Media Monitor
Agriculture Industry
Punjab govt approves packaging of wheat in good quality gunny bags provided by ‘arhtiyas’edit
Tribune – Online
To ensure unhindered procurement process during the ongoing Rabi marketing season 2021-22, the Punjab government has approved the packaging of wheat in good quality used gunny bags provided by ‘arhtiyas’ (commission agents), an official statement said here on Sunday.
The statement said that this would ensure that there is no shortage of gunny bags in any ‘mandi’ of Punjab, even as it pointed out that while the arrival of wheat in mandis has increased to 8 lakh metric tonne per day there is a “nationwide shortage of new gunny bags and new PP (polypropylene) bags for storage of the procured wheat”.
Agriculture policy should target India’s actual farming populationedit
The Indian Express – Online
How many farmers does India really have? The Agriculture Ministry’s last Input Survey for 2016-17 pegged the total operational holdings at 146.19 million. The NABARD All India Rural Financial Inclusion Survey of the same year estimated the country’s “agricultural households” at 100.7 million. The Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-Kisan) has around 111.5 million enrolled beneficiaries, with an average of 102 million-plus getting payments during 2020-21.
India’s official farmer population, in other words, is anywhere between 100 million and 150 million. But how much of this comprises actual farmers? Agricultural households, as per NABARD’s definition, cover any household whose value of produce from farming activities is more than Rs 5,000 during a year. That obviously ...
Andhra Pradesh’s Natural Farming Model Could Scale Up Sustainable Agriculture in Indiaedit
The Wire – Online
We need to fix agriculture in India – our current system is exploitative for both our farmers and the environment. Today, nearly all public spending in agriculture goes to support input-intensive practices that have only deepened the crisis. As we are in the process of rewriting agricultural policies, sustainability needs to be key in our thinking about a safety net for farmers.
Farmer distress, suicides, and mass protests are driven by high production costs, unremunerative prices, depleting natural resources and increasingly unpredictable weather. Yet, unsustainable practices have become the norm: over half the aquifers in India have depleting water levels while 90% of groundwater is used for irrigation, 30% of land area is degraded and topsoil that takes ...
Technology in Agriculture
Centre inks MoU with Microsoft to usher in digital farmingedit
Indian Cooperative – Online
Union Ministry of Agriculture and Microsoft India have inked an MoU for a pilot project in 100 villages of 6 states to usher in digital farming for the first time in the country. The MoU will enable the use of modern technologies in the farming sector, so that farmers can get benefits and enhance their income through it.
With the use of technology, farming will be a profitable venture for the farmers and the new generation will also get attracted towards agriculture, said Union Minister for Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, Narendra Singh Tomar while speaking on the occasion.
Tomar said “Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi’s idea of digital agriculture is now taking shape. After taking over ...
Harvest Machine
Straw reapers banned in Mogaedit
Tribune – Online
The district administration of Moga has imposed a ban on the use of straw reaper machines during the ongoing wheat harvest as it often leads to incidents of fire and air pollution. The wheat straw left in fields after harvesting and making hay (dry fodder) with straw reapers is burnt by farmers to prepare fields for the next crop.
District Magistrate Sandeep Hans and Plant Protection Officer Dr Jaswinder Singh Brar said strict action would be taken against farmers who used straw reapers and burnt the crop residue in fields.
Farmers generally burn the residue as they consider it more convenient and economical than mixing it in the soil using plows. Officials claimed in previous years such ...
Monsoon + Indian Agriculture
Agri Picks Report: Geojitedit
Moneycontrol – Online
After excessive rainfall during the last southwest monsoon season, India is likely to receive ‘normal’ monsoon rains in 2021 with rainfall seen at 98% of the longperiod average, the India Meteorological Department said. The Securities and Exchange Board of India listed warehousing norms for commodity contracts of agricultural goods and base metals. These norms for clearing corporations and warehouse service providers will be effective from Jun 1. Minister of State for Agriculture Parshottam Rupala said private investment in farm sector is required to double farmers’ income by 2022.