Media Monitor
Agriculture Industry
Repeal of farm laws: A setback to agriculture reform processedit
Financial Express – Online
The three farm laws to reform the agricultural sector were approved by the President in September 2020 after being passed by the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha. Some groups of farmers challenged these laws, started agitations, and blocked roads leading to Delhi. The government and farmers have had 11 rounds of talks without any solution. Farmers were adamant for repeal as they perceived these laws will adversely affect prices of agricultural commodities and they will be exploited by the corporate sector. A group of farmers also welcomed the laws and perceived that these will open the way for competitive markets. At present, agricultural markets are restricted due to the Agriculture Produce Market Committee (APMC) ...
CLAAS Global Mentions
Panasonic Robot and Welding expands collaboration with Claas Saulgauedit
Robotics and Automation – Online
Claas Saugau is extending its production facilities with three new welding systems with a total of five Panasonic welding robots of the latest generation and technology. Frederik Kahlbau, key account manager for Claas Saulgau, says: “We delivered the first Panasonic welding system to Claas Saulgau GmbH in 2014. “Over the last few years, many other welding systems have been added. I am very pleased that we were able to convince the customer again with our technology and our ‘everything from a single source’ concept.” At the production facility in Bad Saulgau, Baden-Württemberg, Germany, Claas Saulgau produces mowers, tedders, windrowers, loader wagons, and chaff transport wagons. In addition, attachments as well as intake and ...
Competition
Anand Mahindra shares unique initiative to curb stubble burning. See postedit
Mint – Online
Anand Mahindra on Monday shared a video on social media platform Twitter which showed a foundation making efforts to revert the stubble back into soil. Mahindra in his post wrote, “Nature is powerful. Nature is regenerative.@naandi_india’s @UFCo_India proves this by reverting the stubble that has been the cause of pollution to where it belongs: back to the soil to add nutrients to the food we eat.” Stubble burning has been a prevalent cause for increased air pollution in Northern India. the air quality index remained poor to very poor after Diwali which also coincided with stubble burning by farmers. The air remained heavy with a blanket of smog throughout making it difficult to breathe. Earlier System ...
Dairy Farming
This Smart Collar for Cows Could Revolutionize Farmingedit
Krishi Jagran – Online
Here’s a cutting-edge solution that allows you to manage your farm from your smartphone. Halter, a New Zealand agtech startup, is ushering dairy cows into the future with GPS-enabled solar-powered collars that connect to a smartphone app. The collars vibrate softly to guide the cows, and the manufacturer claims that cows may learn to travel using the collar in as little as 4-5 days. Virtual fences keep cows in defined regions, and auditory signals from the collar will inform cows if they’re approaching a barrier – if they keep going, a quick pulse will stop them from escaping. Farmers can save 20-40 hours per week by automating cow movements, and pasture use can increase by ...
Monsoon + Indian Agriculture
Guntur: Rains, floods damage crops in 2.84 lakh hectareedit
The Hans India – Online
Bringing tears to the farmers across the state, heavy rains damaged various crops over 2,84,863 hectare in all the 13 districts of the state. Paddy crop alone was damaged in 2,33,237 hectare, according to preliminary reports reaching the agriculture commissioner’s office here on Monday. Cotton crop was damaged in 20,060 hectare, black gram in 12,336 hectare, maize in 2,925 ha, groundnut crop inundated in 4,721 ha, red gram damaged in 2,810 ha and castor was submerged in 2,609 hectare. Similarly, the jowar crop was inundated in 1,205 hectare. According to official sources, the paddy crop was the worst hit due to heavy rains and floods during the last four days. Paddy fields were ...
Paddy in India
Migrants now enter agri fields in Nellaiedit
The New Indian Express – Online
With no local workers available as they are all employed under Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) Scheme, the farmers in the district are left with no choice but to rope in migrant workers hailing from north Indian states for transplanting paddy. The farmers across the district have begun transplanting paddy saplings from nurseries to field for pisanam cultivation, thanks to the rains. “They are now hoping for a good harvest during Pongal festival as water from major dams have been released and rains filled the tanks across the district,” they said. Sources said until last year, the farmers hired local farm labourers to work in their land by offering ...
Centre ready to procure paddy, says Kishan Reddyedit
Deccan Chronicle – Online
Opening doors for making elaborate discussions with Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao on paddy procurement, Union minister for tourism G. Kishan Reddy on Monday reiterated that the Central government was ready to purchase paddy from Telangana without any restriction. The tourism minister blamed the Chief Minister for sitting in protest against the Central government on the issue of paddy procurement. “There is no issue on paddy procurement from the Central government. Chandrashekar Rao, who had a bitter experience in Huzurabad by-poll results, wanted to divert the attention of people by making false statements on paddy procurement,” Kishan Reddy said. During the movement for separate Telangana, Chandrashekar Rao never participated in the million march, Sagara Haram, ...
Stubble Burning
Dip in farm fires in neighbouring states of Delhi as kharif season endsedit
The New Indian Express – Online
Crop stubble burning instances in neighbouring states that saw a major spike this season with the numbers going as high as seen in 2016, are on a decline now with the kharif season coming to an end. This time the season has ended late, mainly because of delayed harvest. With farm fires being almost over, the city’s pollution scene is still going to be bad owing to local pollutants and adverse meteorological conditions as cold conditions set in, said experts. As per an analysis by the Council on Energy, Environment and Water (CEEW), this year Punjab and Haryana (combined) reported a total of 85,754 farm fires, highest since 2016. While the farm ...
‘Renewable gas can be solution to stubble burning in Punjab’edit
The Times of India – Online
Invest Punjab on Monday signed a memorandum of understanding with Punjab State Office-Renewable Gas Association of India (PSO-RGAI) for the promotion of setting up biofuel projects and compressed biogas plants (bio-CNG) in Punjab. RGAI president Subodh Kumar, who was also former executive director, Indian Oil, said, “This will serve as an advocacy voice for the protection, preservation and promotion of renewable gas to create additional and diverse market demand for renewable gas.” Maninder Singh, general secretary, RGAI, said, “We will encourage renewable gas produced from all feedstocks, using competing and sustainable technologies for all end-use applications. This will help scale up the potential primarily due to the abundance of unutilised agriculture feedstock ...
Fields of fire: Haryana sees big jump in stubble burning casesedit
Business Standard – Online
In mid-November, as the National Capital Region (NCR) was once again engulfed in a thick blanket of toxic smog, Sudhir Pandit, a farmer from Panipat in Haryana, debated on whether to spend Rs 2,000 per acre to get his farm cleared of crop stubbles or to simply burn them. He ended up doing the latter. “I have a loan of several lakhs of rupees. Last year, the government promised us Rs 1,000 per acre if we did not grow paddy (the crop that leaves behind the stubble), but I did not get anything. The government’s tall promises of providing decomposer machines and sprays also proved hollow,” says Pandit, his eyes watering from the heat ...
Tractor industry
From M&M to Escorts, tractor makers hitch a ride on farm machineryedit
Business Standard – Online
Last week, the Nanda family-owned Escorts Ltd signed a multi-layered deal with Kubota Corp, global agriculture equipment major, that will take the Osaka, Japan-headquartered shareholding to 53.50 per cent. It was a sign of a major shift in the nature of the agri-machinery business. Once the deal is complete, Escorts and Japan’s oldest tractor maker, Kubota, will firm up a plan for the next six to seven years. Part of the plan is to diversify the product range in a big way, including expanding the farm machinery section, which currently forms a small part of the business. Kubota will also use the cash reserve to set up a state-of-the-art global R&D centre, Bharat Madan, chief ...