The Tribune

Gearing up to make Jalandhar a ‘paddy stubble burning-free’ district, the administration, along with Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare departments have embarked on a special campaign to distribute subsidised paddy straw management equipment among farmers. Deputy Commissioner Varinder Kumar Sharma said instead of burning paddy straw, farmers must adopt effective methods for its in-situ management through latest techniques.

The Times of India

To help farmers scientifically, there is no dearth of ‘shelf knowledge.’ The question is, how can we use it best? The system has been suffering policy fatigue and lack of strategies. Although we are competent and equipped, the technology has not been reaching the marginal farmers. To work efficiently, ground conditions need to be defined with right policies and issues need to be addressed in right perspective. In terms of Uttarakhand, migration from hills is a big problem and people are shunning agriculture as a means of living. We fully comprehend the fragile agro-ecology of the mountain zones and will channelise things with the help of the state government and ensure the development of sustainable ...

The Indian Express

Experts said that total pesticide-free Basmati can be grown in Punjab under ‘pest management programme’ and farmers mindset need to be set in that direction. Farmer Harpreet Singh of Gurdaspur said: “I have not been using any recommended or non-recommended pesticide in my fields for the past four years because the sowing time of Basmati is highly favorable for the crop and there is no attack of pest which goes beyond ETL level. But our farmers have been using these because of their mindset without any need

The Indian Express

Soil health cards were rolled out across the country in August 2015 after Prime Minister Narendra Modi made it a key agenda item. Soil samples are tested for the three macronutrients (nitrogen, potassium, and phosphorus), and the micronutrients boron, iron and zinc, along with organic carbon. The soil health cards tell farmers about the nutrient content of their land, and guide them in using fertilisers better. Some 2.59 crore soil health cards have been distributed in Maharashtra in two cycles since 2015.

The Financial Express

In July, two interesting things happened that can, to a large extent, help Indian farmers augment their incomes. First, the Union finance minister (FM), in her maiden budget speech, asked why annadata (farmer) cannot become urjadata (producer of solar power). Second, in the Parliament the Minister of State for agriculture, responding to a question on the prime minister’s promise of doubling farmers’ income (DFI) by 2022, admitted that the existing set of policies cannot double farmers’ real incomes by 2022.