Media Monitor
Agriculture Industry
Punjab government way behind in installing solar water pumpsedit
The Times Of India – Online
Despite the fact that Punjab has witnessed the worst of power crisis this paddy season and the state government’s burden on account of free power being provided to farmers for operating water pump sets or tubewells has touched Rs 6,735 crore this year, the state hasn’t fallen back on solar-powered water pumps too much, which would have otherwise helped tide over the crisis to a great extent. Punjab is way behind its neighbour Haryana in the installation of solar water pumps. Against a total of 14,254 solar water pumps installed in Haryana, Punjab has got hardly 2,925 till date.
Govt insulting farmers, it must repeal agri laws, says Priyankaedit
Hindustan Times – Online
After the Centre said it has no record of farmers who have died during the agitation at Delhi’s borders against three agri laws since 2020, Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Sunday alleged that the government has been constantly “insulting” the farmers and demanded that it must repeal the legislations. Agriculture minister Narendra Singh Tomar informed Parliament on Friday that the government has no record of farmers who have died during the agitation at Delhi’s borders against three new farm laws since last year.
Haryana junks plan to allot Aravali land to villagers for agricultureedit
The Times Of India – Online
The Haryana government has withdrawn its two-year-old plan to consolidate 3,000 acres in Kot village in the Aravalis and allot it to local residents for farming after it was found that more than 2,500 acres fell under the category of “gair mumkin pahar”, a protected land where any kind of construction or cutting of trees is prohibited. Environmentalists, who backed the move, said this was the fourth time in the past decade that consolidation of small patches of land in the area had been stopped. Under the Consolidation Act, the Haryana government pools small patches of common land and then allocates them to villagers for farming. However, it has often been seen that ...
Technology in Agriculture
Omega Seiki Mobility to invest $300-600 mn in electric mobility bizedit
Free Press Journal – Online
Omega Seiki Mobility (OSM), a part of Anglian Omega Group of companies, is looking to invest USD 300-600 million (around Rs 2,232 crore – Rs 4,465 crore) in the next 5-7 years in electric mobility business as it aims to become a global brand, its chairman Uday Narang has said. The company currently has two cargo e-three-wheelers in its portfolio, and it is expecting to roll out scooters, rickshaws, four-wheeler cargo, tractors and buses, all electric, going forward, according to Narang. On the products side, Narang said that the company is also going to introduce an electric tractor in the market and for this purpose its R&D teams are working on it right at ...
Govt. Policies
Karnataka: Rs 20,000 crore will be given to 30 lakh farmers as loanedit
The New Indian Express – Online
To help farmers impacted by Covid, the State Government has increased the target of agriculture lending in the cooperative sector, said Cooperative and Mysuru district in-charge minister S T Somashekhar here on Sunday. He said that over Rs 20,810 crore will be lent to over 30 lakh farmers. This is 14 per cent more than the target last year, he said, inaugurating the executive committee meeting of State BJP Raitha Morcha. “Farmers will get short-term loans at zero per cent interest. We have instructed all Apex and DCC banks that farmers should not face any problems while getting loans,” he said.
Monsoon + Indian Agriculture
A wrong signaledit
The Indian Express – Online
It’s now clear that 2021-22 isn’t going to be a bumper agriculture year like 2020-21 and the one before that. The primary reason is the monsoon. While 2020 and 2019 were both surplus rainfall years, the current southwest monsoon hasn’t been all that good. The season (June-September) has recorded only 1.4 per cent below-average precipitation so far, but that aggregate figure conceals poor spatial as well as temporal distribution. The South Peninsula has received 27.1 per cent above-average rains. So has Maharashtra (34 per cent), where many parts of the Konkan and the western districts are reporting inundation of farmlands. Much of the rest of India has, however, had sub-par or deficient rainfall. No ...
Crisis on paddy crops, so far only 50 percent have been transplantededit
Amar Ujala – Online
Paddy crop is in trouble due to lack of rain. The month of July is about to pass, but the dust is flying in the fields. Due to lack of rain, so far only 50 percent of paddy has been planted. According to the data, against the target of 98 thousand hectares set for transplanting in the district, only 51 thousand hectares have been planted. The nurseries of the farmers sitting waiting for the rain have also started getting affected. Paddy is the main crop in the district. This time the scope of paddy crop has also increased. The target is to plant paddy in about 98,000 hectares. In the months of May and June, ...
Stubble Burning
Punjab utilises 42% funds released by Centre for farm mechanisationedit
The Times Of India – Online
On the top in stubble burning instances, Punjab is apparently at the bottom in using the money given by the Centre for promoting farm mechanisation. The Punjab government has not been able to utilise even half of the funds out of the total Rs 102 crore allotted to it by the central government for promoting mechanisation in farming since 2014-15 under the Sub-Mission on Agricultural Mechanization (SMAM). As per the information provided by the Union minister of agriculture and farmers welfare Narendra Singh Tomar in the ongoing monsoon session of Parliament, Punjab could only utilise Rs 43 crore. Neighbouring Haryana utilised 87% of the funds out of the total Rs 194 crore released ...