Media Monitor
Agriculture Industry
Rainfall brings relief to Kashmir farmersedit
Ending the prolonged dry spell, the Wednesday rainfall brought the much-needed relief to the farmer community in Kashmir.
The deficit rainfall in the last two months had badly affected the agricultural operations in Kashmir.
“The rainfall, though scant, was much-needed at this juncture. At least, it will save the apple trees which were desiccating due to the prolonged dry spell,” said Abdul Qadeer, an orchard owner from north Kashmir.
Since the soil was dry and lacking the required moisture, the farmers who had sown rabi crops, such as wheat, peas and oil seeds, were praying for the rain.
Export of agri products needs a push, says paneledit
The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Commerce has underlined the need to increase the export of agricultural products by improving supply chain, value addition and developing infrastructure. It has also recommended more support and incentives to growers for scientific production of farm commodities to boost quality production and thereby give an impetus to exports.
Committee Chairman V. Vijayasai Reddy submitted the 154th report on exports of agriculture, marine, plantation, coir and turmeric products to Rajya Sabha Chairman and Vice-President M. Venkaiah Naidu in New Delhi on Wednesday.
Farmers turn to moneylenders as banks shun risk amid pandemicedit
Last month, Dnyaneshwar Siddhanth, a farmer from India’s western state of Maharashtra, was in desperate need of money to buy seed and fertilizer as the monsoon sowing season approached.
But after being rejected by his bank for a loan despite several attempts, Siddhanth finally borrowed 150,000 Indian rupees ($2,021) from a moneylender at a rate of 60% annually.
Paddy harvesting with agricultural equipment like combine harvester machine, will save cost and timeedit
Farmers have many functions in farming. All these tasks are made easy by agricultural machinery. With the help of agricultural machinery, farmers can complete all their tasks very easily. This saves a lot of time for the farmers as well. In today’s time, farmers are being motivated for sowing and harvesting with new technology. Many farmers are also turning to agricultural machinery. Paddy is to be harvested in the coming few days. For this, farmers use normal sickle, toothed sickle, reaper. But the farmers should use agricultural implements for harvesting the crop, so that the crop can be harvested well. Today we have brought information about an agricultural machine for paddy harvesting, which is known as Combine Harvester Machine. Let us give you some important information related ...
COVID-19 pandemic: Farmers debt-ridden as banks turn cautious amid rising bad loansedit
Last month, Dnyaneshwar Siddhanth, a farmer from Maharashtra, was in desperate need of money to buy seed and fertilizer as the monsoon sowing season approached. But after being rejected by his bank for a loan despite several attempts, Siddhanth finally borrowed 150,000 Indian rupees ($2,021) from a moneylender at a rate of 60% annually.
Amid India’s worst economic slowdown in decades due to the novel coronavirus pandemic, millions of farmers like Siddhanth are being shunned by banks as lenders turn cautious due to rising bad loans. That is forcing them to turn to illegal moneylenders who are charging increasingly exorbitant rates, according to over a dozen farmers and bankers that Reuters spoke to.
Flash droughts hit nearly 15% rice, maize areas in 1951-2018 monsoons: Studyedit
About 10-15 per cent areas under cultivation of rice and maize were affected by flash droughts during the monsoon seasons in India between 1951 and 2018, a recent study has found.
The study, Dominance of summer monsoon flash droughts in India, said flash droughts are mainly concentrated in the monsoon season in the majority of India, which can adversely affect maize and rice grown in the Kharif (June-September) season.
It has the potential to affect crop production and pose challenges in meeting increased irrigation demands, the study added.
Indian farmers driven to debt as banks turn risk-averse during pandemicedit
Last month, Dnyaneshwar Siddhanth, a farmer from Maharashtra, was in desperate need of money to buy seed and fertilizer as the monsoon sowing season approached. But after being rejected by his bank for a loan despite several attempts, Siddhanth finally borrowed 150,000 Indian rupees ($2,021) from a moneylender at a rate of 60% annually.
India Exports Only 1 % Of Wheat, Pulses And Fruits, Says Parliamentary Paneledit
India exports only one per cent of its agri products like wheat, pulses and fruits, according to a parliamentary standing committee report presented on Wednesday to Rajya Sabha Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu.
It called for upgrading agri infrastructure, improving efficiency levels in the supply chain and putting emphasis on value addition.
Agriculture drives economic growth, not just welfare sector: Ashoka Profedit
Prof Barbara Harriss-White, economist and Emeritus Professor, Development Studies, Oxford University, and Dr Mekhala Krishnamurthy, Senior Fellow, CPR, and Associate Professor, Sociology and Anthropology, Ashoka University, addressed issues such as challenges of agricultural market systems and food systems at the 15th International Conference on Public Policy and Management, hosted by IIM Bangalore’s Centre for Public Policy.
They were engaged in a special virtual conversation on ‘Public Policy for Food and Agricultural Markets: Planet Micro and Planet Macro.’
Dairy Farming
Feeding India’s dairy growthedit
For Jagtar Singh of Katlaheri village of Kurukshetra district, Haryana, dairying has been a livelihood for generations. Increasing cost of feeding and poor fertility of his animals used to bother him. The Karnal Milk Union introduced the Ration-Balancing Programme (RBP). RBP ensured that the farmers like Jagtar were introduced to Local Resource Persons (LRPs) like Baljinder Singh, who formulated a balanced ration for milch cows of Holstein Friesian (HF) breed. In a month’s time, the milk yield of the cows increased by 800 gm daily per animal, while milk fat improved from 3.2% to 4.0% and Solid-not-Fat (SNF) from 7.8% to 8.1%. With the adoption of the RBP, the average ration cost has declined by Rs 41 ...