Media Monitor
Agriculture Industry
Income of farmers growing at slower pace in Punjabedit
Hindustan Times – Online
Farm incomes in food-bowl Punjab are growing at a much slower pace than some traditionally poorer states, as new data suggest agriculture in the state has hit an immutable law of economics: diminishing returns. Punjab propelled India’s Green Revolution five decades ago, rescuing millions from hunger. But the gains are fast eroding. Experts say the income slowdown is linked to an overdependence on big cereals, such as wheat and rice. A slower pace of farm income growth in Punjab is borne out by the Situation Assessment of Agricultural Households 2018-19 (SAS), a national survey of farm incomes released recently.
Revealing India’s actual farmer populationedit
The Indian Express – Online
The last Agriculture Census for 2015-16 placed the total “operational holdings” in India at 146.45 million. The Pradhan Mantri-Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-Kisan) scheme has 110.94 million beneficiaries who got their Rs 2,000 income support installment for April-July 2021. And now, we have the National Statistical Office’s Situation Assessment of Agricultural Households (SAAH) report for 2018-19. It pegs the country’s “agricultural households” at 93.09 million. In short, India officially has anywhere from 90 million-plus to almost 150 million farmers. This wide variation has largely to do with methodology. The Agriculture Census looks at any land used even partly for agricultural production and operated/managed by one person alone or with others. The land does not have ...
After govt’s go-ahead, paddy procurement starts at Punjab, Haryana grain marketsedit
India Today – Online
Paddy procurement started at various Punjab and Haryana grain markets on Sunday. The farmers who were left high and dry by the Union government’s order heaved a sigh of relief and reached the markets with loaded tractor trolleys. The Union government, by starting the procurement, has also snatched a big issue from the opposition parties and farmers’ unions. “The crop was attacked by pests. The government has allowed the procurement from today but farmers started bringing their crop to the markets from September 25. They were left in the lurch by the government. Now there is a sudden rush at this grain market,” 63-year-old Gurmail Singh, a resident of Chakohi village said. He has sown ...
Stubble Burning
Punjab focuses on increasing use of paddy stubble in power generationedit
Hindustan Times – Online
With paddy harvest on since a fortnight, the Centre has pushed Punjab to focus on ex-situ management of the crop stubble. Ongoing schemes of in-situ management will continue. The ex-situ management of paddy stubble means adopting methods in which the stubble is moved from its original place. The most common way is to tie the stubble in bundles and supply it as fuel in biomass-based power generation plants, industrial boilers and in coal based-super critical power generating units. In in-situ, stubble is managing without moving it. The Centre’s Commission for Air Quality Management in National Capital Region and Adjoining Areas’ had asked Pnjab to do this, with experts claiming that ex-situ management involves lower cost.