Times of India – Online

Aimed at promoting organic farming under the central government’s Paramparaghat Krishi Vikas Yojana ( PKVY), 900 farmers from Salcete and Mormugao talukas have been grouped into 40 village-level clusters. Each cluster encompasses 20 ha of agricultural land. “The aim is to create awareness about cultivating paddy, pulses, vegetables, coconut and other crops in an organic way, without use of pesticides. Since there cannot be an overnight shift from inorganic to organic mode, the scheme is to be implemented in three years, with stress laid on training the farmers to use bio-fertilisers and bio-pesticides,” Salcete zonal agriculture officer (ZAO) Shariff Furtado told TOI.

The product harvested will be given organic certification , Furtado said. “Once this ...

Daijirworld – Online

In what could prove to be a big relief for Nepal, New Delhi has decided to open transit facility through Indian territory for fertiliser trade between Dhaka and Kathmandu.

According to All India Radio’s news division, at present, 27,000 metric ton of fertiliser will be exported to Nepal through the Rohanpur-Singhabad rail transit route. Another lot of 25,000 metric tonne of fertiliser is likely to be exported subsequently, it said.

A report carried earlier by The Kathmandu Post noted that fertiliser shortage is a perennial problem in Nepal. It added that “despite tall promises the Oli administration has miserably failed in ensuring the timely supply of fertilisers.”

Adequate supply of fertiliser would be critical for Nepal’s agriculture ...

The Hindu Business Line – Online

The Budget for 2021-22 may have refrained from tinkering with your taxes, but it has proposed a new levy — Agriculture Infrastructure

The Free Press Journal – Online

Last week, Prime Minister Narendra Modi hardened his government’s stand on the farm laws. In the Rajya Sabha, during his reply to the President’s address, the Prime Minister asserted that the farm laws wouldn’t be repealed, although the government was open to negotiations. Modi made his case for reforms by invoking former Prime Ministers Lal Bahadur Shastri, Chaudhary Charan Singh and Manmohan Singh.

In his long speech, lasting for over an hour, of which 25 minutes were devoted to the controversial farm laws, Modi likened the farm reforms to the green revolution of the mid-1960s and 70s, saying that revolution too had been met with resistance and opposition, just as the three ...

The Hindu – Online

To show Indian agriculture as being net taxed to argue for the farm laws has poor conceptual validity

Over the past three decades, a major rationale offered in favour of liberalising Indian agriculture was that farmers were “net taxed”.

Hindustan Times – Online

The Finance Commission has recommended a grant of ₹350 crore to Punjab for crop diversification in the state with a view to reducing pollution caused by stubble burning and saving groundwater.

The grant has been recommended from the 2021-22 to 2025-26 financial year. The commission’s report was tabled in the Lok Sabha by Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman two weeks ago and has been accepted “in principle” by the central government.

“The Punjab government has sought support for bringing down pollution levels through a shift from paddy to other crops, especially maize. This will also help reduce the air pollution in the northern region,” the commission said while making recommendation for state-specific grant.

The spike in pollution ...