Media Monitor
Agriculture Industry
Revamped crop insurance scheme brings single peril risk cover, flexibility to be tested in Punjab, Haryana and western UPedit
For the first time, the Centre has come out with customised crop insurance (single peril insurance cover) for states by factoring in one specific natural disaster. Such insurance will first be made available in Punjab, parts of Haryana and western Uttar Pradesh where farmers are not generally hit by droughts or floods but have to suffer due to hailstorms. This model, having low premium due to risk coverage against single extreme weather event, will be available to other states or Union Territories (UTs) as well under the existing Prime Minister Crop Insurance Scheme (PMFBY).
India needs to curb illegal seed technology, strengthen IPR regime to boost farm investments, says Bayer CropScience COOedit
India needs to curb proliferation of illegal seed technology and implement a strong intellectual property regime to ensure that companies invest in the agriculture sector and bring in latest technologies, a top executive at Bayer CropScience that acquired MonsantoNSE -0.40 % in 2016.
The German agriculture major has made representation to the government on this regard, said Simon Thorsten Wiebusch, chief operating officer of Bayer CropScience LtdNSE 4.10 %, which last year completed the integration of Monsanto’s India business with itself
Government to review cotton seed priceedit
The agriculture ministry is likely to take a decision on revising the price of Bt cotton seeds, including the trait value (tech fee), by March to help farmers plan for the kharif planting season which starts in June.
The industry has sought a 10 per cent increase in price because of rising input costs. Some manufacturers have sought pricing freedom.
By Making Crop Insurance Optional for Farmers, Has the Centre Effectively Ended the Scheme?edit
On February 19, 2020, the Union Cabinet approved major modifications to the two crop insurance schemes, the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY) and Restructured Weather Based Crop Insurance Scheme (RWBCIS).
While the former provides insurance on the basis of guaranteed crop yield, the latter provides coverage on the basis of weather parameters, irrespective of the yield of crop.
The two schemes were launched in 2016 and there were major modifications in guidelines in 2018. The implementation of the overall project has attracted criticism from farmers, some state governments and the media for delay in settlement of claims and inadequate pay outs in the event of losses.
Dairy Farming
RSS affiliate brings up religion to oppose US dairy imports, cites non-veg diet of cowsedit
A possible trade deal with the US has been hampered by a host of issues, and now with President Donald Trump set to visit India, it is set to face another hurdle — religious concerns.
While Trump has made it clear that he will not be signing a deal during his two-day visit starting Monday, the RSS now says that it will not allow the import of US dairy products.
Uncategorized
Rajasthan Budget 2020-21: Cuts for Labour, Social Welfare and Education Sectorsedit
The Ashok Gehlot-led Congress government in Rajasthan presented the state budget for the 2020-21 fiscal year on Thursday.
With a significant dip in the outlay from the last financial year’s Rs 1,16,735.96 crore, the present budget estimate stood at Rs 1,10,200.82 crore. More importantly, the budget reveals that in many sectors such as education, water supply, sanitation and labour, the expenditure was less than the estimates provided in the 2019-20 budget. In the budget for the 2020-21 fiscal, sectors such as labour, social welfare and education face reduction in allotments.