Media Monitor
Agriculture Industry
Farmers seek cash incentives to end practiceedit
For the past nearly two decades, harvest of paddy in northwest India, especially Punjab and Haryana, shifts the focus to stubble burning, which is being blamed for worsening air quality in Delhi-National Capital Region (NCR) during winters. The Delhi government has been blaming the surrounding states like Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Rajasthan and Punjab for contributing to the thick smog, which usually engulfs the NCR in November and December, by failing to prevent burning of crop residue. Farmers in the region are aware of the hazards of stubble burning, but express helplessness in shunning the practice totally.
Captain Amarinder Singh urges Centre to canalise Punjab’s 3 major riversedit
Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh on Thursday urged the central government to take up canalisation of the state’s three eastern rivers of the Indus Water System as a national project, to enable the conservation of water and enhancement of the region’s economic growth. Underlining the need to increase water productivity through augmentation and strengthening of water management, control and regulation infrastructure, Captain Amarinder suggested the launch of the canalization project with the Sutlej river, which would require an investment of about Rs 4000 crore over a period of 3 to 5 years.
Meeting Held on Development of Agriculture Marketing & Cold Chain Infrastructure in Odishaedit
The meeting on Development of Agriculture Marketing and Cold chain Infrastructure in Odisha with officials from Asian Development Bank was held under the chairmanship of Agriculture Production Commissioner, Pradipta Kumar Mahapatra at Krushi Bhawan in Bhubaneswar today. The meeting was based upon how to improve value chain infrastructure, existing market linkage system in Odisha by having technical assistance from ADB which will help the farmers in getting right value for produces.
As stubble burning begins, Punjab cracks down on farmers but poll-bound Haryana indecisiveedit
As reports of stubble burning trickle in from some parts of Punjab and Haryana, the Punjab government has launched a major crackdown on farmers violating the ban. Haryana, on the other hand, is focusing on an intensive awareness campaign across the state but is stopping short of taking punitive action against farmers in the wake of assembly elections next month.
Sustainable agri report aimed at policy reorientation and action planedit
Policy reorientation and making an accelerated action plan for achieving sustainable agriculture for improved livelihood of smallholder farmers as well as addressing the issues of poverty, hunger and malnutrition that continue to prevail in India, despite various agricultural revolutions (Green, Blue, White, etc.) over the past few decades, were the objectives of a new report on Policies and Action Plan for Secure and Sustainable Agriculture. It was presented by a committee, chaired by R S Paroda, and tasked with the aforementioned objectives, to K Vijayraghavan, principal scientific advisor to the Government of India.
Report calls for multi pronged measures to boost farm incomeedit
Doubling farmers’ income through increased production, diversification in farming systems that are eco-regionally sustainable, input cost reduction, availability of credit at low interest rate, better income through direct linkages to markets are some of the major recommendations of a report submitted to the government recently. The report on ‘Policies and Action Plan for Secure and Sustainable Agriculture’ prepared by a committee headed by R.S Paroda was recently presented to K. VijayRaghavan, Principal Scientific Advisor. Also, there is need to enhance markets intensity in rural areas and ensure market linkages through e-NAM requiring uniform adoption of Agriculture Produce and Livestock Marketing (APLM) Act and Contract Farming Act by various States.
Stubble burning cases 6 times higher in last 9 days in Punjabedit
Despite efforts by the state government to curb stubble burning, 159 cases have been reported from September 23 to October 1. In the corresponding period last year, only 25 were cases reported. To curb stubble burning, PPCB will campaign in the villages with the help of the government universities — Guru Nanak Dev University in Amritsar, Punjab Agricultural University in Ludhiana, Punjabi University in Patiala, Guru Angad Dev Veterinary and Animal Sciences University in Ludhiana and Panjab University in Chandigarh. The National Service Scheme (NSS) volunteers from the five universities will start the campaign ‘say no to stubble burning.
More than 6,000 farmers trained at 6-day natural farming workshopedit
A six-day residential training workshop on natural farming was held in Bharatpur, Rajasthan that aimed at training farmers on innovative, cost-effective and environment-friendly natural techniques. More than 6000 farmers from various states – including Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat and Maharashtra participated in the training camp organised by Lupin Foundation.
Competition
New Holland Agriculture bags gold medal for innovations in grape harvestingedit
Global agriculture machinery brand New Holland Agriculture, industry leader in grape and olive harvesting and specialist tractors, has triumphed at this year’s SITEVI Innovation Awards. The gold medal to be awarded to New Holland for its dual software solutions, Plug-and-Play and Multipurpose-on-Demand, both of which are designed to enable the customer to use a range of implements on straddle tractors and Tier-IV New Holland grape harvesters without the need for external assistance thereby enhancing both productivity and operator comfort.
Stubble Burning
Farmers seek cash incentives to end practiceedit
For the past nearly two decades, harvest of paddy in northwest India, especially Punjab and Haryana, shifts the focus to stubble burning, which is being blamed for worsening air quality in Delhi-National Capital Region (NCR) during winters. The Delhi government has been blaming the surrounding states like Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Rajasthan and Punjab for contributing to the thick smog, which usually engulfs the NCR in November and December, by failing to prevent burning of crop residue. Farmers in the region are aware of the hazards of stubble burning, but express helplessness in shunning the practice totally.
As stubble burning begins, Punjab cracks down on farmers but poll-bound Haryana indecisiveedit
As reports of stubble burning trickle in from some parts of Punjab and Haryana, the Punjab government has launched a major crackdown on farmers violating the ban. Haryana, on the other hand, is focusing on an intensive awareness campaign across the state but is stopping short of taking punitive action against farmers in the wake of assembly elections next month.
Stubble burning cases 6 times higher in last 9 days in Punjabedit
Despite efforts by the state government to curb stubble burning, 159 cases have been reported from September 23 to October 1. In the corresponding period last year, only 25 were cases reported. To curb stubble burning, PPCB will campaign in the villages with the help of the government universities — Guru Nanak Dev University in Amritsar, Punjab Agricultural University in Ludhiana, Punjabi University in Patiala, Guru Angad Dev Veterinary and Animal Sciences University in Ludhiana and Panjab University in Chandigarh. The National Service Scheme (NSS) volunteers from the five universities will start the campaign ‘say no to stubble burning.