Media Monitor
Agriculture Industry
The Imperatives of India’s Climate Responseedit
ORF – Online
As the global climate crisis intensifies, nations are becoming more hard-pressed to formulate responses that will be acceptable to all stakeholders. In an effort to understand India’s approach to addressing the challenges of climate change, this paper describes the natural circumstances that have historically shaped its responses. The paper also discusses the most crucial imperatives that have guided such actions and suggests that these will continue to play a dominant role in the future. The paper argues that any broad deviation from this course of action will not be sustainable as India’s natural circumstances continue to influence its economy and public life.
MP: Tractors make way for bulls in Bundelkhand farmsedit
The Times Of India – Online
Unprecedented hike in the cost of diesel has severely affected the culture of cultivation in the backward lands of Bundelkhand. From tractors, the farmers are going back to the days when bulls were used for ploughing. The age-old tradition seems to be back in demand as the poor farmers are not able to bear the continuous rise in diesel prices. As the kharif crops failed in the arid region because of the vagaries in weather this year too, farmers can be seen preparing fields for rabi crops using bulls. Diesel is even costlier in places such as Chhatarpur, Tikamgarh and Damoh as compared to Bhopal. Farmers said they could not afford tractors as ...
‘Encourage farmers to cultivate dry land crops’edit
Telangana Today – Online
District Collector T Vinay Krishna Reddy on Monday instructed officials of the Agriculture department to encourage farmers to take up cultivation of dry land crops instead of paddy during the Yasangi crop season. Speaking at a meeting held with officials of agriculture and horticulture departments here, he said there was need to conduct awareness programmes to encourage farmers to take up cultivation of dry land crops including Bengal gram, black gram, green gram, sesame seeds and sunflower during Yasangi. He pointed out that the Food Corporation of India (FCI) may not purchase paddy produced during Yasangi. He also instructed the officials to prepare an action plan for Yasangi crop season at the earliest.
Technology in Agriculture
Importance of Research Investment to Support New Technologies for Farmer’s Benefitedit
Krishi Jagran – Online
Food is essential to our lives and livelihoods. An estimated 1.1 billion people are engaged in agriculture globally with approximately 234.1 million agricultural workers from India comprising 41.49% of the total work force and contributing 18% to India’s GDP. The world has 15.75 million km2 of arable land out of which 52.8% belongs to India with 15 agro-climatic zones capable of growing a variety of crops. Agriculture accounted for 45% of global employment in 1991 which decreased to 31% in 2013. This decrease, especially in India, is due to migration of rural work force to urban areas in search for a better employment and quality of life.
Paddy in India
Nalgonda: Farmers exhorted to shun paddyedit
The Hans India – Online
District CollectorPrashanth Jeevan Patil has appealed to farmers not to cultivate paddy in the coming Yasangi (second crop).On Monday, he held a meeting with the officials of agriculture and horticulture departments to discuss the cultivation of alternatives crops during the Yasangi season. The Collector informed that Food Corporation of India (FCI) was not going to purchase paddy in Yasangi and the farmers would face hardships should they go paddy again.He asked them to opt for groundnut, pulses, sesame and cowpeas as alternative crops that provide better income.
Paddy Harvest Ruined Due To Heavy Rains In Punjabedit
Krishi Jagran – Online
Paddy is harvested by October 25 in the region of Punjab, due to the swift onset of Rabi cropping season and the need to clear the fields to start sowing wheat (another Cash crop of India). The Paddy harvest of farmers in Punjab is ruined due to an unexpected downpour. Due to the late onset of monsoon, the farmers had already suffered enough this year, however harsh winds and late withdrawing monsoon have also left Punjab’s paddy harvest in tatters.
Stubble Burning
India Leads the World in Crop‑Burning Emissions: Reportedit
The Swaddle – Online
A new report has found that India holds the top spot globally for crop-burning emissions. We are responsible for 13% of the total global emissions from crop burning between 2015-2020. With winter just around the corner, this report is an alarming reminder of the horrors to expect in the national capital and its adjoining areas soon. Crop burning, or stubble burning, involves setting fire to fields to remove crop residue from previous harvests. It is an affordable method to remove weeds and pests too. But, unfortunately, it also leads to severe air pollution. As winter approaches, farmers in the country’s northwestern states start burning leftover paddy stubble to get their fields ready in time to ...
Delhi Air Quality Satisfactory; Impact of Stubble Burning May ‘increase Rapidly’ from Oct 27edit
News18 – Online
The air quality in the national capital improved to the satisfactory category on Monday with the rainfall on Sunday evening washing down pollutants from local sources and reducing the impact of stubble burning, authorities said. According to the Central Pollution Control Board, Delhi’s 24-hour average air quality index (AQI) improved from 160 on Sunday to 82 on Monday. An AQI between zero and 50 is considered “good”, 51 and 100 “satisfactory”, 101 and 200 “moderate”, 201 and 300 “poor”, 301 and 400 “very poor”, and 401 and 500 “severe”. The Ministry of Earth Sciences’ forecast agency SAFAR said the air quality is likely to remain in the satisfactory to moderate categories for the next three days. ...
Stubble Burning: The Soot of Bad Agri Policies?edit
The Wire – Online
Every year, due to a lack of alternatives, farmers are compelled to set their paddy fields ablaze to prepare the land for the sowing of wheat. This practice, known as ‘stubble burning’, gives rise to several problems, such as adversely affecting the quality of the land and causing widespread air pollution, the effects of which are felt in Delhi and other neighbouring cities. The Wire’s Indra Shekhar Singh travels to Punjab’s paddy belt in Mogha and Ludhiana to talk to farmers, machine operators and ‘happy seeder’ owners to try and understand the origins of the issue, the current challenges which these individuals face and potential solutions which could change the future of stubble burning in ...