LiveMint – Online

Faced with rising bad loans in the agriculture sector, banks are seeking flexibility in loan repayments under the Kisan Credit scheme from Reserve Bank of India, according to three people aware of the matter. Banks are looking to ask RBI to allow them to renew the scheme for small and marginal farmers for an amount upto ₹3 lakh, provided they pay only the interest amount, they added. KCC comes up for renewal in the June-July period every year.

Financial Express – Online

With the aim to boost export of agriculture products, the Centre has identified several products under 15 broad categories, allotting one product for each of the country’s 728 districts so that there is convergence of resources under different schemes of various ministries and also it helps increase farmers’ income.

The products have been identified from agricultural, horticultural, animal, poultry, milk, fisheries, aquaculture, marine sectors across the country after taking inputs from the states, Union Territories and the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR).

The New Indian Express – Online

Rains continue to be the main source of water for irrigation for a chunk of the country’s farmers. In fact, rainfed agriculture supports 40 per cent of the country’s population and contributes an equal percentage towards the nation’s food basket. Unfortunately, rainfed agriculture is not as productive as agriculture with a guaranteed source of irrigation water. The productivity is low in such areas, less than one tonne per hectare, due to a variety of reasons including uncertain rains, frequent droughts, degraded soils etc.

Krishi Jagran – Online

Agriculture sector in India helped in the speedy recovery of the economic growth post the pandemic. India’s agriculture and allied sectors helped the farm sector clock a growth rate of  3.4 percent in the financial year 2020-21. It is lower than the last year’s growth but is the best when compared with other sectors during pandemic. Despite the disruptions in the supply chain during the Covid-19- led lockdowns, Indian agriculture is set to perform better.

According to the first advance estimates issued by the Agriculture Ministry, food grain production is expected to be 144.52 million tonnes in Kharif 2020-21 as against 143.38 million tonnes in the previous year. While oilseeds output would be lower, other commercial crops such as sugarcane, cotton are likely to do well. Interestingly, the cultivation of the majority of Rabi crops too have brought good news as ...

NDTV – Online

The economy snapped from recession and returned to growth in the October-December quarter after two successive quarters of contraction in growth. The gross domestic product (GDP) grew by 0.4 per cent in the third quarter, which is a sharp improvement from the de-growth of 23.9 per cent and 7.5 per cent in the previous two quarters. India is one of the few economies that witnessed positive year-on-year growth in the October-December period. The gains in the economy in the third quarter were driven by growth in sectors such as agriculture, manufacturing, electricity, gas, water and utility services, construction and financial, real estate, and professional services.

YourStory – Online

India is the second-largest producer of fruits and vegetables in the world. However, this abundance also brings along produce spoilage and wastage. The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations says 40 percent of horticultural produce worth $8.3 billion is wasted every year due to inadequate logistical support, lack of refrigerated storage, supply chain bottlenecks, poor transport, and underdeveloped marketing channels.

KNN India – Online

Luring Vietnam of easing tax compliance for setting up MSME units in the state, the Uttar Pradesh (UP) government has invited the latter to invest in agriculture, textile.

Additional. Chief Secretary, MSME, UP government, Navneet Sehgal during a virtual discussion on India -Vietnam Trade and Investment Connect on Thursday organised by Indian Industries Association (IIA) said that the UP has liberalized the policies and brought many changes in the ecosystem and there are various potential growth areas for tie-ups.

”We can collaborate and take advantage of each other’s strengths, as Vietnam is good in electronics and UP is good in textile and agro-based industry. We have 60 products under One District One Product (ODOP) which we ...