Money Control – Online

The Centre has procured a record 873.68 lakh tonnes of paddy so far in the 2020-21 marketing year ending September for nearly Rs 1.65 lakh crore. Paddy procurement has reached at an all-time high level, surpassing previous high of 773.45 lakh tonnes in KMS (Kharif Marketing Season) 2019-20, an official statement said. “About 129.03 lakh farmers have already been benefited from the ongoing KMS procurement operations with MSP value of Rs 1,64,951.77 crore,” it said. Paddy procurement in the ongoing KMS 2020-21 is continuing smoothly in the procuring states. Kharif marketing season runs from October to September.

Scroll – Online

Unemployment had been a problem even before the first lockdown. In December 2019, about 48% of India’s workforce was self-employed and by August 2020, this number rose to 64%, indicating declining job opportunities, IndiaSpend reported in January. Sixteen million jobs were added in July, but all the additional jobs were of “poor quality”, noted an August 5 report by the Centre for Monitoring of Indian Economy, a think-tank. Nearly 70% of the jobs were in the agriculture sector, owing to the monsoon sowing season. In 2020-’21, the demand for work by Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme workers increased by 43% to 13.3 crore people compared to 2019-’20, of which 84% were provided with some ...

Scroll – Online

India does not collect any gender-disaggregated data on land ownership, but the agricultural census comes close: it provides gender-wise data on operational land holdings, a term that refers to pieces of land that are operated as units, irrespective of legal ownership. While the population census of 2011 found that 77.3% of working women in rural India were engaged in agricultural work, the last agricultural census of 2015-’16 found that women operate just 13.9% of India’s operational land holdings – that is, they manage and make key decisions about these holdings. This was a marginal increase from the 12.8% recorded in the 2010-2011 agricultural census. Gujarat fared slightly better than the national average. Even though the population ...

Telangana Today – Online

Telangana is likely to become the largest producer of paddy in the country yet again. With paddy being cultivated in about 55 lakh acres during the ongoing Vaanakalam (Kharif) season, the paddy production estimates are pegged at 1.48 crore tonnes. Agriculture Minister S Niranjan Reddy instructed the officials to create adequate godown space for storing the paddy. While the Food Corporation of India (FCI) had already agreed to procure 60 lakh tonnes of paddy, the State government has decided to urge the former to purchase another 15-20 lakh tonnes of paddy additionally. The issue will be taken up with Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao before writing to the Central government.

Krishi Jagran – Online

According to data released on Sunday by the Agriculture Ministry, in the current Kharif season of the 2021-22 crop year (July-June), the sown area of summer crops like paddy was lagging behind by 1.55 percent at 1,043.87 lakh hectare so far. Farmers planted summer crops (Kharif) on 1060.37 lakh hectare in the previous year. The planting of Kharif crops begins with the onset of southwest monsoon from June. The ministry said, “Monsoon rainfall fell by 8% between June 1 and August 20.” The amount of stored water available in 130 reservoirs in the country accounted for 96% of the water stored in operation during the corresponding period last year and 99% of the average water ...

BW BusinessWorld – Online

The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet, under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on Monday, has appointed Priya Ranjan, Indian Forest Service (IFoS) of the Rajasthan Cadre from 1998 batch as Joint Secretary, Department of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare. Priya Ranjan, Indian Forest Service (IFoS) of the Rajasthan Cadre from the 1998 batch, has been appointed as joint secretary for a combined tenure of five years from the date of assumption of the charge of the post or until further orders. As per the official statement, “Priya Ranjan, IFoS (RJ:1998) appointed as Joint Secretary, Department of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare for a tenure of five years from the date of assumption of the charge ...