Media Monitor
Agriculture Industry
Money flowing in via govt schemes like PM-Kisan Yojana will boost demand, says ITCedit
S Sivakumar, Group Head – Agriculture and IT business at ITC discussed what shape could the new government’s agriculture policy take and what it means for the sector.
“The early forecast indicted delayed start to the monsoon and probably a little lower than normal. So one has to wait with bated breath in terms of how the distribution of rain in terms of both time and space. Although, the numbers forecast were just on a week’s delay and only about 7 percent lower than normal and so on, so it is not a cause of concern. But El-Nino is still hanging and maybe it is going to weaken out little late in the monsoon season, so all of ...
Short-Duration Crops Take a Hit as Water Crisis Strikes Tamil Naduedit
Every day before 5 am and after 10 pm, 40-year-old K. Kasturi and her husband leave their home in Mylapore, Central Chennai, in search of water with eight vessels. If they are lucky, they may be able to fetch water from hand pumps or taps in five vessels after walking 1-1.5 km. This is the only source of water to drink, cook, wash, clean and bathe for them.
Late monsoon may cripple agriculture in southern statesedit
In a latest advisory issued on Monday, private weather forecaster Skymet has said that this year the country’s southern and central states might witness late and weak monsoon.
Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar on the roadmap to double farmers’ income by 2022edit
Narendra Singh Tomar has been given charge of three ministries – Ministry of Rural Development, Ministry of Panchayati Raj and Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers’ Welfare – under Modi 2.0. In an interview with Moneycontrol, Tomar spoke of the roadmap of Prime minister Narendra Modi’s vision on doubling farmers’ income in the next five years.
How Seasonal Distress Migration Compromises Children’s Educationedit
“We would have stayed there but there is no food to eat,” said 34-year-old Suresh Pawar when asked why he migrated to Mumbai from his village in Maharashtra’s Nanded – a region which has entered its fourth year of drought. Pawar is not alone. In the last few years, there has been a rise in farmers’ suicides, rural to urban distress migration and unemployment, all due to the failure of monsoons impacting rain-fed agriculture. The inefficient and indifferent state machinery has escalated it into an agrarian crisis.
A Transformative Agenda for India’s New Governmentedit
These are some suggestions for the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) as it prepares for its second consecutive term in office, according to experts and IndiaSpend research.
With 42% of India’s land area declared as drought-hit, the agricultural crisis may deepen, and so, our recommendations focus on making farming more rewarding while simultaneously getting millions off the land, especially at a time when the country is facing the worst unemployment it has in 45 years.
Food processing: The untapped growth opportunityedit
Food processing has become an integral part of the food supply chain in the global economy, and India has also seen growth in this sector in the last few years. The sector contributes around 11% of agricultural value-added and 9% of manufacturing value-added. According to the ministry of food processing industries annual report, the sector employs 12.8% of the workforce in the organised sector (factories registered under Factories Act, 1948), and 13.7% of the workforce in the unorganised sector. Despite being one of the largest producers of agricultural and food products in the world, India ranks fairly low in the global food processing value chains. In fact, as with the rest of India (most other sectors), this ...
Food Corporation of India’s facelift on the anviledit
The government is planning to revamp and restructure Food Corporation of India. This is on the top priority of food minister Ram Vilas Paswan.
NCR’s ‘poor’ air quality days down by 50%: Prakash Javadekaredit
Union Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar on Thursday said the government’s efforts to control air pollution have led to a decrease in the number of days with ‘poor’ air quality in the national capital region (NCR) by about 50 per cent in the last four years.
Competition
John Deere Catalyzes Indian Agriculture with Power and Technologyedit
John Deere, a pioneer agriculture equipmentmanufacturer has been at the forefront of bringing innovative products and new technologies to tractor and farm equipment.John Deere, a leader in the farm equipment sector known for innovative products and services, launched a new range of technology and power-driven tractor, harvester and implements. These new tractor and harvester models with superior technology, further improve farm efficiency, cater to a variety of agro climatic conditions, crop types and complement the heavy-duty precision implements.
Stubble Burning
Increase in wheat stubble burning incidents in Haryanaedit
An increase of 25.56% in wheat residue burning has been reported in Haryana in April and May this year, compared to the same period in 2018. The government data accessed by the HT shows that between April 15 and May 31, incidents of wheat crop stubble burning has jumped to 7,383 from 5,880 cases last year in the same period. The emission of particulate matter during crop stubble burning is one of the major reasons for increased air pollution in north-western states.
Nitish asks DMs to crack down on stubble burningedit
CM Nitish Kumar has directed district magistrates to take tough action against farmers indulging in crop residue or stubble burning, which has been identified as one of the major reasons behind sharp rise in air pollution. Addressing an event on World Environment Day at Gyan Bhavan here, he said the state’s agriculture department was asked to launch an awareness campaign for farmers against stubble burning or crop residue burning (CRB). But despite the department’s efforts, such incidents have increased manifold.
National Clean Air programme launched with targets of 20-30% pollution reductionedit
Union Environment Minister Shri Prakash Javadekar today at an event in New Delhi stressed that ‘Jan Bhagidari’ is integral towards mitigating air pollution and protecting the environment in general. The event was organized on the occasion of World Environment Day. This year’s theme is ‘Air Pollution’.
Utilise stubble in eco-friendly way, expert tells farmersedit
Pushpa Gurjal Science City, in collaboration with Punjab Pollution Control Board organised a panel discussion on ‘Sustainability in Agriculture’.NABARD Chief General Manager JPS Bindra, graced the occasion as the chief guest.
As the theme identified by the United Nations this year was “Air Pollution”, thus the experts in the panel discussion emphasized upon the burning of paddy and wheat straw. They termed it as a major contributor to air pollution in rural areas.