Media Monitor
Agriculture Industry
Rs 11,141 crore paid to wheat farmers as MSP in UP in 20-21: Govtedit
Business Standard – Online
The Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution has said that the government has paid Rs 11,141.28 crore to the farmers as MSP in Uttar Pradesh as the state records highest ever procurement of wheat. It said, 58 per cent more wheat was procured in rabi marketing season (RMS) 2021-22 in Uttar Pradesh as compared to RMS 2020-21. Record 56.41 LMT procurement of wheat has been done during Rabi Marketing Season 2021-22 in Uttar Pradesh as compared to 35.77 LMT wheat procured from 6.64 lakh farmers in RMS 2020-21.
Behind India’s sugar dominance lies a hidden water crisis in Uttar Pradeshedit
Scroll – Online
On a cold morning in the early winter of 2019, farmer Shekhar Chauhan reached his small sugarcane farm to start a regular workday, only to find it flooded. The boundary of a nearby drain had broken and water spilled into the farms in the Muzaffarnagar district of the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. A significant amount of Chauhan’s crops was lost. Chauhan complained to the management of one of the eight sugar mills in the district. He said the mill was releasing water in the narrow drain. “The sugar mill officials unclogged the drain and fixed it,” Chauhan said. “But when the mill started operating the following year, it was the same story.” This time, ...
New farm laws to boost competition; farmers can sell produce to corporates: Chief Economic Advisor K Subramanianedit
The Economic Times – Online
New farm laws will ultimately help farmers get better returns as the legislations provide for competition by allowing them to sell their produce to even corporates like Reliance NSE 0.42 % and ITC NSE 0.30 % for good prices, Chief Economic Advisor K Subramanian said on Monday. The farm laws were cleared by Parliament last year but the Supreme Court, in January 2021, suspended their implementation amidst protests from farmers.
Farmers’ hard work made agriculture, allied sectors resilient to Covid crisis, says Narendra Singh Tomaredit
The Times Of India – Online
The agriculture and allied sectors remained strong during the pandemic, registering a growth of 3.5 per cent in 2020-21, mainly due to the hard work of farmers, skills of scientists, and government’s farmer-friendly policies, Union minister Narendra Singh Tomar said on Monday. “Our agriculture and rural sector, which has been showing strength for years, has stood strong even during this pandemic and has contributed to the Indian economy. The tireless hard work of the farmers, the skill of the scientists and the farmer-friendly policies of the government, and the resolve of the progress of the villages showed a new ray of hope in the Corona crisis,” the agriculture minister said.
Technology in Agriculture
India’s agritech sector could touch $35 billion by 2025, says Bainedit
Consultancy – Online
Agriculture in India is embarking on a modernisation drive – backed with regulatory headwinds and paving the way for a thriving agricultural technology (agritech) segment. A new Bain & Company report examines sectoral changes. Agriculture is a centrepiece of the Indian economy – a $370 billion sector that employs over 40% of the 1-billion-plus population. That said, the sector falls short on several fronts – across productivity, efficiency and infrastructure. According to Bain & Company, a much-needed overhaul is on its way. In a new report, the strategy consultancy highlights three pieces of agricultural legislature that came through the Indian parliament last year – which, aside from sparking protracted outcry from small land holders who feel ...
The hope and hype behind India’s agritech boomedit
Mint – Online
“There is no turning back…Indian agriculture is ripe for disruption,” noted a recent research brief from the consultancy firm Bain and Company. It also said that by 2025, between $30-35 billion of value pool will be created in the sector, with the e-sale of produce and inputs and digitally-enabled logistics emerging as key segments. India is already the third-largest nation in terms of agritech funding (after Germany and the US), with investments growing at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 53%—from $91 million in 2017 to $329 million in 2020. The sector received close to a billion dollars in VC funds during this period, with the highest-ever funding in the first year of the pandemic ...
PM calls for post-harvest revolution in farm sectoredit
Financial Express – Online
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday stressed the need for a post-harvest revolution in agriculture and credited farmers for ensuring record crop production despite the Covid-19 pandemic. “With the ever-increasing agricultural production, there is a need of post-harvest revolution and value addition,” Modi said in a message read out at the foundation day of Nabard. “We are striving relentlessly to intensify our speed and scale to achieve this. We have been taking comprehensive steps to get a complete solution, from irrigation to sowing, harvesting and earnings that are technology enabled,” he said.
Govt. Policies
Assam’s Agriculture department has set a ambitious target for enrolling five lakh farmers under Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana for ensuing Sali paddyedit
The Economic Times – Online
Assam’s Agriculture department has set a ambitious target for enrolling five lakh farmers under Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana for ensuing Sali paddy within 31st July this year. Agriculture minister Atul Bora said that district Agricultural Officers of the State has to take the responsibility to achieve the target failing which department may take action against them.
Monsoon + Indian Agriculture
Scanty rains causing kharif sowing lag; lack of irrigation adding to woesedit
CNBC TV18 – Online
The Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers’ Welfare on Friday, said that the sowing of kharif crops including paddy is 10.43 percent less on a YoY basis, at 499.87 lakh hectares. Till July 9, almost 45 percent of the sowing was completed in the total kharif area of about 1,000-1,100 lakh hectares. In the year-ago period, kharif crops were covered in 558.11 lakh hectares. Until the third week of June, we were 38 percent in excess of monsoon, and between June 22 and July 10, the monsoon actually took a bit of pause, which is exactly why there is a sowing lag as well.
Tractor industry
India’s first bio-CNG tractor aims at saving billions of rupees in fuel costsedit
The Print – Online
Rawmatt Industries Private LTD is an organization that carries out a wide range of business activities in Nagpur. As part of its efforts to reduce pollution, it offers bio-CNG and other forms of natural gas. Due to its cost-effectiveness, CNG’s popularity has been growing multifold in recent years. Moreover, CNG comes with a reputation as one of the cleanest fuels in the market today due to the lower carbon content it burns, thereby making it cleaner than petroleum-based products. Furthermore, it produces the fewest emissions among all other fuels and contains significantly fewer pollutants than gasoline.