Media Monitor
Agriculture Industry
India’s labour, agricultural reforms can spur medium-term growth, says Fitchedit
SME Futures – Online
India’s reform agenda may help to support medium-term growth and partially offset downside pressures to investment from renewed asset-quality challenges in the financial sector and damaged corporate balance sheets, said Fitch Ratings.
Labour market reform aims to improve worker access to social security (notably in the large unorganised sector), strengthen occupational safety requirements, speed up the resolution of labour disputes and ease migrant workers’ ability to move between states.
Employers will now need state government approval for redundancies only if employers have more than 300 workers, up from 100 previously.
“These changes could support formalisation of India’s labour market and improve its flexibility and efficiency,” said Thomas Rookmaaker, analyst at Fitch Ratings.
Farm Protests in India Are Writing the Green Revolution’s Obituaryedit
Scientific American – Online
In September 2020, India’s Narendra Modi government circumvented parliamentary procedures to push through three bills that eased restrictions on private players in agricultural markets. The move enraged farmers—especially in the northwestern state of Punjab, an epicenter of the Green Revolution since the 1950s. After protesting in vain for two months, tens of thousands of Punjab farmers began a march to New Delhi in late November. The Modi government responded by deploying paramilitary troops armed with water cannons and tear gas shells, and protected by barricades, concertina wires and deep trenches dug into freeways at the borders of the capital city.
HP farmers to add flavour to Indian cuisine with home-grown ‘heeng’edit
The Tribune – Online
After offering pest-free potatoes and exotic vegetables that are foodies’ delight, farmers of Himachal Pradesh are set to add flavour to the Indian culinary life by offering home-grown asafoetida (heeng) — a first for the country — in the coming years.
Agriculture Minister Virender Kanwar told IANS on Sunday that the first plantation of asafoetida, which gives a zing to the recipes due to its unique pungent smell owing to high sulphur content, was done successfully on an experimental basis in Kwaring village in Lahaul Valley at an altitude of 11,000 feet on October 15, 2020.
Thereafter, ‘heeng’ cultivation was also taken up in the state’s other high-altitude areas like Keylong, Beeling and Madgran in Lahaul-Spiti ...
Budget
Budget 2021: Pivotal transformation for agriculture growth in the new normaledit
FnB News – Online
The Indian agriculture sector accounts for close to 16 per cent of the country’s GDP, uses nearly half the available land, consumes around 80 per cent of the freshwater resources, and engages almost 50 per cent of the country’s workforce. Approximately 70 per cent of the rural households still depend primarily on agriculture, with close to 80 per cent of farmers being small and marginal. Even though the recent Covid-19 pandemic has posed challenges for most sectors of the Indian economy, agriculture and allied activities demonstrated extraordinary resilience. The available statistics amplify the potential of India’s agriculture sector to aid fiscal growth. However, adherence to a traditional approach and unscientific farming methods still loom large over ...Technology in Agriculture
‘Gujarat’s agri-tech market to touch US$ 3bn by 2025: Studyedit
Times of India – Online
gri-tech market in Gujarat is expected to be more than US $ 3 billion in the next five years, while food technology market, which had taken a hit during the Covid-19 induced pandemic, is expected to cross US $1 billion by 2022, a study condcuted by a market research firm claims. The study on business-to-business (B2B) and direct-to-consumer (D2C) industries was done by city-based XX
“Our analysis indicates that industries such as agri-tech, food technology, wearables, automotive technology, smart utilities and infrastructure industry are aggressively capturing the market gap post-pandemic,” said firm’s founder Harsh Shah.
The report states that the agriculture sector in Gujarat was adversely affected due to lockdown and lack of transportation facilities. ...
Stubble Burning
EMC to improve energy efficiency in farm sectoredit
The Hindu – Online
Webinars help farmers with tips on energy-efficient use of machineryThe Energy Management Centre (EMC), the State-designated agency for energy efficiency initiatives, has kicked off activities aimed at improving energy efficiency in the farm sector, particularly in the use of agriculture pump sets.
UP to buy agri waste to hike farmer income, cut pollutionedit
Times of India – Online
In keeping with its promise to double income of farmers, the state government has decided to buy agricultural waste and wean away farmers from stubble burning, which accelerates air pollution.
To provide a tech fillip, the state government set up a bio-coal production unit in Risia in Bahraich district, where the trial-run of manufacturing fuel briquette pellet from agro-waste was successfully completed recently. Paddy straw, corn stalks, sugarcane leaves are being bought at Rs 1500-2000 per quintal from farmers of the region and ploughed into the Bahraich plant. And around 10,000 quintals have also been bought from farmers so far, a state government spokesperson said. This is the first plant in the state, which is ...