Media Monitor
Agriculture Industry
Auto sector seeing green shoots; tractors, 2-wheelers and PV likely to do welledit
My friend Romesh called me up a few days back asking my advice on entry-level automatic transmission car. He has been a lifelong local train traveller but is now concerned about contracting COVID and has decided to avoid public transport.
Romesh is not the only one who is concerned about using public transport for the daily office commute. Another friend brought a Honda Activa to travel to the office, concerned about using public transport. This trend is increasingly gaining traction across India.
Bihar makes big strides in milk productionedit
Eastern India has always been considered a laggard in milk production and hence seen as a lucrative market for milk powder and other dairy products. Defying this long-held status, Bihar has singularly shown the true potential for growth in milk production in the eastern part of the country. The State reached a milestone in 2018-19 by achieving 10 million tonnes in milk production, growing from a mere 2.7 million tonnes in 2001-02.
Signs of farm revolution in India as coronavirus prompts changeedit
For more than two decades, farmer Ravindra Kajal cultivated rice the way his forefathers had – every June he flooded his fields with water before hiring an army of farmhands to plant paddy seedlings.
But a scarcity of workers this year because of the coronavirus forced Kajal to change. He irrigated the field just enough to moisten the soil and leased a drilling machine to directly sow seeds on his 9-acre (3.6-hectare) plot.
Enrol for crop insurance, Odisha government urges farmersedit
WITH only 10 days left for enrolment of farmers under Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY) for Kharif-2020 season, the State Government on Tuesday appealed them to get their names enrolled to protect themselves from financial loss due to crop failure or natural calamities.
Since the crop insurance scheme is voluntary, fields staff of the Agriculture and Cooperation departments will encourage both loanee and non-loanee farmers to enrol their names under the scheme to avail insurance benefits.
Telangana to study best farm practicesedit
Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao on Wednesday has said agriculture is the top priority for the State government, which is willing to spend any amount of money to make farming profitable for ryots.
“If the government’s efforts are to be fruitful, the Agriculture Department should play a very active role. Officials should study farming practices across the world and implement the best ones in Telangana,” he said and suggested that the officials study the single-pick crops across the world and examine the feasibility of cultivating them in the State based on weather and geographical conditions.
Best of BS Opinion: Future of agriculture, India’s trade deals, and moreedit
The Union government has asked all its ministries to include a paragraph on Atmanirbhar Bharat while sending proposals to the Union cabinet or cabinet committees. The overall idea is to encourage domestic manufacturing.
However, the government would need to be careful and make sure that such a step doesn’t end up hurting businesses and economic activity. Business Standard opinion pieces for the day talk about trade among other issues
The Covid-19 crisis and the growth slowdown are the moment in which India must once again embrace globalisation, argues our lead editorial
The agriculture policy of Telangana is in stark contrast to the developments at the Centre. The differing approach reflects a more profound ideological conundrum towards agriculture in India, writes Shubho Roy ...
It is important to give farmers the power of scale: MS Swaminathanedit
The Centre recently ushered in agricultural marketing reforms giving farmers the choice to sell outside the regulated market yards (APMC mandis). Eminent agricultural scientist Prof M S Swaminathan, Chairman, National Commission on Farmers, says agri-marketing reform measures are potentially beneficial, but there is still a long way to go in ensuring a fair and reliable price for producers. Excerpts from an e-mail interaction:
What are your views on the agri-marketing reforms introduced by the Centre?
The agri-marketing reforms are potentially beneficial, but we still have to go a long way in ensuring that the primary producer gets a fair and reliable price. We need to introduce a farmer-centric single-nation marketing system.
Explained: Is paddy planted using DSR method more vulnerable to rodent attacks?edit
Amid reports that paddy sown with Direct Seeding of Rice (DSR) technique has been attacked by rodents and farmers are facing big challenges in Punjab, some argue that sowing technique involving transplantation of seedlings in flooded fields insulates the crop from such attacks. Others believe that government must revive an old policy to control rodent attacks.