The Hindu Business Line

The government recommends natural farming, to reduce chemical usage and to conserve natural resources. The Survey reports that 1.6 lakh farmers follow zero-budget natural farming. In the Budget, the government advised the farmers to adopt zero-budget farming to double their income. Enough data needs to be generated to conclusively prove that zero-budget farming is a potential solution and is scalable. It is being used in a few States.

The Economic Times (ETech)

Startups and technology firms are trying to break into India’s agricultural landscape using newer business models. These firms are tapping governments, insurers, banks, farming co-operatives, development agencies and even corporate social responsibility programs to create a viable business and help farmers. Agri-tech companies such as CropIn are also finding a market in banks and non-banking financial companies that give agricultural loans. The lenders are seeking CropIn’s expertise to help manage risk.

The New Indian Express

The Tamil Nadu agriculture department has recently decided to incentivise farmers in the Cauvery Delta region to use the indigenously-developed Surabhi cotton seeds, instead of the Bt variety, by subsidising the former by almost 50%. The need of the hour is to pump more money into agricultural research to enable scientists here to test and introduce more varieties of food crops too. This will not only help farmers save money, but also make agriculture more sustainable.

Krishi Jagran

Agriculture in India is facing a lot of challenges and crop failure is one of them. It’s a common story for almost every farmer across India and the government is trying to help them come out of this problem through crop insurance schemes. However, the research found that these crop insurance schemes implemented by the government may not be that effective as it sounds.  

Down to Earth

Public investment in agriculture has been consistently receding for the last 17 years, showed an analysis of central governments’ investments in agriculture across the world. The agriculture sector’s share in government expenditure globally stagnated around 1.6 per cent during 2001-2017, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization’s (FAO) latest assessment. Agriculture’s contribution to the world GDP has increased to 6.15 per cent in 2017 from 4.13 per cent in 2001. It means government spending is around one-third of the sector’s overall contribution to global economy.

ANI News

Punjab Agriculture University has developed a kitchen garden without soil in which all-season vegetables can be grown. The model is not heavy so people can take it anywhere. The water used in the system is recycled in it so it also saves water. It is also leak-proof so the water does not spill anywhere.

The News Minute

Situated just 53 kms from Munnar, Marayoor and Kanthalloor regions in Kerala’s Idukki district are fast emerging as major destinations for agritourism. Winter vegetable and fruit farms, sugarcane farms and jaggery production units are some of the main attractions, which have been drawing tourists to these regions. As a result, small-scale farmers in Idukki are receiving rich dividends. Agritourism is the future of farming. It will eliminate the middlemen and will assure ready money for their products, an extra margin of 30-40% surplus price for the farmers. Farmers can also exclusively brand their products to tourists, who, in turn, can buy natural products from them