Tribune India

The paddy-sowing season, which officially began on June 15, is witnessing an unprecedented crisis owing to labour shortage in Haryana, triggered by the exodus of migrant labourers who went back to their native states during the Covid-induced lockdown. Farmers have to rely on local labourers, who are demanding higher wages than the migrants.

Tribune India

Punjab’s farmers are grappling with labour-related issues during the ongoing paddy-sowing season. Their losses are likely to go up this year as a sharp rise in the input cost is imminent.

“This time, paddy-sowing is quite challenging in view of the pandemic and the lockdown. We have to welcome returning migrants with garlands and sweets. The Central and state governments, besides farmers, should learn a lesson to counter such problems in future effectively,” says Rajpal Singh, a farmer from Mangwal village in Sangrur district.

Economic Times

ITC is planning to create export-oriented fruit and vegetables clusters, grabbing the opportunities created by recently announced agricultural reforms, such as allowing contract farming and the expected change in global purchasing patterns.

ITC’s business head for agriculture and information technology S Sivakumar said international buyers were diversifying their sources of supply in the wake of the pandemic. “For example, the Middle East countries will be keen to procure fruits and vegetables from diverse sources, both fresh and as well as processed products,” he said.

Financial Express

They might be in a minority but their work is inspiring. We are referring to some of the homegrown agritech startups that are transforming agriculture by developing innovative digital solutions to maximise productivity, improve market linkages, increase supply chain efficiency and provide greater access to inputs for agri-businesses. Microsoft has now introduced a programme for such agritech startups.

The Microsoft for Agritech Startups programme is designed to help startups build industry-specific solutions, scale and grow with access to deep technology, business and marketing resources. The programme offers advanced technology and business enablement resources to help agritech startups innovate and scale fast.

India Retailing

Dairy foods company Milk Mantra on Friday said US International Development Finance Corporation (DFC) has committed US$ 10 million (over Rs 76 crore) for structured debt financing to the company.

DFC has also approved US$ 3,71,000 (about Rs 2.8 crore) in technical assistance to support the company’s agriculture extension services and ethical milk sourcing programme, according to a statement.

New Indian Express

Andhra Pradesh, which achieved a foodgrain-production record of 180.54 lakh tonnes in 2019-20, has now set itself a target of 183.63 lakh tonnes for the 2020-21 fiscal. The target for the Kharif season is 95.28 lakh tonnes, and for the Rabi season is 88.35 lakh tonnes. As per the final advance estimates provided by the Directorate of Economics and Statistics, the total foodgrain production in 2019-20 (Rabi and Kharif) was 180.54 lakh tonnes, as against 149.56 lakh tonnes in 2018-19, an increase of 30.98 lakh tonnes, Andhra Pradesh State Agriculture Mission (APSAM) vice-chairperson MVS Nagi Reddy told The New Indian Express.

Jagran

State Agriculture Minister Surya Pratap Shahi was in the Karil area of ​​the district on Sunday. He inspected the cucumber and strawberry in Pankaj Rai’s Pali House in Karimuddinpur and inquired about its management. After this, the foundation stone of the seed processing unit costing about 60 lakhs being constructed by the Shivansh farmers FPO, under the project of Jogamusaahib, was laid. Earlier, he garlanded the idol of Hid Keshari Mangla Rai and distributed free seeds to the farmers.

The New Indian Express – Online

Andhra Pradesh, which achieved a foodgrain-production record of 180.54 lakh tonnes in 2019-20, has now set itself a target of 183.63 lakh tonnes for the 2020-21 fiscal.