Media Monitor
Agriculture Industry
Agricultural Reforms in India Need for a Unique Modeledit
Economic and Political Weekly – Online
In its quest for food security, India pursued high-productivity agriculture with state support, which was gradually withdrawn resulting in agrarian distress, as also environmental damage. Agricultural reforms in India need to be tailored keeping this context in mind. While linking agriculture to private corporate sector can be part of the strategy, the thrust has to be on the cooperative movement for storage, processing and marketing of agricultural products.
Adaptative agriculture practices for flood-affected farmers of Biharedit
Relief Web – Online
Every year when floodwater recedes, the whole agricultural land near the riverbank is filled with sand which makes it uncultivable for crops.
Floods damage, but as we learnt it brings a lot of alluvial soil beneficial for the crops. The annual flooding of rivers that flow down from the Himalayas – especially the Koshi – has replenished the riverbanks of India. But over the last few years, river waters have started leaving behind more sand than silt leaving to the plains.
A major constraint of paddy production in North Bihar is affected by the recurring flood and sediments (Sands) deposit by flood in farmland. Though the water is free in the region farmers are forced to ...
Crop residue mgmt scheme: Small farmers remain outside fenceedit
Tribune – Online
Keeping in mind the hazard posed by the stubble burning, a crop residue management scheme was launched three years ago by the Centre. The Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare had launched‘Promotion of Agricultural Mechanisation for In-Situ Management of Crop Residue in the State of Punjab, Haryana, and Uttar Pradesh & NCT of Delhi’ for in-situ management of crop residue.
Various equipment and machines such as super straw management, system (SMS) attached with existing combine harvester, happy seeder, mulcher, rotary slasher, reversible plough, super seeder, baler and rakes, crop reapers, etc. are developed and are given to the farmers under this scheme. While individual farmers get a subsidy of 50 per cent or Rs 87,000 (maximum), a ...
Dairy Farming
Registration of dairy units made mandatoryedit
The Hindu – Online
The Department of Animal Husbandry has begun registration of dairy farming units in Kozhikode district. All units with more than 10 cows will have to be registered in two weeks.
According to officials, the registration process is part of the government’s efforts to prepare a comprehensive data bank on functional units and support the submission of various dairy welfare projects. The survey is in progress across the State, they said.
Registration will be made under four categories based on the number of cows in each unit. Units having 10 to 20 cows will be included in the first category. Those rearing 20 to 50 cows will be part of the second category. Dairy farms with 50 ...
Technology in Agriculture
The rise of the agripreneur: Agritech startups trying to fix some major issues faced by agriculture sectoredit
Financial Express – Online
While there has been a lot of controversy around the new farm laws—with talks between the Centre and the protesting farmers resulting in a stalemate every time—a group of young entrepreneurs are engaged in fixing some of the major issues faced by India’s agriculture sector. These ‘agripreneurs’ are also trying to make agriculture niche and lucrative by the use of technology and innovative models of businesses.In the past few years, two major tailwinds—deeper penetration of smartphones in rural areas and falling data costs—have changed the way rural India went about doing business and solving the challenges faced by the agriculture sector. Benefitting from all this are agritech startups that have mushroomed across the country. As per ...
Stubble Burning
Panel formed to tackle dust pollutionedit
The Pioneer – Online
The Delhi Government has constituted a seven-member committee to formulate a long-term action plan to control dust pollution. Delhi Environment Minister Gopal Rai has asked the officers of the environment department to prepare action plans and also to work on a long-term policy to keep environmental pollution in check.
The Minister conveyed a review meeting on Friday with the officials of the environment department and Delhi Pollution Control Committee (DPCC) to curb pollution levels in the city.
Rai said that direct action will now be taken against the officials who are negligent in the timely disposal of complaints of pollution in the green-war room. He said that a close monitoring team has been set up to ...
Tractor industry
Nitin Gadkari to launch an all-new electric tractor in India by March first weekedit
HT Auto – Online
Soon after introducing the country’s first CNG Tractor, Union Minister, Nitin Gadkari on Friday announced that he will launch an all-new electric tractor in India soon. “I’ll be launching an electric tractor in the next 15 days,” Gadkari noted at the launch of the ‘Go Electric’ Campaign earlier on Friday.
The minister didn’t give any information about what to expect from the upcoming electric tractor, thus further details on the battery-powered farming vehicle are awaited. He also made a case for making it mandatory to use EVs for all officials in government ministries and departments.