Media Monitor
Agriculture Industry
Government of Assam gave special thrust to Agriculture sector: Sonowaledit
United News of India – Online
“Government of Assam gave special thrust to the Agriculture sector by announcing a slew of incentives for setting up of rice clusters, mills and cold storages,” said Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal at the Annual Session & AGM of the Indian Chamber of Commerce (ICC) here on Monday. Mr Sonowal further informed that Aatma Nirbhar Bharat will be fulfilled only when Assam becomes self-sufficient. Through the implementation of Act East Policy, the local youths of the state will get huge opportunity to strengthen Assam’s economy by increasing trade and business activities in the region. He also said that with financial outlay of Rs. 20 lakh crore during the lockdown period helped the MSME sector ...
The Seeds of Debt: Are Loan Waivers a Solution for Credit Crisis in Indian Agriculture?edit
The Leaflet – Online
India’s farm distress has now reached a new flashpoint with hundreds of thousands of farmers protesting around the national capital against the three farm bills. Any impartial observer who understands India’s farming distress would normally agree that Indian farmers require solutions to their fundamental problems and not any grandiose reforms.
Economic reforms and the opening of agriculture to the global market over the last three decades have made small farmers vulnerable to unusual changes and fluctuations.
How when we export basmati, we are virtually exporting wateredit
India Today – Online
Ever thought of the cost of exporting basmati rice if the price were to be measured in terms of water? If we were to consider the virtual export of water, then in 2014-15, when India exported 37.1 lakh tonnes of basmati rice, it also exported 10 trillion litres of water which was used to cultivate the rice — from preparing the land for cultivation to the post-harvest processing of the rice. With water availability becoming increasingly scarce, this indirect export of water is adding to the burden domestically.
Now, with the yield being stagnated, soil degradation with repeatedly cultivating the same crop and atmospheric pollution (from stubble burning), and most importantly, the excessive use of water ...
Atmanirbhar Bharat : 5 Startups Making Indian Farmers Self-Reliant by Providing Agronomic Intelligenceedit
Indiaweb2 – Online
Agritech in India has seen a skyrocketing growth with numerous startups emerging with new technologies and advanced methods such as data analytics, machine learning and satellite imaging, among others to cater to the needs of Indian farmers and maximize their output. India with 118.7 million farmers, accounting for more than half of the population is heavily dependent on agriculture as a primary source of income. But Indian agriculture is plagued by several problems both ma made and natural such as; unavailability of seeds, small and fragmented land-holdings, problems with Irrigation due to uncertain seasons, Scarcity of capital etc. leaving farmers helpless and with no option but to let their produce go at dirt cheap prices.
Therefore, AgriTech ...
Arya raises $21M to provide farmers in India finance and post-harvest servicesedit
Techcrunch – Online
Only about a third of the yields Indian farmers produce reaches the big markets. Those whose produce makes it there today are able to leverage post-harvest services. Everyone else is missing out.
A Noida-based startup is working with all the stakeholders — farmers, food processors, traders and financial institutions — to bridge this post-harvest services gap — and it just secured new funds to continue its journey.
Seven-year-old Arya said on Tuesday it has raised $21 million in its Series B financing round. The round was led by Quona Capital, a venture firm that focuses on fintech in emerging markets. Existing investors LGT Lightstone Aspada and Omnivore also participated in the round, while multiple unnamed lenders are providing additional ...
Technology in Agriculture
Agritech start-up, Ergos bags additional funding from CDC Group in its Series A roundedit
Techstory – Online
Agricultural technology start-up, Ergos acts as a transformational bank for farmers by providing them with micro warehouses that eventually leaves them with a 25%-30% higher income. Recently, the start-up has announced to raise funds from U.K.-based development financial institution, CDC Group.
Bihar-based Ergos was co-founded back in 2012 by Praveen Kumar and Kishor Kumar Jha with an aim to digitise farming’s custodial services such as warehousing, market-linkages and loans. The start-up has built-out an integrated supply chain unit and provides micro-warehouses to farmers for storing their produce. The company acts as a transformational bank for farmers that leverages technology to convert their produce into financial assets.
Norwegian Institute Of Bioeconomy Research Signs MOU With CGanga On Sludge Managementedit
Businessworld – Online
In a significant development, Dr Ola Stedje, a Norwegian research scientist, announced that his company, The Norwegian Institute of Bioeconomy Research (NIBIO), has signed an MOU for development of sludge management framework in India, in collaboration with Centre for Ganga River Basin Management and Studies (cGanga). According to a press release, Rajiv Ranjan Mishra, Director General, National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG), promised to arrange a detailed interaction between Norwegian technology companies and Indian business leaders in the water sector to explore joint projects to take advantage of Norwegian technology. The MoU is said to be a major breakthrough for both organisations. Stating that agriculture is one of the main activities for which water is extracted from ...
Stubble Burning
Burning stubble causes damage to soiledit
Dainik Jagran – Online
Kisan Chaupal is being organized continuously in Kouakol
Sansu, Kauakol: Kisan Chaupal was organized on Monday in Bhorambagh village of Devangarh panchayat of the block. More than 100 farmers participated in Kisan Chaupal. Addressing the farmers through Chaupal, Block Agriculture Officer Rajesh Jha said that farmers should not burn straw in their fields. This causes considerable damage to the soil. He has done organic farming, crop residue management, integrated farming, mechanization scheme, zero tillage, soil health card, Informed farmers in detail about seed treatment etc. and urged more and more farmers to do organic farming.