Media Monitor
Agriculture Industry
Another Delayed Monsoon Doesn’t Bode Well for Biharedit
According to the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD), the monsoon is likely to hit Bihar by June 20 – late by close to a week. Ordinarily, monsoon hits the state by June 12-13. Though the IMD is sticking to its previous prediction of near-normal rainfall during the southwest monsoon (June to September) across the country, the monthly and region-wise forecast is not encouraging.
RBI denies permission for moratorium till Dec 31 on farm loansedit
Thiruvananthapuram: Reserve Bank of India has denied permission to the state government move to issue a new moratorium for all kind of loans that farm…
This State’s Solutions May Be The Answer Farmers Across India Are Looking For!edit
If you’ve followed recent developments in the agricultural sector, you would have heard about the Odisha government’s Rs 10,000 crore-Krushak Assistance for Livelihood and Income Augmentation (KALIA) scheme covering 54 lakh farm households in the state. Many have touted this scheme as a paradigm shift in the approach to agriculture, but this is just one of the many facets of the ADAPT initiative.
Andhra Pradesh farmers struggle to purchase seeds using biometric attendance in Srikakulamedit
With biometric attendance made mandatory, farmers have to spend hours together to purchase seeds from seed distribution centres. In some cases the farmers were rejected as the land shown in the web land portal was not linked with Aadhaar card. In such cases, the farmers have to rush to revenue office to link the Aadhaar.
With no crop loans, scheme benefits, tenant farmers likely to skip farming this Kharif in Mahbubnagaredit
The financial condition of tenant farmers in erstwhile Mahbubnagar is in a pathetic condition as they are not recognised by the government and thus not eligible for Rythu Bandhu scheme benefits and also for crop loans.
Telangana farmers worried over deficit rainfalledit
Delay in monsoons is adversely affecting agricultural operations in the current Kharif season. There has been no rainfall in undivided Nizamabad district in the last fortnight. According to the Meteorological Department, both Nizamabad and Kamareddy districts have been facing large deficit of rainfall ranging from 60 per cent to 99 per cent.
PM Kisan Nidhi: Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh come on boardedit
After dilly-dallying over implementing the PM Kisan Nidhi scheme before the elections and coming under fire from Prime Minister Narendra Modi on this count during the poll campaign, Congress-ruled Madhya Pradesh (MP) and Rajasthan have finally come on board and fixed a month’s deadline to send names of all 13.5 million beneficiary farmers to the Centre.
Farmer held in Maharashtra for sale of Ht Bt cotton seedsedit
A farmer was arrested in Buldhana district of Maharashtra on Wednesday for allegedly selling unapproved seeds of herbicide-tolerant (Ht) Bt cotton. The accused, identified as Vasant Mulay, has been charged under provisions of the Seeds Act and Cotton Act, said Narendra Naik, a senior officer of the district agriculture department.
Explained: India’s labour market and PLFS dataedit
As early as 380BC, the noted Greek philosopher Plato cautioned that politicians seeking elections take advantage of citizens’ desire for easy answers. The warning held true in India in the context of the leaked Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) ahead of the 2019 general elections. During the elections, the headline unemployment rate of 6.1% from the survey dominated the discourse on jobs, but it did not capture the complexities of India’s labour market.
Progressive Farming:Odisha makes its mark in global spice marketsedit
India is one of the largest producer and exporter of spices in the world. It is also a big consumer of spices. We have an illustrious history of producing and exporting spices to around 80 countries.
Farmers in Telangana Asked to Defer Kharif Sowing as Monsoon Gets Delayededit
Telangana Government has issued advisory urging growers not to rush into sowing. The sporadic rains of the last few days are not monsoon rains.
A spokesperson for the Professor Jayashankar Telangana State Agricultural University (PJTSAU) said “Going by the forecasts, rainfall in June is likely to be 60 to 70 percent lower than the average figures. But we expect 60 to 70 percent more rainfall in July & September”
Budget
Farm sector likely to get Rs 25 lakh-crore budget boostedit
The central government has targeted spending Rs 25 lakh crore on the rural and farm economy over the next five years, which will reflect in allocations to be made in these sectors in the annual Budget on July 5, an official said, requesting anonymity.
Budget 2019 | Five long term measures to revive agricultureedit
The agricultural sector needs a big push in policies to boost growth and farm incomes and address the agrarian distress in terms of adverse terms of trade. The interim budget and pre-election promises concentrated on short-term measures such as loan waivers and cash transfers. In this year’s interim budget, the government announced PM-KISAN for small and marginal farmers but now it is applicable to all farmers. This cash transfer may be useful to farmers but may not help revive agriculture. The NDA government with its massive mandate should concentrate on long-term policies for transforming the agriculture sector. It should focus on the following five long-term measures and the forthcoming budget in July can be the starting point to revive agriculture.
Budget 2019 agriculture wishlist: Increase farmer income, investment in R&Dedit
Key challenges Doubling farmers’ income: In the past, focused efforts in agriculture has been around increasing yield, mechanisation, reducing post-harvest losses, etc., that are indirectly linked to farmer remuneration. However, there is still a huge gap in the optimum price realisation by farmers.
Technology in Agriculture
Wheel Tractor Market 2019 Business Growth, Landscape Analysis, Leading Trends, and Forecast to 2025edit
The main aim of the Global Wheel Tractor Market report 2019 is to distinguish, elucidate, and forecast the global market based on numerous facets such as service, solution, application, organization size, deployment mode, region, and vertical. The report deliberately scrutinizes every sub-segment concerning the individual growth trends, contribution to the total market, and the future prospects.
Stubble Burning
Air pollution: The time to act is nowedit
June 2019: We are at the cross-roads in more ways than one. Half-way through yet another year, as the air ‘clears’ on the political arena and the ‘dust’ settles down on yet another frenzied poll campaign culminating in its final verdict, the focus needs to move back on India’s prevailing, unabated problems. Air pollution must figure on top of the list of priorities. Incidentally, #BeatAirPollution was the theme of the World Environment Day (June 5, 2019).