Media Monitor
Agriculture Industry
Farmers distress key battleground for parties during India’s general electionsedit
When Ishwar Chand Sharma, a farmer in northern India, committed suicide just days before the start of the country’s general elections, police found a note in his pocket with a plea: “Don’t vote for the BJP.”
While police worked to authenticate the note, Sharma’s son told the Thomson Reuters Foundation that his 65-year-old father blamed the policies of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for the debt that drove him to reportedly drink poison. A mix of extreme weather, spiralling operating costs and plunging food prices has thrown millions of India’s farmers into crisis, leading to more than 300,000 suicides over the past two decades, according to government data
PM farmers’ aid plan lags in Maharashtraedit
Implementation of PM Modi’s financial assistance scheme for small and marginal farmers has been dismal in the state. Of the 59 lakh small and marginal farmers eligible for the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi scheme, only 16.4 lakh have received the first instalment of Rs 2,000 released in early March, says data compiled by the Union agriculture ministry. The second instalment, released this month, has reached only 4.6 lakh farmers. So far, Rs 327.7 crore has been disbursed. Officials blame largescale mistakes in data for funds not reaching the farmers’ accounts
Agri, processed food exports up 7% in FY19edit
India exported 7% more agricultural and processed food products in value terms in the just concluded fiscal year, driven by doubledigit increases in dairy products and pulses, although there was muted growth in wheat and non-Basmati rice shipped out of the country.
In An Agrarian State, Political Parties Anger Farmersedit
A heated argument had broken out among half-a-dozen farmers gathered near a dimly-lit dairy shop in Kodia village in Bhopal district, 30 km west of the city. “Bharatiya Janata Party ka kuchh vote abki baar katega humare kshetra me, kisan naraz hain (The BJP will lose some of its votes in our region this time, the farmers are angry),” said Vikram Gor, 40, one of the farmers, shouting to be heard above the din.
HT cotton seeds worth Rs 32.5 L seized in Hyderabadedit
The North Zone Task Force, in a joint operation with Agriculture Department officials, nabbed two persons on charges of illegal transportation and sale of unauthorised Herbicide Tolerant (HT) cotton seeds near the Secunderabad Railway Station here on Friday. Police seized about 2,005 kg of seeds packed in 50 bags, all put together worth Rs 32.5 lakh from them.