The Hindu

Farmers in Punjab and Haryana have sown more cotton this kharif season as against the corresponding period last year on account of a possible labour shortage in future. Both governments have discouraged farmers from growing rice, officials told The Hindu.

Director, Punjab Agriculture Department, Sutantar Airi, said, “Cotton has already been sown in nearly 3.6 lakh hectare, which is around 10,000 hectare more than the corresponding period of last year.”

Economic Times

Rs 1,500 crore had been transferred to the bank accounts of around 19 lakh farmers in Chhattisgarh under the first installment of Rajiv Gandhi Kisaan Nyay Yojna, Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel said on Thursday. A total of Rs 5,750 crore will be disbursed to 19 lakh farmers of the state in four installments under the scheme.

The first installment of Rs 1,500 crore was transferred into farmers’ bank accounts, he said.

Hindustan Times

The Madhya Pradesh government said initiatives such as the amendment to the Madhya Pradesh Krishi Upaj Mandi Act will help blunt the economic slump caused by the corona pandemic as it will empower the farmers and cut their dependence on middle men to get fair price for the produce.

Agriculture minister Kamal Patel, who completed a month in office on Thursday, said the state is focusing on the agri-sector to generate revenue and jobs.

“A lot of people think it is udyog (industry) that keeps the economy afloat, but this pandemic has proved that it is the farmers who have saved us from starvation and the sector has generated jobs,” he said.

Times Of India

Governor Satya Pal Malik on Thursday took stock of the overall progress of farm sector and exuded confidence that Goa will become the model agriculture state in India. In a meeting held with deputy chief minister Chandrakant ‘Babu’ Kavalekar besides agriculture secretary and department officials, Malik said that he will seek regular feedback from officials about agriculture development in the state.

Hindustan Times

Although the state government has coined 2020 as the ‘productivity year’ by setting a higher target for agriculture production to give a helping hand to the economy, 11.12 lakh farmers are yet to get the benefit of the loan waiver announced by the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government.

The state has directed district banks to offer them fresh credit. However, these farmers are not eligible for fresh loans for the ensuing kharif season in June, as they already have outstanding loans and banks need directives from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to release the amount.

During the marathon review meeting on Thursday, this issue was prominently discussed. Besides chief minister (CM) Uddhav Thackeray and his deputy ...

Indian Express

Preliminary findings of a survey of more than 1,000 agricultural households across 12 Indian states show that 60% of those who did harvest reported a yield loss, and 1/10th of them could not harvest their crop in the past month. More than half (56%) of the farmers said that the lockdown has impacted their ability to prepare for the upcoming sowing season. The survey has found a “very strong association between food insecurity & farm size, with landless farmers 10 times more likely to skip a meal in the past month compared to large farmers”.

Times Of India

Small swarms of locusts have descended in some isolated parts of Banaskantha and Patan districts of north Gujarat since last few days, but there is no need for farmers to panic, officials said on Thursday. The number of insects this time is much less as compared to the huge swarms that invaded parts of north Gujarat in December last year and affected standing crops in 25,000 hectares of area, they said. After a gap of five months, smaller swarms of about 200 to 300 locusts have entered Banaskantha and adjoining Patan, Banaskantha district agriculture officer P K Patel said.

The Hindu

The Cauvery Delta Farmers Federation has urged Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami to convene a joint meeting of leaders of all political parties and also representatives of farmers’ outfits to ensure that the Centre’s move to discontinue free power supply to farmers is dropped.

The Chief Minister should not stop with writing a letter to the Prime Minister to register the government’s strong protest against the move of the Centre to discontinue the free power supply.

Times Of India

India’s foodgrain production in 2019-20 is estimated at record 295.67 million tonnes (MT) — 3.6% higher than the output in 2018-19, said the agriculture ministry on Friday. Higher production in current crop year and further new record target of 298 MT for 2020-21 crop year (July-June cycle), backed by forecast of normal monsoon, will help the government in increasing footprints of food security networks among the country’s vulnerable population.

NDTV

Congress president Sonia Gandhi launched the Rajiv Gandhi Kisan Nyay scheme in Chhattisgarh through video conferencing today and said this was a true tribute to the former prime minister.

Addressing the launch event on the occasion of Rajiv Gandhi’s death anniversary, she lauded the scheme, saying it will bring a change in the lives of farmers and help them become self-reliant.

“Such schemes should be implemented at the ground level to help bring a change in the lives of people. This is a revolutionary scheme and is a true tribute to Rajiv Gandhi. This is a big step taken in lines with the values of Rajiv Gandhi,” she said.