Media Monitor
Agriculture Industry
Mahindra & Mahindra increases its stake to 74.97% in Sampo Rosenlewedit
Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd. today raised its shareholding in Sampo Rosenlew Oy to 74.97 %. Mahindra & Mahindra has been a shareholder in Sampo Rosenlew since July 2016. Since then the two companies have closely worked on a global alliance to drive the growth of their combine harvester and forest machine businesses in various parts of the world. In line with Mahindra’s governance principles for associate companies Sampo-Rosenlew will continue to be run as a stand-alone, independent business unit while simultaneously leveraging synergies where possible.
Mahindra & Mahindra is the world’s largest farm tractor manufacturer by volume. Harvesting machinery is the second largest category in the global farm equipment industry. Mahindra’s scale in tractors and Sampo’s expertise ...
Paradox of poor farmers in food-rich Indiaedit
Agriculture is the primary source of livelihood for over 60% of India’s population. Considered as the backbone of the country, leading economists have always advocated for farmer friendly policies to boost the economy and GDP. But from time to time, farmers in India have been at the receiving end of many government policies. In a country that is seemingly more corporate oriented, the plight of the farmers often goes unreported. Farmers here suffer more in marketing their produce than in raising their crops or harvesting them. Markets have never been farmer-friendly. Will the new farm reform legislations help farmers get their fair share for their produce?
What are Farm Bills 2020 and why farmers are concerned?edit
Farmers across India have taken to streets to protest against the three farm reform bills passed by the Parliament in the monsoon session amid protests by opposition parties and signed by President Ram Nath Kovind. The three bills are The Farmers Produce Trade And Commerce (Promotion And Facilitation) Bill, The Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Bill, and The Essential Commodities (Amendment) Bill. In protest against the bills, Union Food Processing Industries Minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal, Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) MP, resigned from the Union Cabinet. SAD has been one of the oldest allies of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Following Harsimrat s resignation, the SAD also pulled out of the BJP-led ...
Punjab set to move Supreme Court on farm laws as stir intensifiesedit
Punjab, where angry farmers are protesting against the three farm bills enacted by the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), will challenge the legislation in the Supreme Court, chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh said on Monday, accusing the federal government of trying to dismantle the farming system as it exists now.
“Our lawyers are coming from Delhi tomorrow (on Tuesday). We will discuss how to proceed in the matter and then challenge the legislation in the Supreme Court,” Captain Amarinder Singh said in Khatkar Kalan, where he staged a sit-in protest against the laws.
Khatkar Kalan is the village of Shaheed Bhagat Singh and Monday marked the freedom fighter’s birth anniversary.
1,500 centres to be set up to provide equipment to Haryana farmersedit
The Haryana government will set up 1, 500 Custom Hiring Centres (CHCs), which will provide crop residue management equipment to farmers.
Additional chief secretary (ACS), agriculture and farmers’ welfare, Sanjeev Kaushal said a target to establish 820 CHCs had been set earlier. However, keeping in view the demand from farmers, 680 more such centres will be set up. He said preference will be given to small and marginal farmers to ensure that they are able to access agricultural machinery easily and participate in the statewide campaign against stubble burning. Allocations will be done on priority basis in red and yellow/orange zones, identified by the department on the basis of incidences of crop residue burning last year.
Farmers, agri sector exempted from seeking permit for groundwater useedit
The Centre has notified new guidelines for groundwater use in the country, prescribing a penalty of Rs 1 lakh on industrial and commercial users who extract it without permission, but exempting farmers and the agriculture sector, the largest users of groundwater, from the requirement of a no-objection certificate or penalties for drawing water up to a limit.
An environmental compensation of Rs 1 lakh on industrial, mining and infrastructure users for extracting water illegally could be increased depending on the quantum of illegally extracted water, states the new notification issued by the Central Ground Water Authority (CGWA) under the Jal Shakti ministry on September 24.
Centre must make MSP a legal right, say Congress MPs Bajwa, Dulloedit
A Congress Rajya Sabha members Shamsher Singh Dullo and Partap Singh Bajwa on Monday demanded that the Centre must make the minimum support price (MSP) a legal right to prevent private corporations from buying agricultural goods below this price.
Speaking to reporters after paying obeisance at Golden Temple, Dullo and Bajwa, both former state Congress chiefs, said that Punjab must unite and ensure the Centre repeals the Acts that seek to liberalise agriculture.
New farm laws threaten India’s ability to impose high tariffs on imported agri-produceedit
India’s recently legislated farm laws, meant to liberalise agricultural trade and allow businesses to directly procure agri-produce from farmers and stock and sell it within India and abroad without any government regulation, may pose new challenges for the country at the international level.
The new agression towards agri-business is a shift from the past where India had defended its agriculture policies – subsidies, government procurement, and release of stocks to contain agri-produce prices in the retail market – as something driven by the need to protect its small and marginal farmers and provide food security to the vulnerable population of India. The liberalisation in agriculture and freeing up markets and exports as a means to double farmers’ ...
Paddy worth Rs 10.53 cr procured in last 48 hours; MSP buying begins in all states: Govtedit
Amid widespread farmers’ protest against the new farm laws, the Centre on Monday came out with the latest data of paddy procurement in the last 48 hours to allay any apprehensions over the minimum support price (MSP) buying. With the latest procurement data, the government aims to send a clear message – it has no intention of scrapping the MSP and that it has put in a mechanism for procurement of not only summer-sown paddy but also pulses and oilseeds this year.