Media Monitor
Agriculture Industry
Punjab farmers reluctant to adopt DSR for paddy sowing due to abundant availability of water: PAU studyedit
Hindustan Times – Online
Farmers are unwilling to adopt the direct seeding of rice (DSR) technique as an alternative to sowing of paddy with traditional puddling due to an “abundant availability of water”, a study conducted by the Punjab Agricultural University (PAU) has revealed. The study, funded by the Punjab State Farmers’ and Farm Workers’ Commission, focused on the paddy crop pattern in 2020. The DSR helps save water consumption by at least 15% when compared to the traditional method and also saves in terms of labour cost. “Besides abundance of irrigation water, the farmers’ trust in the well-established paddy transplantation and no experience of DSR were also seen as the reasons behind non-adoption of the new method,” adds ...
Scientific agriculture practices will drive demand for Indian cottonedit
The News Mill – Online
Presently, ~50 to 60 million people depend on cotton cultivation, marketing, processing and exports for their livelihood across India. In the last few years, the cultivation of cotton has been steadily declining globally and the world cotton farming experienced dramatic developments in 2020/21 due to an unprecedented pressure caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. While India is one of the largest producers of cotton in the world, persistent adoption of unsustainable agricultural practices for the largely water-intensive crop, extensive use of fertilizers and pesticides as well as genetic modification has posed a significant challenge that needs immediate attention.
Providing the poorest landless agricultural labourers with farm tools can ameliorate their lotedit
Down To Earth – Online
In agriculture, labour is an important component, but is usually not under consideration most of the time. Landless agricultural labour is a vital factor in agricultural production. These labourers’ productivity and earnings are an important determinant of the level of economic development. I will focus on asset strategies of landless agricultural labourers who invest their time in growing crops on others’ farms, without any stake in farm assets. Strategies to develop assets of landless agricultural labour are a neglected area in India.
Agriculture infrastructure funds set to make mandis more efficient, modernedit
The WEEK – Online
It is no secret that India’s biggest asset are those who work in the agriculture and allied sectors. Every sweat that beads down their brows rejuvenate India, revitalising the country with the energy to move forward. The recent cabinet decision that has pushed for revolutionary reforms in the agricultural infrastructure sector is aimed at delivering world class infrastructure at the farm gates and aggregation points (mandis). On May 15, 2020, Rs 1 lakh crore agriculture infrastructure fund was proposed. It was passed in the cabinet on July 8, 2020 and was launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on August 9, 2020. The purpose of this fund was to give medium-long term debt financing facility for ...
Dams and Indian Agriculture
Villupuram MP urges Puducherry govt to initiate action against proposed Mekedatu damedit
The New Indian Express – Online
Villupuram Lok Sabha member D Ravikumar has urged the Puducherry government to initiate political and legal action against the proposed Mekedatu dam across Cauvery river by the Karnataka government to protect the rights of farmers in the UT. In a memorandum submitted to the PWD minister K Lakshminarayanan on Tuesday, Ravikumar said that Puducherry government should also convene an all-party meeting, on the lines of TN government, and unanimously adopt a resolution urging the central government to not accord any permission to Karnataka to construct the dam. Ravikumar is a member in the parliamentary consultative committee on agriculture.
Technology in Agriculture
SLCM Gets Prestigious European Grant for AI/ML-Based Quality App for Agri Commoditiesedit
Krishi Jagran – Online
The New Delhi headquartered agri technology and warehousing solutions conglomerate Sohan Lal Commodity Management (SLCM) has received a technical assistance grant of EUR 125,901 (Rs 1.11 crore) from the Technical Assistance Facility of Incofin agRIF fund (agTAF) and the Smallholder Safety Net Upscaling Programme (SSNUP) towards the development of its quality application for food grains and pulses. The very prestigious European technical assistance grant is also the highest received for an Indian entity in the warehousing companies’ category.
Digitising farming in rural India: What’s achieved and what more can be doneedit
CNBC TV18 – Online
The second wave of the COVID pandemic ravaged rural India. The scale of this rural epidemic remains largely hidden in official figures however its impact continues to be felt in the sector that feeds the nation, agriculture. The rise in number of extreme weather events and the threat of an inadequate monsoon has made insurance a necessity. Nukul Upadhye CEO & Co-Founder of Bijak and Dhyanesh Bhatt, Co-Founder & Group CEO of Gramcover and Sandeep Sabharwal Group CEO of SLCM discussed this further.
BASF Venture Capital invests in hydroponic cultivation startup UrbanKisaanedit
The Economic Times – Online
BASF Venture Capital GmbH (BVC), the investment arm of German chemicals major BASF, on Tuesday said it is investing in Indian hydroponic cultivation startup UrbanKisaan. Without disclosing details, BVC said its investment in UrbanKisaan, which specialises in hydroponic cultivation of various types of vegetables, greens and herbs in tropical urban environments, is its “first investment in an early stage business focusing on India”.
Govt. Policies
Andhra Pradesh government signs MoUs with 14 more companies for helping women in businessedit
The New Indian Express – Online
The State government, through the MoUs, wants to create a conducive business environment with end-to-end solutions consisting of capital support, market linkages, skill enhancement and technical support, thereby empowering women and ensuring a sustainable income both at the individual and collective level. The firms that exchanged MoUs with the State government departments are Ajio Business (part of Reliance Retail Ltd), Grameena Vikas Kendram Society for Rural Development, Mahindra Top Greenhouses Pvt Ltd and Kheyti Tech Pvt Ltd, Tanager, Institute of Rural Management Anand, Basix (Bharatiya Samruddhi Investments and Consulting Services Ltd) Gian (Gujarat Grassroots Innovation Augmentation Network), FDRVC ( Foundation for Development of Rural Value Chains), Nerds and Geeks Pvt Ltd, an e-Commerce ...
Monsoon + Indian Agriculture
Sowing to improve as monsoon covers whole countryedit
Financial Express – Online
The northwest region, considered as the food bowl of the country, is expected to get intermittent rains in the next few days, aiding to bridge the current rainfall deficit of 15% (as of July 13) and improve sowing operations.Monsoon covered the entire country on Tuesday, five days behind normal schedule. “The southwest monsoon has further advanced into remaining parts of the country including Delhi, remaining parts of Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan. Thus, monsoon has covered entire country on July 13, against the normal date of July 8,” India Meteorological Department (IMD) said in a statement.
Maharashtra: Kharif sowing completed in 70% of area as state witnesses uneven rainfalledit
The Indian Express – Online
With only a couple of weeks left for conclusion of Kharif season, almost 30 per cent sowing in the state for the period remains incomplete due to uneven rainfall, according to agriculture ministry data. While coastal Konkan has seen heavy rain, poor to moderate rainfall has been recorded in the rest of the state. Of the total 152 lakh hectare under Kharif, sowing has been completed in 106 lakh hectare or 70 per cent of the area. “Poor rain is the reason why sowing has remained incomplete in some areas,” Agriculture Minister Dadasaheb Bhuse said on Tuesday as he asked the agriculture department and district agriculture centres to ensure famers get easy access to ...
Light rain brings respite to Haryana farmersedit
Hindustan Times – Online
Rainfall on Tuesday in some parts of Haryana brought some respite from the scorching heat. As per reports of the meteorological and agriculture department located at the Chaudhary Charan Singh Haryana Agriculture University, drizzle was witnessed in parts of Ambala, Gurugram, Kurukshetra, Karnal, Fatehabad, Yamunangar, Rohtak, and Panchkula.
Stubble Burning
How to set a farm on fireedit
Daily O – Online
In recent years, cities have blamed their winter smog on stubble burning after wheat harvest. Strangely straw and stubble left behind by the combine have been burnt for ages. Nobody ever says that the vehicle population has grown ten times and maybe the real reason why the quality of pollution has reached breathtaking levels. No farmer ever complains how smoke produced in cities quietly kills villages all year round. Factories have been relocated from Delhi, for instance, to far off suburbs which happen to be villages.
Tractor industry
Maha: New EV policy targets 10% new vehicle registrations by 2025edit
The Economic Times – Online
Setting an ambitious target of 10 per cent for all battery electric vehicles (BEV) registrations by 2025, the Maharashtra government on Tuesday unveiled its new Electric Vehicle Policy (EVP) with a slew of incentives and attractions for the customers. The EVP was released by Environment Minister Aditya Thackeray, along with Minister of State for Environment Sanjay Bansode and other top officials, in a bid to support sustainable and clean mobility solutions in tune with the Centre’s directives.