Media Monitor
Agriculture Industry
Punjab seeks hike in MSP for Rabi cropsedit
In a bid to alleviate the woes of distressed farmers in the state, Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh on Wednesday sought a hike from the Centre in the minimum support price (MSP) of various crops for the 2019-20 Rabi season.
On the directive of the Chief Minister, the state Agriculture Department has come out with a detailed proposal for hiking the MSP of wheat from Rs 1,840 per quintal in 2018-19 to Rs 2,710 in 2019-20, and of barley from Rs 1,440 per quintal to Rs 1,974.
Maharashtra farmers’ body to sow HT Cotton to defy ban on GM cropsedit
Protesting against government restrictions on BT Cotton and other genetically modified crops, farmers affiliated to the Shetkari Sanghatana in Maharashtra said they will continue to plant the banned herbicide-tolerant cotton in their fields in public ceremonies from Thursday.
Experts call for comprehensive fodder policy for Mahaedit
Experts on Wednesday underlined a need to set up and effectively implement a fodder policy inMaharashtra to ensure survival of livestock in the coming years. Citing examples of states like Gujarat and Rajasthan, they opined that a smooth supply of fodder for domestic animals throughout the year augurs well for rural areas in Maharashtra.
Punjab seeks hike in MSP of rabi cropsedit
The Punjab government has sought a hike in the minimum support price (MSP) of various rabi crops from the Centre for the 2019-20 season.The state agriculture department has sent a proposal for the increase in the MSP to the Commission for Agriculture Costs and Prices (CACP), an official release stated here.
Agricultural Dept achieves area target for cotton cultivationedit
Agriculture and Farmer Welfare Department of this district has achieved its target to cover more than 72,000 hectare under cotton cultivation for current year. Chief Agriculture Officer (CAO) Baljinder Singh Brar here on Wednesday announced that the area under cotton cultivation was 72,011 hectare this year against over 54,000 hectare of last year.
Budget 2019: Farm crisis biggest challenge for FM Nirmala Sitharaman, but her maiden Budget may not solve itedit
The biggest challenge for finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman while presenting her maiden Union Budget on July 5 will be the crisis in the country’s agriculture sector. The interim Budget presented by Piyush Goyal in February had taken a bold step to address the crisis by introducing the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-KISAN) scheme for providing support to the country’s small and marginal farmers. The Modi government in its second term further sweetened the deal in its first Cabinet meeting by expanding the scope of the scheme to cover all the farmers who will now get Rs 6,000 each a year in their bank accounts, irrespective of the size of their land holdings. The reworked scheme will ...
Odisha Will Soon Have a New Agriculture Policyedit
Saurabh Garg, Agriculture Secretary said the state government will change the Agriculture Policy 2013 with a new one that will concentrate on the income enhancement of farmers. He told that the Agriculture Department had asked for suggestions from various departments concerned to prepare the new policy. The departments were asked to submit their inputs within 2 weeks.
New agri policy in state likely in Julyedit
The state government is expected to come up with a new agriculture policy by July-end. “The old policy was framed six years ago. New technologies and marketing conditions have emerged in the past few years. In view of this, a new updated policy is being worked out,” said agriculture secretary Saurabh Garg. The agriculture secretary said allied departments have been asked to suggest their views within two weeks following which the final draft policy will be prepared. Sources said chief secretary AP Padhi, at a meeting, directed increasing farmers income through appropriate production, marketing strategies and creating the right ecosystem for flourishing of farmer producer groups and mobilising private investment.
Agriculture sector representatives submit Budget wish list to finance ministeredit
Promote agri- startups particularly in rural regions, expand micro-irrigation, treat solar energy as third crop to augment income of farmers and enact labour reforms to push creation of off-farm jobs, were few of the suggestion which representatives of the agricultural and rural development sectors submitted to the Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman to boost investment in agricultural sector and enhance market access to farmers.
Over 600 students to appear in Agri Aptitude Testedit
More than 600 students will be appearing for the Agriculture Aptitude Test (AAT) on Friday at three centres of Punjab Agricultural University (PAU). The maximum number of students will sit in the DS Dev Examination Hall, and others in the lecture room complex of the College of Agriculture. The test is meant for the 2+4 year programme for admission to B.Sc (Hons) in Agriculture. The test shall be of one- and-a-half hour duration, comprising 100 multiple choice questions (each of one mark) to be attempted on OMR sheet. Each correct answer will carry one mark, whereas 1/4 mark will be deducted for every wrong answer. The medium of question paper will be both in English ...
A perspective on the agricultural crisis in India (Part 2edit
G.V. Ramanjaneyulu is the executive director of the Centre for Sustainable Agriculture (CSA), Hyderabad. CSA attempts to understand farmers’ crises, design remedies and make agriculture productive and ecologically sustainable. Fifteen years since its establishment, CSA has rescued several crisis-stricken villages by introducing organic and sustainable farming, organising farmers into producer organisations and engaging with policy changes.
Farm exports: Cabinet secretary-led panel may review curbsedit
The government could soon mandate a high-level panel under the Cabinet secretary to review curbs on exports of major farm items — including onion, rice, wheat, cotton and sugar — that witnessed periodic restrictions in the past, in a bid to have a predictable trade regime and add to farmers’ income.
DNA Edit: Holistic view needed – Agriculture is pulling down power sector reformsedit
Maharashtra, otherwise among the more developed states in India, is a classic case of why the power sector has not taken off in India despite two-and-a-half decades of economic liberalisation. Consumers are simply not prepared to pay for using electricity and the country’s mammoth power distribution system is in a mess.
Budget
Nirmala Sitharaman holds first pre-Budget meet on agri, rural issuesedit
Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday began her pre-Budget consultations with different stakeholders starting with those from agriculture and rural development sectors in which she stressed the need for ways to eradicate unemployment and poverty.
Budget 2019 | Why problems in the agrarian economy need long term solutionsedit
The new government at the centre has taken office amidst an imminent economic slowdown. GDP growth for 2018-19 slipped to 6.8 percent – the lowest in the last five years. The real or inflation-adjusted agricultural growth stood at minus 0.1 percent for January–March 2019. Deficient pre-monsoon rains have put more than 40 percent area of the country under drought alert. Providing relief to the peasantry from continuing agrarian distress is going to be a major challenge for the new government.
Technology in Agriculture
Agriculture Baler Market Report Forecast By Market Outlook, Capital Investment, Opportunities & Trends 2024edit
Agriculture Baler Market reports provides a comprehensive overview of the global market size and share. Agriculture Baler market data reports also provide a 5 year pre-historic and forecast for the sector and include data on socio-economic data of global. Key stakeholders can consider statistics, tables & figures mentioned in this report for strategic planning which lead to success of the organization
Stubble Burning
Schoolgirls seek crowdfunding for anti-stubble-burning machinesedit
In a bid to stop the menace of stubble burning that impacts the capital’s air quality, especially around Diwali and winter, two girls from the National Capital Region have started a crowdfunding campaign to buy Happy Seeder machines to donate it to a village in Punjab. A Happy Seeder performs stubble mulching and seed drilling functions simultaneously. The petitioners, Shruti Sood and Ketaki Tyagi, both 17, have already raised Rs 2.9 lakh of their Rs 5 lakh goal, which should be enough to buy three such machines. In their petition “Happy Seeder, Happy Lungs” on Ketto.org, they said: “We are students of science and social science and understand that the need of the hour is ...
Punjab: Over 50% wheat fields burnt to clear stubble this seasonedit
This wheat harvesting season, Punjab has burnt over 50% acreage under wheat crop to clear stubble, which is 10 per cent more than last year. In several districts, 50% to 70% of wheat fields have been subjected to stubble burning. According to data sources from the Punjab Remote Sensing Centre (PRSC), 17.81 lakh hectares of the total 35.02 lakh hectares under wheat has been set on fire.