Media Monitor
Agriculture Industry
Mahindra to see substantial loss of vehicle and tractor sales in Q1 FY2021, banks on rural demandedit
Automotive and tractor major Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) estimates that it lost sales of 23,400 vehicles and 14,700 tractors in the last month of FY2020 due to the rampant spread of the Covid-19 pandemic, which has severely impacted industry worldwide and triggered significant downside risks to the overall global economic outlook. The company says all its manufacturing facilities and offices were shut down entirely during lockdown period of almost 40 days (March 25 to May 3).
To revive economy, India has to focus on sectors with ‘pull effect’: Suresh Prabhuedit
India needs to focus on key sectors with a ‘pull effect’, such as automobiles, real estate and hospitality, logistics and transport, to emerge from the economic slowdown that has worsened due to the Covid-19 disruptions, said Suresh Prabhu, India’s Sherpa to the G-20 and former Union Minister.
Solving India’s Agrarian Crisis|Part 6: Making It Profitable And Sustainableedit
The 10th Agricultural Census reported a gradual rise in input cost, including seeds, fertilizers and pesticides, labour and other pieces of equipment and machinery. There was, however, nothing surprising in this as it has been in the discourse for a very long time that rising input cost has been a crucial factor behind declining farm incomes.
Now, one way to ensure that the input cost doesn’t rise for cultivators is through subsidization by the government. Over a period of time, it has been established that subsidization is not a foolproof long-term solution since there are various issues pertaining to it, including leakages, accurate identification of beneficiaries and so on. Subsidization becomes a cause of concern when we ...
With 18.6% growth, Sonalika Tractors beats COVID-19 lockdown bluesedit
Beating the blues of COVID-19 lockdown, India’s one of the leading tractor manufacturing company, Sonalika Tractors registered 18.6 percent growth with sale of 9177 tractors in domestic as well as overseas market in May 2020 as compared to 7737 tractors in May 2019. The company has strengthened its No.1 tractor exports position from India by registering 25 percent growth with exports of 1537 tractors in May’20.
Lockdown sells more tractors than cars and SUVsedit
This may have happened for the first time in India when a company’s tractor sales for a month were higher than that of the largest car and SUV manufacturer. Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) sold 24017 tractors in India in May, while Maruti Suzuki 13865 only sold cars / SUVs during the same period. The nationwide lockdown implemented to prevent corona virus infection significantly affected the sales of auto companies. Tractor sales jumped during this period due to the relaxation of lockdown for farming.
India’s New Agri Policy Looks To Push Supply Chain Tech Adoption, eNAM Growthedit
As a means to improve agricultural income for farmers and lift restrictions on sales of produce, the Union Cabinet, on Wednesday (June 4), announced that it has cleared three major ordinances, which have caused a dampening effect on the agri value chain in the past.
Firstly, the new policy aims to lift restrictions on key commodities such as cereals, pulses, oilseeds, edible oils, onion and potatoes, and gives farmers the freedom to sell their produce directly to processors, aggregators, wholesalers, large retailers and exporters across state borders, through the available e-trading as well as other platforms of their choice instead of being confined to state mandis.
Gujarat: Over 16 lakh farmers sold produce worth Rs 5,400 crore to APMCs during lockdownedit
Over Rs 5,400 crore flowed to rural Gujarat during the lockdown, with over 16.35 lakh farmers selling their produce at Agriculture Produce Market Committees (APMCs) across Gujarat during the period between March and May, 2020 . However, farmer bodies said that not only were the agricultural transactions way lesser compared to previous years, the farmers also sold their produce at lesser prices.
Data provided by the state government revealed that over 5.45 lakh farmers sold 91.67 lakh quintals of agricultural produce at APMCs and earned Rs 3,702 crore between March 24 and June 1. Similarly, 10.89 lakh farmers sold an additional 84.01 lakh quintals of fruits and vegetables for about Rs 1,742 crore during the same period.
Gujarat witnesses unprecedented pre-monsoon groundnut sowingedit
Anticipation of good prices and availability of water has encouraged farmers in Gujarat to go for early sowing of groundnut as there has been ten-fold increase in pre-monsoon sowing of peanuts during the year 2020 compared to previous year. As per the official data of the state agriculture department, till May-end last year, pre-monsoon or pre-kharif groundnut sowing was hardly on 1,319 hectare land. During the current year, groundnut sowing has already crossed 13,900 hectare mark by the beginning of June, indicating possibility of massive sowing of groundnut in Gujarat.
Green Revolution hero M S Swaminathan on how to double farmer incomeedit
Managing the consequences of coronavirus pandemic on agriculture is becoming increasingly important and someone looking at this closely today is M S Swaminathan, the father of India’s Green Revolution. In these trying times, he shared with BusinessToday.In, some important suggestions on ways to double farmers’ income. Swaminathan, who is arguably a go-to guru on issues related to farmers, believes that we can double farmer’s income through appropriate marketing and by ensuring that they get a fair price. “Based on the NCF proposal, namely C2 (total cost of production) plus 50 per cent, the government should help farmers through agencies such as the Food Corporation, Horticulture Development Board and others that farmers can rely upon,” he said.
Agriculture amidst covid-19edit
With the outbreak of the covid-19 pandemic and the subsequent enforcement of lockdown, resumption of agriculture activities was seen as a distant thing. The cessation of farming activities would mean a substantial decline in Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of the country thereby upsetting our economy as agriculture alone accounts for nearly 15 percent of the national GDP. Realizing the fragility of our economy and the significance of agriculture for that matter, the government of India decided to resume and recommence essential activities especially the farm related activities across India. The government of J& K too followed the suit and did not lag behind in any respect. The director agriculture Kashmir, while issuing the guidelines for resuming the ...
‘One India, one agriculture market’: Centre approves ordinance to promote barrier-free agricultural tradeedit
The Centre on June 3 presented a set of ordinances to push forward its ‘One India, one agriculture market’ project and allow farmers to trade freely.
The move is aimed at building a seamless national market for farmers to sell produce, protect them from price risks, and improve their earnings and better agricultural investments.
The Cabinet had earlier cleared the way by approving the Farming Produce Trade and Commerce (Facilitation and Promotion) Ordinance, 2020 aimed at a barrier-free trade between states. It will allow farmers to sell across the country and utilise electronic platforms.
With normal monsoon forecast, rural theme getting stronger; bet on these 12 stocksedit
In light of the current COVID-19 crisis, we look at the rural economy which has been less affected by the pandemic so far. Rural India plays a very important role, as it contributes 53 percent to India’s GDP.
Except for the villages very close to urban areas, rural areas were not much impacted by the COVID-19-led lockdown. Most of the mandis had got re-opened, which led to an upbeat sentiment in the last two months. Rabi crop flow has been smooth, with 85 percent of the harvest having arrived at the mandis. The government which generally buys 15–20 percent of the produce for 38 commodities, has continued with its buying program and has managed the current situation ...
How digitization saved farmers from coronavirus and exploitation in Haryanaedit
Mushtak Ali (47) of Dabkodi village in Panchkula district is one of the 8.12 lakh wheat farmers in Haryana who benefitted from digitization after the novel coronavirus induced lockdown compelled people to stay indoors.
Mushtak showed us the text messages he received from the state-owned procurement agency telling him about the time of arrival, weight, value and payment details of his wheat crops. He is one of the progressive Haryana farmers who is registered on a state government portal ‘Meri Fasal Mera Byora’.
‘Careless govt’: Opposition claims wheat worth crores damaged in rain in MPedit
The rain caused by Cyclone Nisarga led to damage of crops in various parts of Madhya Pradesh. The wheat and other crops were procured by the state government.
The Opposition has now attacked the government, accusing it of being “careless”.
The rain came as Madhya Pradesh was already facing the challenge caused by swarms of desert locusts, which remain uncontrolled. However, the downpour brought down temperature in the state considerably low giving a relief to people from rising temperature.
As per meteorological department’s Madhya Pradesh unit, as many as 23 districts received moderate to heavy rains in the past two days with Bhopal, Raisen, Betul, Hoshangabad in central region, Rewa and Satna in Vindya region, Chhatarpur, Sagar ...
Agriculture GVA growth in FY21 seen at 2.5%edit
Agriculture and allied activities are likely to see 2.5% growth in FY21 as the effects of the pandemic on the sector, thus far, have been varied because these activities are not a homogeneous group, each having its own set of dynamics, said rating agency Crisil.
Gross value added (GVA) in India’s agriculture and allied sectors grew 4% in FY20 while the sector’s average growth in the past six years was about 3.2%.
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Agriculture reforms only for traders and corporates, not farmers, say expertsedit
The Government on Wednesday announced three “major agriculture reforms” for farmers, including an Ordinance to promote “barrier-free inter-state and intra-state trade outside APMC market” and amendment to the Essential Commodities Act., removing commodities like cereals, pulses oilseeds edible oils onion and potatoes from list of essential commodities.