Media Monitor
Agriculture Industry
This startup is helping farmers get better yieldedit
The New Indian Express – Online
The Covid-19 pandemic has shut down many businesses, but it has been an opportunity for online service providers to strive. As distancing is the mantra, more and more people, including farmers, are looking towards the internet for their daily needs.
Madhapur-based Kisanwala was launched last year to make farmers self-reliant. This startup, incubated at T-Hub, is the brainchild of Parag Modi and Suresh Atluri. It has over 1,000 registered users in Telangana, Maharashtra and Haryana, and they plan to make inroads into more states after the pandemic eases.
Indian family farming business thrives during pandemic, but comes at a costedit
ABC News – Online
Agyakar and Sam Grewal’s family farming business is thriving during COVID-19, but as the pandemic ravages India and devastates their homeland, it is taking a toll on the family.
The Grewal family has been involved in agriculture for generations in India, so when the cousins moved to Australia, they wanted to continue farming and using traditional stone grinding methods learnt from their ancestors to create specialty flour.
They now run a number of farms in Victoria at Mildura where they run a flour mill and grow table and wine grapes, and also at Kinglake where they grow a variety of fruit and vegetables.
India to see expansion of agri sector in summer, despite Covid pandemicedit
Hindustan Times – Online
The Union government is anticipating an increase in sowing and higher demand from the farm sector. It has issued instructions for the seamless availability and supply of critical inputs, such as fertilisers, seeds, pesticides, and machinery.
Millions of farmers have worked hard to keep agricultural operations going throughout the pandemic, aided by an exemption of the farm sector from Covid-related restrictions.
The pandemic has hit urban centres and smaller towns harder, relatively sparing farming activities in the countryside, another reason why the farm sector has outpaced other spheres of the economy.
Viewpoint: ‘It is high time Indian farming transforms into precision agriculture by using modern tools of biotechnology’edit
Genetic Literacy Project – Online
The potential of genetic engineering is immense, with gene editing opening up the possibility of cures to hereditary diseases. Similarly, genetically modified (GM) crops are making big strides in bringing about improvement in crop productivity across farming nations.
Following approval for GM cotton, several organisations invested resources and efforts in new crop biotech traits, hoping for similar transformational changes in Indian agriculture. Bt brinjal was one such technology recommended for commercialisation in October 2009, after it completed regulatory evaluation in seven years, and is still under moratorium.
India’s Rich Farmers Are Holding Up Reforms Designed to Help the Pooredit
Foreign Policy – Online
In 2018, tens of thousands of poor farmers flooded cities all across India calling for government action to ease their difficult lives. Their immediate demands were higher prices for their output and loan waivers for their debts. With elections looming in 2019, pundits predicted serious problems at the polls for Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Modi offered the farmers limited price supports but held the line on loan waivers. Instead, he promised to implement structural reforms after the election. The opposition Indian National Congress countered with a promise to “waive all farm loans” across the entire country—an expensive solution decried by economists as a populist magic wand.
India predicts another agricultural expansionedit
Hindustan Times – Online
India has forecast an expansion of agriculture despite a massive surge in Covid-19 numbers, as farmers are projected to raise output to record levels in the oncoming kharif or summer-sown season, following a pandemic-defying performance in 2020.
The Union government is anticipating an increase in sowing and higher demand from the farm sector. It has issued instructions for the seamless availability and supply of critical inputs, such as fertilisers, seeds, pesticides, and machinery.
Millions of farmers have worked hard to keep agricultural operations going throughout the pandemic, aided by an exemption of the farm sector from Covid-related restrictions.
The pandemic has hit urban centres and smaller towns harder, relatively sparing farming activities in the countryside. “We ...
Technology in Agriculture
Karnataka Startup’s AI Technology Helps 5500 Silk Farmers Increase Income By 30%edit
The Better India – Online
Raghu D from Sarjapur in Karnataka follows sericulture farming, which involves rearing silkworms to produce silk. From 2011 up until the past year, he had been following traditional methods sincerely, and was selling silk in the market, located in Kolar and Ramanagara, around 50-70 km away from his native area.
However, recently, he began employing various technological interventions on his farm, which have increased his income by 25%, while reducing investment costs. “The changes adopted consistently earn Rs 90,000 to Rs 1 lakh a month, against the Rs 50,000 to 70,000 I was earning without using modern methods,” he tells The Better India.