The Hans India – Online

BC Welfare Minister Chelluboina Venu Gopala Krishna Stated that the government is studying the impact of partial lockdown on the livelihood of people engaged in traditional occupations. He received inputs from the agriculture workers, paddy porters, traditional toddy tappers on the impact of the partial lockdown on their daily life and the occupation. The Minister also met the handloom weavers to examine the existing marketing system and impact on the daily work and trade in Ramachandrapuram of East Godavari district.

Telengana Today – Online

Chief Secretary Somesh Kumar directed District Collectors on Thursday to expeditiously complete paddy procurement exercise within the next six days. He also directed the Collectors to meet the shortage of labour and gunny bags from the local market, and advised them to ensure sufficient availability of vehicles for transport of paddy. “Keep a check on unwarranted cuts being imposed by the millers,” the Chief Secretary said, and directed the Secretary, Civil Supplies, to ensure smooth and seamless procurement operations.

Qrius – Online

For six months now, images of Indian farmers protesting on Delhi’s roads have been beamed around the world. Farmers have been protesting changes to India’s agricultural laws they say would undermine their autonomy as cultivators. The new laws would create monopolies in the grain markets and trap farmers into contract farming arrangements with corporate buyers. But after six months of protests, has anything changed? The farm unions have had 11 rounds of talks with representatives of the central government, but the stalemate continues. Farmers hope if they keep the pressure on, the government will be forced to concede to their demands. But perhaps their biggest achievement so far has been putting farming back on the national ...

Money Control – Online

Rising household debt as a result of higher health costs, decline in touch-based non-agricultural work and much lower wage growth across the board is expected to puncture rural consumption demand in FY22 as highly mutant strains of the Covid-19 virus infiltrate India’s large rural hinterland, India Ratings and Research (Ind-Ra) has said.

This is expected to reduce demand for FMCG products, automobiles especially tractors and two-wheelers. However, demand for agricultural credit and agricultural inputs such as fertiliser and pesticides could remain strong in view of third consecutive year of near normal monsoon, the ratings agency pointed out. Even if agricultural output and resultant income remains intact, rural households are expected to cut down on their ...

Hindustan Times – Online

India’s agriculture sector, which employs nearly half the country’s working population, appears to have been unscathed during the second national wave of Covid infections, just as it was during the first outbreak in 2020. The resilience will, in all likelihood, keep the farm growth rate in positive territory, cushioning rural incomes, even as the pandemic weighs on the broader economy, analysts said. Less stringent lockdowns, better rain, uninterrupted credit flow, and functioning rural supply lines for inputs such as fertilizers, kept farmers going, although rural India saw a surge in infections, several experts said. The country is projected to produce a record 304 million tonne of foodgrains in 2020-21, 2.66% more than the previous year, ...

The Wire – Online

Thousands of farmers gathered at the borders of Delhi for “Kaala Diwas” or Black Day on May 26. The day marks six months of their agitation against the three controversial farm laws enacted by the Centre. So far, 11 rounds of talks between 40 farm leaders and the government have failed to resolve the crisis. Both the government and farmers called off the series of discussions on January 22, citing a lack of progress. It is not a protest in isolation – the agitation in India resonates with US agriculture. Rural economies in the Midwest were devastated by the farm crisis from many decades ago and researchers fear the same could happen in India if ...

Odisha TV – Online

According to reports, several hectares of farmlands were swept away by the high tidal waves in coastal regions while incessant rains induced by the cyclonic system also played havoc on farming sectors in the northern parts of the State. Several roads and river embankments also suffered damage due to rain and wind in Balasore, Bhadrak, Keonjhar, Kendrapara, Mayurbhanj, and Jagatsinghpur districts. Baitarani river continues to swell since last night due to cyclone-induced heavy rains in the upper catchment. A medium flood loomed in the river as it touched the dangle level at Anandpur in Keonjhar district. Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik is scheduled to conduct an aerial survey of the affected areas today.