Media Monitor
Agriculture Industry
Three reasons why farm sector growth may be nearing its LPA in FY22edit
Business Standard – Online
Agriculture and allied activities are expected to clock a growth of 3.6 per cent at constant prices in FY21, slightly lower than 4.3 per cent in the previous financial year, but closer to the long-term trend for the sector at 3-4 per cent. At current prices, the growth is expected to be around 6.6 per cent in FY-21, down from 12.5 per cent in FY20. This means that the inflation impact, which some experts also attribute to a measure of farmers’ income provided there is perfect transmission, is expected to be 3 per cent in FY21, down from 8.2 per cent in FY20.
Farmers block Patiala-Chandigarh highway as power supply not resumed after damage; paddy sowing affected in Daun Kalanedit
The Times Of India – Online
A number of farmers on Tuesday blocked the Patiala – Chandigarh national highway near Daun Kalan village of Patiala against the PSPCL for its failure to resume the power supply in the agriculture sector after the supply was hit following damage during wind storm. The villagers of Daun Kalan said they had made efforts and erected themselves around 80 per cent of damaged electricity poles but the power supply was not resumed at the Agriculture Pumpset (AP) following which they staged protest for around two hours. The villagers claimed that the paddy sown has been affected as the farmers could not irrigate their paddy fields following shortage of power supply.
Farmers at loggerheads over paddy transplantation in Jhajjar villageedit
Hindustan Times – Online
Four days after the Haryana government claimed that farmers of BJP state president OP Dhankar’s native village Dhakla in Jhajjar have decided not to cultivate paddy this time after getting influenced by government’s ‘Mera Pani, Mera Virasat Yojana’ and will switch to other less water-consuming crops, two dozen farmers have criticised the government’s statement and announced that they will transplant the water guzzling paddy crop. These farmers said they have prepared paddy nursery in their fields and will go for paddy transplantation in the last week of June.
Indian farmers need a new distress index. Just suicide data won’t doedit
The Print – Online
Despite the centrality of the agriculture sector in India and the widespread recognition of the distress most farmers have to live with, there is no standard measure of farmers’ distress in the country. The most commonly cited measure is the number of farmer suicides. There is also a measure of damage to crops that is undertaken under the PM Fasal Bima Yojana (crop insurance scheme), but that is particularly for areas and farmers covered under the scheme. In 2020, out of the 14.65 crore Indian farmers (Agricultural Census 2015-16), only 2.68 crore (18.2 per cent) were covered under the PMFBY. As per the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), 10,269 farmers committed suicides in 2019 and ...
Sustainable Agricultural Developmentedit
Rising Kashmir – Online
Access of farmers to state of the art agricultural inputs can play an important role in the growth of agricultural productivity and food security. In order to bolster agriculture production in the valley, it needs deep introspection and scrutiny from all the stakeholders of the agriculture sector. In the past, the dwindling agriculture production has led to suicide of farmers in many parts of India. During the past few years the agriculture sector in the valley is portraying a grim picture as the contribution from the primary sector to GDP has slipped down considerably. It is a fact that more than 75 percent rural population and 50 percent rural workforce is directly dependent on agriculture. ...
We Committed To Agriculture Reform As MSP Monies Are Paid Directly To The Farmers — Sanjeev Sanyal, Principal Economic Adviseredit
BW Business World – Online
Principal Economic Adviser in the finance ministry Sanjeev Sanyal’s work in chaos theory and his belief that economic growth demands perpetual imbalance may be the right recipe for the Indian economy given its complexity. The government though is very conservative on fiscal balance. He talks to BW Businessworld’s Manish Kumar Jha about fiscal support and its multiplier effect, the bold steps and disruptions in opening the economy further, pushing pending reforms, gyrating out of pandemic-led economic disruptions, and more.
Competition
Erisha Agritech inks long-term deal with Minsk Tractor Worksedit
The Print – Online
MTW (Minsk Tractor Works), the Belarusian brand of agricultural machinery, has reached a long-term agreement with New Delhi-based Erisha Agritech Private Ltd. (India) for the localization and assembly of tractors under the joint brand “DARSH BELARUS”. The agreement was signed between Vitali M Volk, General Director, MTW, and Darshan Rana, Managing Director, Erisha Agritech Private Limited (A Rana Group Company). Erisha Agritech Private Limited will acquire 200 units of Belarus tractors by the end of year 2021. As part of the implementation of the deal, localization and assembly of tractors under the “DARSH BELARUS” brand will get underway at the Indian sites of Erisha Agritech Private Limited soon.
Technology in Agriculture
Over-regulation has clipped the wings of drones in Indiaedit
Mint – Online
Most of us think of drones in a purely recreational context. We see them as user-friendly gadgets with which amateurs can shoot Spielberg-esque aerial footage and which can be raced over dizzyingly-challenging courses using first-person-view headsets. But drones have a utility far beyond the recreational. A while ago, I wrote about how drones are being used in Rwanda to transport blood to remote field hospitals. As compelling as that use case was, I believe that we will soon see many other such applications—from e-commerce delivery to emergency response in natural disasters. I can see drones being used in agriculture to monitor crops, spray pesticide and carry out precision farming operations.
Can An ‘Agri-Stack’ Help Solve Indian Agriculture’s Age-Old Problems?edit
Bloomberg Quint – Online
Thirty-year-old Bhushan Kumar Singh is a third-generation farmer who grows vegetables such as brinjal, bottle gourd and okra on his five-acre farm at Mahua in Bihar. His ways may be more modern compared to his father’s, but ask him if technology has made a difference to his life and you’ll get an answer equivalent to a shrug. Technology has helped us in many ways, say for checking soil quality, getting weather updates, drip irrigation and mulching to improve productivity, he tells BloombergQuint over the phone. But I rely more on my practical knowledge of farming because what we get online is plain theory, he said.
Govt. Policies
Bhopal: Madhya Pradesh government to provide Rs 14,500 crore to power distribution companies for subsidy in domestic and agriculture connectionsedit
Free Press Journal – Online
For providing subsidised domestic and agriculture power supply, the Madhya Pradesh Government on Sunday decided to give subsidy of Rs 14,500 crore to power distribution companies (discoms). The decision in this regard was taken at a cabinet meeting held on Tuesday. This subsidy is for the year 2020-21. Briefing the cabinet decision, spokesperson of Madhya Pradesh government, Narottam Mishra said that 98 lakh families receive subsidised power supply under Rs 100 for 100 unit scheme in the state. The amount will be transferred to the power distribution companies by the energy department, he said.
Monsoon + Indian Agriculture
Farmers welcome Cauvery arrival in Delta with shower of flowers, paddy seedsedit
The New Indian Express – Online
Almost three days after the Mettur Dam shutters were raised, Cauvery water reached the Delta region in the wee hours of Tuesday. Welcoming the gushing waters at the gates of the Mukkombu barrage, farmers showered paddy seeds and flowers. With the flow expected to reach Kallanai barrage later in the night, its gates are expected to be opened on Wednesday morning. For the second consecutive year, the State government released Cauvery water from Mettur reservoir on June 12 for Kuruvai cultivation in the Delta region. As much as 10,000 cusecs was released to irrigate more than five lakh hectares.
Monsoon breaks speed limits, what it means for agriculture, pollution in North Indiaedit
India Today – Online
Monsoon is changing. Here is another proof. Monsoon though had a delayed onset over Kerala, it is covering the country faster. Monsoon has actually already covered two-thirds of the country almost two weeks ahead of schedule. The India Meteorological Department (IMD) on Monday said it expected Delhi to receive its first monsoon showers on Tuesday. Delhi’s usual monsoon date is June 27. The last time, Delhi saw monsoon so early was in 2008 — June 15. Significantly, Punjab which usually receives monsoon in the last week of June has already soaked showers from the south-west winds. Punjab’s agrarian cousin Haryana is no different. Punjab and Haryana receiving higher than normal rain fall in the month ...
Tractor industry
Why FMCG, two-wheeler & tractor sectors are hoping for a normal monsoonedit
Money Control – Online
As the pandemic eats into India Inc’s top & bottom line growth, the Met department’s prediction of a normal rainfall has provided the much-needed proverbial light at the end of the tunnel. A normal rainfall would mean a good harvest translating into a higher rural income which, in turn, would spike up the demand for consumer goods, two-wheelers and tractors and a host of other industries.