The Economic Times

India’s 2018/19 cotton imports are likely to double from a year ago to a record 3.1 million bales as the drop in production to the lowest level in nine years forces textile manufactures to ramp up overseas purchases, a senior industry official said.

The Hindu Business Line

The Protection of Plant Varieties and Farmers’ Rights Act (PPVFRA), which introduced intellectual property protection in Indian agriculture, faced its biggest test in its implementation phase of nearly a decade and a half, when PepsiCo India initiated legal proceedings against four farmers in Gujarat for “illegally” growing its potato variety registered under the PPVFRA.

Star of Mysore

Many parameters in common use to portray the health status of the country’s economy and the abilities of its people or otherwise don’t seem to be within the grasp of the major part of the land’s masses. Two such parameters suggest themselves instantly, namely a) Literacy (reportedly on the cusp of 70 per cent) and b) Life expectancy at birth (reportedly 67.4 years for males, 70.3 years for females and total life expectancy at 68.8 years). While the massive gap between the top States in the country compared to the bottom ranks calls for the latter to close that gap with a sense of urgency, India’s World Life Expectancy ranking stood at 125, reportedly far lower ...

Down To Earth

India’s food and agriculture indicators related to the United Nations (UN)-mandated Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) have presented a worrying picture.

Two-thirds of India’s cultivable land is vulnerable to droughts, more than a quarter of the country’s arable land has been degraded, and 12 per cent of the land area is prone to river basin floods, said NITI Aayog advisor Sanyukta Samaddar at a workshop hosted by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) in New Delhi.

Money Control

Year after year, the Commission for Agriculture Cost and Prices (CACP) comes out with detailed analytical reports on price policy for major crops and support prices are declared by the government. The recommendations on price usually receive media attention but non-price recommendations, which are largely in the domain of reform process, are ignored. Due to a lack of political consensus, the government finds it difficult to implement non-price recommendations. So, Minimum Support Price (MSP) is used as an instrument to satisfy farmers.

Business Standard

The first edition of ITOTY 2019 was held by Tractor Junction in Delhi. It was a successful format to recognize Indian manufacturers of Tractors and Farm Implements, giving a complete overview of the Indian manufacturing and farming practices during the panel discussion whereas CRISIL has presented pre- and post-harvest through marketing and consumption trends.

The New Indian Express

The Mizoram government has sought the Centre’s help in combating a pest, which has swarmed into the state ostensibly from Myanmar and Bangladesh, and unleashed a reign of terror.

The Times of India

The famed Champaran sugar bowl farmlands that stretch away in every direction tell a bitter tale of agrarian distress. For decades now the defunct sugar mills of Motihari and Bara Chakia lie subsumed by wild vegetation. Ironically, this area falls in the constituency of Union agriculture minister Radha Mohan Singh

The Times of India

Barely a few months after the Andhra Pradesh government cancelled licences of some seed companies for their role in distribution of unapproved herbicide tolerant (HT) cotton seeds, the Telangana government has intensified vigilance against such companies and usage of seeds by farmers.

The Hans India

Krishna, a resident of Kowkoor, quit a career in civil engineering to take up organic farming and has been reaping a good harvest but is saddened by the fact that the lands close to his are making way to commercial and residential complexes. Kowkoor is known for vegetables and people from Yapral, Sainikpuri, Bolarum, Alwal, Lothukunta, A S Rao Nagar and nearby localities flock to the area to

DNA

Amidst raging debate over inaccuracies and over-estimation in electricity consumption by agriculture consumers, the Maharashtra Electricity Regulatory Commission (MERC) for the first time will carry out a comprehensive study of agriculture consumption in the state through a working group. Distribution Company (MahaVitaran) has around 41.54 lakh agriculture (AG) consumer connections (out which, metered is 26.50 lakh and un-metered is 15.04 lakh) with a connected load of 210.84 lakh horsepower (HP).