Media Monitor
Agriculture Industry
Farm loan waiver: BJP stages protest in Vidhan Bhavanedit
Ahead of the commencement of Maharashtra Legislature”s budget session, BJP legislators staged a protest on the steps of the Vidhan Bhawan building here on Monday demanding complete loan waiver for farmers.
They demanded that the Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi government write off farmers” debts completely and also provide them a financial assistance of Rs 25,000 per hectare for crop damage.
Dams releasing water for drinking and farming useedit
All the dams in the district are currently releasing water for agriculture and drinking purposes. The water resources department (WRD) said the rotation is likely to conclude by the first week of March. “There is enough water in the dams this year. There are no restrictions on supply, except on those who are yet to clear water dues,” a WRD official said.
CENTRE SEEKING TO DISTANCE FARMERS FROM AGRICULTURE : HANAN MOLLAHedit
Centre’s seeks to resolve nationwide crisis faced by the agriculture sector by distancing farmers from what they are doing, namely farming, said General Secretary to All India Kissan Sabha and COI(M)Politburo member Hanan Mollah. Already large number of people are moving out of this sector owing to mounting losses, he said. Hanan Mollah was speaking to Deshabhimani on the sidelines of Farmers’ State Meeting held in Kollam.
Amid declining production, Kashmiri farmers seek geographical indication tag for local saffronedit
On a cold February morning in this south Kashmir town, saffron farmer Manzoor Ahmad Bhat, 38, was setting out on a 30-km drive to the capital city of Srinagar. Bhat and two other farmers were meeting officials of the Agriculture Department to press for a Geographical Indication, or GI, tag for Kashmiri saffron.
Dairy Farming
Food data raises alert: Indians are consuming less pulses and milkedit
Is there stagnation in demand for pulses, milk and other protein-rich foods in India? The National Statistical Office (NSO) withheld its household consumption expenditure survey report for 2017-18 but alternative data sources do suggest a slowdown — at least in respect of the ubiquitous dal and doodh.
At a global Pulses Conclave held earlier this month in Pune, the overwhelming concern expressed by participants was: Why are we not eating enough pulses?
Technology in Agriculture
Charting the agri-tech courseedit
In July last year, Punjab Agri Export Corporation (Pagrexo), a state government undertaking, decided to deploy block chain technology in potato fields from the rabi season. The project involved certification and traceability of seed potato right from the nucleus to the seed level (harvest). Under the project, the quality of seeds is checked before sowing and geo-tagged. The main objective of geo-tagging is to check falsification of plantation claims.