Media Monitor
Agriculture Industry
Reform or no reform, the farmer is hardly the saviour India is waiting for. Aiyar explains whyedit
At a time when Modi govt’s new farm laws have sharply divided opinions in India, the optimist faction’s high expectations from these reforms do not appear to be rooted in reality, Swaminathan Aiyar told ET Now in an interview.
The new legislations come amid a slight sequential uptick in the agri sector. While all other segments of the economy are still majorly stuck in Covid-induced disruptions, agri has shown some nascent signs of a recovery.
Maize, Cotton sold below MSP in Punjab; farmers worry that wheat, paddy will meet same fateedit
Unlike wheat and paddy, crops like maize and cotton which have a Minimum Support Price (MSP) are not backed by bodies like the Food Corporation of India, thus are being sold much below the MSP in Punjab.
Farmers are strongly opposing the agriculture bill as they apprehend that the same fate will befall wheat and paddy.
India’s farmers give Mahindra (and maybe Modi) a sliver of hopeedit
Indian conglomerate Mahindra Group said sales of farm equipment are much better than expected as the country’s vast hinterland bounces back from lockdown, despite the coronavirus running rampant.
Tractor sales jumped 69% in August from a year earlier, Mahindra’s head of finance, Anish Shah, said in an interview with Bloomberg Television. India’s farm equipment sales have been improving since a barren April, when all sorts of manufacturers across the country were forced to halt production and the top carmakers didn’t report any vehicle sales.
Why India farm reforms have sparked protestsedit
Govt. Policies
Why India farm reforms have sparked protestsedit
Stubble Burning
Stubble burning: 332 villages identified as red zones in Haryanaedit
In anticipation of stubble burning incidents across the state, the Haryana agriculture department has identified red, yellow/orange and green zones in every district on the basis of incidences of crop residue burning last year. An official spokesperson said 332 villages fall under the red zone and 675 in yellow zone.
Panchkula farmers get Rs 40 lakh subsidy to manage stubble burningedit
This year, in Panchkula, more than 100 farmers, who are till tilling some areas of Barwala and Raipur Rani, were given subsidy of 50-80% on machines by the agriculture department, which will help them avoid stubble burning. The department had also reimbursed those who had rented the machines to manage crop leftovers in their fields.