Media Monitor
Agriculture Industry
Israel to Assist India in Doubling Farmers’ Income by 2022edit
Grainmart India – Online
India will adapt Israeli advanced agricultural technology to increase productivity. Accordingly, Israel to assist India in doubling farmers’ income by 2022.
Indo-Israeli Centre of Excellence for Vegetables Protected Cultivation in GuwahatiIsrael’s Ambassador to India Dr Ron Malka laid the foundation of ‘Indo-Israeli Centre of Excellence for Vegetables Protected Cultivation’ on 2nd November in Guwahati. The ₹ 10.33-crore project is set up with an aim to bolster agricultural activities in Assam. Also, it will give exposure to Israel’s technology which will eventually help them in better production and increase their income.
In his three day visit to India’s north-eastern states, Dr Malka said that Israel’s technological infusions in agriculture, agri-business, and food processing would help India to realize the government’s vision of ...
Redefined Agri-Markets: A Much Needed ‘Game-Changer’edit
Businessworld – Online
The Indian Government brought about sweeping landmark policy changes in the Indian agricultural sector on June 5, 2020. Critics state that for the Indian industry, the dawn of liberalization happened in 1991, whilst for the Indian farmer, liberalization has just set in with the three farm reform bills being passed by the Parliament in the third week of September 2020, one of them being The Farmers Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Bill 2020. This bill has been brought about with the perspective of promoting barrier free inter-state and intra-state trade of farmer produce outside the boundaries of markets or deemed markets earmarked under State agricultural market regulations. The Farm Bill endeavours to bring about transparency ...
Dairy Farming
Dairy is business for them, livelihood for us: Sodhi recalls RCEP debatesedit
Indian Cooperative – Online
On the passage of a year of India’s decision to stay out of the 15-nation Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), Managing Director of dairy co-op major Amul, R S Sodhi recalled how the bold move has benefitted 100 million dairy farmers of the country.
The Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) is essentially a China-led initiative for a regional trading bloc that will comprise one third of the world’s population and 29% of the world’s GDP. Given the rising tensions at LAC, experts wonder about the fate of the RCEP, had India joined it.
While calling dairy a business for countries like New Zealand and Australia, Sodhi said dairy farming is a matter of livelihood for us ...
Technology in Agriculture
TS govt to use AI for agricultural innovation: Jayesh Ranjanedit
Telengana Today – Online
With Telangana declaring 2020 as the Year of AI, the IT and Industries department principal secretary Jayesh Ranjan said that the State is focusing on Artificial Intelligence in Agriculture and it has created many data sets on reports covering weather and agriculture prices, location of market yard.
Speaking at the Indo Data Week organised by DAV Data Solutions, Ranjan said that Telangana is one of the first two States in India to have Open Data Policy after Sikkim. “The policy which came into being four years back puts responsibility on government, institutions and other stakeholders,” he said.
Govt. Policies
Farmers’ Acts: Is it too early to see farm sector reforms as gamechanger?edit
Financial Express – Online
Despite and amidst unprecedent uproar, presidential assent was accorded to three farmers’ bills, on September 27, 2020, in this monsoon session. The bills, which are now acts, namely, the Farmers’ Produce Trade And Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, 2020 (‘Trading Act’), the Farmers (Empowerment And Protection) Agreement On Price Assurance And Farm Services Act, 2020 (‘Farm Services Act’) and the Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act, 2020 (‘ECA Amendment’), collectively the ‘Farmers’ Acts’ are deemed to have come into force since June 05, 2020. The Farmers’ Acts essentially aim at fostering trading in farm produce. The legislations seem to encourage private participation in avenues earlier reserved only for licensed participants under the state Agriculture Produce Marketing Committee (APMC), ...
Stubble Burning
Pusa tablets — the microbial cocktail that gives farmers an alternative to stubble burningedit
The Print – Online
Gurmeet Singh, a 40-year-old farmer from Punjab’s Katianwali village, has not set fire to his stubble even once in the past five years. This is because he has been using the much-talked about ‘decomposer’ capsules that were developed by the Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI).
The capsules, also known as the Pusa tablets after the area in Delhi where the institute is located, consists of a combination of microbes that hastens the process of decomposition in plants.
“I have been using Pusa tablets for the past four years. At first, they were being used on my field for research purposes and this year again it was applied,” Gurmeet told ThePrint.
He ...
Tractor industry
Cong leaders take out tractor yatra against farm lawsedit
Outlook – Online
Delhi Congress leaders and workers took out a ”Kissan Adhikar Tractor Yatra” in rural pockets of north west Delhi on Wednesday, demanding that the Modi government withdraw the farm sector reform laws.
The tractor procession started from Kanjhawla and was stopped by the police at Qutubgarh village, alleged party leaders.
The “anti-farmer” bills passed by Parliament will hurt and weaken peasants in the country, Delhi Congress president Anil Chaudhary said.
“Congress is completely with the farmers to save their interests and demands that the Modi government withdraw the farm laws enacted by its government,” he said.