Daily O – Online

India Today Editor-in-Chief Aroon Purie examines the implications of the farm legislations on a sector untouched by reform for decades, in the November 9, 2020 edition of the India Today Magazine.

QZ – Online

That Delhi has some of the worst air in the world is now a well-established fact and a part of the mainstream discourse. And yet, every year, the air quality index veers into the red zone and sends India’s north into emergency mode.

Hindustan Times – Online

Sustainable agriculture and prosperity of farmers is the only objective of the government, said Anirudh Tewari, additional chief secretary (development), while interacting with officials of Punjab Agricultural University (PAU) on Thursday.

Opinion Express

The rapidly worsening condition of the environment is increasingly creating harsh terms for agriculture in India. The sudden floods, such as those experienced by Telangana last week, and unexpected droughts in many areas coupled with a sheer drop in yield per acre are creating financial havoc for the farming community. Moreover, the recently-passed farm Acts have added to the woes of the already burdened growers. Farmers have become unsure of the future, especially regarding the produce and how the MSP (Minimum Support Price) will be impacted due to the entry of big players and whether the Government will continue to buy farm produce at the same price and quantity as before.

Economic Times

The Food Corporation of India and state procurement agencies have bought 26 per cent more paddy so far in this year’s kharif marketing season at 170.53 lakh tonne for Rs 32,196 crore. Paddy procurement for kharif 2020-21 is continuing at a good pace in Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Uttarakhand, Chandigarh, Jammu & Kashmir, Kerala and Gujarat with purchase of over 170.53 lakh tonne of paddy till Tuesday against 134.85 lakh tonne in the same period last year.

Out of the total purchase, Punjab alone has contributed 114.97 lakh tonne, which is around 67 per cent of the total procurement.

Indian Express

With just 1.19 per cent of the total farmer households and 1.53 per cent of land in the country, Punjab has been contributing over one-third of the total wheat and paddy procured by the central government every year.

The agrarian economy of the state is largely dependent on this annual procurement at minimum support price (MSP) by central government agencies such as the Food Corporation of India.

Financial Express

Even as a recent fiat by the Centre to the Punjab government put the so-called rural development fee (RDF) collected by the latter from the Food Corporation of India (FCI) for central pool purchases under scrutiny, Punjab’s food minister Bharat Bhushan Ashu sought to avoid a showdown with New Delhi on the issue, and said that the RDF proceeds haven’t been diverted. The monies collected as RDF — around Rs 1,750 crore in FY20 alone — have been spent on infrastructure of procurement centres, the minister told FE.

Telangana Today

Telangana government has waived off crop loans amounting to Rs 27,718 crore, the highest by any State, since the formation of the State. Added to this, the State government has spent another Rs 28,000 crore under Rythu Bandhu benefiting farmers directly since the launch of the novel scheme.

In an informal interaction with the media at Telangana Bhavan here on Wednesday, IT and Industries Minister and TRS working president K T Rama Rao said while the opposition parties continue to accuse the State government on loan waiver implementation for political mileage, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), in its report, clearly stated that Telangana State government had waived off the highest number of crop loans in the ...

New Indian Express

After a week’s delay, the Northeast monsoon has set in over Tamil Nadu, and in most likelihood, it would be normal. Southwest monsoon withdrew on Wednesday and simultaneously the Northeast monsoon commenced over extreme South peninsular India (Tamil Nadu and Kerala).

Business Line on Campus

For decades, people have left traditional agriculture and migrated to cities in search of a better life. Yet, despite its challenges, agriculture has its own importance and a natural charm.

I know a professor in IIT-Madras — Prof Veezhinathan Kamakoti — a world-renowned computer technologist, who advises the Prime Minister and the National Security Advisor on matters relating to electronic and cyber-security, who is extremely passionate about agriculture. Prof Kamakoti has his own farm in Tamil Nadu, where he grows a variety of organic stuff, including rice. When time permits, Kamakoti escapes his urban reality and can be seen pottering about in the fields.

I know of a ‘software couple’ who ditched their jobs in ...

Deccan Herald

India is appreciating the newfound ease with which it can access farmland and indulge in organic farming. Besides being a golden opportunity for small-time investors, this change is also creating a highly profitable business opportunity for regular customers, who don’t have access to significant capital but who are looking to move away from the hustle & bustle of city life. The organic farming company, Hebbevu Agro-Realty, is showing people the way forward in this direction, at an affordable price. Within a short time, this firm, run by brothers, Amith and Ashrith Kishan, former bankers, has gained the trust of the public and has become one of the most loved & trusted brands in organic farming.

Indian Express

For the third year in a row, Gurjeet Singh and Gurjinder Singh, two small farmers in Allahditta village of Kapurthala district’s Sultanpur Lodhi subdivision, have not burnt any parali (paddy stubble) in their fields.

The alternative stubble management technique they employ isn’t prohibitively expensive, and the farmers say their yields of wheat have improved. In fact, Allahditta and the neighbouring village of Ahmadpur Chhanna have reported no farm fires this stubble-burning season.

The Hans India

Southwest monsoon winds, which has brought the rains in the state have started withdrawing on Monday. The meteorological department has said that Southwest monsoon winds are expected to cross the country on the 28th of this month. At the same time, northeastern monsoon winds formed at the level of the lower troposphere over the Bay of Bengal and southern peninsular India, which would bring rain to south India during the winter to help farmers grow rabi crops.

The Kashmir Images

The COVID-19 pandemic has accentuated the criticality of food security and food surplus management in the current policy space. To this end, policy steps in agriculture sector in recent years have shifted their orientation from sustenance to marketing. However, the sector is still exposed to challenges of post-harvest management (PHM), poor price discovery and inadequate market access for farmers. Lack of PHM, in particular, has led to significant post-harvest losses of 4-6-15.8% in fruits and vegetables, 10.5% in marine fisheries and 6.7% in poultry (ICAR-CIPHET, 2015). While significant progress has been made in building individual cold storage facilities, their lack of geographical spread persists as also their tardy upgradation into integrated multi-commodity hubs.

The food processing ...

Deccan Chronicle

India is appreciating the newfound ease with which it can access farmland and indulge in organic farming. Besides being a golden opportunity for small-time investors, this change is also creating a highly profitable business opportunity for regular customers, who don’t have access to significant capital but who are looking to move away from the hustle & bustle of city life. The organic farming company, Hebbevu Agro-Realty, is showing people the way forward in this direction, at an affordable price. Within a short time, this firm, run by brothers, Amith and Ashrith Kishan, former bankers, has gained the trust of the public and has become one of the most loved & trusted brands in organic farming.

Sunday Guardian Live

With the three agri-laws now on the statute books—and it seeming increasingly likely that they will remain there despite the on-going farmers’ protests and challenges to their legality—it is time to turn our attention to the path forward, and address both the real and perceived apprehensions. In addition to now taking on the onus of ensuring the average farmer in India is not only worse off than before, the Union Government has also become more directly responsible for the well-being of 600 mn farmers and their kin. The option of putting the states in the dock for ills of farming—otherwise a state subject—may no longer be available to the Centre.

The Wire

The Punjab assembly has hurriedly passed three pieces of legislation which attempt to nullify the Centre’s recent moves on the agricultural front.

The Essential Commodities (Special Provisions and Punjab Amendment) Bill, 2020, the Farmers’ (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services (Special Provisions and Punjab Amendment) Bill, 2020 and the Farmers’ Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) (Special Provisions and Punjab Amendment) Bill, 2020 were passed by the Congress government.

They now await the assent of the president before they can become law. But in this process, the limitations of the minimum support price (MSP) as a major policy instrument has been exposed.

Mid-Day

The onion farmers of Maharashtra appear to be at the receiving end of climate change. For the last two years, farmers from Ahmednagar and Nasik have been experiencing heavy rainfall. But this year, the monsoon season that continued till October, has brought along disease. Much of the onion crop has been destroyed after being infected with a fungal disease called Anthracnose, which tends to attack plants in the spring when the weather is cool and wet.”

Sandeep Kokate, a farmer from Yeola taluka, 35.3 km from Lasalgaon, Nasik, said, “I had nearly 500 quintals of onions in stock and suddenly, due to heavy rainfall and fungal infection [Anthracnose], nearly 70 per cent of my stock got destroyed. I ...

Republic World

Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh chief Mohan Bhagwat on Sunday praised the Centre for the agriculture and labour reform bills recently passed in Parliament, and said new policies should aim to make farmers aware of the modern agriculture science.

Addressing the Sangh’s annual Vijayadashami rally here which was this time attended by only 50 ‘swayamsevaks’ due to the COVID-19 guidelines, he also welcomed the government’s new education policy.

Stressing on self-reliance, he said while designing the agricultural policy, farmers should be empowered to control their seed banks, create manure, fertilisers and pesticides on their own or procure from neighbouring areas.

The Goan

The struggles of the Aldona farmers are unending. Just when the paddy crop was ripe for harvesting, they had to face an unusual problem – lack of harvester machines to reap the crop.

The farmers, who were already worried about the loss of crop due to low pressures-induced incessant rain in October, have to now contend with a shortage of machines to harvest the mature crop.

A visit to the vast fields in the village shows the pitiable condition of the crops with `lodging’ taking place at several places. At other places, farmers complained that the paddy has sprouted damaging the crop.

Bhaskar

Good rains in the region in the last few days have resulted in some losses as well as farmers to some extent. Farmers who were still engaged in harvesting the soybean crop from the field, suffered losses due to rain. The same few farmers who were engaged in sowing rabi these days have benefited from this rain. After the rain stopped, the farmers started preparing cotton and tur from the river drains and wells, then the weather changed completely and the rain turned. Good rains have not only benefited cotton from Ghantali, Pipalkunt, Nalpada, Duglavani, Nayan Thachala and many other places, but also brought moisture to the ground for sowing of rabi crops. These days farmers are busy sowing gram, maize, garlic etc. ...

Mid-Day

The onion farmers of Maharashtra appear to be at the receiving end of climate change. For the last two years, farmers from Ahmednagar and Nasik have been experiencing heavy rainfall. But this year, the monsoon season that continued till October, has brought along disease. Much of the onion crop has been destroyed after being infected with a fungal disease called Anthracnose, which tends to attack plants in the spring when the weather is cool and wet.”

Sandeep Kokate, a farmer from Yeola taluka, 35.3 km from Lasalgaon, Nasik, said, “I had nearly 500 quintals of onions in stock and suddenly, due to heavy rainfall and fungal infection [Anthracnose], nearly 70 per cent of my stock got destroyed. I ...

Mid-Day

The Global market for organic food and beverages is expected to touch $327,600 million in the next two years. That is going to be an almost 200% increase since the market was worth $115,984 million in 2015. Quite interestingly, organic fruits and vegetables collectively made up for half of the global market share in 2015 and experts believe that the share has only grown higher since then. Population boom and global warming together have pushed the world towards better agricultural practices and what is the most heartening to know is that even well-educated, salaried youngsters are now driven towards ethical and organic agriculture business as an alternate career.

Times Of India

From the simplicity of the underlying technology involved, the shorter quantum of time needed for cultivation to the evidently superior quality of produce, hydrophonic fodder cultivation is gaining in popularity across the state, more so among dairy farmers. Peasants in the state who have adopted this method swear by the benefits including higher content of protein and vitamin. However, what makes this method most attractive for the agrarian community is the reduced time needed for growing fodder.

Maa Hyderabad

Chief Minister Chandrashekhar Rao announced that Corn would be purchased at the Minimum Support Price OF Rs1850 Per Quintal through the Purchasing Centres created for the Paddy in the villages.

The CM said purchases will be made through the Markfed and urged farmers to utilise the opportunity. The CM was upset over some farmers cultivating the Maize in this rainy season despite his appeal not to do so. Hence, the government has no responsibility to buy the Corn. But yet, with the sole intention that farmers should not be put to loss, the government has decided to bear the loss and purchase the Corn from farmers at the MSP.

Prime Feed

The global Agricultural Machinery market 2020 mainly focuses on the market trend, market share, size and forecast. It is a brief and professional analysis on the current scenario of the Global Agricultural Machinery market.

The report on Agricultural Machinery market is a comprehensive study on global market analysis and insights. The report focuses on the emerging trends in the global and regional spaces on all the significant components, such as market capacity, cost, price, demand and supply, production, profit, and competitive landscape. The report analyzes past trends and future prospects in this report which makes it highly comprehensible for the analysis of the market. Moreover, the latest trends, product portfolio, demographics, geographical segmentation, and regulatory framework of ...

States Time

Krishi Vigyan Kendra, Poonch of Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences & technology of Jammu conducted two training programmes for the farmers in village Jhullas and Bhainch. Dr. Ajay Gupta, Sr Scientist & Head apprised the farmers for use of quality seed and selection of suitable variety for obtaining maximum yield and profitability from crop. He discussed the need for adopting proper seed rate and spacing, balanced fertilization and weed management to the farmers. He also explained the need for minimizing input use in agriculture and recycling of farm waste for enhancing productivity. He also visited fields of some progressive farmers and explained nursery raising techniques/ production techniques in vegetable crops including knol-khol, chillies, radish, spinach and other ...

SME Street

The Telangana government decided to strengthen the Agriculture Department by creating two divisions, one to take care of irrigation, power, fertiliser and seeds, and the second to focus on marketing.

Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao, who held a review meeting on agriculture, directed that an Indian Administrative Officer (IAS) officer should head each division.

He said that Telangana is fast emerging as an agriculture-based state and in tune with this, the Agriculture Department should strengthen itself.

The marketing division will study which crops have demand in the country, in the world and which crops would get profits to farmers. He said it should prepare strategies in coordination with Marketing and Civil Supplies Departments to get better prices ...

Economic Times

Farmers in Coimbatore and Pollachi are not able to make use of the tractor rental scheme of the agricultural engineering department due to shortage of drivers.

Availability of tractors at a subsidized rent is crucial as it is time to plough lands for rabi crops, farmers who attended the online grievance day meeting on Friday said. Four tractors two in Pollachi and two in Coimbatore are available under the scheme. “But we are not able to rent them because officers claim that drivers are not available,” said Karthik Krishnakumar, a coconut farmer from Kinathukadavu. “It is an attractive scheme as the rent is only Rs 340 per hour, compared to the private players, who charge Rs 1,000 per hour. It will cost ...

Economic Times

After missing its normal date by nearly two weeks, the monsoon is set to retreat from the country on October 28, the weather office said on Friday.

The southwest monsoon normally withdraws from the country by October 15. This year it has stayed longer, causing crop damage, which in turn has pushed up prices of onions, tomatoes, and potatoes.

“With likely setting in of northeasterly winds in the lower tropospheric levels along and off east coast of India and adjoining Bay of Bengal, including over Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu Coasts. The southwest monsoon is likely to withdraw from entire country around 28 Oct,” said the India Meteorological Department.

Swarjyamag

A couple of developments this week has cast shadow on the procurement of foodgrains by government agencies at the minimum support price (MSP) fixed by the Union government.

First, is the release of negotiations between a district manager of the Punjab State Civil Supplies Corporation (PUNSUP) and a trader on procuring paddy bought at a lower price from outside the state at MSP by The Tribune daily.

Jagran

Sons, Bharua Sumerpur: Naib Tehsildar seized the paddy from the harvester without SMS machine on the DM’s instructions. Also said to follow the rules.

The administration has mandated harvesting of SMS machines with harvesters in paddy harvesting. On Thursday, a harvester machine from Punjab in Teheda village was engaged in harvesting paddy of farmers without SMS. The administration got its inkling. Naib Tehsildar Pramit Sachan, who reached the village on the instructions of DM Dnyaneshwar Tripathi, has seized the machine engaged in paddy harvesting. The farmer in Harvester village is walking in the farm of Bardani Kushwaha. Harvester is seized and handed over to the police. The police have taken the harvester and made it stand in the factory area police post.

The Hindu

As many as 100 harvester machines transported by the Business Development Unit of the Southern Railway from Chinna Salem to Surathkal reached here on Thursday.

Loaded on 32 wagons, the train had left Chinna Salem on October 21, a Southern Railway release said. Recently, it transported over 80 harvester machines, loaded on 32 wagons, from Chinna Salem to Nalgonda in Telangana.

Overcoming all odds caused by the COVID-19 situation, Southern Railway is transporting raw material and finished products which help traders, businessmen and farmers, it said.

Indo Asian Commodities

Punjab’s Agriculture Department has launched a campaign to bring 2 lakh hectares of land under maize cultivation up from the current 1.08 hectares. The department hopes that it will lead to production of 7,60,000 metric tonnes of maize.

The Punjab Agriculture Department has also launched a programme to compensate some farmers in paddy dependent districts who will switch over from paddy to maize. The department believes that this transformation would also help arrest the problem of burning paddy stubble said Dr J S Chawla, Principal Maize Breeder & In charge – Maize Section PAU while addressing farmers at the Kisan Goshthi on Cultivation of Maize in Punjab: Status, Challenges & Opportunities at the CII Agro & Food Tech 2020 organised over ...

Business Standard

The government’s paddy procurement at the minimum support price (MSP) has risen 28.55 per cent to 116.66 lakh tonne in less than a month compared with the year-ago same period, with maximum grain been purchased from Punjab alone, according to the Union food ministry.

Paddy procurement commenced in Punjab and Haryana from September 26 due to early arrival of the crop, while in other states from October 1.

More than 80 per cent of the country’s paddy crop is grown in the kharif season. The government through Food Corporation of India (FCI) and state agencies undertakes procurement of paddy at MSP.

The Quint

It is that time of the year again when Delhi turns into a gas chamber and the smoke from Punjab reaches Delhi faster than the cries of the farmers. This time of the year brings with it the blame game between chief ministers of Delhi and Punjab.

 In Punjab and Haryana, the paddy crop is usually harvested between the first and last week of October. The wheat crop is, then, sown from first week of November. Agriculture experts indicate, and research shows, that any delay in sowing wheat crop leads to poor produce. This gives the farmers a very short window of 15 days. These farmers regularly complain about the menace of rice straw – a product ...

The Hindu

The purpose of initiatives such as contract farming seems to be to create conditions that make it difficult for the small and marginal peasantry to sustain themselves and eventually force them to leave their land or sell it to rich farmers, thus consolidating and centralising the agrarian capital.

Indian Express

To nullify the possible impact of the three farm acts passed by the Parliament, the Punjab government passed its own bills on Tuesday. These broadly attempt to ensure continued procurement of wheat and paddy at the minimum support price (MSP), uphold the powers of the courts in dispute settlement and empower the state to regulate trade of foodgrain.

Vishva Times

The world’s largest tractor manufacturer by volumes foresees a sustained growth in tractor off-take on the back of festive season along with recently introduced farm bill.

Accordingly, auto major M&M’s Farm Equipment Sector President Hemant Sikka predicts the farm bill to usher in higher income for farmers, thereby, allowing greater farm mechanisation levels.

“These reforms are positive, and we await on-ground execution of various elements of this bill to better realise its effectiveness,” he told IANS.

Free Press Journal

With their eyes wide open, the Congress-ruled states are bent on creating a legislative charade in order to hoodwink farmers protesting against the Central farm laws. On Tuesday, as previously threatened, the Punjab Assembly passed a couple of legislations seeking to amend and negate some of the provisions in the recent Central farm-related laws. The government-sponsored resolutions were adopted unanimously, given the stiff competition among parties to misguide the agitating farmers. A basic understanding of the constitutional scheme of things was violated when the specially convened session adopted a resolution rejecting the Central laws.

Swarjya Mag

On Tuesday (20 October), the Capt Amarinder Singh government in Punjab passed three Bills in the State Assembly to essentially neutralise the Narendra Modi government’s agricultural reforms in the State.

Among the proposals made in the three Bills passed by the Punjab Assembly are: making purchases of rice and wheat below the minimum support price (MSP) fixed by the Centre punishable, provision to levy fee on corporates purchasing outside the Agricultural Produce Marketing Committee (APMC) mandis (markets), and protecting landholdings of small farmers who own less than 2.5 acres of land from attachment.

Swarajya – Online

The sugar industry will once again look towards the Centre for succour as it will likely produce at least four million tonnes (mt) sugar more this season (October 2020-September 2021) compared with last season.

The Hindu Business Line – Online

Insufficient public investment for agrarian development and inadequate access to institutional credit apart, frequent droughts and floods are reasons for the declining trend.

The Hawk – Online

The abstract benefits of biochar for long-term storage of carbon and nitrogen on American farms are clear with the new research from Rice University that also shows a short-term, concrete bonus for farmers. The concrete bonus would be money which will not be spent on irrigation.

Indian Express

For the past few years, mandis in Punjab have been procuring at Minimum Support Price (MSP) more paddy (non-Basmati) than the state produces. This is because a large amount of paddy from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar is illegally brought to Punjab, to be sold at the higher price it would fetch in the mandis here.

Several cases have been registered in the recent past, including during the current procurement season, against this practice. The government’s action generally ends at confiscating some trucks, carrying a few thousand tonnes of paddy, and registering some cases.

The illegal trade, however, is of far more than a few thousand tonnes of paddy. If the total production and total purchase of paddy ...

New Indian Express

Taking stock of the damage caused by the heavy rains and floods in Krishna and Guntur districts, Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy on Monday directed officials to finish estimating the extent of crop damage at the earliest. He told them to provide input subsidy to farmers so the money can be used as an investment for Rabi crops.

Jagan, along with Home Minister Mekathoti Sucharita and Civil Supplies Minister Kodali Sri Venkateswara Rao, conducted an aerial survey of the flood-hit regions of Krishna and Guntur districts. He also assessed the damage in Nandigama, Avanigadda, Penamaluru, Mylavaram and Tadikonda constituencies.The State government has been providing free ration and essential commodities in the flood-hit regions of Krishna, ...

Devdis Course

India recently got three crucial bills related to farmers and related sectors. These three bills are The Farmer’s Produce Trade and Commerce (promotion and facilitation) Bill 2020 and The Farmers (empowerment and protection) Agreement Bill 2020 and The Essential Commodities (Amendment) Bill 2020. While the first bill allows farmers to sell their produce anywhere in the country, bypassing mandis and without paying any cess and fees, the second bill facilitates contract farming and the third one removes restrictions regarding production, storage, movement, and sale of essential foodstuffs like cereals, pulses, edible oil, and onions.

 

Business Today

A survey on the recently passed three agriculture laws in the country showed that more than fifty per cent of farmers did not favour them. However, more than one-third of farmers opposing the laws were not acquainted with the details of these laws.

According to a survey by rural media platform Gaon Connection on ‘The Indian Farmer’s Perception of the New Agri Laws’, it was found that every second respondent farmer opposed the three laws, while 35 per cent farmers supported these acts. However, it was also found that of the 52 per cent opposing the agri laws, over 36 per cent were not familiar with the details of these laws. Similarly, of the 35 per cent ...

The Print

India is rejoicing its second straight year of above-normal monsoon, a first in six decades, but in a quiet corner of the Haripar village in Gujarat’s Rajkot, a 75-year-old farmer is finding it hard to cheer.

Laljibhai Bhura’s groundnut farm is rotting away after suffering severe damages due to excess moisture. Bhura fears his entire crop will fail quality checks, ruling out any government procurement.

Krishi Jagran

One of India’s leading Construction Equipment and Agriculture Machinery manufacturer, ACE is engaged in manufacturing and exporting quality equipment to over 25 countries around the world. The annual turnover of the company is around 1200 cr.

The company was incorporated in 1995, and possess an excellent capacity in providing high quality equipment like Tractors, Combine Harvesting Machines, Pick and Move Cranes, Backhoe Loaders, Compactors, Motor Graders, Threshers, Implements, Other Heavy Equipment etc. ACE is currently manufacturing 30 to 90 HP Tractors with K (Kirloskar) and NG series engines for use in agriculture and commercial fields. It has an installed capacity of 8000 Tractors.

Asia Samachar

The Government of India had brought in three ordinances on 5 June 2020 in the name of agricultural marketing reforms:

Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Ordinance, 2020; Farmers’ Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Ordinance, 2020; and, Ess­en­tial Commodities (Amendment) Ordi­nance, 2020.

These ordinances relating to trading and pricing of agricultural products have now become acts after having been passed as bills by India’s Parliament and approved by the President of India. The farming policy of the present government led by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) as articulated thro­ugh these enactments constitutes a watershed moment in reflecting this government’s agenda in favour of deepening the entry of agrobusiness capitalism and ...

Tribune India

PADDY residue management (PRM) technology is being adopted by farmers at a rate slower than that expected by policy planners. The incidence of farm fires after paddy harvesting in 2019 did not decrease significantly in spite of an appreciable support by the government for popularising farm machinery for the management of paddy residue. These included machines for retention on surface in the field (Happy Seeder and Super SMS-fitted combine), incorporation in the field (chopper, mould board plough and rotavator), and removal from the field (straw baler) of paddy residue. Punjab’s farmers, though known for their keenness to adopt new technologies, neither showed the expected positive response to the advocacy and incentives, nor yielded to other measures adopted ...

Indian Express

Although clouds of smoke from stubble burning are rising in the sky, here’s a silver lining: this year Punjab will produce 15% less stubble than the previous years.

For the past several years, Punjab has been witnessing a production of around 20 million tonnes (200 lakh tonnes) of paddy stubble. However, it came down to around 17 million tonnes (170 lakh tonnes) this year.

Experts assert that with available resources, the fires should not go beyond 20% to 25% of the total paddy area.

The Wire

Farmer organisations that have been on the warpath against the big changes being initiated in Indian agriculture walked out of their recent meeting with ministry officials in Delhi.

The prime minister also recently assured farmers that the minimum support price (MSP) regime is not being eliminated and that Agricultural Produce Market Committee mandis are only being made more competitive. But the gap between the farmer position and that of the government is not narrowing.

One thing both sides agree on is that the changes being introduced are game changers but from opposite ends.

Tribune India

Continuing with the introduction to the three new farm laws passed recently, this week the Farmer’s Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, 2020 is being taken up. Read on to understand the provisions and likely benefits of this new law.

Farmer’s Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, 2020 aims to provide

Creation of an ecosystem where the farmers and traders enjoy the freedom of choice relating to sale and purchase of farmer’s produce which facilitates remunerative prices through competitive alternative trading channels To promote efficient, transparent and barrier-free inter-State and intra-State trade and commerce of farmer’s produce outside the physical premises of markets or deemed markets notified under various State agricultural produce market ...

Tribune India

Continuing with the introduction to the three new farm laws passed recently, this week the Farmer’s Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, 2020 is being taken up. Read on to understand the provisions and likely benefits of this new law.

Farmer’s Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, 2020 aims to provide

Creation of an ecosystem where the farmers and traders enjoy the freedom of choice relating to sale and purchase of farmer’s produce which facilitates remunerative prices through competitive alternative trading channels To promote efficient, transparent and barrier-free inter-State and intra-State trade and commerce of farmer’s produce outside the physical premises of markets or deemed markets notified under various State agricultural produce market ...

Eqma Pro

Tech giant Alphabet’s so-called “moonshot factory” — also known as X — has shared details about a project that’s aiming to transform agriculture and food production using technologies including robotics, software and satellite imagery.

The initiative has been in development for a while now, but this week saw X reveal its name, Mineral, and more details about how it works. Its broad focus is on something called “computational agriculture.”

In a blog post on Monday, project lead Elliot Grant described that term as referring to “farmers, breeders, agronomists and scientists” leaning on “new types of hardware, software, and sensors to collect and analyze information about the complexity of the plant world.”

Tribune India

Expressing his views during a virtual seminar on “Rice residue management methodologies and their application”, Dr Jaskarn Singh Mahal, Director, Extension Education, Punjab Agricultural University (PAU), urged farmers not to indulge in stubble burning as it leads environmental pollution.

 He advised the farmers to adopt PAU-developed straw management technologies and use farm machinery on custom-hiring basis or seek the help of ccooperative societies and farmers’ organisations in this regard.

Scroll

Could a tiny capsule filled with fungus, some jaggery and gram flour mixed in water help partially solve North India’s pollution problem?

Every year around the months of October and November, farmers in states like Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh burn the stubble that is left after harvesting the paddy crop in order to prepare the soil to sow the next crop, which is usually wheat. The burning of vast fields in these states, along with the falling temperatures and decreased wind speed, contributes to air pollution in the Indo-Gangetic plains and particularly in the landlocked national capital, Delhi.

The Hindu

The Ernakulam Regional Cooperative Milk Producers’ Union has decided to encourage paddy cultivation in a big way, as it joins the Subhiksha Keralam programme to achieve self-sufficiency in food production.

To mark the launch of efforts to take over fallow land and bring it under rice cultivation, the Poothrikka Primary Cooperative Milk Producers Union has taken up cultivation of 2.5 acres of paddy field at the Vallikkatuthazham paddy collective, said John Theruvath, chairman of the Ernakulam region.

Indo Asian Commodities

Foodgrain production is pegged at record 144.52 million tonnes in the 2020-21 kharif season notwithstanding COVID-19 crisis, Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar said. Foodgrain production stood at 143.38 million tonnes during the 2019-20 kharif season, as per official data. Currently, harvesting of kharif crops is underway. Rice is the main kharif crop.

“Foodgrain production will be better than last year. As per the initial estimates, foodgrain production is projected to be 144.52 million tonnes in the 2020-21 kharif season,” Tomar said addressing a digital conference organised by industry body CII. Production of cash crops such as sugarcane and cotton is also expected to be good, he addded.

Udaipurkiran

The arrival of Kharif Marketing Season (KMS) 2020-21 has already commenced and Government continues to procure Kharif 2020-21 crops at its MSP from farmers as per its existing MSP Schemes as was done in previous seasons.

Further, based on the proposal from the States, approvalwas accorded for procurement of 41.67 LMT of Pulse and Oilseeds for Kharif Marketing Season 2020 for the States of Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Telangana, Gujarat, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Odisha, Rajasthan and Andhra Pradesh. Further, sanction for procurement of 1.23 LMT of Copra (the perennial crop) for the State of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Kerala was also given. For other States/UTs approval will also be accorded on receipt of proposals for procurement ...

Hindustan Times

Over the past four days, the retreating monsoon has caused damages to harvest-ready crops across over 7 lakh hectares, in more than 10 districts in central and western Maharashtra. The state has decided to approach the Centre for a relief package. Spot estimates of losses are underway.

After satisfactory rainfall this monsoon, farmers were expecting bumper crops until torrential rain hit these regions this week. In areas like Solapur, Sangli, Kolhapur, Satara, Osmanabad, Latur, Beed and Aurangabad, rain flattened standing crops like soya bean, cotton, gram, sugarcane, pomegranate across more than 7 lakh hectares. Cash crops, like cotton, soya bean and sugarcane, have suffered extensive damage. Solapur in western Maharashtra and Osmanabad in central Maharashtra are the ...

Brand Bench

Agriculture is not only one of the biggest sources of livelihood but also a major contributor to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of India.

Recently, the government with an intention to transform the agricultural sector introduced the Farmers Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, 2020 (Trade and Commerce Act) , Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Act, 2020 (Contract Farming Act) and has made necessary amendments to the Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act, 2020 (ECA).

Financial Express

On new farm laws, the minister asserted that farmers are being “misled” about the reforms and reiterated that procurement at minimum support price as well as mandis will continue to function across the country.

Foodgrain production is pegged at record 144.52 million tonnes in the 2020-21 kharif season notwithstanding COVID-19 crisis, Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar said on Friday.

Foodgrain production stood at 143.38 million tonnes during the 2019-20 kharif season, as per official data.

Money Control – Online

About 62.42 lakh tonne of kharif paddy worth Rs 11,785 crore was purchased at the minimum support price (MSP) from 5.33 lakh farmers in the last 19 days, the food ministry said on Thursday.

State Times

Agrometeorology Section, Division of Agronomy under the aegis of Vice Chancellor Prof. J.P Sharma and guidance of Dr. R.K Gupta, Director Research of SKUAST-Jammu organised Input distribution (Vegetables and Berseem seed) at village Sherpur, Block Hiranagar, district Kathua under SC-SP Programme of NICRA-AICRPAM to help the poor farmers of Schedule caste and BPL community of the selected village. Dr. Sahid Ahmed, Assoc. Director Research and Dr. Mahender Singh, Principal Investigator & Incharge, Agrometeorology of SKUAST-J distributes seed of Berseem and vegetable to about 250 farmers of Sherpur and nearby villages in 5 numbers of small group of about 50 farmers in each group. The above said programme was coordinated Darshan Sharma, Agriculture Extension Assistants, State Agriculture Department. ...

Indian Express

Heavy rain over the past few days has caused medium to serious damage to standing crops in 1.23 lakh hectares across eight districts in Maharashtra. Prices of vegetables are expected to rise both in the short and long term, according to experts, as the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) has forecast more rains till the end of this week.

Officials of the state agriculture department said crop damage has been reported from the districts of Pune, Beed, Sangli, Gadchiroli, Chandrapur, Gondia, Bhandara and Raigad. Standing crops of soyabean, cotton, paddy and vegetables have reported damage due to excess rain. In many parts, farmers have reported continuous water logging in their fields.

Republic World

Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar on Wednesday said the crop procurement process in the state is going on smoothly.

“The kharif procurement process is running smoothly. Along with the purchase of paddy in the mandis, the farmers are being paid within seven days,” he said while taking stock of the procurement process in the grain market of Panipat.

He directed the officials of the Food Corporation of India (FCI) and procurement agencies to ensure smooth procurement of paddy so that farmers do not face any problem.

Indian Express

Ramesh Babu is happy to see Manoj Kumar Chourasiya back in Davanagere, Karnataka’s and India’s leading maize-growing district. The 45-year-old commerce graduate needs Chourasiya, who has brought three other men also from Uttar Pradesh’s Kaushambi district, to operate his two ‘Crop Tiger 40 Multicrop’ combines.

“They have returned after the lockdown and will harvest the kharif (monsoon) maize in Davanagere this month, followed by Haveri and Shimoga districts in November and December. The same machines will also harvest chana (chickpea) and sunflower in Davanagere and Chitradurga during January-February. Then, we have the rabi (winter-spring) maize crop of Vijayawada (Andhra Pradesh) in March and Shikaripura (Shimoga) in April. Each combine would work for 1,200-1,300 hours during these seven months,” says ...

Hindustan Times

Representatives of farmer unions from Punjab walked out of a meeting with Union agriculture secretary Sanjay Agarwal at Krishi Bhawan in Delhi on Wednesday, saying they were expecting to meet Union agriculture minister Narendra Singh Tomar who could decide on their demands to repeal the three farm laws.

With the meeting ending on an inconclusive note, the farmer union leaders said the rail blockade and protests will continue even as they meet in Chandigarh on Thursday to decide on the further course of action.

“We accepted the Centre’s invite for talks but were disappointed. Contrary to our suggestion, there was no one at the meeting who could decide on our demands,” said Jagmohan Singh Patiala, the general ...

Business Standard

The Centre on Sunday said about 55.61 lakh tonnes of kharif paddy worth Rs 10,500 crore has been purchased at minimum support price (MSP) from 4.80 lakh farmers in the last 18 days.

Paddy procurement commenced in Punjab and Haryana from September 26 due to early arrival of the crop, while in other states it began on October 1.

More than 80 per cent of the country’s paddy crop is grown in the kharif season. The government through Food Corporation of India (FCI) and state agencies undertakes procurement of paddy at MSP.

Insight IAS

Indian democracy has been at full play in reaction to the new farm laws.

The Bills aim to do away with government interference in agricultural trade by creating trading areas free of middlemen and government taxes outside the structure of Agricultural Produce Market Committees (APMCs).

They also aim to remove restrictions on private stock holding of agricultural produce.

However, see that both sides of the political spectrum want farmers’ incomes to increase.

The Opposition parties want to ensure that through higher and more effective MSP (minimum support prices), while the government is offering greater choices to farmers through markets, without demolishing the existing MSP system.

Having analysed the MSP business over decades, clearly that the regime was the creation of the era of scarcity in the mid-1960s. Indian agriculture has, since ...

Business Standard

Corteva Agriscience on Tuesday claimed that its farm intervention in five states, like Maharashtra and Karnataka, helped smallholding farmers growing corn reap benefits.

Training on new agri-methods and adoption of farm mechanisation among other interventions has led to “much-needed increase in income” of small farmers, it said.

“…we have been working to empower smallholder farmers across five large Indian regions by enabling them to mechanize their corn crop production and providing training on new agricultural methods that increase plant population, crop productivity and profitability for farmers,” Corteva Agriscience South Asia Marketing Director Aruna Rachakonda said in a statement.

Hindustan Times

The Mohali district administration on Tuesday impounded a combine harvester found operating without the super straw management system at Gharuan village in Kharar block, and imposed a penalty of ₹50,000 as environmental compensation on the farmer.

 Deputy commissioner Girish Dayalan said the violation came to the fore during checking by joint teams of the agriculture department and Punjab Pollution Control Board. The combine was seized and the violator, Balwinder Singh, told to deposit the fine within stipulated time, he said.

Economic Times

Reaching out to stakeholders to allay apprehensions about the recently passed farm bills, Union Minister Rajnath Singh on Tuesday met policy experts, industry leaders and academicians associated with the agriculture sector, who were all praise for the new legislation. Singh along with Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar has so far held a series of meetings with farmers and many others associated with the farm sector to deliberate upon the three agriculture-related bills recently passed by Parliament

Financial Express

On the back of strong tailwinds of demand from rural India, unlocking process and industry consolidation, consumer space stocks seem to be in the positive territory. Research and brokerage firm Prabhudas Lilladher expects second-quarter performance for the current fiscal to show signs of recovery on the back of better consumer sentiment and improving the supply chain. It sees an increase of 3.3 per cent in sales and 1.1 per cent in PBT. It is observed that in the new normal set-up demand has been recovering. Rural India contributes 35 per cent of total FMCG sales and has been holding strong. The outlook remains positive owing to the favourable monsoon, a good harvest of rabi crops, higher MNREGA ...

Swarajyamag

Farmers’ agitation i taxes and fees the States rec,eive range from 8.5 per cent in Punjab to less than one per cent in some States. Punjab gets 6.5 per cent as minimum support prices (MSP) mechanism being discontinued but due to vested interests as some states are concerned over the loss of revenue from mandi taxes and fees, State Bank of India’s (SBI) economic think-tank, Ecowrap, has said.

Economic Times

Late-season rainfall, likely caused by the retreating monsoon, has damaged the harvest-ready Kharif crop in Maharashtra and the adjoining regions of Andhra Pradesh-Telangana, putting further pressure on the already high prices of onions, pulses, soyabean and staple greens.

India Info Line

With the commencement of Kharif Marketing Season (KMS) 2020-21, Government continues to procure Kharif 2020-21 crops at its MSP from farmers as per its existing MSP Schemes as was done in previous seasons.

Paddy Procurement for Kharif 2020-21 has gained momentum with an increase in the quantum of procurement in procuring States and start of purchase in some new States. Food Corporation of India along with other Government agencies has, up to Oct 10, 2020, procured over 37.92 LMT Paddy with a total MSP outflow of Rs7159.39 Crores to more than 3.22 Lac farmers.

India Info Line

The consistent and concerted efforts of the Government to boost agricultural exports are bearing fruit as despite the on-going Covid-19 crisis, the export of essential Agri commodities for the cumulative period of April-September, 2020 has increased by 43.4% to Rs 53626.6 crore as compared to Rs 37397.3 crore in the same period last year. Major commodity groups which have recorded positive export growth during April-Sept, 2020-21 vis-à-vis April-Sept, 2019-20 are Groundnut (35%), Refined Sugar (104%), wheat (206%), Basmati Rice (13%) and Non-Basmati Rice (105%) etc.

Financial Express

About 43 lakh tonne of kharif paddy worth Rs 8,033 crore was purchased at the minimum support price (MSP) from 3.57 lakh farmers in the last 16 days, the food ministry said on Monday.

Paddy procurement commenced in Punjab and Haryana from September 26 due to early arrival of the crop, while in other states it began from October 1.

Economic Times

The levels of food processing in India are much lower than most countries in the world. Even when we look at the Asian countries, food processing in India is about 10% of all the produce that gets grown. So to that extent, there is a big opportunity to look at more processing in the food processing sector itself and a large part of this is going to be driven by growth in demand from retail as well as the need for greater convenience.

Business Standard

About 43 lakh tonne of kharif paddy worth Rs 8,033 crore was purchased at the minimum support price (MSP) from 3.57 lakh farmers in the last 16 days, the food ministry said on Monday.

Paddy procurement commenced in Punjab and Haryana from September 26 due to early arrival of the crop, while in other states it began from October 1.

More than 80 per cent of the country’s paddy crop is grown in the kharif season. The government through the Food Corporation of India (FCI) and state agencies undertakes procurement of paddy at MSP.

Swarjyamag

As part of Atmanirbhar Bharat (self-reliant India) and Atmanirbhar Krishi (self-reliant farming), India has begun producing its own version of key agrochemicals calcium nitrate and boronated calcium nitrate.

Republic World

Acting on its promise which the Centre had committed to during the row over the farm reform bills, the government has continued to procure Kharif crops from the farmers at the minimum support price (MSP) at the onset of the Kharif Marketing Season.

Paddy Procurement for Kharif 2020-21 is gaining momentum and as on Saturday, the Food Corporation of India along with other Government agencies have procured near about 38 Lakh Metric Tonnes Kharif Paddy worth over Rs 7,159 crore at MSP from more than 3.22 Lakh farmers.

Financial Express

The Indian democracy was at full play over the passage of the new farm laws. While the government hailed it as historic decision, and I tend to agree with that, opposition parties branded it as a ‘dark day for farmers’, a ‘sellout to corporate sharks’, etc. What amused me most was how come everyone’s heart was suddenly bleeding with their love for farmers!

Discerning the real arguments behind this cacophony of political voices, I could see that both sides of the political spectrum want farmers’ incomes to improve. The opposition wanted to make it through higher and more effective MSP (minimum support prices), while the government was offering greater choice through markets, without demolishing the existing system ...

Indian Express

Ahead of wheat sowing and with the beginning of other crops of the rabi season (October to March), Punjab has just 22% of the required urea, one of the major fertilisers for both rabi and kharif crops. The state requires around 13.50 lakh metric tonnes (LMT) urea for rabi season when nearly 35 lakh hectare area, which is 85% of the total rabi crops area in the state, is to be brought under wheat and over 6 lakh hectares under other crops, including oil seeds, potato, winter maize, grams and vegetables.

Punjab was to receive 2.5 LMT urea in October but because of ‘rail roko’, it could not be transported.

According to sources in the Punjab Agriculture ...

Hindustan Times

The Centre on Sunday said about 37.92 lakh tonne of kharif paddy worth Rs 7,159.39 crore has been purchased at the minimum support price (MSP) from 3.22 lakh farmers in the last 15 days.

Paddy procurement commenced in Punjab and Haryana from September 26 due to early arrival of the crop, while in other states from October 1.

More than 80 per cent of the country’s paddy crop is grown in the kharif season. The government through Food Corporation of India (FCI) and state agencies undertakes procurement of paddy at MSP.

“FCI along with other government agencies has, up to October 10, procured over 37.92 lakh tonnes of paddy with a total MSP outflow of Rs 7,159.39 ...

Deccan Herald

As days get shorter during late September, they bring along a slight nip in the Delhi air. But the knock of winter on the capital’s doors also brings dread.

As winds change direction, the Capital and its fast-growing suburbs with their tall towers become blurred by pollution, a major contribution being the smoke and soot from the burning fields of Punjab and Haryana. It is ‘parali’ time again, when farmers in India’s food bowl states, having harvested the paddy crop, set out to prepare the field for sowing wheat, which is grown during the winter months.

Business Standard

Telangana Cabinet which met here on Saturday decided to set up 6,000 paddy purchasing centres in villages, in a bid to ensure that farmers do not face problems in the view of the ongoing Covid-pandemic.

According to Telangana Chief Minister’s Office (CMO), the State Cabinet meeting was held at Pragathi Bhavan under the chairmanship of Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao.

“The State Cabinet had dwelled at length on the Agriculture Sector. The state government, which is working for the Farmers welfare has taken an important decision. It was decided that, as was done earlier during the Corna Pandemic, to purchase paddy in the Villages. It was decided to purchase Paddy in the villages to ensure that farmers’ families are not ...

Financial Express

Export of essential agri commodities for April-September, 2020 period has increased 43.4 per cent to Rs 53,626.6 crore vis-à-vis Rs 37,397.3 crore for the year-ago period, Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare said in a statement on Saturday. Groundnut with 35 per cent growth, refined sugar seeing 104 per cent growth, wheat with 206 per cent growth, basmati rice’s 13 per cent rise, non-basmati rice witnessing 105 per cent growth etc. were major commodity groups with positive export growth during the said period from last year. Moreover, the balance of trade during the April-September 2020 period has been “significantly positive at Rs 9,002 crore as against trade deficit of Rs 2,133 during the same period in 2019,” ...

Swarjyamag

On 15 May, amidst the growing chorus of ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat’, the Finance Minister announced structural reforms intended to empower farmers and revolutionise trade in agriculture. While the ruling party at the Centre deemed the reforms historic, the Opposition termed them ‘black laws’.

Given the dramatics that followed the passage of the three farm bills, it would be interesting to chronicle as to how some state governments had already begun pushing some of the much needed reforms in the sector.

Financial Express

About 32.12 lakh tonne of kharif paddy worth Rs 6,065.09 crore has been purchased at the minimum support price (MSP) from 2.83 lakh farmers in the last 14 days, the food ministry said on Saturday. Paddy procurement in Punjab and Haryana began from September 26 due to early arrival of the crop, while in other states it commenced from October 1. More than 80 per cent of the country’s paddy crop is grown in the kharif season. The government through the Food Corporation of India (FCI) and state agencies undertakes procurement of paddy at MSP.

Economic Times

India agricultural exports have been booming the past six months, while many sectors of the economy suffered because of the disruption caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.

Export of essential agricultural commodities in the first six months of the current fiscal rose 43.4% to Rs 53,626.6 crore from Rs 37,397.3 crore in the same period last year.

New Indian Express

The State government will discourage farmers from growing maize this Rabi season, as conditions for its cultivation are far from conducive across the country. During a meeting called by Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao at Pragathi Bhavan on Saturday, officials said that the chances of maize farmers getting minimum support price (MSP) for their produce were slim, given the lopsided policies of the Central government.

Tribune India

To encourage farmers shun burning stubble, the Agriculture Department will provide them with Happy Seeders free of cost this season.

A Happy Seeder is a tractor-mounted machine that cuts and lifts crop residue and sows wheat into the bare soil. Besides, it deposits the stubble over the sown area.

On Friday, the Agriculture Department sent 15 Happy Seeders to all six blocks of the district. It had purchased the machines for demonstration purpose in 2018 for making farmers aware of the importance of the crop residue management.

Economic Times

It is not just pent-up demand because the industry is up 12% compared to last year over six months in spite of being 80% down in April, says Pawan Goenka, MD & CEO, M&M. Do you think we have turned a corner? Coming to the economy, have we turned the corner? Do we have good news ahead of us? Of course, a lot of it is going to be conjecture right now. But I would rather look at the glass half full right now and not half empty. And the reason I am saying that is because at least in the industries that I am more familiar with, a constant improvement month on month is happening compared ...

Business Standard

As the debate rages on the impact of high mandi taxes on the finances of the Food Corporation of India (FCI), the data available with the Commission for Agriculture Costs and Prices (CACP) — the body that fixes minimum selling price (MSP) of crops — shows that arthiya (middlemen) com­mission and mandi taxes are expected to account for 32% of the total procurement incidentals of FCI in the 2020-21 wheat procurement season that began in April. Procure­ment incidental of FCI is part of the economic cost of procuring foodgrain.

NDTV

Paddy procurement at minimum support price (MSP) in Punjab, the food bowl of India, rose nine times to 15.99 lakh tonnes in the first 13 days of the ongoing kharif marketing season from 1.76 lakh tonne in the year-ago period, according to the Union Food Ministry.

Paddy procurement commenced in Punjab and Haryana from September 26 due to early arrival of the crop, while in other states from October 1.

Indian Express

Punjab has recorded five times more stubble fires between September 21 and October 7 as compared to the same period last year. To control the fires, the state government, in a letter to the Environment Pollution (Prevention and Control) Authority (EPCA) — a Supreme Court-mandated pollution control authority — said Custom Hiring Centres (CHCs) in the state will not charge any rental from small and marginal farmers for providing them machinery to manage stubble. But is this enough to stop the fires?

Live Mint

Farmer agitations against the three farm bills passed by Parliament continue in different parts of the country. Their concern is largely that the proposed Farmers’ Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, 2020 (FPTC) will make the Agricultural Produce Marketing Committee (APMC) mandis irrelevant. These concerns are valid, given the experience of states that have diluted or abolished APMC mandis. But a related concern, at least among farmers in Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh, is also the fear that the new law will reduce the scope of minimum support price (MSP)-led operations. Although not shared by farmers in many other states, it has led to demands by major political parties for the government to guarantee MSP ...

The Hindu

Cooperative societies in the State will start procuring paddy, it was decided on Thursday.

The societies will directly procure paddy in four districts. This arrangement will ensure that the farmers get the price for paddy — ₹27.48 per kg — on the same day and that they are protected from exploitation by mill owners, Minister for Cooperation Kadakampally Surendran said after a high-level meeting attended by Food and Civil Supplies Minister P. Thilothaman, Water Resources Minister K. Krishnankutty, and Cultural Affairs Minister A.K. Balan and senior officials.

States Time

COVID-19 pandemic is a global emergency and it is badly impacting the population across the globe. India is also facing the crisis due to this lethal virus. Many new agricultural issues are arising due to COVID-19 pandemic. If proper measures are not taken timely then the food security crisis can arise. In India there is dire need to minimise the impact of COVID-19 on the livelihood security of small and marginal farmers. So far there is adequate supply of fruits, vegetables, foods, meats and eggs but there can be food shortage in future. During the lockdowns the restrictions were imposed on the movements of the people and transportation.

Tribune India

To all those farmers not convinced with the idea of in situ techniques of handling paddy straw, Bir Pind residents in Nakodar have a message: Give us the paddy straw and we will readily pay you Rs 1,350 per tonne for it.

The village panchayat has been using stubble for power generation for the past few years. Using 250 tonnes of stubble to produce 6 MW daily, the panchayat says it needs more stubble to the keep the plant running round the year. Kewal Singh, who manages the plant, says: “We need 75,000 tonnes of stubble to run the plant throughout the year. But we do not get more than 30,000 tonnes of stubble.”

New Kerala

“The new farm legislation is a revolutionary new opening for the farming community, particularly for the farmers living in remote areas and border areas, who are faced with constraints of inaccessibility and lack of transport. The new arrangements will open up alternative options for them,” Singh said.

Many of the farmers in the past, Singh said, stored their crop after harvesting and waited for some middleman to pick it up and carry it to the market because they did not have sufficient means or resources for that. However, he said, under the new arrangement, the farmer will be able to avail the option of arranging a buyer through different sources or even entering into a contract agreement ...

The Wire

Here’s a fun experiment. Want to compare the procurement of paddy in the Kharif Marketing Season (KMS) 2020-21 (October-September) and the corresponding procurement in 2019-20? It’s not possible because the Food Corporation of India’s (FCI’s) website provides data of procurement as on a certain date but not the data on the same date in the previous year. You can get the figure of total procurement in KMS 2019-20 but that does not help to decipher the progress this year.

Looking for data of procurement of pulses and oilseeds by Nafed? Helpfully, the Nafed website depicts photographs of procurement of pulses in AP, Gujarat, Karnataka, MP, Rajasthan, Telangana but it does not provide any data on quantity procured by Nafed, ...

New Indian Express

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday hard sold his government’s latest labour, education and agriculture reforms, saying they will make doing business in India easier as also give farmers the right to choose their market.

With its vibrant democracy, political stability and business-friendly policies, India offers an unparalleled investment destination for foreign investors in the field of agriculture, manufacturing and education, he said in his keynote address to the ‘Invest India 2020’ meeting through video conferencing.

New Indian Express

When the stimulus package was announced in May 2020, many raised questions on the immediate viability of the measures in the current economic scenario. The package, though it guaranteed medium-to-long-term benefits, was criticised for not addressing the basic issues of farmers—including the loss they suffered due to the lockdown intensifying the monopoly of local traders, not receiving fair remuneration for their produce and the lack of seed capital facilities.

Millennium Post

Amid farmers’ protests against new laws, the Centre on Wednesday asserted that buying of kharif crops at Minimum Support Price is continuing and that Rs 1.40 lakh crore will be spend for procuring 738 lakh tonnes of paddy at MSP from more than 156 lakh farmers. Around Rs 35,000 crore will be shelled out for buying 125 lakh bales of cotton at MSP this year. Even pulses and oilseeds are being procured at the respective MSPs, it said. Seeking to send out a clear message to the protesting farmers that the Centre has no intention of scrapping procurement at MSP, senior officials held a press conference on Wednesday on steps being taken for procurement of the kharif ...

Financial Express

With the furore over the new laws governing marketing of agriculture produce threatening to erode its political capital, the Narendra Modi government seems to be slowing the pace of, if not abandoning, the all-important subsequent reforms in the sector.

On Wednesday, three top government officials – Union agriculture, food and textile secretaries – asserted that the policy of open-ended procurement (OEP) at minimum support prices would continue. Over the last few days, senior government functionaries have been assuring the farming community that the recent reforms won’t undermine the MSP system.

Economic Times

The government is increasing its procurement of grains, oilseeds, pulses and cotton from farmers, with spending on rice expected to rise by 22% to ₹1.4 lakh crore, senior officials said.

The secretaries in the food, agriculture and textiles ministries sent a strong message to farmers that the government is strengthening the procurement system, not abandoning it. They said this year’s procurement has begun earlier than normal and official purchases from farmers is rising much faster than the growth in output. The officials were addressing reporters on Wednesday.

New Delhi

The global farm equipment rental market is estimated to account for a value of USD 46.8 billion in 2020 and is projected to grow at a CAGR of 7.3% from 2020, to reach a value of USD 66.4 billion by 2025. The growth of the farm equipment rental market driven by factors such as shortage of skilled labor and an increase in mechanization in developing countries, rising demand for productivity and operational efficiency, and limited availability of arable land. The increasing government subsidies for farming equipment further provide open opportunities for growth of the farm equipment rental market.

Business Standard

Farmers planted Kharif crops on 10 lakh acres more compared to the previous record of 1,085 lakh hectares and the figure is about 28 lakh hectare more than the normal sowing of 1,067 hectares, Agriculture Secretary Sanjay Agarwal said on Wednesday.

Addressing a press conference here, Agarwal said there has been a record sowing area in Kharif 2020.

“Pulses has been sown in an additional 7 lakh hectares, oilseeds in an additional 18 lakh hectares and rice in four lakh hectares,” he said.

Indian Express

Amid protests by farmers against the new farm laws, the government on Wednesday fielded top bureaucrats to allay concerns about the minimum support price (MSP), and announced that approximately Rs 1.40 lakh crore is “projected” to be paid to nearly 1.57 crore paddy farmers during the ongoing kharif marketing season.

“MSP poorv mein bhee thee, vartamaan mein bhee hai, aur bhavishya mein bhee rahegee (MSP was there in the past, it is in the present, and will remain in future),” Agriculture Secretary Sanjay Agarwal said in response to a query during a press conference.

Tribune India

The Centre has turned down mills’ plea to import raw jute from Bangaldesh, contending that there is enough stock for the next few months.  Mill owners are witnessing extremely high demand for jute bags this year, owing to large orders from Food Corporation of India and the West Bengal government.

“Considering the monthly consumption of raw jute which has been indicated to be in the range of 5.5 lakh bales, and the current arrival in the market, there is enough raw jute available for the coming months and there is no urgency for immediate import,” the Jute Commissioner’s Office said in a communication to the Indian Jute Mills Association.

Kashmir Vision

Principal Secretary Agriculture Production and Farmers Welfare Department, Navin Kumar Choudhary, Wednesday said that government has established 18 procurement centres in the current kharief marketing season to facilitate procurement of paddy at the minimum support price in districts of Jammu, Kathua and Samba respectively. He was speaking at a meeting convened by him here at Civil Secretariat Jammu. Deputy Commissioners of Samba and Kathua districts attended the meeting through Virtual Mode along with their Chief Agriculture Officers while ADC Jammu Gansham Singh, Deputy General Manager Food Corporation of India (FCI) Sidhart along with representatives participated in the meeting from here.

ANI News

Farmers planted Kharif crops on 10 lakh acres more compared to the previous record of 1,085 lakhs hectares and the figure is about 28 lakh hectare more than the normal sowing of 1,067 hectares, Agricultural Secretary Sanjay Aggarwal said on Wednesday.

 

HT Syndication

An expert from Punjab Agricultural University (PAU) has appealed to farmers of the state to desist from paddy straw burning and use PAU Super Straw Management System (SMS) for its management.

GS Manes, additional director of research (farm mechanisation and bioenergy), PAU, said: “This technology can chop and spread the straw coming out of the rear of combine harvester evenly in the field for uniform straw-load in the field. This also helps in ease of straw handling, better crop emergence, and establishment. In fact, the use of PAU Super SMS is a requisite for the adoption of specialised machines for wheat sowing like Happy Seeder, Super Seeder, etc.”

Tribune Indi

As many as 385 farmers and farm women attended the webinar of PAU Kisan Club organised by the Skill Development Centre under the guidance of Dr JS Mahal, Director, Extension Education, PAU. Dr TS Riar, Associate Director, Skill Development, urged farmers to read PAU magazines such as Changi Kheti and Progressive Farming and enroll themselves as members of these magazines.

Tribune India

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Monday accused the central government under Prime Minister Narendra Modi having “cleverly” passed the controversial farm ordinances and the equally divisive labour law amedments at the time of a global pandemic.

Gandhi, who was addressing his second rally in the day at Samana in Patiala, said that the new laws were brought in “believing that none of these communities will hit the roads fearing coronavirus”.

“However I assure the Modi government that farmers are already on roads and agitating. The whole idea to mislead the nation on farm ordinances has failed,” he said, also bringing in India’s standoff with China into the speech.

Rural Marketing

India is the world’s largest producer of milk and has the highest cattle population. However, according to a report published by National Institute of Animal Nutrition and Physiology (NIANP), the fodder deficit would be about 40 percent by 2025. In order to address this deficit, governments, research institutions and entrepreneurs have been trying to come up with solutions. One such solution is natural preservation of green forages and enriching them through fermentation. This process is called ensiling and the produce is called SILAGE.

Four highly educated and young entrepreneurs started Cornext Agri Products in 2015 to make Baled Silage which is the most advanced technology in silage making. They understood technology, adapted to Indian conditions and commercialised Baled Silage since ...

Rush Lane

The Government of India has passed three agricultural bills in parliament and the sector is clocking a 3.4 percent rise in Q1 2020-21. Favourable monsoons, increase in kharif sowing area and the return of farm labourers has also contributed to an increased buyer sentiment in rural markets. Mahindra commands 39 percent market share Most OEMs noted double digit growth in September 2020 over that of September 2019. Total tractor sales stood at 1,08,649 units, up 28.4 percent as against sales of 84,639 units in September 2019. At No. 1 spot was Mahindra Farm Equipment domestic sales in the past month stood at 42,361 units, up from 36,046 units sold in September 2019. Exports stood at 1,025 units ...

Indian Express

“Only 6% of Indian farmers benefit from minimum support prices (MSP)”. So widely-quoted is this figure — especially in the context of the recently-passed Farmers’ Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act — that it has become a factoid or even truism.

What is, isn’t counted

The apparent source of the 6% figure is the Shanta Kumar-headed High Level Committee on Restructuring of Food Corporation of India (FCI). Its report, submitted in January 2015, had noted that only 5.21 million of the country’s total estimated 90.20 million agricultural households in 2012-13 had sold paddy and wheat to any government procurement agency. In other words, less than 5.8%. The committee, in turn, based its analysis on the ...

Indian Express

The NDA government is a puppet in the hands of some corporates, Rahul Gandhi said on Sunday, and promised to repeal the three “black” farm laws when the Congress returns to power at the Centre.

Gandhi, who kick-started the ruling Congress’s three-day Kisan Bachao Yatra from Badhni Kalan in Moga with a tractor rally, said with the new farm laws, the Modi government was trying to destroy the three pillars of agriculture – minimum support price (MSP), assured foodgrain procurement and mandis.

Tribune India

NEK Singh, a small farmer of Khokh village near Nabha, has been staging a dharna at the Shambhu barrier in Rajpura along with hundreds of other farmers. He says the prospect of economic slavery through the proposed abolition of Agricultural Produce Market Committees (APMCs), once the private market yards are established under the Farmers’ Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, has forced him and many others to protest. “If a mass movement against the move to abolish the existing mandi system has started during this time, when paddy is being harvested, you can understand how serious the issue must be for farmers,” he says.

New Indian Express

The State Government has disbursed crop loan of about Rs 11,800 crore through different financial institutions benefiting 21 lakh farmers during this kharif season.Though the last date to avail kharif crop loan was September 3, the Government had allowed farmers to avail short-term farm credit till end of the month in view of disruptions due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Financial Express

Do minimum support prices (MSPs) stand as a bulwark against artificial hammering down of market prices? Procurement value (at MSPs) was hardly 26% of the total market value of the 22 crops for which the benchmark prices were announced in the 2019-20 crop season (July-June), according to an FE estimate

Front Line

The passage of the three controversial pieces of legislation facilitating agricultural marketing threatens to pave the way for consolidation of wealth in rural India.

When “freedom” arrives on a platter, unasked and apparently without a fight, it is time to be suspicious of the motives of the zealous. And, when it comes gift-wrapped by those whose political progenitors were conspicuously missing from the original freedom struggle, it appears even more dodgy. Not just the Modi government and its acolytes but even well-regarded economists who have followed Indian agriculture for years are singing the “freedom” tune on the controversial

Tribune India

Knowing that stubble burning can lead to a rise in severe respiratory problems among people and can exacerbate the Covid-19 situation, young farmers in Jalandhar have started adopting alternate techniques to shun the practice of straw burning.

Sukhjinder Singh of Rajowal village, who had been managing the straw in 15 acres for past three year with mulchers, RMB plough, etc, said he had been witnessing a good yield of wheat crop with lesser amount of fertilisers.

Devdis Course

India is the world’s largest producer of milk and has the highest cattle population. As most Indians are vegetarians, Milk is the only source of protein and the average consumption of milk is growing every year. With the increase in population every year, the demand for milk has been growing exponentially. People worship cows and treat them as their family members. However, the fodder available for the cattle is not sufficient, in fact, there is a huge gap between requirement and availability.

The News Minute – Online

The authors spoke to 10 cultivators in Mandya – two vegetable farmers, two sericulturists, two paddy and four sugarcane farmers – to review the situation.

The Tribune – Online

Amid the rail roko agitation by farmers, the Food Corporation of India (FCI) has started shifting huge amounts of foodgrain from the state. Almost 30 lakh metric tonnes of foodgrain procured earlier for the FCI has been moved from Punjab to other states.

Tribune India

In order to ensure environment remains clean and pollution free by controlling stubble burning, the custom hiring centres being sponsored by the state agriculture department are playing a pivotal role in offering high-tech machinery to farmers for the management of crop residue.

Tribune India

Combine harvester owners and the district administration are at loggerheads over the installation of super straw management system.

While the administration has announced that no combine harvester would be allowed to run without the system, the combine owners have threatened stalling the harvesting process by handing over the keys of the machines to the Deputy Commissioner in protest.

ANI News

Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh on Sunday joined Congress leader Rahul Gandhi to kickstart a 3-day ‘Kheti Bachao Yatra’ with a vow to fight the ‘black farm laws’ and save the farmers from the clutches of big corporates. Singh pledged not to back out of the fight against the ‘black farm laws’ till they are amended to give a written Constitutional guarantee on minimum support price (MSP) and continuation of the Food Corporation of India (FCI). “The verbal assurances of the BJP-led government could not be trusted. We will not back out of the fight against the black farm laws till they are amended to give a written Constitutional guarantee on MSP and continuation of FCI,” Singh said.

The Week

The Jute Commissioner’s Office is waiting for the West Bengal governments assessment on raw jute production in the state this year to devise its future strategy against the alleged shortage of the golden fibre for mills, industry sources said on Sunday. A meeting of the expert committee chaired by the jute commissioner was held recently to take stock of the shortage situation and it found a wide gap between production estimates of government and private agencies, they said. This led the Jute Commissioner’s Office to urge the West Bengal government to complete its survey on the production of the fibre as soon as possible. “West Bengal government officials said that the work is already under way and ...

News 18

Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar on Sunday accused the opposition Congress of misleading the farmers on new agriculture laws and claimed that the reforms were in the larger interest of the farm community. He assured the farmers that the MSP regime will continue and not go away as claimed by the Congress.

The Congress remained in power at the Centre as well as the state on different occasions between 1966 (when Haryana was carved as a separate state) to 2014. Why did it not bring any Act to give a legal guarantee to MSP? the chief minister asked. The Congress is misleading the farmers for its vested interests, he alleged.

HT Syndication

In order to effectively curb the menace of stubble burning amid current paddy harvesting season especially in view of COVID-19 pandemic, the district administration ordered that combine harvester machines functioning without Super Straw Management System (SMS) would be impounded.

Deputy Commissioner Deepti Uppal appealed the combine harvester operators to get the Super SMS fitted on their machines. She informed that the state government was providing 50 per cent subsidy on the total cost of getting the SMS fitted on their machines.

The Hawk

The Union Minister of Education, Dr. Ramesh Pokhriyal ‘Nishank’ today said that the New Farm Laws will give a new lease of life to the agricultural sector. The minister was addressing the media at the Media Centre in the Uttarakhand State Secretariat at Dehradun. He emphasised that the laws were aimed at the welfare of the small farmers and will help them in a remunerative price discovery. The minister added that the new framework will end the influence of the middlemen and the farmers would be able to directly sell their produce to the consumer. This, he added, would be beneficial for both the farmers and the consumers.

Indian Express

Not only the Congress, but various political parties and farmers’ organisations have also announced protests against three farm laws across Haryana in the coming three days. The growing resentment has forced the ruling BJP into launching a damage control exercise. Various senior leaders, led by Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar and BJP state chief Om Prakash Dhankar, began back-to-back meetings with party workers, farmers, arhtiyas and rice miller associations. Various farmer organisations and Opposition have decided to gherao senior BJP-JJP leaders’ residences on October 5 and 6 across Haryana.

Indian Express

Only weeks ago, India, and the entire world, witnessed the spectacle of the country’s employment precarity pour out on its roads and highways — men, women and children, in distress of having lost jobs, income and shelter, with no recourse to social security to protect them in those hard days.

The crisis of precarity, manifested in the plight of the circular migrants, was not created in a day. It grew over a period of time as scarce jobs in industry and services increasingly became jobs which did not offer any employment security. Between 2004-05 and 2017-18, the share of salaried workers outside agriculture without any written contract increased from 60 per cent to 71 per cent. Even ...

Hindustan Times

A frenzy of protests over a troika of contentious central farm laws and break-up of the Shiromani Akali Dal-BJP alliance has dramatically reshaped Punjab’s political landscape. Chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh lost no time to seize on a potentially game-changing developments to raise his stock, and that of his party, with the Sikh peasantry and arhtiyas, predominantly Hindus, and outwit the opposition – all with an eye firmly on the next assembly elections in early 2022.

At 78, the erstwhile Patiala royal’s razor-sharp political instinct is now increasingly on display as he navigates the dual hotspots – of an unrelen

DT Next

The Food Corporation of India (FCI) used to procure paddy through Tamil Nadu Civil Supplies Corporation (TNCSC) during the kharif marketing season that falls between October 1 and September 30 with revised MSP in each season. As kuruvai harvest started well in advance during the current season, as many as 166 DPCs were opened in Thanjavur. Besides, the procurement had started earlier and the farmers had stocked their paddy in front of the DPCs. However, procurement was stopped from September 25 owing to the closing of annual accounts and farmers were asked to wait till October 1 for the commencement of procurement for the annual kharif season.

New Kerala

Even as the India Meteorological Department (IMD) termed 19 per cent excess or shortage in rainfall as “normal” monsoon, Himalayan state Sikkim and mountainous Meghalaya recoded 60 and 39 per cent excess rainfall respectively while Manipur and Mizoram witnessed 47 and 34 per cent deficient rainfall.

The 4-month long monsoon season in India officially starts on June 1 and continues till September 30. According to the IMD officials, the withdrawal of monsoon from west Rajasthan and parts of Punjab started on September 28 while its withdrawal in the northeastern region normally takes place second week of October. According to the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) scientists, the erratic monsoon is likely to affect both the kharif ...

Economic Times

The harvest of most crops is expected to be bountiful with above-average monsoon rainfall on a pan-India basis with growth of gross value added (GVA) at basic prices in agriculture, forestry and fishing to print at 3 per cent in the second quarter of current financial year, investment information firm ICRA has said.

The rainfall contributed to a healthy 4.8 per cent rise in kharif acreage. “Despite episodes of heavy rainfall, and deficient precipitation in some areas, the harvest of most crops is expected to be bountiful,” said ICRA.

Outlook India

Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma on Friday said that 72 custom hiring centres will be set up across the state to boost farm mechanisation and help farmers to improve their efficiency in agricultural practices.

On the occasion of Gandhi Jayanti, he inaugurated first such facility at Kyiem village in East Khasi Hills District.

“Various interventions under the Megha- Livelihoods and Access to Markets project of the Meghalaya Basin Development Authority will help increase productivity and efficiency of our farmers,” the chief minister said.

Access to affordable farm machinery and equipment will improve the efficiency of farmers and increase their production, and they can earn more, Sangma said.

Web India

Telangana Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan on Friday claimed that the new farm legislations brought by the Centre are farmer-friendly and will empower them.

She said the new agrarian reforms ushered in through the legislations will definitely empower the farmers by giving them greater freedom to sell their produce for better prices wherever they get, while reducing the role of exploitative middlemen.

She was interacting with journalists after launching the e-office file management system in Raj Bhavan on the occasion of Gandhi Jayanthi.

Telangana Today

Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee (TPCC) President, N Uttam Kumar Reddy has said that the new farm bills enacted by Bharatiya Janata Party led Union government will benefit Corporates such as Ambanis, Adanis and Amazon, but not the farmers.

To protest against the farm bills, the Congress Party led by the TPCC President , Party Telangana affairs in-charge Manicka Tagore, Sangareddy MLA, T Jayaprakash Reddy, Former Minister, Damodara Rajanarasimha and others have participated in a rally organised from Ganesh Gadda to Sangareddy Ganji Maidan.

Financial Express

The consolidated objective of the three farm laws recently passed by Parliament are widening farmers’ marketing options and freeing them from commission agents and traders, the monopolists of the Agriculture Produce Market Committees (APMC) mandis. The Farmers’ Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act allows farmers to sell their produce to anyone, anywhere in the country. At first glance, the Act looks fine, but a closer reading reveals the undesired consequences it might bring to the agrarian sector. What Indian farmers need is access to markets and not more markets. Unless the markets are regulated, farmers’ access will shrink further.

New Indian Express

Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy on Thursday released the poster of the Minimum Support Price (MSP) for various crops announced by the government for the 2020-21 fiscal, which includes current Kharif and coming Rabi crops.

The poster was released in the presence of Panchayat Raj Minister Peddireddy Ramachandra Reddy, Agriculture Minister Kurasala Kanna Babu, special chief secretary (Agriculture) Poonam Malakondaiah, commissioner (marketing) PS Pradyumna, agriculture commissioner H Arun Kumar and others. Posters will be displayed at all Rythu Bharosa Kendras from October 5. Keeping his promise, the Chief Minister announced the support price well before the start of the Rabi sowing season.

Telangana Today

Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee (TPCC) President, N Uttam Kumar Reddy has said that the new farm bills enacted by Bharatiya Janata Party led Union government will benefit Corporates such as Ambanis, Adanis and Amazon, but not the farmers.

To protest against the farm bills, the Congress Party led by the TPCC President , Party Telangana affairs in-charge Manicka Tagore, Sangareddy MLA, T Jayaprakash Reddy, Former Minister, Damodara Rajanarasimha and others have participated in a rally organised from Ganesh Gadda to Sangareddy Ganji Maidan.

Indian Express

AMID ongoing protest by farmers, Haryana government Thursday said it has taken several important decisions to ensure that the ongoing procurement of kharif crops in the mandis across the state is done in a systematic and smooth manner.

“Arrangements have been made to ensure that the procurement is done as per the convenience of farmers, arhtiyas and rice millers. State government has decided that as per the demand of rice millers, on the day paddy is procured, billing will be done by the arhtiyas. Similarly, the lifting of paddy will be ensured within 24 hours. In this regard, the department has issued guidelines to the transporters,” said PK Das, ACS (Food, Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs department)

Down to earth – Online

An unusual scene has been playing out in agricultural produce market committee (APMC) mandis in Haryana for the last few days: Freshly cut paddy crop enters the mandis in hoards, but little leaves the yards.