Media Monitor
Agriculture Industry
India’s decarbonization journey poses USD 15 trillion economic opportunity by 2070edit
ET Auto – Online
India’s decarbonization journey represents upwards of a USD 15 trillion economic opportunity by 2070 with the potential to create as many as 50 million net new jobs, said a World Economic Forum (WEF) report released on Monday. The report ‘Mission 2070: A Green New Deal for a Net-Zero India’ provides a roadmap for India’s transition to a low-carbon economy as it moves away from agriculture and services to manufacturing and a greener economy. “With concerted action, the first USD 1 trillion of this opportunity could potentially materialize within this decade. Given this context, it is time for a Green New Deal for India,” it said. Published in collaboration with Kearney and the Observer Research Foundation, ...
DAP supply: Punjab govt deploys team for better coordination with Centreedit
Hindustan Times – Online
Agriculture minister Randeep Singh Nabha said the team of officers from the department would oversee the rakes allocation to Punjab while sitting in the control room made by the central government in New Delhi. “This would help us asking for more share allocation against our pending demand of the DAP,” he said after a meeting to review availability of DAP in the state via video conferencing with all the chief agriculture officers. The minister asked all chief agriculture officers of the districts to ensure that retailers, cooperative societies and even individual farmers, do not illegally hoard DAP unnecessarily, which may lead to panic buying and unrest amongst farmers of the state.
Not signed up to COP26 Action Agenda on Sustainable Agriculture, says Indiaedit
The Economic Times – Online
India on Tuesday dismissed reports that it had signed up to the Action Agenda on Sustainable Agriculture at the ongoing COP26 climate summit in Glasgow as “baseless” and “factually incorrect”. The ‘Sustainable Agriculture Policy Action Agenda for the Transition to Sustainable Agriculture and Global Action Agenda for Innovation in Agriculture’ was pegged as a highlight over the weekend at the 26th Conference of Parties (COP26) of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).
Competition
Mahindra investors are looking at a smooth road aheadedit
Live Mint – Online
The performance of the tractors business has been underwhelming on the whole. Apart from the drop in sales, realizations, too, grew at a modest 8% y-o-y and 4% sequentially. To be sure, the modest performance is also due to a high base of the previous years. Analysts expected the farm segment to improve in the coming quarters due to a better monsoon and robust rabi season output. However, the silver lining in the farm segment has been the 190 basis points gain in market share for the company. One basis point is one-hundredth of a percentage point.
M&M gains after strong Q2 resultedit
Business Standard – Online
Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) rose 1.82% to Rs 874.90 after the company’s standalone net profit before exceptional items rose 29% to Rs 1,687 crore in Q2 September 2021 as against Rs 1,311 crore in Q2 September 2020. M&M’s net profit after adjusting for exceptional items surged to Rs 1,432 crore in Q2 September 2021 from Rs 162 crore in Q2 September 2020. Revenue rose 15% to Rs 13,305 crore in Q2 September 2021 compared with Rs 11,590 crore in Q2 September 2020. EBITDA fell 19% to Rs 1,660 crore in the second quarter from Rs 2,057 crore reported in the same period last year. M&M Group enjoys a leadership position in farm equipment, utility vehicles, ...
Farm Mechanization
Seize the combine harvester without SMS and GPSedit
Jagran – Online
On the orders of the NGT, the district administration has become strict to effectively stop the incidents of stubble burning. District Magistrate Rajesh Kumar has directed all the SDMs and jurisdictional officers that if any combine harvester is found harvesting without SMS (Straw Management System) and GPS system, then immediate action should be taken to stop it. The DM has directed the Revenue Department’s Accountant and Agriculture Department employees to be constantly traveling in their field of work and give proper information about crop residue management to the farmers. Despite this, if any incident of crop residue burning comes to light, then action of recovery and fine should be ensured against the concerned as per rules ...
Govt. Policies
Telangana’s agriculture sector gets big boost with pro-farmer initiativesedit
Telangana Today – Online
From parched lands to frequent drought situations, farmers across Telangana used to face untold miseries due to complete neglect of the agriculture sector by rulers in undivided Andhra Pradesh. But after separate Telangana was carved out, the TRS government accorded top priority to the agriculture sector and came up with a slew of pro-farmer initiatives resulting in significant growth of agriculture and allied activities in the State. Since agriculture is the backbone of rural development in the State, the government has been relentlessly striving to drive the sector’s growth and increase farmers’ income apart from focusing on their welfare.
Monsoon + Indian Agriculture
Rains, excess water turn fields into puddlesedit
The New Indian Express – Online
Torrential rains that lashed the State, coupled with the release of excess water from the Madhurantakam lake, flattened several acres of paddy crops in the vicinity. Half of the crops were to be harvested in a few days. Chithamoor, Mudukarai, Nethapakkam, Melandai, Pazhavur and Perunkaranai are among the worse-affected areas. As much as 500 cusecs of water is being released from Madhurantakam since Monday noon. “All the areas are agricultural lands. The scenario is not like in cities, where officials rush to work immediately after a cyclone. The response is very delayed, and by then, the damage is done,” said Vijaya Rajan, a farmer. Due to a good monsoon and continuous flow of ...
Paddy in India
Order to stop procurement of paddy from govt mandis in Punjab a ‘Tughlaqi farman’: AAPedit
The Indian Express – Online
Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) senior leader and Leader of Opposition, Harpal Singh Cheema, on Tuesday termed the Punjab government’s order to stop procurement of paddy from mandis of the state as a ‘Tughlaqi farman’ and demanded that the purchase in all government mandis continued. “Due to bad weather, the ripening and harvesting of paddy have been delayed this time due to which about 20 per cent of the crop is yet to reach the mandis,” Cheema said in a statement released in Chandigarh on Tuesday. He added that despite the delay in harvesting paddy due to natural calamity, the Modi government at the Centre and Channi government in Punjab were deliberately stopping procurement in ...
Kishan ploughs into paddy war,slams CM KCRedit
The Times Of India – Online
The war of words between the ruling TRS and the BJP escalated on Tuesday with Union tourism minister G Kishan Reddy criticising the TRS government for giving exaggerated indents to the Centre for paddy procurement after agreeing to a limited quantity. Addressing a press conference in Delhi, the minister slammed chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao for claiming that the Centre was defrauding Telangana’s farmers. “A few months ago, Telangana agreed at a meeting of all states that 40 lakh metric tonnes can be procured from the state. Within a few months, they sent an indent saying there is an expected paddy yield of 108 lakh MTs,” he said.
Govt procures over 20.9 mn tonnes of paddy this Kharif marketing seasonedit
Business Standard – Online
The government on Tuesday said it has procured 209.52 lakh tonne of paddy so far in the current Kharif marketing season for over Rs 41,066.80 crore. The Kharif marketing season (KMS) 2021-22 runs from October to September. Food Corporation of India (FCI) is the government’s nodal agency for the procurement and distribution of foodgrains. In a statement, the Food Ministry said 209.52 lakh tonne of paddy has been purchased till November 8 of the ongoing Kharif marketing season.
Telangana Agriculture Minister Niranjan Reddy asks BJP to come clean on paddy procurementedit
The New Indian Express – Online
Asking the BJP leadership not to beat around the bush on the paddy procurement issue, Agriculture Minister S Niranjan Reddy asked Union Minister G Kishan Reddy to answer whether the Centre would procure paddy for the upcoming Rabi season or not. Responding to Kishan Reddy’s statement that the Centre would procure raw rice in a phased manner on Tuesday, Niranjan Reddy said that even farmers knew that growing raw rice in Rabi would result in 40-50 per cent grains becoming broken rice, when milled after March.
Stubble Burning
A solution to India’s stubble burning and climate change problems is growing around its citiesedit
Scroll – Online
With the onset of winter, a blanket of smog has once again settled over northern India, caused in part by deleterious agricultural practices. Heedless of the environmental outcome of their action, farmers in the region are burning crop stubble in fields to reduce manual drudgery and expedite sowing of winter crops. It is an annual civic tragedy, a reflection of how current farming practices contribute to public health and climate challenges. But there is quiet cause for hope. Over the last couple of years, some farmers near Delhi have opted to sell crop residue so its rich organic content including carbon can be used to enrich soil rather than be released into the atmosphere as a ...
Delhi is suffocating, stubble is being burnt fiercely in Punjab! see what the farmer saidedit
Aaj Tak – Online
A hearing is to be held in the Supreme Court today regarding the polluted air in Delhi-NCR. Every year in this season the air of Delhi gets worse but governments throw rubbish of accusations on each other. The Kejriwal government has once held the stubble burning in neighboring states responsible for Delhi’s stifling air. In such a situation, all eyes are on the Supreme Court. Meanwhile, it is necessary to see the report of our correspondent Aishwarya Paliwal which tells how stubble burning is being done indiscriminately in Punjab. This stubble burning in the fields spoiled the condition of the environment, these days you will see a similar sight in different districts of Punjab. The ...
47,409 farm fires in Punjab so far, 72% of them in Novemberedit
The Indian Express – Online
While the Punjab Pollution Control Board (PPCB) has imposed over Rs 56 lakh environmental compensation on farmers for burning stubble this season, the total farm fires in the state crossed the 2019 figure for the corresponding period.The figure, however, is lower than last year. Out of total 47, 409 stubble burning incidents this year, 72 per cent have been recorded in the past nine days from November 1 to November 9. Where 5,079 fires were reported on November 9, from November 1 to November 9, total 34,285 farm fires were reported which comes to 72 per cent of the total fires reported from September 16 to November 9th (55 days).
Stubble burning: AAP promises free spraying of bio-decomposer in Punjab if party forms govtedit
India TV News – Online
AAP leader and Delhi Environment Minister Gopal Rai on Tuesday said free spraying of bio-decomposer will be ensured in Punjab to curb crop residue burning if his party forms government in the state. The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) is the main opposition party in Punjab, where assembly elections are slated for next year. Farmers cannot be blamed for unrestrained crop residue burning in neighbouring states as it is the governments there which have failed to provide an alternative, Rai said. The share of farm fires in Delhi’s pollution rose to a three-year high of 48 per cent on Sunday, and on Monday, government agencies reported 5,450 farm fires, the highest this season, in neighboring ...
Delhi’s AQI ‘severe’ again; stubble burning behind 27% of PM2.5 pollutionedit
Business Standard – Online
Delhi’s air quality slipped to the “severe” category again on Tuesday with stubble burning accounting for 27 per cent of its PM2.5 pollution, authorities said. Low temperature — Delhi recorded a minimum of 13.5 degrees Celsius on Tuesday, the season’s lowest so far — allowed accumulation of pollutants, said Mahesh Palawat, vice president (meteorology and climate change), Skymet Weather. The minimum temperature is expected to dip to 10 degrees by November 15, the India Meteorological Department said.
Punjab farmers burning stubble due to lack of machines, release funds: AAP MLA to CMedit
The Indian Express – Online
Condemning the Punjab government for “not providing timely funds” to farmers and agricultural societies to buy subsidised agricultural machinery, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MLA Aman Arora has written to Punjab Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi, demanding immediate release of outstanding subsidy for equipment needed to dispose of paddy stubble. “Farmers and agricultural societies of Punjab had submitted more than 61,000 applications to the Agriculture Department for procurement of various machines for sowing of crops and disposal of crop residues, but these applications have been gathering dust in the offices of the Agriculture Department for a long time. However, the farmers of Punjab are being forced to burn paddy stubble due to lack of machinery,” ...