Media Monitor
Agriculture Industry
‘Atmanirbhar Bharat’ initiatives, an attempt to free the farmeredit
The third tranche of the Atmanirbhar Bharat package announced by the Finance Minister contained a fairly predictable set of measures promising more credit to farmers, investments in agri-infrastructure and promoting ancillary activities to supplement agricultural income. But two key announcements in the package have the potential to substantially transform Indian agriculture, if followed through. One is the promise of a Central law to provide more choices to the farmer beyond the Agricultural Produce Marketing Committee (APMC) mandis. The other is the proposal to amend the Essential Commodities Act (ECA) to ‘deregulate’ commodities such as cereals, edible oils, oilseeds, pulses, onions and potatoes. If the government manages to walk the talk, these measures can go a long ...
Centre studies Tamil Nadu law on contract farmingedit
The Central government, which is planning to unveil yet another legal framework on contract farming, is learnt to have studied Tamil Nadu’s law on the subject.
The reason: Tamil Nadu Agricultural Produce and Livestock Contract Farming and Services (Promotion and Facilitation) Act of 2019 is seen as an improvement over the parent document – the model law prepared by the Union Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare in May 2018. Billed as the first of its type, the State law has got more provisions to safeguard interests of farmers than the latter.
Will Indian Agriculture Come out Relatively Unscathed in FY’21?edit
Since the harvesting of most rabi crops was completed in time, despite the nationwide lockdown from March 24 onwards, an impression has gained ground that all is well with Indian agriculture.
It is true that due to extraordinary efforts made by government machinery, procurement of wheat in Punjab, Haryana and Madhya Pradesh has been more successful than expected. The smooth availability of agricultural produce, including fruits and vegetables, has also compounded the belief of India’s opinion making classes that not much is required to be done for agriculture.
Exporters flush with orders, good season expected for basmati growers in Punjabedit
Basmati exporters have asked the growers of this aromatic variety in the state to increase area under cultivation, saying that they have orders in hand, despite the covid-19 pandemic affecting most other sectors of the economy.
“We are flush with orders from West Asia, Arabian countries, Europe, Canada and the US. We have asked farmers to increase area under cultivation and would purchase the entire basmati crop at a good remunerative price,” says Ashok Sethi, president, Punjab Rice Exporters’ Association.
He added countries around the world were securing buffer stocks, leading to the orders. He added exports of basmati from the country were expected to touch Rs 40,000 crore this year, an increase of 15% over Rs ...
Agriculture reforms package: How blindly throwing money at a problem can only worsen itedit
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has asked the central government to reconsider its agriculture reforms package as it didn’t offer any handouts to farmers. Two Nobel prize winning expat economists have also argued the same. Well we only need to reconsider such binary thinking in times of COVID-19.
It is being argued that farmers need immediate cash to survive the crisis instead of big structural reforms. The issues plaguing the farm sector and the COVID crisis are both long term problems. Unfortunately, there is no short-term fix for a long-term festering problem. Sometimes blindly throwing only money at a problem can actually make it worse.
Coronavirus update: ‘Reforms necessary to liberate farmers’edit
As the saying goes the proof of the pudding is in the eating, the agriculture experts and industry bodies said the timebound implementation of reforms and financial package is necessary to unshackle the agriculture and liberate the farmers who until now were largely tied to a few buyers in terms of selling the produce.
National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development’s (NABARD) former chairman Umesh Chandra Sarangi said, “The High-Power Committee of Chief Ministers appointed in Modi 1.0 govt had suggested that the Essential Commodities Act (ECA) be kept in abeyance.
Part 1: Farmers needed instant relief, but govt handed them a new policyedit
The financial measures which Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced for farmers fail to provide relief for the losses a section of them suffered during the lockdown. Moreover, legal changes to usher in agricultural-marketing reforms, though ambitious, might falter if not diligently implemented and states are not taken into confidence.
State sets new criteria for meteorological disasters Read more at: https://mumbaimirror.indiatimes.com/mumbai/other/state-sets-new-criteria-for-meteorological-disasters/articleshow/75782588.cms?utm_source=contentofinterest&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=cppstedit
For the first time since 2006, the state government has decared new parameters for declaring drought and excessive rains, based on study of rain patterns between 1961 and 2010.
As per the new norms, the state receives an average rainfall of 1,140.30 mm per annum. The taluka with the highest rainfall is Sangmeshwar in Ratnagiri district, with an average precipitation of 3,548 mm. The taluka with the lowest rainfall is Palus in Sangli district, with an average precipitation of just 325 mm.