Media Monitor
Agriculture Industry
FCI supplies 3.51 lakh ton of PDS grains in North East region during lockdownedit
State-run Food Corporation of India (FCI) has supplied about 3.51 lakh tonne of foodgrains for distribution to the poor via ration shops in north eastern region during the ongoing lockdown notwithstanding the difficult hilly terrain, the food ministry said on Monday.
Out of the 3.51 lakh tonne of foodgrains, 1.74 lakh tonne has been provided under the Pradhan Mantri Garib Anna Yojana (PMGAY), while the rest under the National Food Security Act (NFSA), it said in a statement. Under PMGAY, the Centre is giving for free 5 kg foodgrains per beneficiary and 1 kg pulses per household for three months under the Public Distribution ...
Government to shell out Rs 4k cr more on recast crop insurance schemeedit
The government will have to spend Rs 4,000 crore more on the revamped crop insurance scheme after making it voluntary from the upcoming kharif season.
The annual premium is likely to increase by 2% from existing 12.5% as number of participating farmers is likely to fall 30%.
Over the last three crop seasons since launch, the average number of participating farmers had been 37.5 million with 58% of them having crop loan.
Rajasthan: Wheat Procurement Rates Fall Below MSP, Government Yet to Interveneedit
With the wheat procurement by government agencies on hold in Rajasthan amidst the lockdown, farmers are forced to sell wheat at a rate much below the Minimum Support Price (MSP) to local buyers at the state-operated mandis.
In the Kota division, farmers have been selling wheat at a price as low as Rs 1,684 per quintal against the MSP of Rs 1,925 per quintal set by the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare for the year 2020-21.
Rinku Meena, a farmer from Khatauli village in Pipalda tehsil of Kota district, sold his 22 quintals of wheat at the rate of Rs 1,684 per quintal to a local wholesaler, on April 16.
COVID-19: Agriculture innovation to achieve food security & tackle malnutrition in Indiaedit
The ongoing coronavirus pandemic is a public health emergency with grave implications for the population of the world. India, as part of the global community, has been adversely impacted by ongoing health crisis– especially the poor and marginalized. However, there is a relatively low understanding of socio-economic science. This pandemic is a global health crisis and can also lead to the food security crisis in India if correct measures are not taken. In India, it is imperative to minimize the adverse effect and disruption of livelihood of the poor and marginalized. Although supplies of staples, fruits, vegetables, and meats have been adequate during the COVID-19 outbreak so far, still there are threats to food security, in the ...
Where do we go with our harvested wheat?edit
The lockdown has impacted the pace of procurement, driving prices below MSP in MP and Rajasthan, even as costs incurred due to transport and harvesting have increased
For Chandrabhan Dhaka, a wheat farmer near Fatehabad in Haryana, the lockdown imposed by the Centre from the last week of March to curb the spread of Covid-19 posed a new set of challenges.
Like most other villages in Haryana, Chandrabhan’s village, Bhutal Kalan, 16 km from Fatehabad town, too faced massive labour shortage, triggered by the reverse migration of farm workers — who normally come from parts of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. Chandrabhan managed to harvest a part of his standing crop, but is now grappling ...
FCI’s surplus rice stocks to be converted into ethanol to make hand sanitisersedit
The government on Monday approved that surplus rice available with Food Corporation of India (FCI) can be converted into ethanol in order to manufacture alcohol-based hand sanitisers and also for blending with petrol.
The decision was taken at a meeting of the National Biofuel Coordination Committee (NBCC).
“A meeting of NBCC was held today under the Chairmanship of the Minister of Petroleum & Natural Gas Dharmendra Pradhan, wherein it was approved that the surplus rice available with FCI may be converted to ethanol for utilization in making alcohol-based hand-sanitizers and in blending for Ethanol Blended Petrol (EBP) programme,” the petroleum ministry said in a statement.
Rs 17,793 Cr Released Under PM-KISAN Helped 8.89 Cr Farmer Families Amid Lockdown: MoAedit
The Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare on Tuesday in a statement said that under the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-KISAN) Scheme during the coronavirus lockdown period imposed on March 24 till date, about 8.89 crore farmer families have been benefited. The statement added that so far an amount of Rs 17,793 crores has been released so far.
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FARMING BY SATELLITE launches ideas competitionedit
Aimed at young farmers as well as trainees and students, principally in the fields of IT, mechanical engineering and agricultural sciences, European GNSS Agency (GSA) and European Environment Agency (EEA) jointly launched FARMING BY SATELLITE competition recently. Sponsored by CLAAS, the competition promotes the continuous development of the use of Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) and Earth observation systems in European and African agriculture. Its objective is to support sustainable farming practices, improve efficiency and resource usage and so reduce the impact on the environment.