Media Monitor
Agriculture Industry
Covid-19: Maharashtra farmers plan a ‘constructive campaign’edit
Shetkari Sanghatana, the apex body of farmers in Maharashtra, has planned a ‘constructive campaign’ that will connect farmers to consumers and facilitate direct sale of agricultural produce without middlemen.
“The coronavirus crisis has created an opportunity to strengthen the link between farmers and consumers and get rid of middlemen. Already, some young farmers are providing vegetables to apartments and societies in various cities. Once the government withdraws the lockdown, farmers will continue to build the chain and launch a unique campaign,” said Anil Ghanwat, President of the Sanghatana.
Farmers should not face trouble in lockdown, control room open to monitor complaintsedit
The Ministry of Agriculture has set up a control room to monitor and resolve the agricultural operations and problems in the Corona lockdown. The decision was taken in a high-level meeting chaired by Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar.
This provision has been made to make movement of agricultural produce and transportation of other related goods uninterrupted. All kinds of facilities will be provided to the farmers in the direction of making the export of agricultural produce easy and convenient. In the talks held with the top officials of the Ministry through video conferencing, it was emphasized to make it work.
Rain adds to wheat farmers’ woesedit
With farmers already fearing losses due to delay in harvesting and procurement of wheat amid the ongoing lockdown, the unseasonal rain in Doaba region has added to their woes.
Rain, accompanied by high-speed winds, lashed parts of the region on Tuesday. On Monday night also, the region experienced heavy rain, accompanied by winds.
Besides, the farmers are staring at a shortage of labour and combine machines due to the lockdown.
Sukhwinder Singh, a farmer of Bholath, said there is panic among farmers due to coronavirus and acute shortage of labour. “Besides, combine machines that have gone to other states have not returned yet. This will delay harvesting. The wheat grain is now vulnerable to shrivelling, blackening and ...
TN govt waives cold storage charges, market cess for farmers until April 30edit
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami on Tuesday announced waiver of cold storage and market cess till April 30. In what comes as a relief for farmers, he also announced offering credit for farm organisations and the introduction of mobile vegetable and fruit shops so as to make them available at the customers’ doorsteps.
According to Palaniswami’s statement, “considering the prevailing situation and with the expectation of mango harvest the cold storage charges for vegetables and fruits are being waived till April 30 for the farmers, while the government will foot the bill.”
30-member control room to coordinate wheat harvesting, procurementedit
The Punjab government has set up a 30-member control room at the mandi board for coordination and providing logistic support during the upcoming wheat harvesting and marketing season amid the COVID-19 clampdown.
The information was shared during a video conference on Tuesday in which chief minister Amarinder Singh reviewed the arrangements for the rabi operations with top officials from various departments, including food and civil supplies, agriculture, police, among others, according to an official release.
The CM ordered the food and agriculture departments to immediately come out with standard operating procedures (SOPs) for the mandis and purchase centres. He directed the departments to scale up the number of purchasing centres to 4,000, from the current 3,761, which ...
Telangana begins paddy procurement from farmers amid lockdown, sets up 7,700 centresedit
The Telangana government has started paddy crop procurement centres across the state amidst the COVID-19 lockdown. The paddy will be procured directly from farmers at Minimum Support Price (MSP).
The state government has set up as many as 7,700 procurement centres across the state. State Agriculture Minister Niranjan Reddy, Finance Minister Harish Rao and Civil Supplies Minister Gangula Kamalakar and others inaugurated the centres in their respective areas.
Kerala NRI Turns Rubber Plantation Into Organic Farm, Exports Veggies to Europe!edit
When asked about the reason for his return and what his plans were, Joy shocked everyone by stating that he was back to start his own farm and cultivate different vegetables and fruits there. Having grown up in a family of farmers, he wanted to return to his roots and create something of his own.
At that point, he only owned a few acres of a rubber plantation, but decided that he wanted to cultivate a wider variety of products rather than sticking to just a single cash crop. So, he weeded out all the rubber plants, and cultivated pineapples and easy-to-harvest vegetables like ladies finger and bitter gourd as well as plantain trees.
Vegetable Supply At Mumbai’s Wholesale Market Falls Amid Lockdownedit
The ongoing nationwide lockdown to tackle the coronavirus pandemic has affected the supply of vegetables and fruits in Maharashtra, leading to major losses for farmers and retailers.
The Agriculture Produce Market Committee (APMC), or wholesale mandi, in Maharashtra’s Vashi which is responsible for feeding vegetables and fruits to Mumbai has seen a fall of 30-40 per cent in its supplies in the last one week.
Even though essential services including vegetables and fruits have been exempted from the lockdown, the APMC is facing difficulties in getting the supplies.