Chana output in Indore division is estimated to drop by over 15 per cent owing to lower acreage and unfavourable weather, according to industry players, scientists and officials. Chana output in the state is estimated at around 35 lakh tonnes, of which a major chunk comes from Malwa and Nimar region, said industry experts. Indore division produces an estimated 4.5 lakh tonnes of chana, they said. All India Dal Mills Association president Suresh Agrawal said, “Chana production is estimated lower in the state led by Malwa and Nimar region as a large area under chana was shifted to other rabi crops while weather was also not conducive.”

“We may escape coronavirus but not the impact of the other disaster (unseasonal rains and hailstorms) which struck us last week,” said Subhash Chaudhary, who, like other farmers in the north, suffered heavy damage to standing crops on Saturday even as 31 districts of Uttar Pradesh faced the wrath of the weather this month. Unseasonal rains and hailstorms have, so far, affected rabi (winter sown) crops on over 4 lakh hectares of land in north India with UP the worst-hit till Saturday. Besides UP, a few districts of Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan too have borne the impact

THE problems that beset the rural sector across Asia are similar — absence of governance; loss of governments’ credibility; trust deficit; politics of self-aggrandisement; financial stress; class and caste conflicts; lack of rural infrastructure and agro-based industry; non-existent human resource development programmes; unemployment; drug menace; youth disinterested in farming and ever keen to migrate to green pastures; debt burden; suicides, and much more.

Problems in the farming sector are no different, ranging from fading Green Revolution to distant ‘alternative’ agriculture; pricing to storage, transport and marketing; vagaries of climate change to depleting natural resources. For remunerative agriculture, it is imperative that farmers get adequate exposure to agro-meteorology, bio-technology and bio-diversity; extension education (for farm operations and agronomic ...

Over the last 10-15 days, rains have lashed many parts of north India with reports saying the standing wheat crop is being affected by the downpour.

However, production of wheat may not be affected as feared. Probably, the quality of the grains in the rain-hit areas could be affected. But there is a more worrisome issue of bulging stocks.

The Economic Times quoted Dr Gynanedra P Singh, Director, Indian Institute of Wheat and Barley Research, as saying that there could be loss of up to five per cent of the crop.

With untimely rain and hailstorm damaging the Rabi crops, the farmers of the national capital have planned to meet lieutenant governor Anil Baijal on Monday to demand compensation for their loss. The hailstorm, claimed farmers, not only damaged the mustard and whole gram crops, but also flattened the wheat crop and destroyed the fruits and the vegetables.

THE coronavirus scare has hit farming, piggery and other allied occupations. The outbreak has also delayed training camps for farmers in various fields, even as officers concerned say they have been offering help to farmers to allay their fears.

“Coronavirus has caused heavy losses to us despite the fact that it has no connection with poultry. But since the officers concerned have failed to disseminate authentic information, we are compelled to sell chicken at the rate of Rs 25 per kg against the cost of Rs 90 and eggs at the rate of Rs 2.80 apiece against the cost of Rs 4.25. Officers are only asking us to avoid crowds,” says Rajesh Garg, president of the Punjab ...

Last month, Montek Singh Ahluwalia’s book Backstage – The story behind India’s high growth years (Rupa Publications) was released. The book is a travelogue of India’s economic reforms journey, of which Montek had been an insider for about 30 years. Besides some very interesting anecdotes from personal and professional life, the book is full of useful insights into the complexities of policy debates. And, in many instances, it has hardcore evidence of the impact of those policies. This can be extremely useful, moving forward, in propelling the growth of a sluggish economy, and abolishing poverty at the earliest. It is impossible to cover all the interesting things in the book, so here, I shall confine myself to ...

Haryana agriculture minister J P Dalal visited Anandpur, Jalbera and Ugara villages in Ambala district on Sunday to assess crop damage due to rain. He was accompanied by Ambala deputy director of agriculture (DDA) Girish Nagpal, district revenue officer (DRO) Captain Vinod Sharma, tehsildar Vikram Singla and other officials. Dalal first went to Anandpur and Jalbera to gather information about crop loss from the agriculture department. He was told about farmers’ applications for compensation.

AMIDST CORONAVIRUS concerns, heavy rainfall, accompanied by strong winds and even hailstorms, across northern and eastern India is keeping farmers on the edge, just when they are set to harvest a bumper rabi crop.

The thundershowers — triggered by back-to-back Western Disturbances since end-February, with each spell lasting for 3-4 days and a fresh active one expected from March 21 — aren’t good for the wheat, mustard, chana (chickpea), masur (red lentil), matar (field pea), potato and rabi maize that are in grain-filling or ripening stages.

Heavy rain and strong winds in the past few days have damaged more than 3% of the wheat crop in Patiala district, say experts.

The showers resulted in flattening of the standing crop and waterlogging in the agricultural fields across district, dashing hopes of farmers to get a bumper yield this season.

Agriculture experts said that the loss might increase further if the fields are not been drained out or if it rains any more in the district.

“Around 3,570 hectare land of wheat crop has flattened in district. The wheat crop was sown on 2.32 hectare in Patiala,” they said.

Normally, paddy is cultivated through paddy seed, but a progressive farmer is cultivating paddy by using rice grains. Risotto is a north Italian rice variety brought by a rice mill CEO from an international rice expo held in Germany.

Nagula Gangaram, a progressive farmer of Nizamabad district who is popularly known as Chinni Krishnudu, is known for his experiments in agriculture. He cultivates different types of rice varieties belonging to several countries in his agriculture field situated on the outskirts of Nizamabad.

Soil health is a major contributor to a good quality crop. However, most farmers have little awareness and also means to measure soil health parametres, and thus often face crop failure. Bringing a technological solution to this problem, Ahmedabad-based startup, NeerX, developed a low-cost handheld device, Shool (Smart Sensor for Hydrology and Land Application), which helps measure soil health parametres such as moisture, salinity, dielectric permittivity, among others.

India faces annual post-harvest losses of Rs 61,000 crore in production of marine and inland fisheries and it results in huge loss of income for the fishermen community holding back the sector from potentially registering a higher average annual growth rate than the 7% recorded in recent years. Attributing this huge loss to faulty handling practices, inordinate delay in packing & transportation and lack of proper cold storage facilities, a parliamentary panel has asked the government to modernise existing harbours, establish more cold storage facilities and ensure availability of more refrigerated trucks/vans for transportation of fishes.

As heavy rain, accompanied by hailstorm in some areas, lashed many parts of the country over the last few days, major wheat-producing states have recorded more than 100 per cent “higher than normal” rainfall during first 11 days of March, according to latest data available with the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmer’s Welfare.

While assessment of the damage caused by the unseasonal showers to the Rabi crop is not known immediately, experts said the early-March rain may impact the mustard harvest.

Inclement weather takes a toll; farmers, facing financial losses, a worried lot in both the States The recent rain could delay harvesting of the standing wheat crop by at least a week in Punjab and Haryana , an agriculture expert and farmers said on Sunday.

With rain and hail damaging wheat, potato and mustard crops, farmers in Ludhiana district, particularly those in the vicinity of Samrala, are demanding a special girdawari for compensation. “Untimely rains have caused extensive damage. In Samrala areas hit by hailstorm, the standing crop has been ruined,” said HS Lakhowal, general secretary, BKU (Lakhowal).

Rain accompanied by strong winds flattened the wheat crop in several areas of Karnal, Yamunanagar, Panipat, Kurukshetra and Ambala today. Farmers were worried that the rain and hailstorm might cause loss to their crops.

Scientists at the Indian Institute of Wheat and Barley Research issued an advisory to farmers and appealed to them not to allow water to stagnate.

“Most of the wheat crop is at the half ripened stage. If the crop flattens at this stage, it will cause shrinking in immature wheat grain, leading to huge reduction in yield,” said Joginder Singh of Devdhar village.

The agriculture department urged paddy farmers to switch to millet cultivation and earn good profits by adding value to their produce, here on Friday. The instruction came on the sidelines of a one-day seminar on ‘National food security mission (Nutri Cereals) 2019-2020,’ organized to persuad farmers to switch to millet cultivation. “The central and state governments schemes are aimed at increasing the area of millets cultivation. Though our district reached the target area of 52,000 hectares for millet cultivation this year, farmers ti have the the awareness on millet cultivation,” said joint director of agriculture department, Trichy P Ashokan.

At least 28 people, including women and children, were killed across Uttar Pradesh due to untimely rains accompanied by the hailstorm in the last 24 hours, officials confirmed on Friday. It has also caused massive damage to the standing rabi crops of wheat, potato, and mustard.

The state has been witnessing rain and thunderstorms from Thursday, continuing in several parts.

Pilibhit, Sitapur, Chandauli, Muzaffarnagar, Baghpat, Bijnor and Jaunpur were some of the districts that have been severely affected by the inclement weather conditions.

The heavy rain and hailstorm that pounded the state last week affected crops grown across 8.5 lakh hectare, with potato, wheat and oil-based seeds like mustard bearing the maximum damage. Between Thursday and Friday, unseasonal rain destroyed crops grown across 3,03,456 hectare in 14 districts. Of this, more than 33% crop was destroyed in 24,229.5 hectare, affecting 42,398 farmers who will now be eligible for a cumulative compensation of Rs 18.52 crore. The government also reported 28 deaths in 13 districts. The tally was as follows: one each from Varanasi, Gorakhpur, Siddharthnagar, Ayodhya, Chandauli, Kanpur Dehat, Mirzapur and Balrampur; two in Sonebhadra; three each in Jaunpur and Barabanki; and six each in Sitapur and Lakhimpur Kheri.

A year ago Vipesh Garg, the Budhlada Horticulture department Officer, proposed an idea to curb the massive wastage of Kinnow fruit in Mansa district of Punjab. Little did he know that his solution was going to usher in a big change.

Popularly known as the King of Fruits in Punjab, Kinnow is a hybrid of two citrus cultivars (Citrus nobilis and Willow Leaf). The state accounts for nearly 24 per cent of India’s kinnow production.

Kinnow’s high demand is traced to its healthy properties – rich in minerals, Vitamin C  and packed with carbohydrates. Yet, Kinnow does not bear fruits for the farmer who nurtures it.

The recent rain and hailstorm along with strong winds have flattened Rabi crops including wheat and mustard in some parts of Kurukshetra, Yamunanagar, and Ambala. The major loss has been reported from the Kurukshetra district where the hailstorm and rain have wreck havoc mainly in Shahabad, Pehowa, Thanesar and least in Ladwa and Babain areas of the district. Kurukshetra deputy director agriculture (DDA) Pardeep Meel told, “In last 24 hours, in Kurukshetra, Shahabad recorded 17mm rain, Thanesar 12mm, Babain 5mm, and Ladwa 2mm. A total of 1.15 lakh hectare area has been sown under wheat in Kurukshetra, out of which, approximately 6,500 hectares have been affected due to recent weather conditions up to Saturday. Similarly in Kurukshetra, so far, 350 hectare area of mustard has been affected out ...

Rabi crops have faced the brunt of above normal rains this month in India with commodities including wheat, mustard, chickpeas and potato affected by over 60% precipitation in north-western and central India. The inclement weather has caused crop loss in wheat, mustard and chickpea besides affecting the harvesting of potato.

“Rain is suspected to cause crop loss of up to 5% in wheat and the effect is more on the early sown areas where the grain has attained maturity,” Dr Gyanendra P. Singh, director, Indian Institute of Wheat and Barley Research said. Singh maintained that the loss is widespread in pockets where hailstorm struck the standing crop of wheat.

According to TechSci Research, India’s agriculture market was valued at over $85 million in 2018, and is expected to grow at a CAGR of over 10 percent. Agritech companies are breathing new life into agriculture by finding new ways for farmers, animal agriculturalists, and food supply managers to go about their business.  While most agritech startups have been founded by men, some women are also foraying into the ecosystem with new tech innovations to help grow the sector.

Farmers have not been paid Rs 3,001 crore worth of crop insurance claims seven months past the deadline date, according to information obtained by The Wire through an RTI application.

The data pertains to the 2018-19 season whose last harvest – the rabi season – ended in May 2019, almost 10 months ago. According to the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY) guidelines  – which require claims to be settled within two months of final harvest – the claims ought to have been settled by the end of July.

In the RTI response, the ministry of agriculture and farmers’ welfare has said that the estimated claims for the 2018-19 season were Rs 21,250 crore and Rs 18,249 crore has been paid ...

Farmers who have suffered losses given the crop damage due to hailstorm and rains in the state have sought “factual” assessment of the loss each one of them has suffered. The farmers’ body, Bhartiya Kisan Union (BKU) has written to the chief minister Yogi Adityanath “willing to bring to his notice” that the assessment, at present, is done by the revenue department.

Farmers have reportedly lost 70% of their crop in the recent rain, hail and high-velocity winds in Hisar, Sirsa and Fatehabad districts and have asked the government to provide timely compensation.

The region received 11.7mm rain on Wednesday. The department of agriculture and meteorology has predicted more rain till Friday and has advised farmers against starting water irrigation.

Head of the department of agriculture and meteorology ML Khichar said, “On Saturday, Hisar received 35.7mm rain and similar figures were recorded in Fatehabad and Sirsa, too. Due to hailstorms and high-speed winds, farmers have lost crop in these districts.”

Haryana chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar during his visit to Gurukul, Kurukshetra on Thursday asked for promoting the Indian culture of using ‘desi’ cow’s waste-based fertilizers and said that one lakh acres of agricultural land will be cultivated under natural farming in the state. Khattar, accompanied by Gujarat governor Acharya Devvrat inaugurated a natural farming training center built at a cost of around Rs 2.11 crore at Gurukul, Kurukshetra and also participated in a workshop namely Subhash Palekar Natural Farming Workshop.

A supercomputer is boosting efforts in East Africa to control  a locust outbreak that raises what the U.N. food agency calls “an unprecedented threat” to the region’s food security.

The computer, a donation from Britain, uses satellite data to track locust swarms and predict their next destination. Quickly sharing the information of the locusts’ movements with regional authorities is key to controlling the outbreak, as even a small swarm of locusts in a single day can move nearly 100 miles and consume the amount of crops that would otherwise feed 35,000 people.

Farmers in Pilibhit are resisting the restrictions on cultivation of summer paddy imposed by the district magistrate through an administrative order issued on December 29, 2019. Restraining the farmers from transplanting summer paddy from this season, the district magistrate had also directed 14 departmental heads to ensure that farmers do not cultivate the particular crop in any part of the district. In addition, the agriculture department has been told to motivate farmers to replace summer paddy with pulses and maize. Defying orders, the farmers under Pilibhit tehsil circle have started transplanting summer paddy on their fields from Tuesday. The farmers have also filed a petition to Allahabad high court to repeal the DM’s order.

Agriculture Minister Damien O’Connor has today classified the drought in the North Island, parts of the South Island and the Chathams as a large-scale adverse event, unlocking up to $2 million in Government funding to support farmers and growers from now until June 2021.

Agriculture marketing officials have assured Nendran banana growers in the district that steps will be taken to create avenues to sell their produce at a reasonable price. This follows a report carried in TOI on Wednesday highlighting the farmers’ worries due to a sharp decline in price. The report had also pointed out that facilities established by the government to help banana farmers by spending crores of rupees were idling for years. Following the report, the officials visited the primary processing centres established for the benefit of banana as well as onion farmers including in Mannachanallur on Wednesday. They elaborated the steps taken by the department to maximise the selling price of banana by linking them ...

Sathi Bhaskar Reddy is a well known philanthropist, farmer and ideal leader who can inspire the young generation of farmers. He won many awards and rewards for his philanthropic activities and generous nature. He was born in a family steeped in poverty and illiteracy at Ravulapalem in Kothapeta mandal of East Godavari district. At the tender age of ten, he was compelled to share the burden of family along with his father and hence was deprived of education.

Owing to poverty and little income, he migrated to Dulla village of Kadiyam Mandal age near Rajamahendravaram, where his destiny has been changed from a humble labourer to a dynamic and innovative farmer. By sheer hard work and ...

The food ministry has sought an additional subsidy of Rs 13,000 crore to help states pay farmers for foodgrains procured by states for public distribution.

States purchase grain under the decentralised procurement scheme (DCP). Under the Food Security Act , the Centre procures grain either via state-run Food Corporation of India (FCI) or pays states for direct purchase, store and distribution.

“The Centre had allocated a subsidy of Rs 33,000 crore under DCP scheme to states for funding their procurement exercise in 2019-20. Many states like Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, Assam and Odisha have asked for additional funds to pay their farmers,” said a senior food ministry official, who did not wish to be identified.

Conglomerate Mahindra Group is studying the possibility of introducing its own brand of organic food to tap into the growing urban market of conscious eaters.

Mahindra Agri Solutions, a group company, may leverage the Mahindra brand to overcome the lack of consumer trust in the authenticity of organic food products.

Developing consumer trust in the authenticity of an organic product and the stark price difference between organic and regular food are the two barriers to the market in India today, said Ashok Sharma, managing director of Mahindra Agri Solutions. The entry of a brand like Mahindra can help develop that trust, he said, meanwhile the price differential will be narrowed as the business scales.

After recent spell of rain in the region, as many as 1,939 as many as 1,939 applications have been filed in Kurukshetra district to seek claim for damage to wheat crop under the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana since February 29. In Kurukshetra, the government has tied up with Agriculture Insurance Company of India (AICI) for insuring wheat crop. District coordinator of AICI Yashjit said, “Due to recent spell of rain since February 29, farmers of Kurukshetra have filed claims for damage to wheat crop on around 6,600 acres mainly in Pehowa and Thanesar blocks. We have received insurance claim applications from Ladwa and Shahabad blocks as well, but major loss is reported from Pehowa and Thanesar.”

The Indian pesticide industry is heavily dependent on Chinese imports for raw materials, and could be heavily impacted by the COVID-19 outbreak, according to an analysis prepared by the Agriculture Ministry.

“For the first time in many years, I have been able to successfully cultivate mustard on my field,” said Lakhanlal Prajapati (35), resident of Kulpahar Gramin village of Uttar Pradesh’s Mahoba district.

He credited the success to recently constructed bunds on his field.

Prajapati grew mustard on his 2.5-hectare land in 2019. He is expecting a good yield — around 3.5 tonnes —which would be 75 per cent more than previous year, he claimed.

In the drought-stricken and undulating topography of Bundelkhand — where Mahoba falls — lack of irrigation facilities meant that farmers faced a tough time.

The suicide by a farmer in Bharatpur district of Rajasthan after the unseasonal rain and hailstorm destroyed his crops has prompted the Congress government into action. An exercise is under way to assess the damage to crops on thousands of acres in several districts. The government has assured farmers of adequate compensation.

Gulab Chand, 40, disappeared from his home at Phulwara on Sunday night. He was found hanging from a tree near a temple on Monday. Minister of State in charge of Bharatpur Ashok Chandna, who visited the bereaved family, said the benefits of welfare schemes would be extended to his kin on priority, besides the compensation.

The Rabi crop of wheat will start arriving in India’s mandis in another three weeks. By the time we reach Baisakhi on April 13, the mandis will be flooded with wheat arrivals.

The agriculture ministry’s second advance estimates of production of foodgrains, released on February 18, has projected a record high production of 106.21 million tonnes of wheat. Untimely rains in March may have caused damage to wheat crop in some areas but India is on track to harvest a record wheat crop.

This, unfortunately, will likely be giving jitters to the officers of the Food Corporation of India (FCI) and government officials in major procuring states of Punjab, Haryana, UP and MP as they will have to ...

The Indian pesticide industry is heavily dependent on Chinese imports for raw materials, and could be heavily impacted by the COVID-19 outbreak, according to an analysis prepared by the Agriculture Ministry.

The Rabi crop of wheat will start arriving in India’s mandis in another three weeks. By the time we reach Baisakhi on April 13, the mandis will be flooded with wheat arrivals.

A recent report by the Union ministry of earth sciences (MOES), Observed Rainfall Variability and Changes, has found that seven Indian states — Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, West Bengal, Himachal Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya and Nagaland — have witnessed significant decreasing trends in annual rainfall in the last 30 years.

Punjab Agriculture Department is busy distributing moong dal seed kits to farmers these days during the ongoing sowing season aimed at pushing pulses cultivation in the state. Indian Express explains what the state is trying to achieve.

What is the total area under pulses in Punjab?

While Punjab is the highest contributor of wheat and paddy to the national pool, it lags behind in cultivation of pulses. In Punjab, mainly moong, mash and arhar pulses are grown. In 2019, there was 11,700 hectares (28,899 acres) area under pulses including moong, mash, and arhar in the state, out of around 39.69 lakh hectares under agricultural crops. This area is not even one percent (0.74 per cent) of the total agricultural ...

Farmers have rejected the Sangrur administration’s preliminary report on damage to crops over 7,150 acres due to recent rain and hailstorm as a “bundle of lies”, as the officers concerned have claimed that the damage to crops is below 25 per cent. The farmers alleged that many among them had suffered losses more than 50 per cent. They also said the officers had prepared the report without even visiting the fields of affected farmers.

“More than 50 per cent of my land has been affected. However, the officers did not visit our field, and sent a report that the loss to crop is below 25 per cent. Like me, there are many more farmers from my village ...

Land acquisition by the government to distribute house sites to the poor became a cause for concern among several farmers and tenants. Farmers of small holdings are saying that they would losing their livelihood and some tenants are worried over the loss of investment on crop.

For instance, a farmer K Srinivas and a tenant N Raju at Perecharla village in Medikonduru mandal in the district expressed fear that they might lose the investment made on standing crop due to its acquisition. The farmers said that most of the lands being taken by the government are fertile giving high yields every year.

Andhra Pradesh state agriculture commissioner H Arun Kumar announced during his tour of Vizianagaram district on Saturday that the state government is planning to set up plant health clinics in all mandal headquarters of the district. The commissioner said that these will be set up across the state to facilitate the growth of the agriculture sector through crop monitoring.

The agriculture commissioner further announced that the state government is developing a mobile application for agriculture and associated departments could be provided in a coordinated manner.

Climate change and global warming may hit India’s GDP within a decade, a report published by the McKinsey Global Institute (MGI) has said. By 2030, temperatures in India could reach such levels that outdoor workers may be forced to cut short their daylight working hours to beat the lethal heat waves, the report says.

The MGI report has estimated that the impact of global heating on outdoor work and the resultant loss in productivity could put 2.5% to 4.5% of India’s GDP at risk annually. “As of 2017, in India, heat-exposed work produces about 50% of GDP, drives about 30% of GDP growth, and employs about 75% of the labour force, some 380 million people,” the report says.

Seven states — Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, West Bengal, Himachal Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya and Nagaland — have shown “significant decreasing trends” in annual rainfall in the last 30 years and many parts of the country witnessed increase in number of “dry days” during the monsoon season which adversely affected groundwater recharges in these regions. These are some of the key findings of a report, ‘Observed Rainfall Variability and Changes’, which was shared by the ministry of earth sciences (MoES) with a parliamentary panel in response to the latter’s queries on changing rainfall patterns in the context of its impact on agriculture.

Data collected by the meteorology department after conducting a thorough research on weather pattern and predictions should reach farmers so that they could take precautionary measures to avoid losses, said Union transport minister Nitin Gadkari on Saturday. He raised concerns over lack of communication among kindred departments at the inauguration of the Regional Users Meet 2020, organized by the Indian meteorology department at Vanamati, Dharampeth. The theme of the conference was ‘Weather forecast and associated services’.

Reiterating his commitment towards protecting the interests of the farming community, Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa on Saturday said that his government in the budget has provided the maximum support to farmers. Talking at the valedictory function of the three-day Krushi Mela in Honnali, he said that amid a financial crisis, his government has reserved Rs 5,000 crore for the lift irrigation programme, and if needed, more money will be released for irrigation projects.

Often, government schemes to help people go awry. But in four villages near Phagwara, around 1,050 acres of land involving 260 farmers which had gone to seed has come alive after a project to treat sewage water for irrigation purposes proved a roaring success. A Sewerage Treatment Plant (STP) at Phagwara connected with a 12-km underground pipeline network has reduced dependence of farmers on overexploited underground water and is now saving thousands of families from going to ruin.

Rajasthan ministers on Sunday took stock of the damage to crops in parts of the state due to recent rainfall and hailstorm. Chief minister Ashok Gehlot had instructed them to assess the damage in 18 of 33 districts in the state.

“The state government is standing by farmers. Compensation will be given to affected farmers. Assessment is being conducted by officials in all affected districts,” Agriculture Minister Lalchand Kataria said.

Parliamentary Affairs Minister Shanti Dhariwal visited affected areas in Jaipur and met farmers. He assured them that the government will give compensation against the losses. Technical Education Minister Subhas Garg visited affected areas in Bharatpur while Minority Affairs Minister Shale Mohammad visited Bikaner.

During the year 2018-19, an invasive pest — maize fall armyworm (FAW), or spodoptera frugiperda — destroyed a majority of maize crop in Vellore district and brought down the area of maize cultivation. Maize is cultivated in over 3,000 hectares in the district in all seasons. In order to contain the pest and encourage maize cultivation, front-line demonstrations and implementation of the technology capsule developed by Tamil Nadu Agricultural University (TNAU) were being done in the Agaramaru sub-basin by scientists of Agricultural Research Station, Virinjipuram under Tamil Nadu Irrigated Modernisation Agriculture (TNIAM) project.

The Telangana government on Sunday announced waiver of all outstanding crop loans of farmers up to Rs 1 lakh, starting this month, in four installments.

State finance minister T Harish Rao, who presented the annual budget of the state for 2020-21, said an amount of Rs 1,198 crore would be released immediately to waive off outstanding crop loans of below Rs 25,000 belonging to 5.83 lakh farmers at one go.

“The amount would be distributed to each farmer individually in the form of cheques through their respective local legislators,” he said.

Women milk co-operatives in Gujarat, famous for being cradle of India’s White Revolution, have grown three-fold in the last one decade. The state counted for 1,871 village dairy co-operative societies (DCS) that were purely managed by women in 2009-10. Today, Gujarat is home to 5,125 such DCS that are managed by women dairy farmers, according to Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation (GCMMF), that markets brand Amul. Around 20 km from India’s milk city Anand, a decision that Meena Patel, a resident of Ode village took, changed the course of her family. When Meena got married in 1996, the family had only one cow and a buffalo. Meena’s husband – Vasant — a farmer, was keen to purchase ...

The rains and high-velocity winds witnessed during last couple of days have left the farmers worried as they claimed such weather at this stage could affect their yield.

As per the reports from meteorological departments, widespread rains and wind were reported in most parts of the state in past 48 hours.

According to farmers, the untimely rains accompanied by strong winds have damaged standing crops in several parts of Karnal, Kurukshetra, Yamunanagar and Kaithal districts. They complained that their crops have been flattened and this will lead to a fall in the yield — especially in the early varieties — as it would affect the growth of grain.

“Most of the crops are flattened. The grain will ...

Deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar, who also holds the finance portfolio, presented the first budget of the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government on Friday, which pegged the state’s revenue deficit at Rs 9,510.71 crore for the next financial year 2020-21. The state’s overall budget deficit is expected to touch Rs 31,3443.32 crore.

While, on the one hand, he reduced stamp duty on property transactions, on the other, he increased value added tax (VAT) on petrol and diesel by Re.1. This extra amount will be used to fund the government’s green initiatives.

District farmers, who had insured their crops, have got Rs 156 crore from insurance companies after their crops were damaged during monsoon. “Insurance companies have settled the claims of the farmers. The claims were raised with the company due to heavy rainfall that damaged the kharif crop during monsoon,” a senior official from the district administration said. “The district administration has been appealing to the farmers to insure their crop by paying a paltry premium. The central and state governments pay a larger share of the premium,” he added.

The Punjab government has granted in-principle approval for the establishment of a compressed biogas plant at a closed down sugar mill at Rakhra in Patiala district. The oil marketing giant will spend Rs 180 crore on setting up the plant. Cooperation minister Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa took the decision on Friday while presiding over a meeting with the top brass of the Indian Oil at the Markfed Bhawan. Randhawa said the project had been approved as part of the strategy of the cooperation department to revive the closed sugar mills of the state and make use of them. He added that the project would be useful in tackling the problem posed by the paddy stubble burning and at help ...

Untimely rain coupled with hailstorm and strong winds, which are on for the past three days, have damaged wheat, mustard, barley crops, and vegetables in Haryana. The rains have flattened crops in Fatehabad, Hisar, Bhiwani, Rohtak, Sonipat, Dadri, Mahendergarh and other parts of the state.

Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare Minister JP Dalal said that the mustard has suffered maximum damage as the crop was almost ready to be harvested. “At some places, the damage is up to 50 percent,” said Dalal.

Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa on Thursday announced that monetary allocations for various governmental schemes had been slashed due to dwindling revenues and one of the sectors that has taken a hit due to slashed funds is the agricultural sector.

Yediyurappa announced that for the financial year 2020-21, Rs 32,259 crore has been allocated for “agriculture and allied activities”. These include fisheries, irrigation, cooperation, horticulture and sericulture. This fiscal, the farming sector has seen a reduction of allocation by Rs 5,825 crore compared to the previous fiscal.

Sugarcane farming was considered as a profitable cultivation once, but now it seems to have become a burden for the farming community in Kalahandi district all thanks to inadequate marketing support.

Sugarcanes were extensively cultivated on the banks of Hati and Tel rivers. However, in the last decade there has been a sharp decrease in sugarcane farming in the district due unavailability of proper market in the region.

Due to price rise of fertilizers, pesticides and workforce, farmers are bearing losses in sugarcane farming, forcing them to leave the cultivation and migrate to other areas in search of better livelihood.

In a bid to revive the agriculture sector, the budget presented by Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa on Thursday, has proposed to bring in a new agricultural policy.

The policy, among other things, would prescribe measures to encourage water security, concepts of land bank and mass cultivation, besides micro irrigation, processing of farm produce and marketing. Of course, the bigger intention has been to provide a status of industry to agriculture and horticulture, notes the budget.

Untimely rains accompanied by strong winds and hailstorm have flattened wheat, mustard, barley and other crops across Bhiwani, Rohtak, Sonepat, Dadri, Hisar and Mahendergarh districts.

Crop damage is also being reported from other parts of the state.

Haryana agriculture minister JP Dalal on Thursday visited the affected areas of his constituency Loharu in Bhiwani district. “Strong winds and rains have flattened standing crops of wheat, barley and mustard,” he said.

“In some parts of the state, wheat and mustard crops, which were set to be harvested in next three to four weeks, have been damaged due to hailstorm. We have ordered girdawari (process to assess crop losses due to poor weather) in the affected areas. The district ...

Bharatiya Kisan Sangh has appealed to Prasar Bharati to educate farmers about chemical-free organic farming and thereby assure the availability of safe food for the people and help the farmers achieve the target of doubling their income. In a resolution adopted at all India general body meeting held at Gwalior in Madhya Pradesh for three days from February 28, the association also appealed to the Union government to stop promoting chemical farming in its agriculture-related broadcasts.

Unseasonal rains occurred at isolated places in Saurashtra and Kutch regions on Thursday resulting in damage to standing wheat crop in some parts of Bhavnagar and Kutch districts. Weather department officials said that the western disturbance-induced cyclonic circulation over south-west Rajasthan had resulted in weather change in several parts of Gujarat.

BUOYED by a good monsoon, Maharashtra’s Economic Survey has projected a modest but important growth rate of 3.1 percent in the agriculture and allied activities sector for 2019-20.

Not only does this outpace the average sectoral growth of 2.2 percent for the previous seven years, but this is also only the third year of positive growth since 2012-13 for the sector that accounts for 53 percent of livelihood in Maharashtra.

Buffeted by a series of drought years, the state has reported depressed or negative growth in the farm sector since 2012-13, barring a 12.3 percent growth in 2013-14 and 21 percent in 2016-17.

The state home department is considering the formation of a special investigation team (SIT) to probe into the crop loan scam allegedly committed by Ratnakar Gutte, the owner of Gangakhed Sugar and Energy Pvt Ltd (GSEPL). The home department has sent a communication, signed by deputy secretary Shirish Mohod, to the state director-general of police as well as the state’s chief standing counsel in the Supreme Court.

In Pakistan, farmers are struggling to combat the worst locust plague in nearly three decades as insect swarms decimate entire harvests in the country’s agricultural heartlands and send food prices soaring. The crisis is so severe that the government has declared a nationwide emergency and urgently appealed for help from the international community.

District Agriculture Department, Ramban in collaboration with the J&K Bank Ltd.(JKBL) Wednesday organized farmers’ awareness camp, here at Batote. The camp was attended by Sarpanchs Panchs and farmers and they were educated about the soil health maintenance and various flagship schemes of the central government to enable them to double their income by 2022. The farmers were also told to get the soil of their fields tested for its nutrient value at Soil Testing Laboratory or through Mobile Soil Testing Laboratory and keep its record in the Soil Health Cards issued free by the Agriculture Department. they were also educated about Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi Yojna (PMKSNY), Kisan Credit Card scheme etc.

A farmer these days can engage in a dialogue with a group of agriculture scientists for a solution to the problem like pests infesting his crop, in real time, and online. Likewise, an importer of mangoes in Paris can conduct a visual inspection of the fruit while it is stocked in a container at airport in India and electronically complete the transaction with the producer. A group of farmers can hire a drone whose observations of the crops in their fields can be analysed, by an agriculture scientist hired by them, to decide upon nutrition, disease-control etc.

“Everything else can wait,” said Jawaharlal Nehru in the early 1950s, “but not agriculture”. Such was the overriding priority ...

The global spread of the coronavirus outbreak couldn’t have come at a worse time for Indian farmers — just when they are set to harvest a bumper rabi crop on the back of higher plantings enabled by the wettest monsoon in 25 years and extended heavy rains till early-November.

Rising COVID-19 infection cases, including in India, has acted as a sentiment dampener ahead of the marketing season for major rabi crops, whose mandi arrivals will pick up after Holi on March 10.

The Karnataka government is making important changes to its Land Reforms Act, 1961, in a bid to accelerate industrial projects already signed up, as well as prospective ones.

Chief minister BS Yediyurappa is pushing for changes after several senior executives of multinational companies he had met at Davos in January complained about the difficulties they were facing in getting possession of their preferred agriculture plots in the state to set up industrial units. Soon after his return from the World Economic Forum tour, the chief minister got the industries and revenue departments to work together and suggest changes in the processes as well as amendments to the law.

Bihar deputy chief minister Sushil Kumar Modi said on Wednesday that over 1.20 lakh new Kisan Credit Cards (KCC) were distributed in the state and more than 14.36 lakh cards renewed during the current financial year. In the last six years, 49.65 lakh new KCC have been given and 1.07 crore cards renewed in Bihar, he told the assembly. Banks have informed the state government that a sizeable number of farmers have been given KCC while few of those left out have to be given the facility, Sushil Kumar Modi said.

The Gujarat government on Wednesday informed the Assembly that as against a collection of over Rs 5,800 crore towards the premium in two years, insurance companies have settled claims worth Rs 2,800 crore under the Pradhan Mantri Crop Insurance Scheme.

While the Congress alleged the BJP government is helpless against insurance firms, Agriculture Minister R C Faldu claimed the government is ‘fighting’ with these companies to get compensation for farmers in case of crop damage.

Telangana government is planning to promote one of the popular tuber crops tapioca cassava, karra pendalam, with a view to encourage farmers to diversify from water-intensive paddy crop and cultivate it as a commercial horticultural crop in the irrigated-dry method.

The newly-formed state of Telangana had to obviously battle many obvious uncertainties at the time of its separation from Andhra Pradesh. According to Deepthi Ravula, CEO of WeHub, the government-run incubator, “When Telangana was formed there were many misconceptions about what the state is going to be like. And amidst all this, there were no startups left in the state.”

Congress MLA from Sangareddy Assembly constituency T Jagga Reddy on Tuesday said that issues of the farmers would be raised in the upcoming budget session of the Assembly.

Addressing the media, he said that the government failed to implement Rythu Bandhu this year, crop loan waiver was not taken up and compensation to the farmers was not provided. He said that Rythu Bandhu is not reaching most of the farmers. The amounts are given to farmers who have less than 3 acres of land.

The cultivation of pulses including black gram and green gram in the delta districts has come down drastically as farmers are able to sow only on 65 per cent of the normal area covered during the season. Farmers and agriculture department officials attributed this to the delayed paddy harvest due to unexpected rain in the delta districts. Traditionally, farmers in Trichy, Thanjavur, Tiruvarur and Nagapattinam districts broadcast seeds of pulses manually amid standing samba paddy crop seven to 10 days before harvest. After a gap of about five years they were expecting bumper samba paddy harvest for the recent October – January season thanks to the continuous flow in Cauvery and adequate rain. However, the unexpected rain which ...

Rising awareness and health concerns is seeing people increasingly seek out organic foods, given the rising use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides and their link to many diseases including cancer and cardiovascular-related problems.

Cashing in on the rising trend, several women entrepreneurs from across the country are coming forward with their own organic products that address taste, nutrition and hygiene concerns of consumers.

Several countries across multiple agro-climatic zones ranging from Africa, the Middle East to Asia are reeling under unprecedented locust attacks.

A warning — ‘Desert Locust Watch’ — put out by the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) on 2 March has described the situation as extremely alarming, especially in Kenya, Ethiopia and Somalia.

The government does not have data regarding financial condition of farmers in the country, Agriculture Minister Narender Singh Tomar said on Tuesday.

In a written reply to a question in the Lok Sabha, he said, “The last survey was conducted by the National Sample Survey Office (NSSO) in 2013 and, therefore, no data is available with the ministry indicating the financial condition of the farmers.”

Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray today said, “Our government’s decision to free the debt of farmers in the state was the most satisfying decision for me as the Chief Minister.” On the occasion of completion of 4 days (100 days of maha vikas aghadi government) to the development front of the state, Uddhav held a special press conference at the Legislative Assembly today. At that time, he reviewed the work of the government in the last 3 days.

Multiple agriculture experts urged the Narendra Modi government to undertake comprehensive reforms in the sector, from the production side right up to the supply-end.

Speaking on the sidelines of Centre for Policy Research Dialogues 2020 in New Delhi Monday, the experts also stressed the importance of linking Indian agriculture with global value chains (GVC).

Saurabh Garg, principal secretary, department of agriculture & farmers empowerment, Odisha, highlighted the importance of linking Indian farmlands with various agri-linkages including GVC.

Farmers will get a big relief from debt burden soon as the Telangana Government has initiated official process for the implementation of the long-pending farm loan waiver scheme as promised by Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao in 2018 elections.

In all likelihood, the waiver scheme will be implemented from April in the new financial year of 2020-21.

Addressing a meeting conducted with the newly elected DCCB and DCMS chairmen and vice-chairmen at TRS head office Telangana Bhavan here, party working president KT Rama Rao said the government is committed to waive the loans taken by farmers up to Rs 1 lakh.

After ease of doing business, Maharashtra will now also focus on ‘ease of doing agriculture’, Tourism and Environment Minister Aaditya Thackeray said on Monday.

Thackeray was speaking at the inauguration of the Pune International Business Summit organised by the Mahratta Chamber of Commerce, Industries and Agriculture (MCCIA) in Pune.

He said the state government had extended loan waivers to farmers and will now focus on sustainable agriculture in Maharashtra. “Like all sectors that have seen increase in use of technology, agriculture, too, needs to adopt science and technology and upgrade,” he said.

Civil supplies commissioner Kona Sasidhar said that the government will clear paddy procurement dues to farmers by Wednesday. He refuted the charges that the state government was not procuring paddy from farmers. He said that they have already purchased about 44 lakh metric tonnes of paddy from farmers during the Kharif season and gearing up to launch the Rabi procurement from April 1.

Farmers of Rajasthan, who own uncultivable land or such land that are not used for farming, shall now be able to use his holding for setting up solar power plants and solar farms without the requirement of land conversion. Such farmers would now be permitted to sub-let his holdings for setting up of solar power projects where the provisions of the state’s Tenancy Act and Land Revenue Act will not come as hindrances. Solar power producers shall also be allowed to purchase private land from Khatedar (legal land owner) for setting up of solar power plants in excess of the ceiling limit in accordance with the provisions of Ceiling Act, 1973 with the prior approval of ...

Farmers of Kadoli and villages surrounding Belagavi taluk protested under the Karnataka State Farmers Association (KSFA) banner demanding help for those who suffered a loss due to the price drop of cabbage and other vegetables in the wholesale market.

Farmers in Belagavi, Jafarwadi, Devagiri, Kednur and surrounding villages have grown cabbage and other vegetables in large quantity. But close to the harvesting season, there are no buyers of cabbage in the wholesale market.

Inadequate and improper wheat storage and stocking fresh one with the infested in Punjab resulted in loss of wheat of Rs 607.57 crore in four years, the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) has said. This fact came to light in a CAG report that was tabled in the Congress-ruled state assembly last week. Between 2014-15 and 2017-18, a total of 2.83 lakh tonnes of wheat pertaining to previous crop years was declared as damaged, said the CAG.

The Committee on Public Undertakings of the state legislature had recommended in March 2016 that proper wheat storage spaces and its fumigation be undertaken to prevent its damage. The audit observed that these lapses are still persisting ...

To reach out to various political parties to seek their support for a stronger Pesticides Management Bill in the parliament, which is likely to be introduced in the ongoing budget session, the Alliance for Sustainable and Holistic Agriculture (Asha), a national network of farmers and agricultural scientists, wrote to various MPs and used Twitter on Monday to highlight the points to be incorporated in the bill. The Asha activists posted tweets with hashtag #PesticidesBill by tagging MPs cutting across party lines to make them aware about various aspects related to pesticides used in the country before the bill is passed by both Houses of the parliament. The Union cabinet had cleared the bill on February 12. Asha asserts ...

On Saturday (29 February), Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched an ambitious programme to form 10,000 Farmers Producers Organisations (FPOs) across the country aimed primarily to help small and marginal farmers.

The 10,000 FPOs will be set up over a five-year period (till 2024) and the Centre has made a budgetary allocation of Rs 4,496 crore for the five years. The FPOs scheme is aimed at benefiting some 86 per cent of the farmers in the country, who have a landholding of less than one hectare.

Untimely rains on Sunday damaged crops over an area of 2,820 hectares and those affected will get financial assistance after assessment reports are finalised, Maharashtra Relief and Rehabilitation Minister Vijay Wadettiwar told the Legislative Council on Monday.

He said the Revenue and Agriculture departments have been asked to carry out a damage assessment exercise jointly.

“The Centre offers financial assistance to farmers affected by hailstorm but not those who lose crops due to untimely rains. We will try to address this issue,” he said.

Low growth in industry and agriculture sectors seems to have slowed overall growth in Gross State Value Added (GSVA) in Haryana during the past three years.

The Economic Survey of Haryana for 2019-20, which was tabled on the floor of the state Assembly on Friday, shows that the growth of GSVA decreased from 9.8 per cent in 2016-17 to 7.8 per cent in 2017-18 and further declined to 7.3 per cent in 2018-19.

The survey report issued by the Department of Economic and Statistical Analysis, Haryana, shows that the service sector has shown increase in growth during this period.

The Agriculture and Allied Services has always been an important contributor to the Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP). ...

Many areas of the city along with districts like Beed, Jalna and Latur received unseasonal rainfall during the 36-hours ending on Sunday evening. The untimely showers have damaged rabi crops like sorghum, wheat and maize besides affecting the mango flowering in many places. The India Meteorological Department (IMD), in its bulletin issued on Sunday evening, has forecast similar rainfall activity over the next 24-hours.

Gurjeet Singh Mann, a progressive farmer from Kirpal Patti village of Sirsa, has been getting his crops covered under the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY) ever since it was launched in the kharif-2016 season. He says he had no choice so far, because the premium for the crop insurance is debited automatically by his bank from his account.

But he always wondered why he and other farmers like him had to pay premium for risks like drought and floods though there is no history of such calamities in the area where his fields are located.

NATURAL calamities like droughts, floods and cyclones, besides erratic rainfall, cripple the farm sector, leading to huge losses in agricultural production. Crop insurance is a prerequisite to cover crop losses against such non-preventable causes.

The Union Cabinet recently approved the revamp of the PMFBY and the Restructured Weather-Based Crop Insurance Scheme (RWBCIS) to address challenges and loopholes in these programmes. Now, the government has come out with customised crop insurance (single peril insurance cover) for states by factoring in a specific natural disaster.

In Kerala, paddy production and area under paddy cultivation have been shrinking over the years, but farmers at Mayyil village panchayat in Kannur district have reversed their fortunes.

Paddy cultivation had turned into an unremunerative activity mainly due to increasing labour costs, low yields and poor returns from the final produce. This resulted in farmers shifting to other crops and leaving paddy fields untilled.

A year ago, a few farmers of Namburu, a small village in Guntur district, were fascinated to see a machine flying over the field of Kotireddy, one of their counterparts. On enquiring, they learnt that it was a drone, and the 39-year-old farmer said he was using it to spray pesticide on his crop.

The unavailability of farm labourers and the high wages they charged when available pushed Kotireddy, a computer science graduate, to experiment with the technology.

With a view to bolstering startup ecosystem and leveraging the IT momentum gained in the last three years, Punjab finance minister Manpreet Singh Badal on Saturday announced a Rs 100-crore startup fund and setting up of an incubator at Kalkat Bhawan, Mohali, to promote agri startups. Speaking at entrepreneurial event “TiECon Chandigarh 2020” here, the minister said the startup fund is being created in partnership with IKG Punjab Technical University, while an executive committee comprising government officials and experts would be formed to facilitate setting up of the incubator.

The country’s premier agri-research body ICAR on Sunday signed an agreement with Hardiwar-based Patanjali Bio Research Institute (PBRI) to undertake research work as well as training and education.

The Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed by Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) Director General Trilochan Mohapatra and PBRI CEO Acharya Balkrishna in the presence of Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar, an official statement said.

Haryana Cooperation, Scheduled Castes and Backward Classes Welfare Minister, Dr. Banwari Lal on Sunday assured the farmers of all possible help in the wake of crop damage due to unseasonal rain and hailstorm in Rewari district. A press release said, “The Minister inspected the fields of the farmers and interacted with those who have witnessed crop damage due to unseasonal rain and hailstorm in Rewari district. He assured the farmers of all possible help and also directed the Sub-Divisional Officer and officials of the Agriculture Department to assess the crop loss of every affected farmer.”

An agriculture fair organised at Chirawa in Rajasthan’s Jhunjhunu district over the weekend highlighted the need for water conservation and a shift towards less water-intensive crops, while calling for technological applications for higher crop yield and ensuring remunerative prices for agricultural produce.

A day after the state budget proposal was tabled in the legislative assembly, the Haryana Electricity Regulatory Commission (HERC) state advisory committee announced to lower the rate of electricity for agriculture industries. In the first apparent first implementation of the budget announcements, the panel reduced the flat unit charges of Rs 7.50 paise per unit to Rs 4.50. The decision will benefit thousands of consumers including poultry farmers, mushroom growers and polyhouses owners.

With the Chinese economy getting impacted due to the coronavirus outbreak, India can push its exports in the global markets to fill up the space vacated by the neighbouring country, industry body Assocham said on Sunday. It said Indian exporters of electronics, pharmaceuticals, speciality chemicals and automobile segments depend on China for raw material and are facing supply constraints, but there are several areas where there are increased opportunities for domestic traders.

Low growth in industry and agriculture sectors seems to have slowed overall growth in Gross State Value Added (GSVA) in Haryana during the past three years.

The Economic Survey of Haryana for 2019-20, which was tabled on the floor of the state Assembly on Friday, shows that the growth of GSVA decreased from 9.8 per cent in 2016-17 to 7.8 per cent in 2017-18 and further declined to 7.3 per cent in 2018-19.

Armies of locusts swarming across continents pose a “severe risk” to India’s agriculture this year, the UN has warned, prompting the authorities to step up vigil, deploy drones to detect their movement and hold talks with Pakistan, the most likely gateway for an invasion by the insects, on ways to minimise the damage.

The Maharashtra government on Saturday released the second list of 21.82 lakh account holders who will avail its farm loan waiver scheme, taking the total number of beneficiaries declared till now to 21.97 lakh.

The government has provided Rs 14,000 crore to make these account holders debt-free.

The first list of 15,358 beneficiaries of the state farm loan waiver scheme was released on February 24.

It was the 1977 Assembly election. Kuthalam, a sleepy rural constituency in undivided Thanjavur district, was witnessing a heightened poll campaign, as were many other parts of the State. But, there was a difference here. The Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam’s (DMK) candidate, R. Rajamanickam, who eventually got elected, ran his campaign on the pivot of the complaint that the Centre was “discriminating” against Tamil Nadu by paying “much less royalty for crude oil” taken from Narimanam, also located in the district.