Counter-Currents

The spread of COVID-19 infused crisis has huge impact on all aspects of life and economy across India. It is particularly posing a serious challenge to the social and economic development of rural poor, migrants and farmers. The local businesses and communities are significantly affected by the Coronavirus pandemic. The Government of India led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced on 12th of May that his government would provide a relief cum stimulus package of Rs. 20 lakh crores. It is 10% of Indian GDP. But the reality came out in open when the Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman revealed the details about the package. It is clear now, that the stimulus and relief package announced by the Government ...

The Print

Amid a huge trail of devastation, Cyclone Amphan has also severely damaged the rabi crop paddy in West Bengal and betel crop in Odisha, apart from hitting sesame, vegetables and mango farmers.

West Bengal is a major cultivator of the rabi crop.

“The state agriculture department of West Bengal is doing a damage assessment of the crop (paddy) in the state caused by Cyclone Amphan. There are damages across 14 out of the 23 districts in West Bengal and at least six districts in Odisha,” a Union Agriculture Ministry official told ThePrint.

The Hindu

Cut your coat according to your cloth is a useful dictum to set policy priorities. Not all economies are bestowed with the unlimited resources of the U.S. whose currency, the dollar, still enjoys the enviable status of being the global reserve currency. This affords the U.S. the ultimate luxury to issue debt without any thought of its consequences on its macroeconomic balances. India does not have these many degrees of freedom. Cognisant of it constraints and compulsions, the government adopted a twin mantra for shaping its stimulus package, rolled out in five phases plus one earlier phase.

Economic Times

In the context of making India atmanirbhar, the task of achieving self-reliance and self-sustainability in agriculture is easier and more cost-efficient compared with other sectors of the economy. The first set of measures rely on branding of local farm products to be sold globally, the branding helping to tide over price spirals and making farmers quality-conscious.

Financial Express

As the world order gets realigned, it’s an opportunity to revive different sectors using emerging technologies (ET), including artificial intelligence (AI), blockchain and the Internet of Things (IoT). Given the ‘disruptive’ nature of ETs, India must leverage these in agriculture, especially in light of PM Modi’s call for doubling of farmers’ income. Farm sector growth has been stunted by low productivity, fragmented landholding, recurrence of over/under production reflecting a clear market asymmetry, lack of good agricultural practices and reforms in farm marketing. The problems are well known but have persisted, thus calling for tech intervention to break the status quo.

Economic Times

Seed and fertiliser companies are using digital platforms such as Whatsapp, Zoom and Microsoft Team to connect with farmers to promote and sell their products in a year agricultural output is set to surge.

Ahead of the planting season which begins from June, these companies usually have an army of field officers fanning out for one-on-one meetings with farmers, hold demonstrations at village level and address queries on the product line. The lockdown has made that impossible for them as well as sales and marketing teams to have face-to-face interactions with farmers, but the virtual meetings have picked up, said companies.

The Print

The government’s wheat procurement so far in the 2020-21 marketing year has surpassed the last year’s 34.13 million tonnes, surmounting all impediments in the wake of the COVID-19 outbreak.

Wheat procurement target has been set at 40.7 million tonnes (MT) for the 2020-21 marketing year. Although the wheat marketing year runs from April-March, the bulk of procurement is normally done in the first three months.