Media Monitor
Agriculture Industry
Farmers launch Jail Bharo Andolan over agricultural ordinancesedit
A large number of farmers, including women, under the banner of Kisan Mazdoor Sangharsh Committee (KSMC), came forward to give their arrest against three agricultural ordinances, recently promulgated by the Union Government here on Monday.
The agitation was part of the state-wide Jail Bharo Andolan commenced by the committee. Caring two hoots for their safety in the current Covid-19 condition, a large number of farmers took part in the agitation.
Government to align agriculture with changing climate and rainfall patternsedit
The government plans to review crop planting across the country to align agricultural planning with changes in climate and rainfall patterns.
The focus of this exercise is to move towards precision agriculture with optimum water and nutrient use through drip, fertigation, conservation agriculture, mechanization.
“Climate changes are happening across the globe. We need to realign our crop planning as per the changes in climate and monsoon pattern. This will increase our productivity and help select right crop to plant,” said agriculture commisioner S K Malhotra.
Deluge here, drought there: India’s rainfall conundrum continuesedit
The conundrum is back. A fifth of India’s districts were under drought-like conditions by the end of August 2020 even as a large part was negotiating floods; cumulative rainfall for the whole of the country has been 10 per cent above normal, according to data from the India Meteorological Department (IMD).
If the trend continues in September, monsoon rain for India will top 10 per cent over normal for the first time in 25 years. This will be on the back of a nine-per cent excess in 2019. The last time there was such high excess for two consecutive years was a century ago, according to data from the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology (IITM), Pune.
Monsoon this year expected to help Indian economyedit
“Monsoon 2020 should help the Indian economy. We have had a very good monsoon this year which has helped agriculture,” said M. Rajeevan Nair, secretary, Ministry of Earth Sciences, at a special briefing on the progress of the Indian monsoon. The accumulated rainfall so far this season has notched 107 per cent of the Long Period Average (LPA), which is considered Above Normal. However, with two weeks in September predicted as having lesser rainfall, the Indian Metereological Department (IMD) predicts that overall, this season, the monsoon will be in the “normal” category. A normal monsoon is between 96 and 104 per cent of the LPA.
Growth in agriculture is not remunerative to Indian farmersedit
In recent times, agriculture made headlines for all the wrong reasons: Farmers quitting cultivation; the sector turning into a perennial loss-making enterprise; and the country’s official policy to downsize the dependence on agriculture to reduce overall economic hardship among the poorest of the population.
Agriculture’s fast-declining economic importance reached such an extent that economists suggested India had already turned into a non-agrarian economy and the more people quit farming, the better the fortune of remaining farmers would be.
But two developments in the first half of September seem to be forcing us to revise these perceptions of Indian farming and farmers.
Officials Should Make Arrangements For Procurement Of Kharif Crops: Haryana Deputy Chief Ministeredit
During the meeting, he also said the central government would be requested to grant permission for allowing the procurement of paddy, which is procured for the public distribution system (PDS), from September 25 instead of October 1, according to an official statement here. The state government wants the procurement to be staggered in view of the coronavirus pandemic.
‘Credit goes to my colleagues for making Mahindra brand known in US’: Anand Mahindra on 2020 Leadership award by US non-profitedit
The 2020 USISPF Leadership Awards is given to two business leaders who have displayed leadership and ambition in strengthening the U.S.-India bilateral economic partnership, especially at a time when the global economy is faced with uncertainties and businesses are forced to pivot from their core capabilities.
Monsoon rain 7 pc excess so far, more expected in last two weeks of Septemberedit
The Southwest Monsoon is running 7 per cent in excess, the IMD on Monday said, adding that all regions with the exception of some parts of Northwest India are currently in the green.
Even the Northwest is in the red primarily because of deficit in two subdivisions there, Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh and Western Uttar Pradesh, IMD Director General Mritunjaya Mohapatra said speaking on the current status of Southwest Monsoon and future prospects in the remaining of the June-September season.