Media Monitor
Agriculture Industry
Hardly the 1991 moment for agricultureedit
The announcement of reforms in agricultural marketing by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, in May, has been hailed by some as the “1991” moment for agriculture. While it does not mean much on the ground, it has successfully managed to deflect attention from the pittance offered by way of fiscal support to the agricultural sector, as a part of the grand fiscal package announced by the Prime Minister. Even then, the reforms are no more than reiterations of earlier announcements.
Karnataka farmers to get interest-free loans, says govtedit
A farmer taking a new crop loan of up to Rs 3 lakh from any cooperative bank in Karnataka won’t be charged interest. However, the government is yet to decide whether to extend the benefit to all farmers or only small and marginal ones. The decision was taken at a review meeting chaired by chief minister BS Yediyurappa, which was attended by cooperation department officials. The government will come out with the guidelines sometime next week. “About 24.5 lakh farmers will benefit from the extended scheme,” said a senior department official.Reeling under flood and drought, farmers could avail the interest-free loan facility even in 2019-20. The same has been extended to 2020-21 owing to the Covid-19 crisis, the official added. According ...
Covid-19 woes: Before sale of crops, a marathon for tenant farmersedit
Vikram Jadhav, a tenant farmer in Andhra Pradesh, is concerned about the 10-km journey he has to make to sell his harvest, which is 100 quintals of paddy and maize.
With only five days left to sell his family’s seasonal output, he is worried about the cost of logistics and daily expenses as he gets ready to leave for the collection centre.
“This is one of the worst years I have seen in two decades. The cost of production has been more than the return. It is not easy to make ends meet with a big family, yet we manage somehow. But this time it will be difficult to repay my debt on time because the Covid-19 ...
Decoding FM’s agri-stimulus: Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Tranchesedit
With the Rs. 8.4 lakh crore agri-stimulus, the finance minister has enforced an economic Green Revolution whose pillars are credit, stocking up and opening the “farm-gate” for business. Tersely put, two tranches strengthen rural banking networks, provide additional loans and expedite the “doubling farmers incomes” program. The report appears to be the lodestar for the fin-min’s presentation, which includes suggestions on farm-gate infrastructure, a deregulated APMC and even linkage of farmers to agribusiness directly or through contract farming, etc.
How Singapore plans to survive world’s impending food crisisedit
Singapore’s obsession with food goes far deeper than its world-famous chili crab and laksa.
One of the most densely populated countries on the planet, its 5.7 million people rely on other nations for almost everything they eat. Just 0.9% of its land area of about 700 square kilometers was classified as agricultural in 2016, only marginally more than icebound Greenland.
Using drones allowed for combating desert locust menace to aerially spray pesticidesedit
In a possible first, the government has permitted use of drones to combat the menace of desert locust invasion that is threatening to destroy crops across the Afro-Asian region with border Indian states also badly hit. The aviation ministry has given “conditional exemption to government entity for use of remotely piloted aircraft system (RPAS) for anti-locust operations,” including to spray anti-locust pesticides. The agriculture ministry had on May 20 sought permission to use RPAS, or drones, for anti-locust operations, which aviation secretary PS Kharola gave the very next day “in view of the urgency of the matter”.
PM’s E-NAM will transform agricultureedit
For centuries, India is known for its prosperity and a unique wealth creation destination like a Sone Ki Chidiya. Babur to Lodhi to Mohammad Gazni and finally French, Dutch, Portugese, English and others came to India. The global maritime roots to India were discovered from the time of Fa Hein to Hiuen Tsang to Vasco Da Gama to Columbus and to many more who came only for India’s abundance and the pivotal reason for the wealth creation was always agriculture. On a larger scale, it was because of commodities which were traded locally and globally with undeniable roots in India. In 1991, the service industry started mushrooming in India, and till then, India remained a basically ...
Wholesale veggie prices crash during lockdownedit
In the two months since the country went into lockdown, vegetable prices have crashed in wholesale markets across states. The only exception is the potato, which at just under Rs 20 a kg on average, is almost double what it sold for in May last year. TOI looked at wholesale prices of the 15 most common veggies across 19 states and found that prices of all of them, barring potatoes and lemons, had fallen in almost all the states. To discount for seasonal variations, TOI also compared prices with last May, and found the fall to be even sharper (even lemons were way more expensive in May 2019).
Farm sector, poised to grow by 3%, remains beacon of hope amid pandemicedit
Fresh indicators show the country’s farm sector, which employs nearly half the population, has coped well with the Covid-19 crisis, with a larger summer crop area than last year, higher sales of fertilisers and seeds, and better prices, leading Reserve Bank Governor Shaktikanta Das to call it a “beacon of hope”.
The farm sector is poised to grow at least 3% in 2020-21, despite disruption in the economy due to the coronavirus pandemic, which will aid overall growth, according to state-run think-tank Niti Aayog’s assessment in April.
There are other indicators too, ranging from sowing to input sales, which show the agriculture economy is heading into the summer-sown or kharif operations in decent shape.
Farmers have planted ...