week with Jean-Claude Juncker, contradicting the EU Commission president’s account of the negotiations.

The Times of India

While showers may be stopping you from venturing outdoors, now is the best time to step out in the open. The city’s air quality has turned “good” for the first time this year as rains wash away pollutants. The city has been recording safe PM 2.5 (fine, respirable particulate matter) concentrations since the onset of monsoon. On Saturday, the running average PM 2.5 concentration was measured at 29 micrograms per cubic metres, according to System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting Research. The 24-hour safe standard is 60

The Asian Age

An impending sustainability crisis looms over India’s agriculture and is beginning to manifest in farmers encountering profound scientific challenges, whose subject matter is fully comprehensible only to a handful of experts, and goes largely unnoticed by policymakers and the political class alike. Yet, its impact on what matters to us most — food security and nutrition, sustainable livelihoods, and inclusive growth — can scarcely be exaggerated.

Timesnow news

For US farmers affected by the trade war unleashed by President Donald Trump, the $12 billion in emergency aid from his administration’s is a temporary remedy, and it comes with several potential negative side effects. The Agriculture Department announced the aid on Tuesday to help farm producers hurt by retaliation by major trading partners against US tariffs on steel, aluminium and tens of billions of dollars in Chinese products.

UNI

West Bengal is an example to the country on agriculture policies. Stating this, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Friday suggested that the country should follow the agriculture policies of her state, where not a single farmer committed suicide against about 12,000 in other parts of India, including the BJP-ruled states.

Business Standard

India’s milk production is estimated to have increased by 6.6 per cent to 176.35 million tonnes during the last financial year.”Milk production in the country is 165.4 million tonnes during 2016-17 and 176.35 million tonnes (provisional) during 2017-18,” Minister of State for Agriculture Krishna Raj has said in a written reply to the Lok Sabha.

Down To Earth

Dungariya village in the ...

Business Standard

India and South Africa signed three agreements, including in the areas of agriculture and space cooperation, following bilateral talks between Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and South African President Cyril Ramaphosa on the sidelines of the annual BRICS Summit here.

The Wire

In the face of massive sugarcane arrears of almost Rs 18,000 crore, the Narendra Modi-led NDA government recently announced an increase in the Fair and Remunerative Price (FRP) of sugarcane for the 2018-19 season.

The New Indian Express

The Agriculture Department will soon hold adalats in all rain-affected panchayats in the state to accept complaints from farmers who have reported crop loss, Agriculture Minister V S Sunil Kumar has said. The government order in this regard will be issued this week itself. The adalats are meant to forestall any delay that may occur in providing compensation and to ensure the speedy recovery of the farm sector.

The New Indian Express

With one-third of agriculture activities in India still depending on groundwater for irrigation, the country’s cultivated land is shrinking due to depleting ground water levels and extreme weather conditions. This will impact the agriculture output and may upset the Centre’s target of doubling farmers’ income by 2022.

The Hindu Business Line

After running an art gallery for years, bagging an award for his innovative works on ‘tiles for ceiling’, C Shanmugasundaram of Chittode decided to become a farm innovator.His model — dish pandal and vertical farming stand — at ICAR Krishi Vigyan Kendra – Myrada, at Gobichettipalayam near Erode catch the attention of every visitor.

Business Standard

Observing that damage to environment cannot be undone, the Delhi High Court on Thursday extended till further orders the ban on axing of 16,500 trees for the construction of high-rise residential quarters for central government employees in the national capital. It directed the Centre to submit all the files pertaining to grant of environment clearance for the project.

The Tribune

The state government has given instructions to the government officials to sign and submit a consent form that they would not burn stubble in their fields.They have stated that as per National Green Tribunal (NGT) directions, stubble burning is banned in the fields and if anyone is found doing it, penalty has to be imposed

UNI

The Punjab agriculture department has launched a three-day-long awareness drive for farmers for educating them on judicious use of urea in paddy crops keeping in view of their earlier awareness drive of cutting down the use of DAP fertilizer by 30 per cent in Kharif crop

Daily O

The government recently announced at a press conference hefty increase in procurement prices of paddy, cotton and several other kharif crops. Home minister Rajnath Singh, who was present at the press conference, was in a self-congratulatory mood and declared that the government had fulfilled its promises to the farmers of ensuring prices 50 per cent above the cost of production.

Business Standard

With over 65% of Uttar Pradesh, among the country’s top agricultural producers, reeling under near drought situation owing to deficient rainfall, the state kharif sowing has already fallen by over a million hectares.

Bangalore Mirror

The Karnataka Agriculture Department is planning to take a big step in digitising farmlands in 29 districts of the state. The department aims to receive real-time data from the farmlands and help around 2.5 lakh farmers by giving them full-fledged smart services.

The Pioneer

The Delhi Cabinet has approved a proposal to increase the income of Delhi farmers by three to four times. On Tuesday, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal announced “Mukhyanmantri Kisan Aaye Badhotri Solar Yojna” under which the surface area of agriculture land will be used to install solar panels without disturbing the agriculture activities as the height of solar plates will be 3.5 metre.

TimesNow News

The Bihar government on Wednesday said it would declare the state “drought-hit” if it receives less than average rainfall in the next two to three days. “If the state receives less than average rainfall in next two-three days, then the state government will not be lagging behind in declaring the state drought hit.

The Indian Express

Buoyant rural consumption reflected in industry and corporate sales data, amidst a persistent agrarian crisis and farmer unrest, is a conundrum facing most market analysts and policy watchers today. National income data shows that nominal gross value added from agriculture grew by 4.5 per cent in 2017-18, the lowest since the 3.8 per cent for 2004-05. The terms of trade for agriculture — a ratio of the average realised prices for crops to that of commodities purchased by farmers — has declined by 8.2 per cent between 2010-11 and 2017-18. Our calculations reveal that over 30 per cent of this has happened post the demonetisation shock. Weak price realisations for the recent period might also explain ...

The Pioneer

The Government asked State-run Agriculture varsities to develop Krishi Vigyan Kendras (agriculture centres) as model centres on the lines of centres developed by Indian Council of Agriculture Research (ICAR).The State Government said that with the improvement in agriculture centres, they will be better equipped to impart training to farmers and ultimately contribute in enhancing agriculture productivity.

The Times of India

An agri-fest named ‘Onanilavu’ will be organised at Amaravila as part of Onam celebrations. The festival will be held from August 19 to 20.Organic theatre, which envisages presentation of art forms as a stimulant to agriculture activities will also be staged as part of the event. This will be organised by Viva Cultural Development Organisation.

Morung Express

ATMA Longleng block conducted demonstration on May 4 at Yachem village. Resource person, Tenhnyei, ATM Longleng block demonstrated on oyster mushroom cultivation and step by step process on vermi-composting. Aienla, BTM Longleng block demonstrated on yellow sticky traps for insect pest management. Oyster mushroom spawn and worms for vermin-composting was also distributed to the farmers. Alltogether 10 farmers participated in the programme.

The Pioneer

Agricultural pests cannot be destroyed completely no matter how much pesticide is used. While pesticide and fertilisers along with genetically modified crops have ended up adding poison to food, farmers who pursue organic agriculture earn up to 10 times more than other farmers while producing food that is high in nutrition. Noted activist Vandana Shiva said this while speaking at the launch of the book ‘Poisons in Our Food: Links between Pesticides and Disease’ authored by her along with Dr Mira Shiva and Dr Vaibhav Singh. She launched the book at Natraj- The Green Bookstore along with cardiologist Dr Kuldeep Datta.

Business Standard

India on Tuesday extended $200 million lines of credit to Rwanda as Prime Minister Narendra Modi held wide-ranging talks with President Paul Kagame and discussed measures to boost the bilateral strategic ties by strengthening cooperation in trade and agriculture sectors.

The Asian Age

Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal on Tuesday announced the “Mukhyanmantri Kisan Aaye Badhotri Solar Yojna” aiming to increase the income of farmers by three to five times in the national capital.

India Today

A year before the 2019 elections, the Centre has informed the Parliament that the number of suicides by farmers and agricultural labourers during 2016 has come down approximately by 9.77 per cent.Minister of Agriculture and Farmer Welfare Radha Mohan Singh said the number of suicides has come down from 12,602 in 2015 to 11,370 in 2016.

Business Standard

Harsh Kumar Bhanwala, chairman of the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (Nabard), says the assessment is of an agricultural produce storage gap of 35 million tonnes (mt).The agri procurement season’s peak is May-June. Agri finance and warehouse industry sources expect a huge requirement after the kharif harvest, with over 10 grain, cereal and oilseed crops trading below the government’s Minimum Support Price (MSP).

The Times of India

The bumper crop of sugarcane, for instance, is leaving a bitter taste in the mouths of farmers with sugar mills unable to crush the mounds of stocks piling up. The state produced 2.5 crore tonnes of sugarcane in 2016-17 and it went up to 3.6 crore tonnes in 2017-18, thanks to good monsoon during the rabi season last year. With 70% of the state already having received 70% excess rains and half of the rainy season still to come, Karnataka is expected an yield of 4.5 crore tonnes of sugarcane by the end of the year.

The Northlines

A training programme was conducted on New Crop Insurance Portal under Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojna (PMFBY) today here at Directorate of Agriculture. Deputy Mission Director, PMFBY, K K Sharma, State Heads of Insurance companies (RGICL, ICICI/L & OIC), Representatives of Banks and Officers of the Agriculture Department participated in the training programme.

The Hans India

Many farmers who have been facing problems for various reasons and mainly due to input costs, now heave a sigh of relief as their investment during paddy transplantation season has come down.

The New Indian Express

India today extended USD 200 million lines of credit to Rwanda as Prime Minister Narendra Modi held wide-ranging talks with President Paul Kagame and discussed measures to boost the bilateral strategic ties by strengthening cooperation in defence, trade and agriculture sectors.

The New Indian Express

The ‘crop colonies’ concept of the agriculture department has yielded the desired results as the production of vegetables in Ibrahimpatnam area increased from 44,000 tonnes to 83,000 tonnes. With the shortage of vegetables in the state after the bifurcation of the erstwhile combined AP, the Telangana agriculture department focused on improving the vegetable production.

The Pioneer

Punjab Government on Monday released Rs 760 crores to clear pending the arrears against power subsidy for farmers, besides others payments towards agriculture and allied activities.With this, all the pending bills towards the Value Added Tax (VAT) or Goods and Services Tax (GST) would also be cleared. VAT or GST refunds have been cleared up to July 20, 2018, with disbursal of Rs 17 crores, said the government’s official spokesperson.

The Indian Express

Tele-calling to the Farmers’ Tele-Advisors (FTA) at Kisan Call Centre (KCC), Pune, is among the most favoured ways for cultivators seeking all kinds of information. The KCC operates with 69 ‘advisers’, who guide farmers, and two supervisers, receiving over 3,000 calls on an average everyday from across Maharashtra and Goa. The study covered 30 ‘advisers’ and 80 farmers from Pune, Ahmednagar, Solapur and Osmanabad districts.

Business Standard

The Trump administration is set to announce Tuesday a plan to provide billions in aid to farmers to help shield them from the impact of a trade war in which agriculture is a main target for retaliation against US tariffs, a person familiar with the plans said.

Business Today

Punjab State Farmers’ and Farm Workers’ Commission (PSFC), a statutory body constituted by the Punjab government, may propose a series of governance reforms and technology interventions to uplift the financial and social status of the agriculture dependent population of the state.

Business Standard

The government’s move to expand MGNREGA for creation of durable assets in post- and pre-harvesting agriculture operations has raised doubts on whether it would lead to using farm labour for big private land at the cost of public exchequer, which could dilute the entire premise on which the Act has been framed.

The Pioneer

Despite prediction of normal monsoon this year, things are not looking good as far as eastern and North-eastern parts of the country are concerned. Several parts of Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, two main States of paddy crop, are facing drought-like situation due to shortage of rainfall.

Financial Express

Speaking at the 37th foundation day celebrations of NABARD, the union finance minister, Arun Jaitley, gave a good food for thought to the audience when he said, “if there is any area in the economy where we can give example to the world and to ourselves of cooperative federalism, it is the agriculture sector. It can benefit the people more than what GST has done”.

Business Standard

Himachal Pradesh is aiming to tap rainwater and use it optimally in agriculture and its allied activities. For this a water conservation project with an estimated cost of Rs 4,751.24 crore has been prepared, a Minister said on Sunday.

The Hindu Business Line

The NDA government’s export-import policies relating to agricultural commodities in the past have criticism from experts and commoners alike. Last week, addressing a farmer protest march in the capital, senior CPI leader Atul Anjan took a jibe at what he described as “anti-farmer” policies of the Modi government.

The Pioneer

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s aim to double farmers’ income by 2022 would be achieved before the targeted year, BJP president Amit Shah asserted on Saturday, dismissing the Opposition’s claim that it was merely a political statement.

Business Standrad

The Maharashtra Government has accepted the recommendation of the Agriculture Price Commission that it should ensure that accurate data about sowing in the state is collected.

The Telegraph

Alarmed over the deficient rainfall this monsoon, the state government has started working on its contingency plan to safeguard the interests of farmers who would be the worst sufferers in case drought occurs.

Financial Express

Claims made under the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY) for the Kharif 2017 stood at Rs 16,000 crore. While Rs 11,000 crore has been paid to farmers, remaining Rs 5,000 crore would be given in the next few days, said senior officials from the ministry of agriculture.

The Pioneer

Keeping in view the ongoing dairy farmers protest in Maharashtra and increasing domestic demand in Karnataka, Bihar and Rajasthan, the Centre has increased import duty on whey milk powder from 30 per cent to 40 per cent.

UNI

Suicides by farmers is a matter of concern and to prevent that the government had introduced several schemes for farmers, the Union Minister for Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare said in the Rajya Sabha here on Friday while answering questions on farmers suicides during the Question Hour.

The Times of India

The Punjab government claimed on Friday that there has been a 45% drop in stubble burning cases in the state during the 2017 paddy harvesting season as compared to 2016. “This fact came to light at a high-level meeting under the chairmanship of Union environment secretary C K Mishra. Senior officers of the state agriculture and environment departments said there were 80,879 cases of stubble burning during 2016 paddy season while only 43,814 cases reported in 2017 season, which are 45% less than 2016,” a state government spokesman said here

Millennium Post

This is the third article in the series on breaking the rice-wheat duopoly in agriculture and my general thesis that every other agricultural commodity is borne out by the milk producers’ agitation across the country – from Maharashtra where they have threatened to block the supplies to Mumbai to places like Berhampore and Siliguri in West Bengal where the procurement to the co-operative sector is showing a marked decline. By limiting both state and market interventions to the two major staples, we are damaging the long-term economic and ecological foundations of agricultural growth.

Hindu Business Line

The Agriculture Ministry has asked the Commerce Ministry to hike the import duty on whey milk powder to 40 per cent from the existing 30 per cent and increase export incentives on dairy products and casein to 20 per cent from the existing 10 per cent.

UNI

Malnutrition could be classified as three major nutritional deficiencies—-calorie deficiency due to inadequate consumption of food; protein deficiency due to inadequate consumption of pulses, milk, egg, and so on; and micro-nutrient deficiency (or hidden hunger) due to inadequacy of minerals and vitamins like iron, iodine, zinc, vitamin A, vitamin B1

Mint

The recent increase in the minimum support prices (MSP) for major kharif crops has reignited the debate about food price policy. Some analysts believe that the increase has been excessive, that it will push up inflation, both directly and also indirectly via the fiscal burden of higher subsidies. Others maintain that the increase is not enough, that the government has not delivered on its promise of announcing MSPs that are 50% over cost, as had been recommended by the National Commission on Farmers (Swaminathan Commission). Who is right and who is wrong? Why do we need an agricultural price policy at all? And, most importantly, what does it all mean for the hapless farmer?

mydigitalfc.com

The major challenge facing farmers is the economic viability of farming. The economic survey of India has drawn attention to the need for making agriculture profitable. The National Commission on Farmers also emphasised the importance of giving an income orientation to farming. The prime minister has announced that every effort will be made to double the income of farmers. While the recognition of the urgency of imparting economic security is recognised the pathway through which this can be accomplished have not been articulated in detail. Therefore, it is necessary to identify a few areas which can help to achieve the goal of farm prosperity.

The Indian Express

Dr Ramanjaneyulu stressed over the urgent need for Punjab to turn to natural and organic farming, need for policy change and enhancement in research and regulations and most importantly, government support to support organic farming and farmers,

The Times of India

Seeking fixation of MSP for alternative or new crops higher than paddy, the HC was also informed that paddy was primarily creating hurdles including depletion of underground water, pollution due to stubble burning and financial burden for storing excess paddy during the season.

Telangana Today

The State government has identified four locations to conduct demonstrations and training camps for farm mechanisation starting from August first week.

The Tribune

The petitioner-advocate, Charanpal Singh Bagri, asserted paddy was primarily creating threefold hurdles — fast depletion of underground drinkable water, pollution due to stubble or paddy straw burning and creation of financial burden on the state for storing excess paddy during the paddy season.

Business Standard

It is yet to be seen how much the Modi government’s ambitious crop insurance scheme has benefitted farmers, but one section that has definitely hit the jackpot is the insurance industry, which collectively earned around 85 per cent profit, excluding expenditure on administrative purposes and reinsurance, during the 2017-18 kharif season, government data shows.

Business Standard

Karnataka Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy today called on Union Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh and sought financial help for implementing the Rs 40,000 crore farm loan waiver scheme announced by the state government.

The Pioneer

With the spectre of sub-optimum rainfall looming large in UP, the state government has started bracing up for deficient rainfall forthe ongoing Kharif sowing season.Government agencies are encouraging farmers to sow less water-intensive crops like millets, harnessing canals and tube wells, go for paddy cultivation only if monsoon picks up and also seek crop insurance cover.

The Indian Express

In 2017-18, India’s exports and imports of agricultural produce were valued at $ 38.74 billion and $ 24.89 billion, respectively. In 2013-14, the exports were higher ($ 43.25 billion) and imports lower ($ 15.53 billion). In the process, our agri trade surplus has narrowed from $ 27.72 billion to $ 13.85 billion.

The New Indian Express

Even as Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami is set to open the Mettur Dam in his home district on Thursday, the agriculture department has issued an advisory to farmers in delta region detailing the schedule for going about paddy cultivation for Samba season.

The New Indian Express

Paddy cultivation, which had slowed down due to lack of rain in June, has gained momentum this month following heavy rain in the last three days. Farmers are now working overtime to finish broadcasting of seeds and transplantation of paddy saplings.According to reports, the district received 93.82 mm rainfall in last three days. Rainfall in the district from July 1 to 14 was a meagre 79.34 mm, which slowed down agricultural activities during the current kharif season.

Deccan Chronicle

The agriculture department is in the process of preparing a roadmap for crop development for the next three to five years. It will focus on integrated pest management, market linkage, buyer-seller meet, price stabilisation, availability of seeds, among others.

The Pioneer

In a country where a large section of the population is engaged in agricultural activities, the government is ensuring that this primary sector is sustainable. To this effect, the country’s apex organisation of marketing cooperatives, NAFED, recently organised a workshop themed “Market Linkages to Cooperatives/Farmer Producer Organisations (FPOs)/Farmer Groups” at NCUI Auditorium, New Delhi.

The Indian Express

Haryana Agriculture Minister Om Prakash Dhankar claimed Monday that farmers of state will get an annual benefit of about Rs 6,000 to Rs 18,000 per acre “after central government approved a steep rise in the minimum support price of crops, giving farmers the promised 50 per cent return on input costs”.

The Telegraph

Amid deficient rainfall this monsoon, the agriculture department in Bihar has launched a special scheme to ensure quick payment of subsidy money to farmers who have been forced to use diesel pumpsets to irrigate their field to safeguard kharif crops.

The Times of India

The ₹42,000-crore farm loan waiver announced by the H D Kumaraswamy-led government is a temporary solution to agrarian crisis in the state, said Venkatrao Nadagouda, minister for animal husbandry and fisheries, here on Tuesday.

CNBC TV18

“Goaded by the lust to get more yield or in a bid to keep up in race of quantum of fertilisers used by fellow farmers or simply due to ignorance, farmers tend to use nearly twice the required quantity of urea in the fields. Instead of two bags per acre of neem coated urea recommended by PAU (Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana), farmers are using three to five bags,” Pannu said.

Outlook

The Centre will give a 10 per cent incentive to boost export of dairy products and is also considering distributing milk through midday meal scheme and anganwadis as part of steps to ensure better returns to producers, Union minister Nitin Gadkari said today while urging agitating farmers to maintain calm.

Mydigitalfc

Outgoing chief economic adviser Arvind Subramanian on Tuesday said that farm income is under stress and improving returns for farmers is a big challenge, which calls for joint efforts by the Centre and states. He also listed generating more jobs as another challenge before the government which faces a “stigmatised capitalism.” Echoing the prevailing sentiment in public sector, particularly state-owned banks, he said the decision making is cautious now and almost paralysed due to fear of taking decisions that may benefit any one in the private sector which later could be questioned and challenged.

UNI

The Jharkhand Government today approved a sum of Rs 32. 76 crore to set up cold storages under the agriculture, animal husbandry and cooperative department in different districts of the state having a capacity of 5,000 metric tonnes.

The Times of India

Senior Congress leader Jitin Prasada on Tuesday suggested Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who is visiting here for a ‘Kisan Kalyan’ rally on July 21, to focus on providing relief to farmers rather than doing “publicity stunts since you are coming here on government’s expenditure”. Recalling former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi’s 1989 visit here, Prasada said, “Gandhi had announced a fertiliser factory worth Rs 700 crore that provided employments to thousands of people. Similarly, Modi should make some real announcements for the benefit of farmers rather than handing over them ‘jhunjhuna’ (a baby toy)

Millennium Post

The ambitious reform agenda under implementation since 2014 in India, if carried forward without modification, may push the country into great trouble. The country is going to be the world’s most populous country within ten years and, by 2050, even China’s population will be only around 65 per cent of India’s. Demand for food will rise sharply putting great pressure on agriculture and food supply in the country. This stark reality cannot be allowed to terrorise the people of the country; neither should it be allowed to veil under the deceptive data of ‘fastest growing economy’, ‘doubling farmers’ income’, et al.

The Economic Times

Haryana agriculture and farmers’ welfare minister, O P Dhankar said that farmers of Haryana will get a benefit of about Rs 6,000 to Rs 18,000 per acre after Central Government approved a steep rise in the minimum support price of crops, giving farmers the promised 50 per cent return on input costs. Apart from this, compensation amounting to Rs 3,257 crore has so far been given to farmers during the tenure of present State Government to make farming a risk-free venture.

Mint

In recent months, several places in north India experienced unseasonal dust and thunderstorms, followed by unseasonal rains. This has cost lives and led to extensive crop damage. With freak weather events becoming more common, protection of farmers against these risks figures prominently in the Narendra Modi government’s agricultural policy.

Medianama

Fertiliser major IFFCO has partnered with Singapore-based technology firm iMandi to launch an e-commerce app for farmers to buy and sell products. IFFCO-iMandi, as the app is called, will allow farmers to buy IFFCO products like fertilisers, agrochemicals and seeds at discounted prices and also avail of free delivery. The app also serves as a platform where farmers can buy and sell their own products.

The Times of India

Governor Satya Pal Malik on Monday said Bihar, with abundant water resources, fertile land and hard working farmers, is the ideal place for the success of second green revolution. Replying to the farmers at a programme at Chaura in Khusrupur block (near Patna), Malik said in its third agricultural road map for 2017-22, the state government has provided for input grants to encourage organic farming and establishment of organic corridor in the state. Schemes to make the state self-dependent in milk, fish and eggs and to enhance the green cover up to 17% would certainly accelerate the pace of agricultural development in the state

The Pioneer

To supplement the income of farmers, Punjab Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh on Monday gave the go-ahead to launch a pilot project for Solar Energy generation on agricultural land on rental basis, besides allowing farmers to undertake high-value cultivation of fruits and vegetables.

Quint

India is in the midst of a transition from annual per capita income of $1,700 to $4,135 (our projection) over the next 10 years. Just to put in context what low per capita income signifies, we note that some Indian companies talk about how basic necessities, such as fruit, are still classified as discretionary consumption, with the biggest competition to such consumption being non-consumption, suggesting that affordability remains low in India. These two examples illuminate the backdrop for this article:

My digitalfc.com

Following more than two years of stability, agricultural commodity prices began to strengthen in the first quarter as a result of reduced plantings of key crops in the US (notably maize and soybean) and unfavourable weather in South America (soybeans). The World Bank’s Agriculture Price Index gained 4 per cent (q/q), the first significant increase since mid-2016. Food commodities rose 4.3 per cent, reflecting gains in all three grains (maize, rice, and wheat) as well as in soybeans, although some edible oil prices (such as palm and rapeseed oil) experienced significant declines.

The Indian Express

A support scheme for farmers in Telangana has earned the appreciation of outgoing Chief Economic Advisor Arvind Subramanian, who spoke about it during an Idea Exchange interaction with The Indian Express journalists and then wrote in The Financial Express that it can be the template for social and agricultural policy. Called Rythu Bandhu, the scheme involved cheque payments to farmers based on their landholdings.

Telangana Today

Irrigation facilities being extended even to the upland area with the construction of major projects has enhanced the value of agriculture land substantially in almost all the districts of the State.

The Pioneer

In a move to better planning in infrastructural and road projects to ensure safety and security aspects, the Central Government has decided to include police forces in policy decisions pertaining to town planning, road engineering and policy making. The Centre has also directed the States to positively involve police forces while framing policy and town planning. The Centre stated the policy makers’ needs to “re-orient themselves as all the policy needs to be looked from safety/security aspects”.

The New Indian Express

In an apparent admission that measures taken to deal with farm residue burning aren’t yielding desired results, Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan has asked the NITI Aayog to devise mechanism to deploy the resources available under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) for remedial actions.

Mint

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is hopeful that the centre’s decision to hike the minimum support prices (MSP) of 14 kharif crops will give it the much-needed impetus in rural Gujarat, ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. The party, which had faced a jolt in the 2017 Gujarat elections, is working out various strategies to retain all 26 Lok Sabha seats it had won in 2014.

Business Standard

Union Minister of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare Radha Mohan Singh congratulated scientists and officials of the of Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) along with farmers from across India on ICAR’s 90th Foundation day and award ceremony function in New Delhi today. Singh said the efforts of the ICAR have not only helped India transform from an importing nation to an exporting nation but also provided self-sufficiency and nutritional security in foodgrains. Due to the efforts of our skilled scientists and the hard work of the farmers, the country today has a buffer stock in foodgrain.

Financial Express

While the Goods and services tax was to lower the tax incidence on agriculture commodities — most unprocessed food is exempt from GST — it hasn’t. This is because many states have hiked mandi fees/assorted other imposts and approved sharp increases in the commissions payable to arhatiyas (market intermediaries), inflating food prices to the consumers. These local levies,which vary from state to state, also impede movement of agriculture produce across state borders, jacking up costs further.

Financial Express

As digital connectivity spreads to rural areas, smartphones are helping small farmers in poor countries access data on crops, weather and soil. It is helping them boost production in the face of climate change. According to a recent report by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization, small farmers who produce the bulk of food in developing countries are some of the most vulnerable to changes in climate. And here, technology can help to minimise crop disaster.

The New Indian Express

Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy and his government may take pride in writing off farm loans to the extent of `44,000 crore, but renowned agriculture scientist Dr M S Swaminathan does not see it as a way to manage farm economy. “It is a short-term measure and it should not become a permanent method of management of farm economy,” he said in an interview.

The Times of India

: The Central government seems to be seriously considering the Zero Budget Natural Farming (ZNBF), promoted by Padma Shri Subhash Palekar, as one of the tools to meet its target of doubling the income of farmers by 2022. Palekar told TOI that the Niti Aayog along with the scientists of Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), State Agriculture Universities (SAUs), the Union minister of state for agriculture Gajendra Shekhawat and Himachal Pradesh governor Acharya Dev Wrat held a meeting with him on ZBNF on July 9.

Moneycontrol

The green-shoots of demand growth seen in some rural pockets is driven by farm loan waivers and not likely due to real increases in rural incomes and wages, indicative that the economy is still some time away from a full-blown rural revival, says a report.

The Wire

In June, Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke to farmers in Chhattisgarh via teleconferencing. A woman, Chandramani Kaushik from Kanker in Kanharpuri, told him that due to his policies, her income had doubled. A few days later, ABP news met the woman, and she retracted her earlier statement, saying that her income hadn’t doubled and she was tutored to say that it had. A few days after that, a Times of India (ToI) report with no author and a My Nationreport with an author weighed in on the confusion.

Business Standard

Harsimranjit Brar, 26, has an unforgettable childhood memory of his family’s fields in Fatuhi Khera, a village in Punjab’s Sri Muktsar Sahib district. Just before harvest, it would be a sea of white fluff. Brar’s father, a seasoned farmer, used to cultivate cotton on a 40-acre plot every kharif (monsoon) season.

Deccan Chronicle

A farmer who complained to the consumer forum that he had not got even one quintal of cotton against the 15 to 20 promised was awarded a hefty compensation.

The Kashmir Monitor

Women are indispensable part of India’s dairy sector and agriculture, said Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday.Prime Minister Modi was interacting with women associated with Self Help Groups through video conferencing on the Narendra Modi (NaMo) app.

Business Standard

Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani today suggested that farm labourers should be given wages as per the provisions of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act(MNREGA).

The Indian Express

A chief ministers’ panel and NITI Aayog on Thursday deliberated on using MGNREGA funds for rehabilitation of agricultural land impacted by natural calamities as well as supplementing farm labour costs.

The first meeting of the Sub-Group of Chief Ministers on coordination between the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) and agriculture also discussed reducing the cost of cultivation and enhancing productivity through efficient use of water. The meeting, held at the NITI Aayog, was chaired by Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan. According to an official statement, five critical areas in which MGNREGA could positively help came to the fore in the meeting.

Hindustan Times

In a turn of events that would cause embarrassment to the state local bodies department, environment minister OP Soni has directed the Punjab Pollution Control Board (PPCB) staff to take samples of discharge from Sewage Treatment Plants (STPs), get them tested prepare a record and seek monthly compliance report from the local bodies department.

The Times of India

Fragmentation of land holdings and disorganization of small and marginal farmers create roadblocks for adoption of latest technology and use of high yielding varieties of inputs such as seeds and fertilizers, said agricultural economist V S Vyas, also a former member of Prime Minister’s Economic Advisory Council

The Pioneer

If the Prime Minister really wants improvement of agriculture sector, he must form an Indian Agriculture Service or a Central Agriculture Service immediately, the All India Agricultural Students’ Association has demanded.

The New Indian Express

Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas Dharmendra Pradhan on Thursday lauded the role of Nabard for its consistent support to the State in the field of agriculture and rural development. Addressing the 37th foundation day function of the national bank here, Pradhan applauded the bank for significantly increasing the developmental financial assistance to the State in the last two financial years. Drawing the attention of banks to the huge gap between crop loan and agricultural term loan, the Union Minister was critical about the vicious circle of compounding of crop loan at bank level without adding much to the fresh agricultural short-term loan.

The New Indian Express

Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu has written a letter to Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, who is heading the chief ministerial panel that has been tasked with drawing up a strategy to link MGNREGS with the farm sector, stressing the need for taking up more activities of agriculture/horticulture and allied sectors under the rural job scheme in addition to the already permitted activities to reduce cost of cultivation.

The New Indian Express

The state government is planning to expand paddy farming to 3 lakh hectares within a year, said Agriculture Minister V S Sunil Kumar here on Thursday. Through sustained efforts, the government has expanded paddy cultivation to 2 lakh hectares during the past two years. There is no need to be concerned about amendments introduced in the Kerala Conservation of Paddy Land and Wetland Act. Those who are criticising the amendments have not read them properly, he said while inaugurating the Kalady Krishi Bhavan office at the mini civil station.

The Economic Times 

A number of states have waived off farm loans since the general elections in 2014, but while the burden on farmers and their families have reduced, there may be no visible benefits to the overall economy through higher investments in agriculture and improved productivity, a report from the Reserve Bank of India has said.

The Hindu Business Line

Union Minister Arun Jaitley today suggested a uniform set of policies for the agriculture sector across the country so that farmers benefit the most and their income doubles.The agriculture sector is an area that bothers both the Centre and the states with both the governments making policies for the sector, Jaitley said while addressing the 37th ...

Zee Business

The sub-group also held discussions on interventions of MGNREGA to facilitate reduction of agrarian distress including work availability, wage rates, seasonality etc. They also had a discussion on ways to end the problem of stubble burning that is a major concern in northern India during the harvesting season.

The Navhind Times 

Expressing concern over the problem of stubble burning, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said Wednesday the central government was working seriously to ensure farmers were not compelled to burn agricultural residue.

Mint

In the last four years, Indian agriculture has clocked an average annual growth rate of a mere 2.5% against the economy’s growth rate of 7.2%. India’s agri-trade surplus has almost halved. The profitability of various crops has gone down by a third and real wages of farmers have fallen. Gross value added of agriculture has slumped, mirroring a massive drop in agriculture prices. The deflation has continued into 2018.

Outlook

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee today urged a group of chief ministers, set up by the Centre, to consider the need to waive institutional loans of farmers and the formation of adequate budgetary provision for it by the union government.

The Pioneer

The Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, during the Crop Insurance Amount Distribution Programme held at Kalapipal of Shajapur district on Wednesday has said that he understands farmers’ pain. Farmers work hard in agriculture fields by bearing the brunt of different climate. He further mentioned that full value of farmers’ hard labour will be paid and he will not let go farmers’ labour in vain.

The Telegraph

The Bengal chief minister on Wednesday wrote to the Centre with suggestions on agriculture policies that needed to be pursued and measures that could increase effectiveness of 100 days’ job scheme.The trigger behind the letter is Thursday’s NITI Aayog meeting, which she cannot attend as she is visiting north Bengal.

The New Indian Express

With the monsoon continuing to wreak havoc after a short interval, the agriculture sector has suffered a loss of Rs 11 crore. As per the latest figures with the Agriculture Department, the rain has affected 3,288 farmers in the district while heavy rain left crops in more than 729 hectares damaged.

The Pioneer

Erratic and uneven distribution of rainfall this monsoon has left the farmers a worried lot in the State. Though monsoon arrived early this year, it got delayed at many places in the State.As a result, crop sowing too got delayed and the Government asked farmers to use short term paddy which actually will give better yield despite monsoon vagaries.

The Times of India

Expressing concern over the problem of stubble burning, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said today that the central government was working seriously to ensure that farmers were not compelled to burn agricultural residue.

The Indian Express

In 2016, the Punjab government sought Central assistance of Rs 1,109 crore to enable farmers in the state purchase subsidised machinery for managing left-over paddy stubble from combine harvesting, without resorting to burning it in their fields.

The Navhind Times 

As was widely expected the Government has hiked MSP (Minimum Support Price) for 14 crops, in a move which will be seen as a precursor to elections to a few important states to be followed by general elections next year. Apparently, the increase is substantial, over 50% of the input costs, as promised in the budget presentation by the Finance Minister. Yet it falls short of expectations and even recommendations of Swaminathan Committee. In calculating the rise, the government has taken in to account paid out costs of inputs, interest on borrowed capital and imputed cost of family labour, known by a formula as (A2+FL).  But it has left out two things- imputed cost of rent of ...

The Telegraph

The southwest monsoon, which arrived late this year, is proving to be difficult in the way it has forced farmers to hold back on sowing kharif crops including paddy.

Business Standard

Union Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh on Tuesday said that coverage of crop insurance by non-loanee farmers had increased by 102 per cent since the Narendra Modi government came to power

Deccan Chronicle

Days after the Centre hiked the MSP of 14 kharif crops, the Congress on Monday accused the NDA government of using “fake facts” to claim farmers would be given the promised cost plus fifty per cent profit and challenged Prime Minister Narendra Modi for an open debate on agricultural issues.

The Economic Times

In yet another effort to double farmers’ income by 2022, the government will now pursue states to move on to zerobudget natural farming that aims to bring down the cost of farming, thereby significantly enhancing the profit margins for farmers.

India TV

A row broke out over a claim in a media report relating to the remark by a Chhattisgarh farm woman during a video interaction with Narendra Modi on how her agriculture income had doubled, prompting union ministers to allege that a section of the media had “an agenda of deriding” the prime minister.

Business Standard

Aayog member Ramesh Chand, who is an expert in agriculture, said that such methods could be scaled up nationally only after they have been scientifically proven to be correct and there is proper manual for these. Under ZBNF, neither fertiliser nor pesticide is used and only 10 per cent of water is to be utilised for irrigation as compared to traditional farming techniques.

The Hindu Business’Line

After graduating from IIT-Madras, the first thing that Vivek Rajkumar did was to buy four acres near Thiruvananthapuram and start farming. He was trying to cultivate paddy and grow banana. His neighbours were small farmers and all of them consulted a self-styled local expert on all matters agriculture. That expert, says Vivek, had no clue of what he was talking about. Yields were bad and profitability was poor; it didn’t make any sense at all, he adds.

Hindustan Times

Farmers’ protests across India, largely prompted by bumper harvests and low prices, may have escalated since 2016, but India’s agriculture sector hasn’t been generating enough revenues to keep farmers profitable for nearly two decades now, according to a study by the Organisation of Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), a grouping of 36 countries, and research firm ICRIER.

The New Indian Express

Witherratic rainfall casting a shadow on the prospects of kharif crops in some districts, the area under cultivation of paddy, pulses, oil seeds and cotton is about 33 per cent less than last year.According to sources, the area covered under paddy cultivation is 7.82 lakh hectares against 11.64 lakh hectares during the corresponding period last year. The State Government has planned paddy cultivation in an area of 35 lakh hectares during kharif season. The rainfall in June and July was 25 per cent and 46 per cent less than normal.

Financial Express

The Union Government has substantially hiked the minimum support prices (MSP) of 14 commodities for the 2018-19 kharif season. This is in keeping with the promise made in the Union Budget for 2018-19, of fixing MSPs at 150% of the cost of production. The hike in MSPs is indeed very impressive—ranging from 4% for arhar and urad to 52% for ragi, with a median hike of 25%. The scale of increase can be gauged from the fact that the median increase during the last four years was 3-4%. This massive hike is expected to yield a handsome return of more than 50% over the cost of production to farmers—as high as 97% for bajra and 60-65% for ...

The Times of India

Dazzling, so-called “unprecedented” announcements made amidst much fanfare and pomp have been a defining feature of the Narendra Modi-led NDA government. The “historic” increase in minimum support price (MSP) for kharif crops announced by the government is too little, too late in the coming. A closer look betrays the harsh reality behind this gimmick and exposes it for what it really is – smoke and mirrors intended to mislead farmers of the country after four years of total neglect and apathy.

Telangana Today

How can we feed the world without destroying it? This was the title of the World Food Convention held on 26th June in Berlin, Germany. Some 500 invitees representing decision makers as well as science and academia discussed the most burning issues of global food production and distribution.

The Wire

The National Democratic Alliance’s policies since coming to power in 2014 have proven counterproductive for the farmers of the country and they would have been better off without them, a study jointly undertaken by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and the Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations (ICRIER) has found.

The Tribune

To curb the menace of crop residue burning and create a positive atmosphere for industrialisation, Punjab government has taken a decision to set up a Bio-ethanol project.In this regard, Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) was signed on Monday between Punjab government and M/s SAB Industries Ltd. with proposed investment of Rs 719 Crore.

The Tribune

To curb the menace of crop residue burning and create a positive atmosphere for industrialisation, Punjab government has taken a decision to set up a Bio-ethanol project.In this regard, Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) was signed on Monday between Punjab government and M/s SAB Industries Ltd. with proposed investment of Rs 719 Crore.

The Telegraph

Agriculture must be integral to reform and planning in order to make a significant dent in poverty and malnutrition as well as to ensure food security in the long run. In reality, while the Indian economy has been growing at over 7 per cent annually, growth in agriculture has been dismal – around 2 per cent in the last 10 years. This is in sharp contrast to the average annual growth rate of more than 4 per cent during the 1980s and early 1990s. Agricultural growth slipped from 3.9 per cent per annum during 1981-91 to 2.8 per cent during 1991-2001. These developments have adversely affected small and marginal farmers. The crisis is reflected through the rise ...

The Pioneer

Former Union Minister and Chairman of Parliamentary Standing Committee on Agriculture, Hukmdev Narayan Yadav stressed on utilising the modern agricultural science and technology for refinement, modification and upgradation of farmers’ traditional knowledge, skill and experience.

The Hans India

According to the report submitted by Agriculture Expenditure and Cost Commission (AE&CC) Chairman Acharya Vijaya Gopala Sharma at South Indian States Regional Conference (SISRC) recently in New Delhi, farmer has to spend Rs 27,000 to cultivate in 1 acre following skyrocketing prices of seeds, power tariff, fertilizers, pesticides, and cost of labour charges.

Money control

Despite several support schemes provided by the Indian government, why is it that Indian farmers get poor returns? A report by Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and the Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations (ICRIER) suggests that implicit taxing of farmers and heavy subsidizing for consumers give negative results to farmers in India.

The Tribune

Set up by Adani Green Energy Limited more than a year ago, Punjab’s largest solar power plant of 100 MW at Sardargarh village in Bathinda is turning out to be a game changer not only for the state that has a challenging task of meeting its future energy needs, but also for its farmers who have given their land on lease for the project.

Financial Express

Given the overarching food security concern of 1.32 billion people in India, the country’s policymakers have a challenging task. On the one hand they need to incentivise farmers to produce more and raise their productivity in a sustainable manner, and on the other, they need to ensure that consumers have access to food at affordable prices, especially those belong to the vulnerable sections. In order to find a fine balance between these twin objectives, India has followed myriad policies that impact both producers and consumers.

Financial Express

With the overarching concern for food security of 1.32 billion people, India’s policymakers have a challenging task. On one hand, they need to incentivise farmers to produce more, raising their productivity in a sustainable manner, and on the other, they need to ensure that consumers have access to food at affordable prices, especially the vulnerable sections. In order to find a fine balance between these twin objectives, India has followed myriad policies that impact both producers and consumers. These policy instruments range from domestic marketing regulations (for example, APMC Act, Essential Commodities Act (ECA)), budgetary policies (such as input subsidies), trade policies (such as minimum export prices (MEP) or outright export bans, tariff duties), to food subsidies ...

The Economic Times 

After the MSP hike last week, the Narendra Modi government is getting set to appease farmers with yet another reform. And this will be via a new procurement policy which attempts to eliminate the middle man, senior officials from farm ministry exclusively told ET NOW.

The Economic Times

The government’s decision to hike the minimum support price (MSP) for 14 khariff crops would boost farmers’ income, resulting in a huge rural demand push to the Indian economy, industry body Assocham said.

The Economic Times

Farmer deaths were an old problem and the Narendra Modi government had taken many steps to alleviate the difficulties of the cultivators, Union minister Suresh Prabhu said today.

Telangana Today

The agriculture sector in Andhra Pradesh is likely to get a boost as Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu held discussions with agri business experts from Germany to upgrade technology in the agri sector in the State during his Singapore tour on Sunday.

Business Standard

Days after the government hiked the MSP for kharif crops, Minister of State for Agriculture Gajendra Singh Shekhawat today said the Prime Minister would give another “good news” to farmers in the coming days.

The Hindu Business Line

Last week, newspapers were full of ‘pro-farmer’ headlines. One day, it was about the historic ‘Minimum Support Price at 150 per cent of cost’, the other day, it was about the ₹34,000-crore farm-loan waiver in Karnataka, with Bank of America Merrill Lynch estimating the total farm-loan waiver in the next one year to be around $40 billion. Overall, it proved again that MSPs and loan waivers make the biggest headlines for agriculture. While some believe that the MSP step is historic, others have dismissed it as the new rhetoric.

The New Indian Express

The Agriculture Department is gearing up to use drones to study various issues, including natural calamities affecting the state’s agriculture sector.

Moneycontrol

Union minister Radha Mohan Singh today termed Prime Minister Narendra Modi government’s decision, to increase the minimum support price (MSP) of Kharif crops to 1.5 times the cost of production, as ‘historic.’

The Pioneer

The Union Government has advised the State Government to facilitate transition of workers from agriculture to the industry and service sectors as the latter two sectors get enhanced outputs from them.

UNI

Union Minister for Commerce and Industry and Civil Aviation Suresh Prabhu on Saturday stressed on first draft of agriculture export policy to focus on farmers to ensure that they get their fair share and help rural economy thrive

The New Indian Express

A day after Centre raised the minimum support price (MSP) on paddy by `200 per quintal, senior BJD leader and Agriculture Minister Pradeep Maharathy on Thursday criticised the paltry hike.Alleging that the Prime Minister and Union Agriculture Minister have betrayed the farmers, Maharathy told mediapersons here on Thursday that the Centre has to explain on what basis it has fixed the production cost of paddy.

The New Indian Express

Department of Agriculture and Farmer’s Empowerment has signed an MoU with Foundation for Ecological Security (FES) to provide technical training on assessing land capability and crop water budgeting in all districts. The MoU was signed in the presence of Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik.Speaking on the occasion Naveen stressed on the need for restoring common land and water bodies through promotion of ecologically sound agricultural practices and water management.

The Telegraph

Bihar Agriculture University, Sabour (Bhagalpur), has come up with a mobile app called Bihar Krishi App, which can be downloaded from Playstore on one’s smartphone.

The app helps farmers in several manners, including crop management, horticulture, opportunities in agriculture sector, weather related information, advice of experts on questions asked by farmers and even specific information about the quality of soil one is practising farming and use of fertilisers needed for the given soil.

Business Standard

Paris, July 5 (IANS/AKI) Agriculture plays a vital role in averting conflict and promoting lasting peace, United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation chief Jose Graziano da Silva said on Thursday, stressing how warfare worsens global hunger.

The Economic Times

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s pre-election gambit to sharply hike state-mandated prices for summer crops, including rice, may mean little to millions of farmers, as the government lacks the storage and funds needed to buy most of the produce.

The Wire

The Narendra Modi government recently approved the decision to hike the minimum support price (MSP) for the kharif marketing season for 2018-19.

The MSP for paddy has been increased by Rs 200 per quintal, and the MSP has gone up for other crops too. The minister ...

Scroll

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs on Tuesday announced an increase in minimum support prices for 14 crops grown in the kharif (summer) season, including paddy, cotton, soyabean, pulses and millets.

In a press release, the Ministry of Agriculture called this a “paradigm shift” and a “historic” decision. The announcement also marked the fulfilment of Finance Minister Arun Jaitley’s Budget declaration this year to increase minimum support prices to 50% above the cost of production. According to the agriculture ministry, this increase in prices would be a step towards helping farmers double their incomes by 2022 – a promise made by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and reiterated numerous times in the last four years.

Outlook

Goa Agriculture Minister Vijai Sardesai has urged farmers of his state to chant mantra for better yield.He said that the state’s paddy yield would increase if its farmers chanted vedic mantra in their fields and adopted “cosmic farming” techniques.

The Indian Express

India’s food and agriculture policies have an aggregate effect of reducing gross farm revenues, a new OECD-Icrier report has said, and estimated that during 2014-16, the reduction was over 6 per cent a year. Even as farmers got large subsidies for inputs like fertilisers, power and irrigation, low market prices for their produce — which are below global levels — resulted in overall negative producer support, the report highlighted, and reckoned that for 2000-16, overall producer support estimate was around —14 per cent on average.

The Times of India

It is high time to stop crop residue burning (CRB) which is practised in the states of Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Punjab during the post-harvest season, according to senior NASA scientist Sudipta Sarkar who, along with two other associates in the US and India, recently concluded a study on how CRB increases pollution levels in the rest of the country.

Hindustan Times 

Pollution from burning agricultural waste or crop residue by farmers in the north-western states of India not only impacts air quality in Delhi and the neighbouring areas but also affects central and southern Indian states and the eastern parts of the Indo-Gangetic Plains (IGP), a new study has revealed.

The Hindu Business Line

Government policies skewed in favour of consumers have resulted in farmers losing an average of 14 per cent a year for nearly two decades, says a report released on Thursday.Indian consumers, on the other hand, have been paying, on an average, 25 per cent less on all commodities, showed the report, prepared jointly by experts from the Organisation of Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and Indian Council for Research on International Economic Research (ICRIER).

The New Indian Express

As India aims to double its farm exports by 2022, Commerce Secretary Rita Teaotia today said the government is working on an institutional mechanism to deal with sanitary and phytosanitary issues hampering agricultural shipments.

The Economic Times

Stating that India’s agro-food sector is at a critical juncture, facing multiple challenges, a new OECD-ICRIER report suggested to the government to launch new bold policy initiatives and accelerate existing reforms to achieve higher agriculture growth and ensure better income to farmers.

The Economic Times

The hike in the minimum support price (MSP) of kharif crops announced by the Narendra Modi-led government is all set to impact international price of rice and cotton—items topping list of agricultural commodities exported from the country. The hike is expected to firm up cotton prices in India, largest exporter of natural fibre, and reflect in global market soon, feel traders.

The Times of India

Farmers have been struggling to safeguard their crops from pests and insects by taking up various methods using either organic or chemical pesticides or sometimes using a combination of both.

First Post

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) meeting has been scheduled for 10.50 am on Wednesday, to approve the support price of Kharif crops, and the MSP for paddy is likely to rise sharply by Rs 200 to Rs 1,750 per quintal to honour the budget announcement to ensure that farmers get at least 1.5 times of the production cost.

The Indian Express

Following the Centre’s move to hike the minimum support price (MSP) for paddy by Rs 200 per quintal Wednesday, shares of companies related to the agriculture sector jumped by up to 15 per cent.The MSP announcement also resulted in gains for the broader market as the benchmark Sensex at the Bombay Stock Exchange rose by nearly 200 points after the announcement came and closed the day with gains of 0.75 per cent or 266 points at 35,645.

Deccan Chronicle

Madras high court has ordered notice on a petition which sought direction to Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) to conduct re-examination of All India Entrance Examination for Admission (AIEEA) 2018, for courses in agriculture, held online on June 22 and 23.

UNI

Farmers of Tripura learnt a lot about livestock farming from workshop on Indian Livestock Farming and Use of biotechnology, organized at headquarter (HQ) of the ICAR in Meghalaya, Barapani, said a farmer of Tripura Biswajit Majumder who was present in the workshop from Tripura.

Nasscom Community

By 2050, almost 10 billion is the projected world’s population furthering agricultural demand as part of the economic growth. This raises innumerable questions like can we meet the required production increase with the scarce water and land resources in the face of drastic global climatic changes already plaguing the world?

The New Indian Express

The agriculture department estimated that 61 lakh hectares of land will be cultivated in Kharif and Rabi seasons for 2018-19 and the department made arrangements accordingly.

The New Indian Express

Even as the Centre has increased the Minimum Support Price (MSP) for several agriculture products, the State government is of the view that the hike is not matching with the proposals sent by it. Further, the government observed that the Centre should take the responsibility of procuring agriculture produce apart from announcing MSP.The Centre on Wednesday announced the MSP for various crops. However, the State government, which has already sent proposals to the Centre on MSP after estimating the cost of cultivation and production, said that MSP announced by the Centre for various crops is lower than that recommended by it.

UNI

Poorer countries with rising populations and scarce natural resources are likely to be “increasingly dependent” on imports to feed their people, according to an annual report jointly compiled by the United Nations food agency.

The Wire

The Rashtriya Kisan Mahasangh, a coalition of about 130 farmer organisations from across the country, is planning a nation-wide yatra to highlight the plight of farmers and the failure of the Narendra Modi-led government to address the issues plaguing agriculture. According to a tentative plan, the yatra will begin on August 9 in India’s northern most state Jammu and Kashmir and conclude in Kanyakumari, the southern tip of the country.

Outlook

Cutting across party lines, Goa politicians have started accepting ‘agriculture challenge’, venturing into paddy fields and helping farmers who are currently planting saplings after the onset of monsoon.Congress MLA Aleixo Reginaldo Lourenco was the first one to take up the challenge, thrown by Siddhesh Bhagat, the sarpanch of Aquem-Baixo panchayat in South Goa to create awareness about farming.

SME Times

Vice President M. Venkaiah Naidu on Tusday said that India needs to adopt a multi-pronged strategy to make agriculture viable and profitable.

ddressing Scientists, Farm Experts and Farmers at the Central Research Institute for Dryland Agriculture (CRIDA), in Hyderabad, the Vice President added that the farm income must be supplemented by non-farm occupations and value addition through food processing.

The Times of India

Suggesting the farmers to become exporters to make better gains, state horticulture commissioner Chiranjeevi Chaudhary has asked the agriculture market yard officials to extend support to the farmers in producing export quality stocks. He said that shifting to the organic cultivation will definitely help the farmers reap rich in chilli crop.

The Telegraph

The Odisha government on Tuesday again raised the issue of minimum support price (MSP) of paddy and demanded that the MSP must be 1.5 times the cost of production.Targeting the Centre for delay in fixing the MSP, agriculture minister Pradeep Maharathy said: “The Government of India decides the MSP by mid-June. But unfortunately, July has begun and the Centre is yet to fix the prices.”

Outlook

The Congress today created uproar in the Chhattisgarh Legislative Assembly on the second day of the monsoon session alleging that suicides by farmers are on rise due to “wrong policies” of the BJP government.

Mumbai Mirror

There’s a very famous quote that has been attributed to Abraham Lincoln, though some experts contend those were not his exact words: “You can fool all the people some of the time, and some of the people all the time, but you cannot fool all the people all the time.”

The Indian Express

A “vedic” technique which requires a farmer to sit, meditate and channel “cosmic energy” by chanting “Om rom jum sah” for at least 20 minutes a day for better yields, got the backing of Goa Agriculture Minister Vijay Sardesai Tuesday after he inaugurated a pilot project at a field, close to his residence in Fatorda.

The Telegraph

Senior ministers on Tuesday interacted with farmers to seek their suggestions on the flagship MNREGA scheme.The dialogue was held at the chief minister’s 1 Aney Marg official residence. Chief minister Nitish Kumar though was not present as he was indisposed.

The Times of India

Even as lakhs of farmers are waiting for chief minister H D Kumaraswamy’s budget in the hope that their loans will be waived, landless tenant farmers and agriculture labourers, who number around 1.7 crore, are worried if they’d be left out of the loan waiver scheme.

CSR Journal

Air pollution is at an all time rise in India because of industrialisation and urbanisation in lieu of national development. Especially in Northern India, the air quality has dropped down at alarming levels causing the government to declare red alert several times in the last couple of years.

The Hans India

Trade unions including Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU) is gearing up for a maha dharna against the Centre and State government anti-labour policies in New Delhi on September 5. Disclosing this at a media conference here on Monday, CITU president P Hemalatha said that as the Centre has failed to fulfil the charter of 12 demands of the unions, forcing them to take to the streets.

The Times of India

The state government on Tuesday targeted the Centre over delay in announcement of the minimum support price (MSP) of major crops including paddy for the kharif season 2018.

The New Indian Express

Yielding to the pressure by students who have been protesting since the last 20 days demanding to scrap private universities offering agriculture courses, the state government has decided to bring amendments to the Karnataka Agriculture University Act.

The Telegraph

The agriculture department in Bihar with support from the Borlaug Institute for South Asia (Bisa) has launched a project to develop 100 “climate smart” villages in the state.

Business Standard

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday said his government has a four-pronged strategy to double farmers’ income by 2022, while reiterating that farmers would be given Minimum Support Price (MSP) of 1.5 times of the input cost for notified crops

The Northlines

A seminar on “An initiative by Prime Minister-Building a New India: Pledge to Double Farmers’ Income by 2022? was organized by Indian Institute of Public Administration, J&K Regional Branch Jammu on Sunday. The programme was attended by progressive farmers from various districts of Jammu division, bankers, Agricultural Scientist from SKUAST, officers from Agriculture Department and IIPA Members. Dr Pardeep K Sharma, Vice Chancellor, SKUAST Jammu, who was the chief guest, highlighted that India being an agrarian economy the farming sector has to be strengthened through reforms.

The Times of India

In a balancing act, with an intent to shed the tag of a rural-focused party in power with the Congress, the H D Kumaraswamy government has prioritised agriculture and Bengaluru development of his administration.

The Economic Times

To woo distressed farmers ahead of 2019 general polls, the Narendra Modi Cabinet may announce hike in minimum support price (MSP) this week for key agricultural commodities like cotton, pulses, cereals and oil seeds by 150 per cent as promised five months ago by Arun Jaitley in his Union Budget speech. Here are some MSP hike recommendations.

Mint

Last week, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) declared that the south-west monsoon has covered the entire country, 15 days earlier than normal. This may be a cause for celebration considering the distress in agriculture in the last four years. Agriculture is not only crucial for what happens to growth, inflation and rural distress, it is also politically important given the large-scale protests and simmering discontent among farmers in the last two years. While the reasons for discontent are many, with the government also contributing to it, one factor that will play a role is the monsoon.

Business Standard

Climate change, water crisis, digital learning clubbed with artificial learning and robotics would have to be the focus areas in future agriculture, Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) Director General Trilochan Mohapatra said today.

The Sentinel

It is the same saga of the farmers of Assam being deprived of the remunerative prices of their produces, mainly paddy, because of the short procurement of paddy by the Food Corporation of India (FCI) and other agencies, seemingly taking the advantage of Dispur not taking – or perhaps reluctant to take – any definite step to reverse the trend.

The Economic Times

The sharp depreciation of the rupee against the US dollar has not brought cheer to exporters of agricultural commodities and seafood because of factors such as dependency on import for export and greater decline in the currencies of competing countries.

The Times of India

In a bid to enhance the income of farmers by 2022, as announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Himachal Pradesh government has opened 13 research and eight science centres. These will provide advanced and latest information on agriculture and horticulture to farmers.

The Pioneer

Kalahandi district has been adjudged as the most improved district in agriculture across the country and placed at the top of the Delta Ranking for the Aspirational Districts of the country in agriculture sector.

Financial Express

The government’s plan to raise MSPs for crops to 1.5 times the A2+FL costs is likely to cost around Rs 1,75,000 crore in a full year if market prices are lower than the MSP by 20%. The exceptionally high cost of this plan, it is likely, was the reason for the delay in the announcement of this season’s MSP as the government was trying to work on ways to finance it; the plan is now likely to be announced later this week.

Business Standard

Sowing of major crops at the end of June stands at 16.5 million hectares, 15 per cent less than the average of the last seven years, data from the department of agriculture shows. The reason behind this shortfall, experts say, is the long 15-day hiatus in the progress of the southwest monsoon over central and north India in June, despite the fact that rainfall in June was 95 per cent—near normal—of the long period average.

The Pioneer

“Under the Tandarust Punjab Mission, to ensure soil health and quality produce, it is important that farmers get quality farming inputs at reasonable rates. Therefore, a special campaign is being run by the Agriculture Department, under which private dealers have to sell agricultural inputs including fertilizers and insecticides to the farmers with proper billing,” said the state Agriculture secretary Kahan Singh Pannu on Sunday.

The Statesman

“The government has taken new imitative by connecting the farmers of their periphery with all the science centers with WhatsApp. This will result in farmers getting quick solution to their issues while receiving information related to seasonal crops,” he said. He said agriculture department has also started toll free helpline number ‘1550’ to redress the grievances of farmers on priority basis.

The Tribune

The Punjab State Council for Science & Technology (PSCST) and Panjab University have joined hands with three premier Central agencies to develop an agricultural technology with an aim at enhancing farmers’ income, promote crop diversification and protect environment from the menace of paddy straw burning.

The Times of India

The Assam Higher Secondary Education Council (AHSEC) will introduce agriculture in the curriculum of Class XI from this year. The board feels agriculture offers vast possibilities of livelihood support.

The Economic Times

With muted demand for funds from corporates, the SBI is expecting its retail portfolio to go up to 60 per cent of total loans by the end of current fiscal, a senior official said.

The Economic Times

To woo distressed farmers ahead of 2019 general polls, the government plans to announce a sharp increase in the minimum support price (MSP) of paddy, the key kharif crop, by 13 per cent to Rs 1,750 per quintal for the 2018-19 crop year, sources said.