The Times of India

Agriculture and farmers welfare department has approved 960 applications of farmers from Ludhiana district for farm machinery subsidy for paddy straw management. This subsidy is to be provided to the farmers under in-situ Management of Crop Residue Scheme 2019. Baldev Singh, chief agriculture officer, (CAO) Ludhiana, said, “The farmers would be provided subsidy for purchase of happy seeder, reversible hydraulic MB plough, chopper, zero till drill. 50 percent subsidy will be provided for fitting machinery on combines, and 80 percent subsidy is to be provided to 210 farmer groups.

The Times of India

A centre of excellence for flowers and vegetables will be set up in Wayanad with the technical support of the Netherlands to demonstrate to the farmers on technology-aided farming practices. Addressing a press conference here on Tuesday, agriculture minister V S Sunilkumar said soft launch of the centre will be held on October 14 during the visit of the King and Queen of the Netherlands . The minister said Rs 13 crore has been earmarked for the proposed centre of excellence. The Centre has agreed to sanction Rs 6 crore as grant for the project.

ANI

Uttar Pradesh government has set a target to double agricultural exports by 2024. The decision was taken in a cabinet meeting, presided by Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, on Tuesday which approved 11 proposals. The government has set a target to purchase 50 lakh metric tonnes of paddy under the Paddy Purchase Policy. The procurement will start in some districts from October 1, which will run till January 31, 2020. While in some districts the procurement process will start from 1 November, which will run till February 29, 2020, Spokesperson Shrikant Sharma said.

The Financial Express

Land, water and agriculture are all State subjects; forest is a Concurrent subject. However, land degradation assumes national importance because of its overwhelming impact on the economy and the well-being of all the citizens. The governance architecture for addressing land degradation needs to follow a ‘cooperative federalism’ principle—that enables state governments to access technology and R&D benefits developed through central investments, jointly generate and use data and information, share best practices in policy as well as at the ground level, and enables the states in need to build capacity (financial, technical as well as management) with central assistance.

The New Indian Express

Odisha government on Tuesday extended the deadline for online registration of farmers till September 17 for procurement of paddy during the 2019-20 Kharif season. The last date for the registration was earlier fixed on September 10, Food Supplies and Consumer Welfare Minister RP Swain said.

Krishi Jagran

Shri Harkesh Kumar Mittal, Adviser, Member Secretary, National Science & Technology Entrepreneurship Development Board & Former Secretary, Technology Development Board, Department of Science & Technology, Government of India stressed upon taking the timely action on the knowledge for the good entrepreneurs.

The Indian Express

Addressing the 14th Conference of Parties (COP14) to the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) on Monday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi mentioned that India was “focusing on Zero Budget Natural Farming (ZBNF)”. In her Budget speech, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had spoken of the need to “go back to basics”, and to “replicate this innovative model (that) can help in doubling our farmers’ income”.

Down to Earth

Maize crops are falling prey to the deadly Fall Armyworm (FAW) in Bihar, India’s third-largest corn producer. There are officials reports of FAW attacks on maize crops from the districts of Muzaffarpur, Vaishali, Begusarai, Bhagalpur, Saran and Sheohar, an official of the state agriculture department said. “But unconfirmed reports also suggest presence of FAW in other maize-growing districts of north Bihar,” he added. FAW was first detected by entomologists C M Kalleshwara Swamy and Sharanabasappa in maize fields at the University of Agricultural and Horticultural Sciences, Shimoga, in Karnataka last year. It is an invasive and polyphagous (feeding on many foods) pest. It can attack cereals and forage grasses.

India Today

The central and state governments have woken up to the farm crisis and are aggressively pursuing policies to better the lot of the farmer. The Modi Government has targeted to double the average farmer’s income by 2022. This is possible only when Agri-startups fill the gap. The Indian agri-startups have seen a massive surge since 2014. The Inc42 Datalabs has recorded an approximate growth of nearly 100% in agriculture and allied activities in 2014-2015. The agri-exports saw a jump of CAGR 6.75% to $32.08 billion in 2015-2016. Agri-tech companies have been instrumental in jump-starting the organized growth in this sector.

Financial Express

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will launch a massive nationwide campaign for eradication of foot and mouth disease affecting farm animals. He will launch several other farmer welfare measures from Mathura in Uttar Pradesh on Wednesday. The National Animal Disease Control Programme (NADCP) is fully funded by the Union government with an outlay of Rs 12,652 crore for the next five years. This programme is crucial for the success of Prime Minister Modi’s ambitious target of doubling the farmer’s income by 2022.

Down To Earth

The total area under grasslands reduced to 12.3 mha from 18 mha between 2005 and 2015. Grasslands in the Aravalli range in Rajasthan underwent severe degradation, read the report. Other states where land has been severely destroyed include Maharashtra, Karnataka, Gujarat and Uttar Pradesh, it added. Loss of grazing land can be attributed to two kinds of drivers — direct and indirect. Overgrazing, poor management and deforestation are the direct drivers and conversion of pastures into croplands through encroachment, diversion and allotment driven by increasing population pressure are the indirect drivers.

KNN India

The economic slowdown in the country reflects its impact on the Telangana Budget outlay for the financial year 2019-20. The proposed expenditure for 2019-20 in the budget session of Telangana Legislative Assembly and Council declined to Rs 1,46,492.30 crore from Rs 1,82,017 crore, almost slashed by 20%, shown in the Vote On Account Budget presented before the Lok Sabha election this year

The Indian Express

India’s premier academic body of agricultural scientists has hit out at Zero Budget Natural Farming (ZBNF), terming it as an “unproven” technology bringing no incremental value gain to either farmers or consumers. “The government should not needlessly invest capital and human resources towards promoting ZBNF. We have given our recommendations in writing to the Prime Minister and it reflects the view held by the scientific community,” said Panjab Singh, president of the National Academy of Agricultural Sciences (NAAS).