Media Monitor
Agriculture Industry
Policy paralysisedit
This column hates to say we said so. Prices are not falling but the farmer is getting a rough deal. Industrial output and GDP growth is not picking up. It all comes out on the business page but the usual admonition that the economy will pick up is repeated by the senior-most officials from whom we actually expect answers to real problems.
Make farming gender sensitive, and frame schemes keeping women farmers in mind, say NGOs in Gujaratedit
An umbrella group of more than 40 NGOs on Tuesday submitted a 12-point representation to the state government demanding agricultural schemes to be more women farmer sensitive. The Working Group for Women and Land Ownership (WGWLO) has demanded a special and separate budgetary provision for women farmers, besides seeking agricultural schemes that are designed from women farmers’ perspective to not only ensure gender equity but also enhance higher yield in agriculture.
Agriculture Ministry examining panel’s report on doubling farmers’ incomeedit
The agriculture ministry is examining the recommendations of an inter-ministerial committee on doubling farmers’ income by 2022, a senior official said Wednesday. The panel headed by National Rainfed Area Authority (NRAA) CEO Ashok Dalwai has submitted a report with a detailed strategy to increase farmers’ income to Rs 1.92 lakh per annum by 2022 based on the 2015-16 wholesale prices, from the current income of Rs 96,000. “The inter-ministerial committee has submitted the recommendations on doubling farmers’ income by 2022.
New tech for farmers, boosting agriculture top priority: Venkaiah Naiduedit
Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu on Wednesday said farmers should be provided new technology to make farming more sustainable and viable as boosting agriculture is one of the top priorities of the government.
Precision agriculture can do wonders for Indian farmingedit
The worrisome reality in India is that agriculture is facing a crisis. In village after village, farmers are looking at selling their land and moving away from farming as a livelihood.
Poor availability of funds, unscientific farm inputs, poor support price structures for farm produce and almost no farm insurance are some important reasons that lead to crippling debts that force farmers to see farming as non-remunerative.
Delhi braces for ‘deadly cocktail’ of pollution as air quality slidesedit
The national capital is set for a “deadly cocktail” of pollution in coming weeks, a senior government official said, as air quality in the New Delhi area plummeted on Wednesday, alarming doctors and environmentalists.
Technology in Agriculture
Guest column: Can a cab aggregator model help solve the stubble burning problem?edit
Lakhs of farmers across Punjab and Haryana are suddenly the bad guys. They are bent upon burning paddy stubble, unmindful of the intense pollution it causes. They are also refusing to heed the pleas of the authorities and are ready to pay fines.
Stubble burning unabated, 2,921 incidents to dateedit
Notwithstanding the state government’s tall claims about measures taken for “in-situ management of paddy stubble”, farmers continue to burn their crop residue with impunity across the state, as is evident from the government’s own data.