Media Monitor
Agriculture Industry
In Nanded district, rabi is only 5% crop loanedit
“In this district this year, the banks have disbursed a loan of Rs. 1 crore (3 percent) to the farmers of different regions till Wednesday (July 1)”, sources in the district’s leading bank said. All banks have a slow pace of crop lending. Farmers expresses the need to accelerate the lending rate to achieve the goals.
Govt removes bindings on token, paddy procurement limitsedit
The cabinet subcommittee, formed by chief minister to monitor paddy procurement and to suggest the way how to disburse Rs 2500 to farmers for per quintal of paddy, held its meeting on Monday.
Head of the subcommittee, Agriculture Minister Ravindra Choubey, later informed media persons that the subcommittee has decided in the meeting to remove the bindings of 3 tokens and also the limit for sale of paddy. To ensure hassle-free procurement the subcommittee also decided to open a new procurement centres across the state to facilitate the farmers, he added.
Farmers want tripartite meet ahead of paddy procurementedit
The state government continues to evade the demand for a tripartite meeting to discuss paddy procurement policy, allege farmers in the state. While both the ministers for food and agriculture hail from delta districts, they have not shown any interest in convening the same for long, they add.
Before announcing the procurements policy for the Kharif season, the state government would usually convene a tripartite meeting where agriculture and food ministries, Tamil Nadu Civil Supplies Corporation (TNCSC) MD, collectors of delta districts, officials from the agriculture department, TNCSC regional managers and representatives of farmers’ associations would participate.
Agrarian distress and the way forwardedit
Agriculture has been a key contributor to India’s growth story, where 650 million people or 58 per cent of Indian households are directly or indirectly dependent on agriculture. In recent years, crop failures, indebtedness, non-remunerative prices, and low returns have resulted in agrarian distress in most parts of the country. Despite the government introducing several reforms in the sector, challenges continue to exist.
Government to roll out new guidelines for silosedit
The government is planning to roll out new guidelines for construction of silos by doing away with the mandatory requirement of having railway connectivity next to the storehouses, government officials said.
This will help the government deal with the storage problem of food grains as silos require 30% less land as compared to conventional warehouses, and can run round the clock, making them more efficient.
Kharif crops production likely to decline up to 53.3 per cent due to erratic weatheredit
The production of coarse grains, pulses, oil seeds and sugarcane is expected to decline in the summer season of 2019-20 due to late monsoon and erratic and heavy rains later, according to a report. In the current assessment, coarse grains, pulses, oil seeds and sugarcane have marginally pushed themselves further in the negative region with an expected decline of 14.14 per cent, 14.09 per cent, 53.31 per cent and 11.07 per cent over the last estimate, respectively, according to a report by the National Bulk Handling Corporation (NBHC).
Budget
Budget 2020: To fix the slowing economy, begin with agricultureedit
The Union Budget is barely three weeks away. There are talks about tax sops and financial incentives. But none of them will go very far if the basics are ignored. After all, the economy is hurting real bad. And to understand the reasons behind the pain, it is essential to understand why farms matter.
CLAAS Mentions
CLAAS has one-stop solution for stubble burning in India: Anil Menonedit
“Government needs to support the creation of an ecosystem where farmers are not penalised for disposing of paddy straw. As per the production and availability of paddy straw, there is a need to set up biomass power plants in every district so that the demand can be generated locally,” says Anil Menon, Head – Market Development, CLAAS Agricultural Machinery. In an exclusive interview with Mohd Mustaquim, Menon talks about their outreach programmes, preparations for climate change threat, challenges in Indian markets, their future roadmap in the country along with many other related issues…
Uncategorized
Good meals or education? Food inflation forces working-class families to make tough choicesedit
“The government is currently stocking much higher quantities of cereals in its godowns than the buffer norms,” said Himanshu. Buffer norms are the minimum amount of food grains that the central government should have in storage at the beginning of each quarter of the year.
The Food Corporation of India’s granaries, in which the government stocks food grains for use during calamities, have been overflowing for most of last year. In July 2019, the FCI had 45.8 million tonnes of wheat storage, as against the buffer norm of 27.5 million tonnes. It also had nearly double the amount of rice stocks than the buffer norm of 13.5 million tonnes. “This is irrational and ...