Business Insider

New Delhi, Union Minister of State for Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Kailash Chaudhary said that the farmers will be paid within three days of their crops purchased by government.

Tribune India

Over 3,100 metric tonnes of wheat was procured on the first day of procurement in Punjab on Wednesday, an official statement said.

The procurement agencies had purchased 18,309 metric tonnes (MT) of wheat on the corresponding day of last year.

Different procurement agencies, including Food Corporation of India, procured wheat from the grain markets across the state.              Punjab Food and Civil Supplies Minister Bharat Bhushan Ashu said the state government has set up 1,867 procurement centres and 1,824 mandi yards for the purchase of crop.

The state government is expecting to procure 135 lakh metric tonnes of wheat in the current Rabi marketing season.

Times Of India

India has started export of major farm products such as rice, meat, dairy and processed food items after the government stepped in to resolve the issues related to transportation and packaging in the wake of COVID-19 lockdown. The Union agriculture ministry, in a statement, said exporters’ problems are being resolved by the farm export promotion body Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA).

Republic World

In view of the nationwide lockdown due to the COVID-19 crisis, Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Minister Narendra Singh Tomar on Wednesday, April 16 launched a call centre in order to facilitate the inter-state movement of perishable items. According to reports, the 24×7 service, All India Agri Transport Call Centre, is a part of the measures that are taken to facilitate farmers and farming activities at the field level.

News 18

Activities like agriculture, e-commerce, manufacturing and IT services will be allowed after April 20 as the central government on Wednesday released fresh guidelines for the nationwide lockdown with more relaxations to “mitigate hardships to the public”.

The guidelines, issued by the home ministry a day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi extended the lockdown till May 3, has also allowed exceptions for construction activities and rural works under MNREGA to restart the economy in a graded manner. The full list of activities that are prohibited and allowed can be seen here.

India Today

The new guidelines by the Narendra Modi government indicate how the government plans to exit from coronavirus lockdown. Rural India, which houses more people and more wage earners, is the starting point as the government chalks out plan to rescue economy from coronavirus strike.

This is the time for harvest which is an activity that sustains rural economy for several months. And, this is what that cannot wait. A stricter lockdown would render millions of farmers across India penniless. Low income in rural areas has been a major reason for extended economic slowdown in India over past two years.

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The Covid-19 global pandemic has thrown our world into chaos. Already, the United Nations and the World Trade Organisation have warned of a “looming global food crisis” if the coronavirus is not managed properly. The prices of world’s two staples: wheat and rice have risen sharply.

Agrarian production is falling all over the world. In India, the government has been taking precautions to ensure that the harvest season and the farm inputs supply chain are not disrupted. But on the ground, it’s clear that the agriculture system has been fractured.

From pineapple to tea, and other sub-sectors like seeds and farm inputs, the sector is in deep shock. ...