Media Monitor
Agriculture Industry
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.
Unshackling farmers to push agriulture growthedit
The Modi government deserves compliments for finally biting the bullet and ushering reforms in India’s agri-marketing system. If the final print of the proposed legal changes follows the spirit in which the finance minister announced her package for farmers, this can go a long way in building efficient value chains, ensuring better prices for farmers, as well as lower prices for consumers, with improved quality.
From Plate to Plough: A 1991 moment for agricultureedit
The Narendra Modi government deserves compliments for finally introducing reforms in the country’s agri-marketing system. If the fine print of the proposed legal changes follows the spirit of Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s package last week for farmers, the reforms can go a long way in building efficient value chains and ensuring better returns for farmers. The consumers will also be ensured better products without burdening their pockets.
The finance minister’s package had 11 major points, of which eight pertain to miscellaneous items, ranging from Rs one lakh crore for building agriculture infrastructure to Rs 500 crore for beekeeping and another Rs 500 crore for tomatoes, onions, potatoes, and other fruits and vegetables. These are steps in the right direction, but ...
Farmers in Punjab are all set to go for direct seeding of riceedit
As the labour shortage is imminent owing to the exodus of the migrant labourers, the farmers in Punjab are all set to go for direct seeding of rice (DSR) this khairf season, moving away from the traditional practice — of sowing nursery and transplanting it.
The farmers and agri-experts told The Hindu that they are hopeful that this technology — recommended as an alternative method of paddy planting — will save irrigation water, labour and energy in contrast to the conventional method of raising rice nursery and then transplanting the seedlings in a puddled field.
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 ...
Economic freedom in agricultureedit
The market for food is bedevilled with difficulties in India. The recent announcements are an important beginning in solving these problems. It is important to focus on the three big decisions of private persons — what to sow, how much to invest, and what to store — and think of the incentive environment for better decisions.
The way forward involves much less government involvement, warehousing, futures markets, international trade and national trade. Paul Samuelson told a fable about agriculture, which is called “the cobweb model”.
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.