Media Monitor
Agriculture Industry
Progressive farmer produces muskmelon 1-month advanceedit
The Tribune – Online
Progressive farmer Ajit Singh Aujla from Sultanpur Lodhi is all set to sell his muskmelon crop in market, which he produced nearly a month earlier than traditional method with the help of ‘plastic mulch and polytunnel’ techniques. After studying market, Aujla came to know about high price of muskmelon crop during Ramzan (April 14) in Jammu and Kashmir as regular crop hits the market in mid May.
Aujla cultivates wheat, potato and muskmelon on his 12 acres. Talking about the new techniques to raise his crop, he said the Agriculture Department played a major role by selecting his land for demonstrations under the crop diversification scheme.
He said he first raised nursery by using cocopeat, followed ...
‘Farm loan waivers really impact private sector’edit
The Times of India – Online
Abhimanyu Munjal, JMD-cum-CEO of Hero FinCorp Ltd, was elected as the CII northern region chairman last month. He shares his views with TOI’s Sanjeev Verma on adverse impact of farm loan waiver and reservation of jobs in private sector for residents of a particular state, and says CII can complement the Covid vaccination drive. The main hurdle in implementing direct benefit transfer scheme in Punjab to disburse payment of wheat and paddy MSP to farmers is that they are dependent on arhtiyas for quick and paperless loans anytime. Why can’t the Non-Banking Financial Companies (NBFCs) tap these new to credit customers so that farmers get the price of their produce without any middlemen?
It ...
Icrier paper cites farm laws as step towards free agriculture marketedit
Financial Express – Online
Pointing out that many agri commodities lose global competitiveness due to a large number of intermediaries in agriculture marketing leading to high transaction costs — 30-50% of the retail consumer price — a research paper prepared by Icrier for the UN Food Systems Summit has suggested that developing forward and backward linkages can ease price fluctuations and ensure remunerative price to farmers and lower prices for consumers.
“The current set of farm laws sought to achieve precisely this, but some recent ones are stuck for lack of understanding by farmers and for political reasons,” said the research paper, jointly authored by economist Ashok Gulati, former ICAR director general Raj Paroda, ITC CMD Sanjiv Puri, Bayer India head D ...
Technology in Agriculture
Bengaluru-based foundation launches agri-tech solutions contest for start-upsedit
The Hindu Business Line – Online
Non-governmental organisation (NGO) The /Nudge Foundation has launched a competition for start-ups, Cisco Agri Challenge (CAC), as part of its efforts to try and reach agri-tech solutions to one crore farmers in the country.
The/Nudge Foundation is holding CAC in partnership with US multinational technology firm Cisco System and the Office of the Principal Scientific Advisor to the Government of India.
Sudha Srinivasan, CEO, The/Nudge Foundation, told BusinessLine that CAC would offer a price platform that would provide farmer-centric solutions. “The solutions should be ideas that can be executed on the ground, create an area and curate ringside of viewers who will contribute,” she said.
This would spark innovation in agriculture and help farmers get higher ...
CropData is a platform built to empower farmers in India: Sachin Suri, managing director, CropDataedit
CropData – Online
CropData is a data-driven platform that provides an ecosystem with a cluster of services for the agriculture supply chain, aggregating aggregators, with a primary focus on the first-mile interface. The platform’s agriculture e-marketplace allows farmers to connect directly with buyers with the primary focus on neutrality. This aids in impacting the lives of the small and marginal farmers, increasing their income and managing their core risks, by providing access to customised knowledge, fair markets, and essential services. The company’s Managing Director Sachin Suri tells us more about the initiatives.
How agritech initiatives brought digital transformationedit
Dataquest – Online
Recently, the United Nations stated that rising population, increased wealth creation, and urbanisation are perceived threats to global food security. This means that the agriculture sector will have to undergo a shift in approach just like in the past when steps such as mechanised farming and green revolution brought significant productivity improvements.
The agriculture sector must be able to recognise these emerging challenges and should have in place transformational perspectives for solving them. The accelerated and evolving growth of technology is offering new possibilities to agriculture in improving both productivity and farmer’s income.
Monsoon + Indian Agriculture
Climate change may make Indian monsoons more volatile, wet years ahead: Studyedit
Down To Earth – Online
A stronger, more erratic monsoon season — with more wet years in the future that can potentially damage the economy and affect agricultural practises — may be in line in India if global warming continues unchecked.
This is among the major findings of an analysis by a team of German researchers, published in journal Earth System Dynamics April 14, 2021. The study compared more than 30 state-of-the-art climate models from all around the world.
The study warned that the shift may entail grave consequences for India’s economy, food systems and people’s well-being.