Media Monitor
Agriculture Industry
India’s Invisible Women Farmersedit
The Diplomat – Online
At Tikri village, bordering the western fringes of India’s national capital New Delhi, thousands of farmers from across the country have been agitating since November 26. Their target: the government’s new farm laws, which they view as “pro-corporate” and “exploitative” toward Indian farmers.
The protests at Tikri, like at many other sites across the country, have also spotlighted a new type of revolutionary: the woman farmer. Normally confined to villages and homes, the female farming community is out in full force this time, lending its voice to one of the biggest agrarian movements that has roiled India since the country gained independence in 1947.
CLAAS Global Mentions
Good growth year for Claasedit
Rural News Group – Online
The year also saw the company for the first time top €4.0 billion turnover.
While sales in its home country of Germany and the rest of Western Europe remained stable, the company reports these grew significantly in Eastern Europe – especially Russia. At 20%, the company also achieved its strongest growth in sales outside of Europe, with North America proving to be the most important growth driver.
Meanwhile, Claas says it also implemented several important investment projects as planned during the year, including new production technologies at the Le Mans tractor plant to increase efficiency. At Harsewinkel, the first phase of a modernisation project for combine harvester assembly was completed. Meanwhile, ...
Dairy Farming
How has the Pandemic Changed the Dynamics of the Dairy Industry?edit
Indian Retailer – Online
The COVID-19 outbreak early this year wrecked almost every industry worldwide. India’s dairy industry is no exception. Its business operations were hit hard as the industry had to navigate the negative effects of the pandemic on logistics, an abrupt change in demand consequently impacting the supply. Due to the nationwide lockdown, consumption from non-essential commercial establishments such as restaurants, hotels, bakery, sweet shops, theatres, and malls, suddenly dipped to zero.
Plus, for milkmen and vendors who collected loose milk from dairy farmers and then supply it to urban consumers, the ban on travel ruthlessly disturbed this arrangement. Milk procurement from small farmers, who were outside the umbrella of organized cooperative and corporate sector dairy networks, was equally ...
Technology in Agriculture
Agritech start-up Ergos receives Rs 22.5 crore from UK’s CDC Groupedit
Business Standard – Online
Agritech start-up Ergos on Wednesday said it has received Rs 22.5 crore (USD 3 million) from the UK’s CDC Group as the closure to its Series-A round, which constituted Rs 81 crore (USD 11 million).
Earlier in March, the Ergos Series-A round of funds included Rs 35 crore (USD 4.9 million) investment from Aavishkaar Capital and Rs 23.5 crore (USD 3.1 million) from Chiratae Ventures, the company said in a statement.
The agri start-up has been building a grain bank model that has been piloted in Bihar, which enables farmers to digitise their foodgrain and also provides them doorstep access to end-to-end post-harvest supply chain solutions by leveraging its technology platform.
Veteran ISRO scientist aids farmers, develops banana waste processing technologyedit
WION News – Online
Satellite building is all about utilising minimum resources to extract maximum output, it is by using the same principles that India’s veteran satellite builder Dr Mylswamy Annadurai has embarked on a new project to generate wealth from waste while aiding farmers.
Dr Annadurai currently serves as the vice president of the Tamil Nadu State Council for Science and Technology and is working with IIITDM Kanchipuram and the Tamil Nadu state government to realize this initiative that would boost the agriculture and MSME (micro, small and medium industries) sector.
Govt. Policies
Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana Is Security Cover For Farmers, Says Narendra Singh Tomaredit
Businessworld – Online
Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar on Wednesday interacted with stake-holders across the country via video conferencing on completion of five years of the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana and said there is a need to raise awareness about the scheme so that more farmers can take advantage of it. The scheme, which was launched as a major step to provide a comprehensive risk solution at the lowest uniform premium across the country for farmers, was approved by the union cabinet on January 13, 2016. According to a release by Agriculture Ministry, the minister also congratulated the state governments, banks and insurance companies for successful implementation of the scheme throughout the country. He cited instances where the ...
Stubble Burning
CNH Industrial India Helping To Overcome Challenges Associated With Stubble Burning in Indiaedit
Report Alert – Online
The end of the Kharif season, signalled by the rice harvest, saw the first baling session, which marked the formal launch of the “Straw Management” CSR project, managed by CNH Industrial India in collaboration with the Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI) in Krishi Vigyan Kendra (KVK), Ambala.
Stubble burning, which is understood to be one of the leading causes of air pollution in India, contributes between 17.9% and 39.5% to particulate matter in the Northern Plains region, and emits a large amount of toxic pollutants into the environment. As stubble burning is considered by many farmers to be the quickest and cheapest way to dispose of crop residue in fields, the practice, adopted by most farmers has not only become ...
From Stubble To Subsidy: How We Are Paying For Our Poisonedit
EdTimes – Online
Imagine if you were forced to consume poison — poison that would, in the best of cases, reduce your life expectancy by 7 years — and told that you have to pay for it, how would you feel? Not good, presumably.
This may sound hypothetical, but it is one of the processes at play behind air pollution in Delhi and the Indo-Gangetic plains.
Every year, during the winter months, the already-unsafe levels of pollution in North India skyrocket as a consequence of stubble burning in Punjab and Haryana.
Its contribution to total pollution varies between 1 to 42 per cent, but generally, it’s a big portion of the poison. Despite incentives such as machinery subsidies and fines on stubble burning, reports ...