Media Monitor
Agriculture Industry
Rythu Bima benefits small, marginal farmersedit
At a time when the agriculture sector continues to wade through crises and a majority of farmers struggle to find it remunerative, Rythu Bima, the group life insurance scheme being implemented in Telangana from August 14, is proving to be of immense help to small and marginal farmers of the lower strata of society in the event of insured pattadars’ death.
Industries, agriculture vie for water in Marathwadaedit
The water crisis in Marathwada resulted in the shutting down of water supply in Latur-Ausa Maharashtra Indu-strial Development Cor-poration for two days. Farmers subsequently held agitations demanding water for agriculture on a priority basis. After directions from guardian minister Sambhaji Patil Nilangekar, the water supply to industries was restored, but they may suffer serious supply issues in the next few months.
The land challenge underlying India’s farm crisisedit
From farm subsidies to farm loan waivers, the Indian government spends crores on farmer welfare, but these efforts will be inadequate unless they can tackle an increasingly daunting barrier: lack of land. The provisional figures from the latest agriculture census reveals how land—the most critical input for agriculture—is getting more fragmented.
Technology in Agriculture
Clutching at strawsedit
Paddy straw burning has become a permanent phenomenon in northern states of Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh. Last year, it created havoc as smoke from the fields on fire not only engulfed these states, but also choked the Capital. Ostensibly, the administration must have realised that the coercion to mitigate this plight would not work. The Centre, therefore, adopted the policy of persuasion and allotted Rs 1,151 crore to address this problem in Punjab. While the fund is allocated to purchase 14,000 machines to manage the straw in the fields, only about 500 machines could be procured.
Procure stubble along with paddy: Hoodaedit
Former Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda on Saturday asked the state government to purchase stubble along with the paddy crop after deciding its minimum support price (MSP) so that farmers do not face problems.
Keep a check on adulteration, create more awarenessedit
Chief Minister Amarinder Singh’s call for making Punjab a tandarust state is indeed timely and highly appreciable. All people in the state must participate in it to make this a reality. Most of the cities in the state are in a poor shape as far as hygienic conditions are considered. The municipal bodies must have proper garbage collection facility. Air in the state gets polluted by paddy straw burning after harvesting of the crop which pollutes the neighbouring states as well. However, the farmers in the state refuse to shun the practice of stubble burning and the administration is not able to do much despite allocation of funds both by the state government and the Centre. The ...