Media Monitor
Agriculture Industry
Making Agriculture “Cool” for Youthedit
Indiacsr – Online
Agriculture is still the primary occupation of more than half of Indian population asserting importance of this sector in various socioeconomic aspects of the country. Gross Value Added by agriculture, forestry and fishing is estimated at Rs 18.55 lakh crore (US$ 265.51 billion) in FY19 (PE). As was once said by Mahatma Gandhi that to become self-reliant, rural economy has to be developed, only then we will be able to give employment to rural youth.
India being the youngest nation in the world has massive youth resource to offer to agriculture sector but unfortunately, youth participation in agriculture is declining. India is expected to have 34.33 per cent share of youth in the total population by 2020, ...
How Bihar recorded growth but Punjab lagged behind and why farm reforms are importantedit
The Print – Online
Many prominent politicians, columnists and critics have used Bihar’s abolition of the Agriculture Produce Market Committee (APMC) Act to argue that the reforms proposed by the three new farm laws will be a disaster.
In episode 634 of ‘Cut The Clutter’, ThePrint’s Editor-in-Chief Shekhar Gupta talks about the agricultural reforms in Bihar and the growth the state registered after they were implemented.
Gupta noted that several politicians are saying the abolition of the APMC Act is bad and are calling for a rollback of the three farm laws. However, Gupta said, 17 states have already abolished or made substantive changes to the APMC Act.
These states are Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Karnataka, Rajasthan, Goa, ...
India, Israel discuss security, startupedit
The Tribune – Online
India and Israel held their 16th round of Foreign Office Consultations through video-conference on Monday. Talks revolved around the core areas of defence, agriculture, science and technology, education and homeland security.
Senior MEA diplomat Sanjay Bhattacharyya and Alon Ushpiz, Director General of Israel’s, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, reviewed the progress of the ongoing cooperation, especially in the strategic fields of defence and security, counter-terrorism, cyber security, said a news release.
They also discussed cooperation in water and agriculture, S&T, innovation and startups, energy and academic collaboration.
Rebooting Economy 51: Where is India’s vision, plan for sustained agriculture growth and farmers’ welfare?edit
Business Today – Online
Now that the central government has entered into a dialogue with the protesting farmers over new farm laws rushed through the pandemic lockdown behind their backs (and dismissing all objections raised during a brief discussion in Parliament), here are some key issues that need immediate attention.
‘Market efficiency’ is a myth
Government officials and experts don’t fail to remind the farmers that they get huge subsidies.
Prof. Ashok Gulati, former chairman of the Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices (CACP), wrote that Punjab farmers benefitted the most: Punjab government budgeted (for FY21) Rs 8,275 crore for free power and the central government provided Rs 5,000 crore (in FY20) for fertiliser subsidy. Taken together, he wrote, each Punjab ...
Technology in Agriculture
Usage of AI in Agriculture May Lead to Enormous Growthedit
TechQuila – Online
Artificial Intelligence-based agricultural tech products are all set to enter the farming sector, especially after the recent reforms allowing private investments in the industry. During the inauguration of the “Responsible AI for Social Empowerment Summit 2020”, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said, “I see a big role for AI in empowering agriculture, healthcare, education, creating next-generation urban infrastructure and addressing urban issues.”
India’s agricultural exports had risen to $37.4 billion in 2019, and with further advancements in technology, is all set to soar higher. Disruptive technologies like AI are the biggest contributor to this massive growth. Globally, AI-based tech solutions reached a total valuation of $852.2 million in 2019, and this number is expected to grow to $8.38 billion ...
Will VillageAgro Turn Out To Be The Next Unicorn Amidst Agri-Tech Startups In Indiaedit
Businessworld – Online
Coronavirus pandemic has taught humanity to be content with what it has access to. More than anything else, the different phases of lockdown have demonstrated that local food practices are the most instrumental in the prevention of hunger as well as illness. Such local practices are also the driving force behind VillageAgro, a unique, 8-month-old startup that combines agritech (agricultural technology) and smart farming in order to boost the rural economy. VillageAgro Agritech Private Limited is an F2B (Farmer to Business) and F2C (Farmer to Customer) online marketplace, selling fresh and organic fruits, vegetables, poultry, and dairy products. The startup is a composite brainchild of a group of young IITians who are responding to a major shift ...
Stubble Burning
Not just stubble burning, Punjab tops India in depleting ground reserves level: Read the researchedit
Opindia – Online
Every year, as winter descends on Northern India, the plummeting mercury brings with it a marked deterioration in the air quality. One of the principal reasons for this worsening of pollution levels is the practice of stubble burning observed by farmers mainly in Punjab and Haryana.
Since the last few years, the stubble burning has become an annual ritual for the farmers in Punjab and Haryana, who burn an estimated 35 million tons of crop waste from their paddy fields after harvesting as a low-cost straw-disposal practice to reduce the turnaround time between harvesting and sowing for the second (winter) crop.
From stubble to bricks: Miranda House helps farmers earn incomeedit
The Time of India – Online
Pradeep Singh, a farmer in Sonipat, through an initiative by students of Miranda House learnt how stubble from his wheat, paddy and sugarcane crops was causing pollution and haze in Delhi. As part of Project Dhreya, which involves education of farmers, the Delhi University students created a system where stubble and agriculture waste could be converted into biomass briquettes.
Singh was one of the farmers who were asked to collect their stubble for making briquette. “Farmers from five villages are currently converting stubble into briquette since last winter,” he said. Rishika, a student and vice-president of the college’s Enactus group, said, “Delhi has been an infamous gas chamber witnessing air quality dropping to dangerous ...
Tractor industry
This Smart Tractor Aims to Help Farmers Grow Healthier Foodedit
Thrillist – Online
These days, it seems like all the electronics and appliances that surround us are rapidly becoming “smart,” from refrigerators that create phone-synced grocery lists to kitchen faucets that measure out the perfect amount of water for tonight’s pasta. Mass-market electric cars have been around since the mid-90s, but one area that has lagged technologically, according to Praveen Penmesta, CEO and co-founder of the world’s first smart tractor, is farming equipment.
“The tractor, in our mindset, is the most important vehicle in the world,” he told me. “And currently, it does not have any technologies that are available in other parts of our lives. We wanted to correct that.”
Tractor sales overtake automobile numbers in Gujaratedit
The Time of India – Online
Though there is a slowdown in the automobile sector with registrations of passenger as well as commercial vehicles witnessing de-growth over the past year, tractor sales have remained upbeat after the lockdown. Tractor sales showed de-growth in June but since July, they have been constantly growing — clocking a 20% growth from July to November this year.
From July to November 2020, about 38,627 tractors were registered against 32,325 during the same period last year, according to the data provided by the Federation of Automobile Dealers’ Association (FADA