Media Monitor
Agriculture Industry
The need of the hour: Bridging the gap between agri researches and farmersedit
The Indian Express – Online
The big question is: “How can farmers’ income from limited landholdings be enhanced when the input costs are ever-increasing?” Dr Balwinder Singh, former chief agriculture officer (CAO), department of agriculture, says, “There are several components, including providing fair price to the crop of farmers but one of the most crucial elements, which can contribute a lot to enhance the farmers’ income, is practising the modern scientific farming, which curtails input cost, increases productivity from small landholdings, saves water and environment. And it is possible only when every farmer is aware of the scientific techniques of the farming.” Agriculture extension services have a big role to play here, he says. “There is still a ...
CLAAS Global Mentions
Rear-mounted Claas Disco 4400 utilises Max Cut mower bededit
North Queensland Register – Online
Farmers can now cover more ground thanks to a new rear-mounted linkage side mower that boasts an impressive 4.2-metre operating width. The Claas Disco 4400 incorporates the award-winning Max Cut mower bed, central pivoting, floating suspension and a compact vertical transport position. Claas Harvest Centre Greenline product manager Blair McAlwee said since 2014 the Max Cut has set the standard for chop quality, ultra-smooth running and fuel efficiency. “Its innovative design enables the large drive sprockets of the mowing discs to be placed well forward, ensuring maximum possible overlap and surface area with multiple teeth engaging at two points,” Mr McAlwee said. “Uniform spacing between the discs ensures a consistent cut. “The wave-shaped ...
Dairy Farming
Cornext: This startup solves the fodder crisis for dairy farmersedit
Financial Express – Online
Founded in 2015 by three entrepreneurs—Madhav Kshatriya, Amarnath Sarangula and Feroz Ahmed—Cornext has taken an integrated approach to help dairy farmers. This agritech startup offers low-cost, innovative quality feeding solutions for the dairy farmers. Kshatriya, an MBA from Australia and a dairy farmer himself, has an in-depth understanding of the pain points of a dairy farmer. Sarangula, an IITian with experience in strategic planning, integrates proprietary baling technology with decentralised rural entrepreneurial ecosystem. Ahmed, a logistics expert, brings innovation in low-value-high-volume logistics. Recently, Cornext became one among the seven startups selected from India for the ‘Indo Israel Cohort Program’ jointly launched by Startup Nation Central, Israel, TiE Hyderabad and TiE Israel. Kshatriya, CEO of Cornext, ...
Paddy in India
Telangana: Paddy farmers concern about crop switch, want mappingedit
The Times of India – Online
With the impending need to reduce area under paddy cultivation, for many farmers the switch is a question of necessity rather than choice. Majority of farmers are concerned about challenges of water management. Many farmers in Vikarabad shared their thoughts on crop switch with STOI, saying that there has to be mapping of paddy appropriate land and fields not favourable to conversion. Sharing the concerns of farmers not only in the district, but also in the state, N Mohan Reddy of Kothagadi village in Vikarabad district, who is into vegetable and paddy cultivation, stated, “If an acre goes into paddy cultivation, the nearby farmers are also forced to cultivate paddy due to canal ...
Rabi trends reveal big shift from paddy to alternativesedit
The New Indian Express – Online
Going by early cropping trends, farmers across Telangana appear to have made up their minds to go for alternative crops this Rabi season. As against 46,49,676 acres being the normal area of cultivation, as of November 24, farmers have sown their crops in 7,19,105 acres. A major shift was seen in maize, which has taken a leap from 5,811 acres sown by this time last Rabi, to 71,767 acres this season. Groundnut cultivation has also gone up from 1,03,521 acres by this time last year to 2,72,314 acres this season. It has especially seen a jump in Nagarkurnool district by 16,000 acres above the season’s normal area sown, and is being cultivated ...
Govt to procure paddy at MSP announced by Centreedit
The New Indian Express – Online
As much as 77.65 lakh metric tonnes of paddy production is estimated in the current Kharif season in Andhra Pradesh. It also includes preferred and marketable varieties, seed and domestic consumption varieties and those procured under MSP. The Centre has fixed an MSP of Rs 1,960 per quintal for Grade A variety and Rs 1,940 per quintal for common variety for 2021-22. The data was disclosed in the recently concluded session of the State Assembly by Agriculture Minister Kurasala Kannababu. As per the recommendation of a Group of Ministers, it has been decided to pay 100 per cent MSP to farmers and establish paddy procurement centres at Rythu Bharosa Kendras (RBKs) in paddy ...
Stubble Burning
Promote simple solutions to curb farm firesedit
The Tribune – Online
THE market forces have found an opportunity in adversity. Paddy straw burning in Punjab is a problem that continues to make farm machine manufacturers richer by crores of rupees. Every year, we get new and costlier machines which are marketed as the ‘ultimate solution’ to dispose of the surplus straw, but the menace persists. This is because all these farm machines have a limitation. Whether it’s a Happy Seeder, Super Seeder or Baler-Raker combination, these can’t cover more than 100 acres in a season, even as Punjab grows paddy on around 77 lakh acres. By this estimate, the state would need 77,000 machines which cost Rs 2-16 lakh. Even if we take the lowest cost ...
A solution to stubble burning that gets to its root causeedit
ThePrint – Online
North India is once again engulfed by a thick layer of smog as rice stubble burning across Punjab and Haryana continues unabated, contributing to high levels of air pollution in the region. Poor air quality has already spurred radical action from the Supreme Court of India, which ordered authorities in New Delhi and nearby cities to shut offices and demanded action to halt crop waste fires. Far from a mere nuisance, pollution from stubble burning poses a serious risk to the health and safety of people. In 2019, 20 per cent of all deaths in the country were attributable to air pollution, costing an estimated 1.36 per cent of GDP. The pandemic has only heightened the ...