Media Monitor
Agriculture Industry
India spends $3 billion each year on agricultural innovation; only 4% of it ‘sustainable’edit
Hindustan Times – Online
India spends over $3 billion annually ($25 billion for the period 2010-2018) on agricultural innovation, including investments by the government, development partners, private sector, and private equity and venture capitalist firms. While this is substantial, the per capita spending on agricultural innovation is less than $2.5 per person per year, data shows. The Indian government is the largest funder of agricultural innovation in the country by a wide margin and spends $25 billion annually on agriculture, of which about 10% is estimated to be towards innovation.
Govt. Policies
Agricultural Machinery: Buy agricultural machinery on 50% subsidy, registration is being done in this stateedit
Aaj Tak – Online
As farmers are turning towards new technologies in agriculture, the demand for agricultural machinery is also increasing in agriculture. In today’s era, agriculture cannot be imagined without agricultural machinery. In view of this, the Government of Uttar Pradesh is giving the facility of registration of agricultural machinery and custom hiring center division wise to the farmers at affordable rates. Farmers of the state can get agricultural machinery on up to 50% grant and custom hiring center on 40% grant by registering district wise on the scheduled date. For this, they will not have to deposit any security deposit for agricultural machines with a grant of up to ten thousand rupees. 2500 will have to be ...
Andhra Pradesh govt to help farmers get mechanised toolsedit
The Times Of India – Online
The state government has launched YSR Farm Mechanisation Scheme to provide mechanised agriculture tools to the farmers. The government, under the scheme, will spend Rs 2,133.75 crore to establish Community Hiring Centres (CHCs) across the state. These CHCs would be attached to the existing Rythu Bharosa Kendras (RBKs). According to the initial information, the government has proposed to establish 10,750 CHCs in the state. Before these CHCs are established, the government wants to form farmers’ cooperative societies, attached to the RBKs. The government has already established 2,520 CHCs in the state spending Rs 98 crore.
Paddy in India
Payment delay worries paddy farmers in Haryanaedit
Hindustan Times – Online
Having sold 207 quintals of paddy to the government at an MSP of ₹1,960 per quintal, Munish Kumar, a young farmer from Kurukshetra’s Gurhi village, is still unable to clear the dues of his labourers. Reason: He is yet to get the payment from the government. Munish says that he had sold his produce, worth over ₹4 lakh, to the government on October 4. Apart from clearing the labourers’ dues, Munish also need the money urgently for purchasing seeds and fertilisers for the next crop—potato and mustard – but the delay on the end of the government is spelling trouble for him. Jashmer Singh of Kheri Dabdalan village of Kurukshetra also has a similar complaint. ...
Despite govt claims, Karnal farmers yet to be paid for paddyedit
The Times Of India – Online
Even as paddy procurement had started in Haryana on October 3, most of the farmers in Karnal district have complained that the state government is yet to pay them any any money against the purchase of their produce. The farmers and arhtiyas of the district said that on the one hand, the government claim to release payment of produce within 72 hours of procurement, but on the other hand hand in Karnal, they had not received payment even after one week. Sources have claimed that some farmers have received their payments from HAFED, but the process has been really slow this year. According to the official data, till October 10, a total of ...
Stubble Burning
Fewer stubble fires so far, but likely to flare up, say expertsedit
Hindustan Times – Online
Between September 1 and October 10, there were fewer cases of stubble burning in Punjab and Haryana than in the corresponding period last year, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s (NASA) satellite data has shown. But experts say this may not be a good indicator of the things to come as the late withdrawal of the monsoon from northwest India may just have delayed the fires. NASA data shows that farm fires were spotted in Punjab around September 15, with around 10-15 showing up on satellite data. The numbers started picking up around September 27, when the count reached 40.
How to get farmers to not burn crop residueedit
The Indian Express – Online
In a few weeks, millions in India will breathe much more polluted air as farmers across northern India burn stubble to clear fields for the winter wheat sowing season. It is both a health and an environmental hazard that repeats every year — one that a 2018 Lancet study found to be the number one reason for premature deaths in India. Cash payments — despite failed past attempts — remain a promising way to address this health emergency in the short run. Annually, Indian farmers set some 92 million tonnes of crop residues on fire. Many are aware of the health costs to themselves and others. But they are caught between a rock and ...
Will have to burn stubble if state govt doesn’t compensate us, say Punjab farmersedit
India Today – Online
Punjab’s farmers have warned the state government that they will be left with no other choice than to burn stubble if they are not paid compensation as directed by the Supreme Court. Claiming that they spend Rs 6,000 per hectare on getting stubble burnt, farmers say the state government has failed to compensate them. Farmers in Bathinda dumped a tractor load of stubble in front of the District Magistrate’s office in protest on Monday. Similarly, farmers in Punjab’s Roopnagar submitted a memorandum to the District Collector, demanding compensation for not burning farm residue. Paddy straws will have to be burnt if compensation is not paid, the memorandum read.
Agritech firm partners with IARI to offer solutions that can prevent stubble burningedit
Financial Express – Online
Over 5.7 million acres of rice paddy stubble is burned on farms in the northern parts of India every year, leading to environmental issues, depletion of soil quality and loss of flora and fauna. The stubble smog engulfs Delhi and its surrounding areas during October and November. This year, an agri-tech start-up firm based out of Bengaluru — nurture.farm — hopes to make a difference. The firm has partnered with the Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI) to improvise the Pusa decomposer by providing capsules developed by the institute into a ready-to-use spray solution and use this to stop the stubble burning to some extent.
Delhi begins spraying Pusa bio-decomposer in fields to prevent stubble burningedit
India Today – Online
On Monday, Delhi Environment Minister Gopal Rai reached his farm located in North Delhi’s Fatehpur Jat village. He sprayed the bio-decomposer created by the ICAR- Indian Agriculture Research Institute (Pusa) on Pehelwan’s fields and kick-started the program aimed to decompose the stubble on the farms and eliminate another factor that chokes Delhi during the winters. “As winter approaches, the stubble burning in the adjoining states begins. It becomes yet another factor aggravating Delhi’s air pollution crisis,” Gopal Rai told India Today.
Tractor industry
Anand Mahindra Welcomes Yuvo Tech+ Tractor; ‘critical For Maintaining Food Security’edit
Republic World – Online
Anand Mahindra, the Chairman of the Mahindra and Mahindra group, on Monday shared a coup d’œil of the all-new Mahindra Yuvo Tech+. The automaker said that the new offering comes with advanced technology and has a power-packed engine with best-in-class mileage. The industrialist said that the Yuvo Tech+ will be critical in maintaining the country’s food security. “Welcome to the family, Yuvo Tech+! When cars are launched they attract all the attention, but you, with your advanced & relevant technology, will be critical to maintaining our nation’s food security,” Anand Mahindra said. The Twitter handle of Mahindra tractors while defining Yuvo Tech+ said, “Farmers, be ready to become truly #1! Presenting the all-new Mahindra Yuvo ...