Media Monitor
Agriculture Industry
Agriculture, engineering products set to propel export growth in Q1edit
Business Standard – Online
India’s merchandise exports have been rising consistently over the past seven months, signalling a gradual recovery from the disruption caused by the second wave of Covid-19. Experts said that apart from a robust demand from key external markets, a sustained rise in outbound shipments can also be attributed to a rally in commodity prices, as well as weakening of the domestic currency. “While exports are primarily driven by (external) demand, higher exports are the result of a combination of some other factors as well such a rise in commodity prices. Rupee has weakened marginally; so, some kind of export-push is also being provided by the prices. Steps taken by the government, such as credit guarantee ...
Timely aid, better prices for farmers vital for India’s self-sufficiency: Vice Presidentedit
The New Indian Express – Online
Vice President of India M Venkaiah Naidu, on Sunday, said that offering better prices for produce, timely and affordable credit to farmers and support to allied sectors, like horticulture, aquaculture, dairy farming, fisheries and pisciculture, were crucial in sustaining agriculture in the country. Speaking at the launch of the book, ‘Palleku Pattabhishekam’, written by former MP Yalamanchili Shivaji, at Dr Marri Chenna Reddy Human Resource Development Institute in Hyderabad on Sunday, the VP observed that timely provision of assistance to farmers could not only help India achieve self-sufficiency, but also enable the country to supply food globally.
Technology in Agriculture
Paddy sowing: Punjab agri dept misses target to double area under DSR techniqueedit
Hindustan Times – Online
The Punjab agriculture department has failed to meet the target of doubling the area under direct seeding of rice (DSR) technique for paddy sowing this kharif season against the last year’s 5-lakh hectare mark even as the overall acreage increased slightly. Pre-germinated seeds are directly drilled in the fields with a tractor-powered machine under the water-conservation technique with no nursery preparation or transplantation unlike the conventional methods of sowing. The farmers have to level the land which has to be irrigated just once before sowing starts.
Govt. Policies
Decoded: Why newly formed Ministry of Co-operation is raising many eyebrowsedit
Business Standard – Online
In the latest reshuffle of the Narendra Modi government, the carving of a separate Ministry of Co-operation from the Ministry of Agriculture and placing no less than the country’s Home Minister as head of the newly created ministry has generated much curiosity. Given the financial heft and muscle along with political clout that co-operatives exercise in some states such as Maharashtra, Gujarat, Karnataka, Kerala and also in recent times in Odisha and Madhya Pradesh (for conducting procurement operations on behalf the state and Centre), the move is being read differently.
Monsoon + Indian Agriculture
Six Maharashtra districts still await rainfall for sowing crops: IMD dataedit
Hindustan Times – Online
Nearly a month into the monsoon and just four days before the usual sowing window for kharif crops runs out on July 15, six districts across Maharashtra’s Khandesh and western Vidarbha region are showing what experts have called a “significant deficit” in seasonal rainfall. These include Nandurbar, Dhule, Nashik, Jalgaon, Buldhana and Akola where impending showers may bring some relief in the next week. Across this belt where the primary cash crops include cotton, wheat and corn, Nandurbar and Akola show the highest seasonal deficit at -57% and -50% respectively, followed by Dhule at -46%, Nashik -37%, Jalgaon -29% and Buldhana -24%. This is based on rainfall data from June 1 to July 11, according ...
Scanty southwest monsoon affects kharif crop sowingedit
Mint – Online
Patchy rainfall in many parts of the country has hit the planting of kharif or crops sown in summer, with the southwest monsoon showing a seasonal deficit of more than 5% for the first time this year on 10 July. However, forecasters said the monsoon should revive soon. Total acreage of kharif crops stood at 49 million hectares, about 11% less than the 55 million hectares sown during the corresponding period last year, according to agriculture ministry data. The monsoon was deficient by 7% between 1 June and 10 July, according to the India Meteorological Department (IMD). Rain was plentiful from the first week of June, but there was a bleak spell around 19 June because ...
Kharif sowing picks up pace, even as rainfall gets delayededit
The Financial Express – Online
According to an FE analysis, the deficit in total kharif acreage has narrowed down to 1-14% for different crops as on July 6, from 7-62% recorded until June 21 in key agricultural states. Even as monsoon rainfall deficit has widened in the last 15 days, farmers have increased sowing activities in key states namely Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Haryana and Gujarat, in anticipation of rains. In line with the India Meteorological Department’s (IMD) prediction, monsoon revived after a gap of three weeks on Saturday. The overall acreage of summer crops at about 50 million hectare was still 10% below last year’s level as of July 9. Sowing has been completed in nearly half of the ...