Indian Inc. Group

In 2017, the Doubling Farmers Income (DFI) Report in India highlighted the extensive funding opportunities for agri-entrepreneurs, farmers’ aggregations and support to agri startups that directly purchase from farmers in the country. The key objective, the report recommended, was to enable physical access of farmers’ produce to markets to monetise it in larger volumes and unlock a steady source of incomes for farmers.

Cut to 2020, and in the midst of a pandemic, the wishes of India’s most marginalised and under-appreciated farmers came true: on August 9, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the $13.2 billion Agriculture Infrastructure Fund (AIF), an instrument to be used over the next four years to build post-harvest storage and processing ...

Bitmesra

From a country that faced constant famines owing to the monstrous colonial-era policies and wars, to a self-sufficient state recognised as an agricultural powerhouse and one of the largest manufacturers of various commodities in the world, India has come a long way. The Bengal famine under British rule was one of the most severe famines that killed over 3 million people. Post-independence from the British, the Indian state realized the need to become self-sufficient.

Rural Marketing

Advanced farm mechanisation can improve the lives of farmers and agricultural workers. Digital agriculture – where farmers can use digital technologies to access useful information, particularly on weather, could revolutionise the agriculture sector,” Shomita Biswas, Joint Secretary (M&T), Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare, Government of India, Wednesday said.

Yes Punjab

With indication of the beginning f the Monsoon session of parliament in the second week of September, the government is learnt to have planned to clear 11 ordinances on priority amid the oppositions attempt to keep it on backfoot over the Galwan Valley incident in which 20 soldiers were killed.

Financial Express

Prime Minister Narendra Modi government’s PM Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana has been successful in providing free foodgrains to 94 per cent beneficiaries since April 2020. The scheme aimed to provide free ration to nearly 81 crore people in the country amid the disruptions caused by the coronavirus pandemic. Adding to the benefits, nearly 60.7 lakh new beneficiaries have also been added under NFSA by states like Uttar Pradesh, Bihar during the COVID-19 period, who can avail schemes like PM Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana, said a statement by the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution. The government further said that no state or Union Territory has indicated any further demand for coverage under the National Food Security Act, ...

Farm Equipment

Total revenue for Mahindra’s fiscal year 2020 was reported at $6.8 billion, down 15.2% from $8.1 billion in fiscal year 2019. Total farm equipment revenue for the year came in at $2.3 billion, an 8.7% decline from the $2.5 billion reported in fiscal year 2019.

Mahindra reported an operating profit of $388.7 million, down 64.5% from $1.1 billion in the previous fiscal year. The company reported a total loss of $48.3 million, compared to a profit of $904.4 million in fiscal year 2019.

Femina

As is known, agriculture is the primary source of income for India’s 58 per cent of the population. And, as agriculture contributed to 17 – 18 per cent of the Gross Domestic Product of the country in 2018, it inevitably increases the need to technologically propel the industry even further. There has been a consistent and significant rise in the emergence of agricultural technology start-ups that are making farming and agriculture easier and viable with time. This advent of the agritech industry with increasing youngsters, IIT, management and engineering graduates exploring their career interests in the field, India’s agricultural scene is no longer painting a feeble picture or is restricted to uneducated. Read on to know some of ...

Financial Express

The government will provide credit to farmers under Kisan Credit Cards in an attempt to help the agricultural sector tide over the coronavirus pandemic. “In an effort to buffer the agricultural sector from the shock of COVID-19, a special saturation drive is underway to provide concessional credit to farmers through Kisan Credit Card (KCC),” the Ministry of Finance announced in a statement on Thursday. As of 17th August, credit cards to 1.22 crore farmers have been sanctioned with a credit limit of over Rs 1 lakh crore. It is expected that the same will help in reviving the rural economy and accelerating agricultural growth.

Tribune India

For decades, American dairy farms have been hit by low prices. While the small dairy farms have increasingly pulled down shutters, the continued expansion of corporate farming has resulted in surplus milk production, leading to a fall in prices. In the past six years, milk prices have seen a 40 per cent drop on an average.

In 2016, more than 43 million gallons of milk was thrown away by the farmers. This huge milk waste could have filled 66 Olympic-sized swimming pools, says an estimate. Regardless, corporate milk production continued to soar while another 3,000 dairy farms closed down in 2019, says a report of the US Department of Agriculture (USDA). This necessitated US President Donald Trump ...