Media Monitor
Agriculture Industry
Climate change likely to affect agricultural productivity in Maharashtra, says reportedit
Times Now News – Online
Climate change is likely to affect agricultural productivity in Maharashtra, especially in four major crops soybean, cotton, wheat and gram, according to a report. Maharashtra faces an increasing risk from climate change that is likely to impact the production of the four crops grown in the state, according to a report by a global not-for-profit organisation Institute for Sustainable Communities (ISC). The report, titled ‘Climate Change Impacts on Maharashtra Agriculture’, has examined week-wise 30-year averages of years 1989-2018 and predicted rainfall and temperature data for years 2021-50 for eight districts across Khandesh, Marathwada and Vidarbha regions of the state.
45% paddy still to be sown, erratic power supply hurting farmersedit
Hindustan Times – Online
The state agriculture department has said that incase power supply remains erratic, it will adversely impact paddy sowing. In a communication to the Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL), the agriculture department has reiterated its demand for 8-hour uninterrupted power supply for agriculture feeders. To date, paddy has been sown on 17 lakh hectare and at least 45% (13 lakh hectare) of total 30.2 lakh hectare is to be sown. The demand for power is expected to rise further when basmati sowing begins from second week of July. Officials in the department said farmers are already in a fix over erratic power supply.
Competition
Escorts rises after strong sales in Juneedit
Business Standard – Online
Escorts gained 0.87% to Rs 1,231.45 after the company’s tractor sales rose 15.5% to 12,533 units in June 2021 from 10,851 units in June 2020. Sequentially, Escorts’ total tractor sales zoomed 95.1% in June 2021 compared with 6,423 tractors sold May 2021. The company said it has registered highest ever June sales. Domestic tractor sales in June 2021 increased by 12.5% to 11,956 tractors as against 10,623 tractors in June 2020. Tractor exports in June 2021 stood at 577 tractors against 228 tractors sold in June 2020, registering a growth of 153.1%.
Mahindra & Mahindra reports total tractor sales of 48,222 units in Juneedit
Mint – Online
Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd on Thursday reported total tractor sales of 48,222 units in June, recovering from the disruptions induced by the second wave of the coronavirus pandemic. The company had sold a total of 36,544 tractors in June 2020, when sales were impacted by the nationwide lockdown imposed to curb the spread of the coronavirus pandemic although easing of restrictions had started by then. It had sold 24,184 units in May 2021, during the peak of the second wave of the pandemic.
Technology in Agriculture
Honda India Power Products introduces a powerful 5.5hp power tiller to boost farm productivityedit
India Info Online – Online
Honda India Power Products Limited (HIPP), a leading manufacturer of power products in India, today unveiled its new compact power tiller FQ650, to deal with a wide range of customer needs. Farmers engaged in farming of vegetable, spices, horticulture, cash crops, orchards, and nurseries among others have been demanding a compact, powerful and economical power tiller capable of doing various farm operations like ground-breaking, pulverizing, furrow & ridge formation and deweeding operations efficiently. HIPP has been at the forefront of introducing Honda’s legendary 4 stroke technology in agriculture and has successfully established its premium model FJ500 and the compact model F300 in gasoline fuelled power tiller category offering a robust and durable companion to ...
Why agriculture needs a technological revolution?edit
Hindustan Times – Online
Agriculture is an industry that has always relied on nature, an immutable fact that has seen harvests and livestock wiped out regularly throughout history by heat waves and droughts, by floods and pestilence. But with breakthrough advances in science and technology, we have more tools than ever to mitigate the vagaries of nature. By connecting to online marketplaces, farmers can now access a wider audience and sell their produce with more visibility and control over pricing. They can also leverage precision farming technologies to monitor what is happening on their farms in real time, with Internet of Things devices and other tools becoming cheaper and more widely available.
Govt. Policies
Now agriculture department will get free sowing of maize with modern machine, also claims increase in productionedit
Jagran – Online
There is good news for maize producing farmers. Agriculture department will now get maize sown free of cost. Actually, the Agriculture Department has prepared this scheme focusing on water conservation. Under which the machine will be provided free of cost by the department to the farmers producing maize for sowing. Needy farmers can contact the department for this. Apart from this, subsidy on this machine is also being given to the farmers by the department. Officials claim that this machine will do the work of sowing maize in one acre in just 35 to 40 minutes. Explain that the government, which is making efforts towards water conservation, is encouraging the sowing of maize and other crops ...
Special drive launched to bring more farmers under PM crop cover schemeedit
Business Standard – Online
In a major farmer outreach, the government on Thursday launched a special drive to enrol more cultivators under the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY). A week-long drive, starting July 1, will cover all notified areas under the kharif 2021 season with special focus on 75 aspirational districts where crop insurance penetration is low. PMFBY, launched on January 13, 2016, aims to provide a comprehensive risk solution to farmers at the lowest uniform premium across the country.
Maharashtra: Will introduce new agriculture bill in monsoon session, says Ajit Pawaredit
The Indian Express – Online
Maharashtra government will bring in a new farmer-friendly agriculture legislature bill in the two-day monsoon session of the state assembly that begins on July 5, deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar said on Thursday. Unhappy with Centre’s three farm laws that have triggered protests in several parts of the country, the state’s ruling Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government wants to bring its own legislature, which will strengthen the Agricultural Produce Market Committees (APMCs) and “secure farmers from exploitation of outside traders”, said Pawar. Maharashtra has 305 APMCs with an average annual turnover of Rs 50,000 crore. Majority of the state’s 1.56 crore farmers rely on these committees to sell their agriculture produce post- harvest in ...
Monsoon + Indian Agriculture
Bihar: Surplus Rainfall Mounts Problems for Paddy Growing Farmers, as Waterlogging Damages Seedlingsedit
News Click – Online
Unexpected surplus rainfall in June in Bihar, considered as an impact of climate change, has created problems for Kamlesh Singh, a marginal farmer as his paddy seedlings were fully damaged because of waterlogging in his field. Singh was forced to pull out the sown paddy to prepare seedlings for second time in two weeks. Now, he fears threat to his paddy seedlings once again as the local weather office has forecast more rainfall in July first week. The state had received 339.5 millimetres of rainfall — 119% surplus than normal in June 2021.It had received surplus rainfall (305.9 mm) in June 2020, too. Weather experts have termed excess rainfall in the early stage of the ...
July rain likely to be normal across the country, forecasts IMDedit
Business Standard – Online
With the southwest monsoon on an extended break, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) on Thursday sought to play down the fears and said a revival was round the corner, but with a word of caution that there was an equal probability of the rains being “below normal”, “normal” or “above normal” in July. Climatically, the IMD said rain in July was expected to be 96-104 per cent of the Long Period Average (LPA), considered normal for the country as whole. However, chances are in July rain in parts of North-West India, South Peninsular, and parts of Central and North-East India might remain “normal” to “below normal”.
Stubble Burning
Recognising the role of pastoralists in agrarian developmentedit
Down To Earth – Online
The unique environmental challenges of the 21st century can appear to be daunting at first glance. However, technological innovations of the 21st century, often a blend of tradition and creativity, can rise to meet these challenges effectively. The dense smog that covers vast swathes of North India during the winter months owes a significant amount of its spread to the menace of stubble burning in the fields of Punjab, Haryana and western Uttar Pradesh. It can be reduced by fusing cutting-edge science of conservation agriculture with the invaluable experience of the hardworking Indian farmer.