Media Monitor
Agriculture Industry
Despite efforts, natural farming doesn’t find many takers in APedit
While efforts are on to make Andhra Pradesh a national leader in zero-budget natural farming (ZBNF), ground-level progress shows that online 3 per cent of farmers are practising pesticide-free farming according to data from the state agriculture department
Puducherry welcomes announcement of protected agricultural zoneedit
Agriculture Minister of Puducherry R Kamalakannan on Sunday said the announcement by Tamil Nadu Chief Minister K Palaniswami that the districts in the delta region in the state would be designated as ‘protected agricultural zone’ should be followed up with measures to practically implement the announcement.
Vegetables go easy on the pocket in Pune as supply replenishes marketedit
This week, the Chhatrapati Shivaji Market Yard was abuzz with activity with as many 2,195 trucks rolling into the Agriculture Produce Market Committee (APMC) market.
With abundant supply of vegetables like tomatoes, bitter gourd, beetroot and french beans, the prices have reduced. Onions, too, made a comeback in the market, decreasing the rates from Rs 200 to 270 per 10 kg last week to Rs 180 to Rs 220 per 10 kg this week.
Cauvery delta districts will be a protected farm zone; no nod for hydrocarbon projectsedit
Chief Minister K Palaniswami on Sunday said eight Cauvery delta districts of Tamil Nadu including the rice bowl, Thanjavur, will be categorized as a special protected agricultural zone and assured that permission will not be given for hydrocarbon projects. Asserting that steps will be taken to enact a separate law to confer the protected status to the delta districts, he said here that only agro-based industries will be encouraged on a need basis in the river Cauvery fed regions.
Seminar on crop diversification: ‘Maize has potential to replace rice in Punjab’edit
Maize has a huge potential to replace production of rice in the region. Farmers are willing to change, but they need a viable option. In this context, maize is a credible option for crop diversification to prevent loss of groundwater, degradation of soil, loss of crop and increase biodiversity.
This was stated by Suresh Kumar, chief principal secretary to chief minister of Punjab, who was chief guest at the two-day national seminar on ‘Maize for Crop Diversification under Changing Climatic Scenario’ at Punjab Agricultural University (PAU) to mark the sixth Foundation Day of the ICAR-Indian Institute of Maize Research (IIMR), Ludhiana. The seminar began on Sunday.
For Farmers Facing India’s Biggest Locust Attack, Govt Provides Insufficient Reliefedit
Gujarat and Rajasthan, two states that share a border with Pakistan, are witnessing a massive locust attack, with estimates saying Rabi crops in more than 3.5 lakh hectares of land has been damaged. Crops of wheat, cumin, mustard, gram and psyllium have been devastated in the two states, affecting lakhs of farmers.
While the government is trying to control the locust swarms, farmers in Rajasthan are also being provided relief as per the State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF) norms.
The Union government is unlikely to give in to the demand of withdrawing the ban on export of onions. Sources in the Union agriculture ministry told TOI that although the wholesale price of onions was dropping, the retail prices were still high. The ban would not be lifted until and unless the retail prices stabilised.edit
To help set up vegetable gardens in 10,024 nutritious meal centres across Tamil Nadu, the Department of Elementary Education has called upon students, school management committees and parents, who are farmers, to work with officials from the Department of Agriculture and Horticulture to implement the initiative under the Puratchi Thalaivar MGR Nutritious Meal Programme