Media Monitor
Agriculture Industry
Andhra’s agriculture colleges to be regulatededit
The New Indian Express – Online
The Agriculture Council, for which the Assembly has given its green signal, is tasked with regulating the agriculture colleges and preventing the students from being duped by fake agriculture colleges.
Several colleges have been sprouted in the State in the last one decade and many of them did not have necessary permissions, as there was no regulating body.
TSSOCA gets Best Seed Certification Authority awardedit
The Hindu – Online
Telangana State Seed and Organic Certification Authority (TSSOCA) was on Saturday presented with the Best Seed Certification Authority award in the country during the India Seed awards event held virtually.
The TSSOCA has been selected for the award jointly by Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare, Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), Protection of Plant Varieties and Farmers’ Rights Authority (PPVFRA) and seed industry. The award was presented virtually by Union Minister of Agriculture Narendra Singh Tomar and Chief Executive Officer of National Rainfed Area Authority (NRAA) Ashok Dalawai.
Bank unions lend support to farmers’ agitation against new farm lawsedit
India Today – Online
A number of bank unions have expressed their solidarity with farmers protesting against recently passed agri laws and requested the government to resolve the issue at the earliest. The All India Bank Employees’ Association (AIBEA) in a statement said the government should come forward and resolve their demands in the interest of the nation and farmers.
Officer unions All India Bank Officers’ Confederation (AIBOC), All India Bank Officers’ Association (AIBOA) and Indian National Bank Officers’ Congress (INBOC) have also requested the government to initiate meaningful dialogue to resolve the impasse by referring the bills to a select committee by a special Presidential Order.
Neither govt nor protesting farmers recognise challenge of depleting natural resources and climate crisisedit
The Indian Express – Online
Proponents of the three new farm laws have claimed that they will engender competition in agricultural markets and will give farmers a choice to sell wherever they like. The opponents of these laws, including many farmer groups, have forcefully argued that these policies will strangle the mandi system, spell the end of the Minimum Support Price (MSP), and lead to oligopolistic buying by large agribusinesses.
These debates, however, have remained restricted to the realm of agricultural marketing and the economics of livelihoods. They miss the fundamental reality of today’s times — that the current agrarian impasse reflects the fatigue of dominant approaches to agriculture, which assumes growth is limitless and resources are inexhaustible. Added to ...
Benefits, drawbacks of the 3 farm laws at the heart of farmers’ protestsedit
Business Standard – Online
With no sign of any agreement between the government and the protesting farmers even after the fifth round of talks on Saturday, and the next meeting scheduled for December 9, farmers are sticking to their first and major point – that the three “anti-farmer” laws passed in September be repealed. However, the government says these laws are in the interest of farmers to make them richer.
The Farmers Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, 2020; The Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement of Price Assurance and Farm Services Act, 2020; and The Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act, 2020 are the main issue behind farmers’ protest.
Punjab needs a package to help it diversify output, overcome MSP trapedit
The Indian Express – Online
Punjab’s farmers have been agitating over farm laws, braving cold nights on Delhi borders. They fear that these new laws will hit their incomes adversely. There is nothing wrong in that — every citizen not only wants to protect what s/he is earning but aspires to earn more on a sustainable basis. How do we do that is the moot question, beyond the current impasse. So far talks have remained inconclusive. Hoping that the protests remain peaceful, and a solution is found amicably, let us focus on Punjab farmers’ incomes — an issue that will stay relevant even after the protests are over.
Punjab’s stellar role in ushering the Green Revolution in the country in ...
Stubble Burning
Warring fist-fulls of wheat may take a breatheedit
The Times of India – Online
Much heat has been generated, and less achieved. But, before I add my analysis as an option, my first salute goes to the farmers, untiring tillers of the soil. Contribute 70% of GDP, and roughly the same proportion in terms of population, directly or indirectly in terms of engagement in the production. I suppose this government fully realizes their worth, and would be keeping this agreement as their top priority.
With the above as an indelible pre-amble, there are options to settle the impasse, with all the misery of the agitating farmers, the hardships of the citizens of the towns around Delhi they have camped around, and of course, the stress on the government ...
Burning stubble hurts soil, donate to Gauthan: CMedit
The Pioneer – Online
Burning the left-over stubble (paddy residue called ‘parali’) destroys the soil’s fertility. Instead, along with hay, it can be donated to the ‘Gauthan’ as this will lead indirectly to better yields, Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel said on Sunday.
Addressing the 75th Annual Convention of the Chhattisgarh Manva Kurmi Kshatriya Samaj at village Sirri in Gunderdehi block of Balod district, he said the community ancestors and great leaders not only contributed to the freedom struggle but had a key role in Chhattisgarh’s birth.
The community has also made remarkable contributions in sectors like education, agriculture, cooperatives, social reforms and other issues, an official statement quoted Baghel as saying at the event.
The Chief Minister sanctioned construction ...