Media Monitor
Agriculture Industry
Indians Are Consuming Food Devoid of Pulses and Milkedit
Are Indians eating healthy food? A new report by The Indian Express suggests that Indians, especially from poorer sections, are consuming food devoid of pulses and milk. At a Global Pulse Conclave held in Pune earlier this month, it was found that the consumption of pulses in India has flattened. Every year, top pulse leaders from different countries participate in Global Pulse Conclave annual convention and share “insights on the market outlook for the various pulse corps”. This year, it was found that the drastic decline in the consumption of pulses was linked to their rising prices.
Ride-hailing tech is helping tractor sales and farmers in Africaedit
Ride-hailing services have become so popular in the world that they have received hefty investments from mainstream automakers. Backed by technology, ride-hailing services offer a raft of conveniences to the users. And over these years, these services have been tweaked and iterated by several companies to suit different purposes, including hailing tractors. According to a Reuters report, John Deere, an American farm equipment manufacturer, is using ride-hailing technology to boost sales in Africa. For this, it has joined hands with a startup –Hello Tractor — and intends to equip its tractors with technology that will help farmers order tractors using an app. This app will also offer information like fuel levels on the vehicle and live ...
PM-Kisan to play crucial role in doubling farmers’ incomes, says Tomaredit
The Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-Kisan) Scheme is comprehensive and ambitious and will play a key role in doubling farmers’ incomes by 2022, as envisaged by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. This was stated by Narendra Singh Tomar, minister for agriculture and farmers’ welfare, rural development and Panchayati Raj at a function held here recently to mark the first anniversary of the scheme.
He added that the Central Sector Scheme PM-Kisan was among the several new initiatives undertaken by Modi, focussing on the agriculture and rural development sectors.
Farming practices in 4 blocks to be surveyededit
The district’s agriculture technology management agency (ATMA) plans to survey four blocks—Pollachi, Karamadai, Annur and Periyanaickenpalayam, to understand the exact requirement of farmers and ensure their land and resources are optimally used. The project to improve their livelihoods and revenue will be a five-year plan. Farmers will be advised on more suitable crops, cultivation practices, varieties and use of machines.
ICAR introduces paddy resistant to salinityedit
ICAR-Krishi Vigyan Kendra (ICAR-KVK) experts have raised a samba paddy variety that would help farmers in Thalaignayiru who face issues in irrigation.
Farmers in Thalaignayiru had been unable to keep up with others because of their geographical disadvantage. As low lying areas, fields get flooded almost every year, which forces farmers to start cultivation in January when everybody else begins harvest.
PM Kisan Samman Nidhi status, new initiatives after one year: Take a lookedit
PM Kisan Samman Nidhi Yojana has benefited a total of 8.45 crore farming families in the country with an addition of more than 37 lakh families in the current financial year since the launch of the scheme in February 2019, latest government data show. According to the agri-census estimate, a total of 14 crore families need to be included under the ambit of the scheme, Union Minister of Agriculture Narendra Singh Tomar said on Monday.
The government has spent a total of Rs 50,850 crore under the scheme so far since its inception in February 2019, out of the allocation of Rs 75000 crore, Tomar said. According to the minister, the PM Kisan scheme is aiming at ...
Govt. Brings in Common Service Centres for Farmers to Enroll in Kisan Credit Card Schemeedit
The Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers’ Welfare has roped in the e-governance service provider CSC SPV to enable fast-track registration of those farmers who are eligible to avail Kisan Credit Cards (KCC). With this collaboration, the eligible farmers would be able to get themselves enrolled for KCC via around 3.65 lakh common service centers. This will provide them credit support for farming as well as non-farming activities.
Speaking of the collaboration, CSC e-Governance India Limited’s CEO Dinesh Tyagi told PTI, “CSC e-Governance India Ltd has been authorized by the agriculture ministry to register eligible farmers for KCC.” According to reports, the current number of farmers who have been provided with KCCs is 6.67 crores. However, the government is aiming at providing the benefit of Kisan Credit Card ...
Govt To Launch Aadhaar-Linked Master Database For Agri Schemesedit
To ease the implementation process of farmer-related government schemes, the Indian government will launch an Aadhaar-authenticated digital database of farmers in June.
Currently, the government has a database of beneficiaries for soil health cards, Kisan Credit Cards, crop insurance scheme, PM-KISAN and other government schemes. Now all the database will be linked and integrated and one Aadhaar-authenticated data, which will be used as a reference point for all government-run schemes, will be created. Bringing all databases under one umbrella is expected to help the government reach only the authentic beneficiaries.
Dairy Farming
White Revolution 2.0: Amidst rising competition and falling prices Indian dairy market needs to introspectedit
US president Donald Trump’s visit has reinvigorated the focus on a bilateral trade deal. The US is keen get better market access into India for its agricultural products, including dairy which is a very sensitive issue with far reaching socio-economic and political repercussions in India.
Corporates and governments alike are using a host of tactics, at corporate and government level both, to get access to the Indian dairy market, which is the world’s largest. Despite much lower per capita income, India’s demand of 48.8 million metric tonnes (MMT) of fresh milk products during 2008-17 dwarfs the demand in other parts of the world—China (1.99 MMT), sub-Saharan Africa (2.67 MMT), and OECD (0.57 MMT). Interestingly, during 2018-27, OECD ...
Technology in Agriculture
Students develop AI-based tool to boost crop yieldsedit
Agriculture has always been a risky venture in India owing to the vagaries of monsoon. If despite this, agriculture has thrived in our country for long, it is primarily because of the exemplary wisdom, toil and perseverance of our crores of farmers.
They have traditionally banked on their vast storehouse of knowledge and intuition gleaned from years of experience to ensure steady yields.
Technology can lead to more efficient and sustainable farm practicesedit
Technology can play a big role in making Indian agriculture more sustainable, efficient and profitable. The first wave of agricultural technologies that ushered in the Green Revolution has been instrumental in making India food secure. India today is one of the top producers of foodgrain in the world.
Still, Indian agriculture suffers from many fundamental flaws. Productivity of many crops grown in the country is very low in comparison with other countries. Similarly, even though only 60 per cent of arable land is irrigated, the dependence on groundwater for agriculture is among the highest in the world. It is said India’s water use for agricultural purposes is more than that of China and the US put ...