Media Monitor
Agriculture Industry
Karnataka government to study natural farming on 4,000 acresedit
The New Indian Express – Online
In a first-of-its-kind initiative in the country, the Karnataka government will focus on natural farming and will grow crops without using chemical fertilisers and insecticides on 4,000 acres, with 1,000 acres each in Krishi Vijnana Kendras attached to four Universities of Agriculture Sciences across the state. The decision has been taken as there is an increasing demand for chemical-free vegetables and fruits. Starting this pre-monsoon, the government will take up the study on chemical-free farming in association with the four agriculture universities — situated in Bengaluru, Dharwad, Raichur and Shivamogga. Once the yield is good, natural farming methods will be taught to farmers. Agriculture Minister BC Patil told The New Indian Express that ...
Carbon Credits: Incentivising sustainable agriculture for the Indian farmeredit
The Times of India – Online
Agriculture is one of the sectors that registered robust growth even during the COVID19 pandemic phase because of the necessity to feed the global population, its potential to support economic growth, create and sustain jobs and boost exports. When most industries were reducing employment, agriculture saw an increase in employment ratios. Now that we are past the COVID phase, India is back on track to chase its goal of reaching the $5 trillion economic target by 2024/25. While every sector of the country will strive to attain this goal, its impact on the consumption of natural and energy resources will be tremendous. As the fastest growing economy, India is only behind China and ...
Govt. Policies
Odisha surrenders Rs 9 crore farmers’ incentive to Centreedit
The New Indian Express – Online
The State government has had to surrender Rs 9 crore production subsidy to the Centre for the negligence of the Agriculture and Farmers’ Empower department. The department which received the Central assistance in 2021-22 for promotion of hybrid paddy seeds to improve the seed replacement rate (SRR) to retain the hybrid vigour and increase productivity could not disburse the fund among the seed growing farmers before the closure of the financial year. As a result, around 6,000 farmers who had supplied certified hybrid seeds of drought, flood, saline and pest resistance varieties to the Odisha State Seed Corporation (OSSC) were deprived of their incentives which is given at the rate of Rs 2,000 ...
Paddy in India
Political frenzy over paddy procurementedit
The Hans India – Online
On one hand, land and soil are under triple threat from climate change, land degradation and biodiversity loss. The Commonwealth has given a Call for Action on Living Lands (CALL). It emphasises that it is necessary to implement “targets agreed under the three Rio Conventions influencing policies and harnessing co-benefits in pursuit of a shared vision of living in harmony with nature.” The statement affirmed that the objectives of the Movement to Save Soil align with the CALL objectives. The global effort to save soil from extinction is steadily gaining support from several quarters. Political, business, social, ecological and cultural leaders in addition to celebrated artists, sportspersons and citizens from around the world are ...
Paddy procurement for kharif crops extended till April 15edit
The Telegraph – Online
The state food, civil supplies and consumers affairs department has extended paddy procurement for kharif crops for the 2021-22 season till April 15 after failing to meet its procurement target. State had announced to procure 80 lakh tones of paddy this year, about 20 lakh tones more than the previous year. However, as per the data available from the department, till April 3 (Sunday), state managed to procure only close to 70 lakh tones. Confirming the extension of procurement window by another two weeks, state food and civil supplies director Dilip Tirkey today said, “The department has decided to continue procurement of paddy at minimum support centres (MSP) till April 15 now. Earlier it was ...
Stubble Burning
Create mass awareness to tackle stubble burning, says CAQM chiefedit
Hindustan Times – Online
For having a better understanding of pollution and its associated impact on urban planning in the national capital region (NCR), the Haryana IAS officers’ association on Saturday got together a bunch of experts, academicians and administrators to share ideas during a seminar on pollution and urban planning issues in the NCR. Chief secretary Sanjeev Kaushal said ample practical knowledge shared by subject experts will help the officers in better implementation and formulation of plans and strategies to tackle the global issue. Chairperson, Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) in the NCR and adjoining areas, Dr MM Kutty said a mass awareness campaign along with extensive information, education and communication (IEC) activities should be launched to ...