The Times of India – Online

Agriculture is one sector that takes all the four factors of production – land, labour, capital, and organisation/management – in full measure, and consumes the scarcest resource water additionally. Several limitations surround the future of agriculture. Land is limited and there are several claims from dwellers to industrialists. So is water and capital. Management depends on the absorption of the latest technologies. India has only 4 percent of world’s wate resources. Its present population of around 1.39bn is likely to escalate to 1.69bn according to population experts. Improving (a) water resources’ optimization, (b) productivity of the small holdings that constitute 50 percent of the arable land, (c) technologies unique to the production systems ...

Hindustan Times – Online

Under the leadership of Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi, the Union ministry of agriculture and farmers welfare has rolled out innovative schemes to reform the farm sector and empower farmers. Thanks to these schemes and programmes, the livelihood standards of farmers are improving, central grants are reaching their bank accounts in a transparent manner, and farming is emerging as a viable business proposition. In the last eight years, the budget allocation for the ministry has increased by almost six times. This fiscal’s allocation, ₹1.32 lakh crore, is a reflection of the Union government’s focus on the welfare of farmers. The record production of food grains and horticultural crops also proves that the increased allocation is ...

DownToEarth – Online

India’s public expenditure on agriculture as a fraction of total expense fell to 9.5 per in 2019-20 from 11 per cent in 2010-11 amid a a sharp fall in the Union government’s expenditure on agriculture as a share of gross value added (GVA) by the sector, claimed a study by Foundation of Agrarian Studies (FAS). The share of agricultural in India’s total GVA fell in this period to 17.8 per cent from 18.2 per cent, the study found. Public expenditure on agriculture thus has declined faster than agriculture’s relative importance in the economy. The burden of public expenditure on agriculture has been transferred from the Centre to the states even as a several sections have raised ...

News18 – Online

Under the leadership of our popular and visionary Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, the results of all-round efforts made by the Union Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare in the last eight years are being reflected in the society. Many innovative steps have been taken by the ministry in the form of initiatives, schemes and programs that are playing a major role in improving the conditions of farmers. The standard of living of farmers is getting better and agricultural assistance from Delhi is reaching them directly through bank accounts with complete transparency. The income of farmers has increased, their thinking towards accepting agriculture as a business has got a new direction. All schemes, programs and activities ...

Financial Express – Online

More than 80% of the about 14 crore families in India which depend on agriculture for their sustenance have a landholding of less than five acres, while more than half of India’s cultivable land is irrigated by monsoon rains. Smallholder farmers often face challenges in accessing information on weather and agronomic practices to be followed and other agricultural inputs. AgroStar, a Pune-based digital farmer network and agri-inputs platform, was launched in 2013 to bridge this deficit. The company has three verticals – an app which provides farmers with agricultural and agronomic inputs and information on weather; retail outlets through which farmers get inputs on seeds, fertilisers, pesticides, etc; and an export division that’s into fruits ...

Hindustan Times – Online

Uttar Pradesh finance minister Suresh Kumar Khanna has said increasing agriculture growth in the state was one of the keys to Uttar Pradesh becoming a trillion-dollar economy by 2027. He also said the Yogi government was making all possible efforts to accelerate the agriculture growth on the one hand and enhancing income of farmers on the other. “For UP to achieve the target of becoming a one trillion-dollar economy, it is very essential that the agriculture growth in the state goes up to 20% from the current 15%,” he said while speaking in the “Coffee with HT” programme here. The other sectors where the growth rate needed to be increased were manufacturing and service, he ...

Business Standard – Online

Union Minister Kailash Choudhary on Sunday said the Centre had placed a ban on wheat exports to ensure adequate availability of the food grain in the country. The ban was put in place on May 14 in order to control domestic prices amid concern that wheat output may be hit due to a prevailing heatwave. “For us the country is first and our priority is to make available adequate wheat to our citizens, We have banned wheat export so that people don’t face shortage,” the Union Minister of State for Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare told reporters here. India’s wheat exports stood at an all-time high of 7 million tonnes, valued at USD 2.05 billion, in ...

The Hans India – Online

A country like India, with food inflation steadily rising and knowing well that it has over 800 million nutritionally poor whose food security is of paramount importance, the country has to be watchful for two reasons. First, several global climate studies say that extreme heat wave incidences will now become frequent, from an average of once in 100 years, to once in 3 years. Who know therefore how the weather will perform in the months to come, how the monsoons will behave, and so on. Secondly, there is still a remote possibility of pandemic showing its head again, which means India must be ready with enough grain surpluses in its kitty. At a time ...

The Weather Channel – Online

With the summer conditions setting in early across India this year and their intensity making the March and April of 2022 the hottest in over 100 years, the country’s agriculture was bound to bear the brunt of such extreme heat. Extreme weather has impacted several crops this year — recent spells of unseasonal heavy rains resulted in a shortage and subsequent rise in the prices of lemons and then tomatoes. And now, one of India’s staple crops’ yield has also fallen due to the heat. According to the agriculture ministry, the unprecedented heatwaves that lashed the north, west, and central regions of the country will result in a drop in wheat output by roughly ...

The New Indian Express – Online

India and Brazil have agreed to strengthen their cooperation in agriculture and allied farm sectors. Animal Husbandry, Fisheries, and Dairying Minister Parshottam Rupala met his Brazilian counterpart Marcos Cordeiro during a five-day visit that concluded on May 20. “Rupala held very fruitful discussions with his Brazilian counterpart and both ministers agreed to further strengthen the mutually beneficial ties,” an official statement said. Rupala also held meetings with Presidents of the Brazilian Association of Zebu Breeders (ABCZ), Mayor of Uberaba, Brazilian Confederation of Agriculture and Livestock (CNA), and Brazilian Cooperatives Organization (OCB) and discussed ways to increase cooperation in the dairy sector through Research and development (R&D), genetic improvement, and trade and investment. In ...

ThePrint – Online

The world’s population is expected to reach almost 10 billion by 2050. As our numbers swell, so too does the pressure on the agriculture industry and its farmers. A great responsibility for feeding the world falls on India, which is the second-largest producer of staple foods like rice, wheat, groundnuts, fruits and vegetables globally. Contributing almost 20% to total GDP, providing employment to over half its 1.4 billion inhabitants and serving as the main source of livelihood for over 70% of rural households, agriculture is also a crucial sector for India itself. Yet it also exists as a primary contributor to greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) through deforestation, land use, and the cultivation of rice, the latter ...

Firstpost – Online

While laying emphasis on the use of modern technology in the agricultural sector, Union Minister Jitendra Singh on Friday said agri-tech startups are critical to India’s future economy. Addressing the third edition of “TechBharat” on the theme “Transforming India’s FoodTech, AgriTech and Agronomic Landscape” at CSIR-CFTRI campus, Singh said, “A new wave of agri-tech startups has come up in India in the last few years due to enabling policy environment provided by Modi government to address the problems of Indian agriculture such as supply chain management, use of outdated equipment, improper infrastructure, and the inability of farmers to access a wider range of markets with ease.” The Minister noted that young entrepreneurs are now quitting their ...

The Economic Times – Online

The country’s wheat output is estimated to drop by about 3 per cent to 106.41 million tonnes in the 2021-22 crop year (July-June) from the previous year, agriculture ministry said in its latest estimate released on Thursday. The production is, however, lower by 4.61 per cent from the earlier estimate of 111.32 million tonnes projected for the 2021-22 crop year, the data showed. Wheat production stood at a record 109.59 million tonnes in the 2020-21 crop year. Agriculture secretary Manoj Ahuja had last week attributed the the fall in wheat production to lower crop yields, mainly in Punjab and Haryana due to the heat wave. He had also indicated wheat production could decline to ...

The Times of India – Online

The income of farmers will not just double but increase further provided they adopt technologies and add value to produce and export them, said Union minister of state for agriculture and farmers welfare Kailash Choudhary. After inaugurating the three-day TechBharat – Transforming India’s Foodtech and Agronomic Landscape, organised by Laghu Udyog Bharati, IMS foundation in association with CSIR-CFTRI at CFTRI campus here on Thursday, the minister said that growing and selling products will not fetch much income. “If exported, income can be increased beyond fivefold,” he said. PlayUnmute 0% Loaded: 1.01% Fullscreen “Farmers must focus on exporting the produce. Earlier, India was dependent on other nations for agricultural produce, but today we have ...

The Times of India – Online

With the India Meteorological Department (IMD) forecasting more than average rainfall in the state this year, the area under sowing and the production of food grains in the state is estimated to increase as well. In the annual Kharif review meeting chaired by Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray along with other cabinet ministers and officials, the agriculture department has estimated the cropping area for the upcoming Kharif season 2022-23 to go up to 158 lakh hectares as against 155 lakh hectares last year. According to the estimates, the production of key crops such as pulses, grains and oilseeds, too, will show an increase. Production of cereals and pulses is estimated to go up to ...

Krishi Jagran – Online

In this modern era, with the increasing per capita income, consumers are becoming more and more conscious about their health. Production of safe food is not only important for consumers’ health but also for a sustainable environment and healthy working conditions for those producing the agricultural produce. However often while talking about safe food production, the health of the farmer is not taken into consideration. The workers who spray pesticides are the most vulnerable to its impact. Due to a lack of awareness and knowledge about safe and hygienic farming practices, a greater number of workers are found not using personal protective equipment while spraying pesticide. It is necessary for the producers and traders to ...

Business Standard – Online

The world’s population is expected to reach almost 10 billion by 2050. As our numbers swell, so too does the pressure on the agriculture industry and its farmers. A great responsibility for feeding the world falls on India, which is the second-largest producer of staple foods like rice, wheat, groundnuts, fruits and vegetables globally. Contributing almost 20% to total GDP, providing employment to over half its 1.4 billion inhabitants and serving as the main source of livelihood for over 70% of rural households, agriculture is also a crucial sector for India itself. Yet it also exists as a primary contributor to greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) through deforestation, land use, and the cultivation of rice, the ...

CNBC TV18 – Online

US agriculture secretary Tom Vilsack expressed “deep concern” over India’s move to ban wheat exports at the G-7 meeting in Germany on Monday. The ban has resulted in a rally in already elevated wheat prices. While emphasising the importance of frictionless global trade, Vilsack said India was constraining the ability to access their wheat, CNBC TV18 reported. Export bans distort the market and India’s ban on the commodity was a “wrong thing at this time”, he said. “What we need is transparency in the market, what we need is a market that is helping to get goods to those who are in need,” Vilsack told reporters on a call. Expressing disappointment over India’s decision to ...

Hindustan Times – Online

India has banned wheat exports, sending bushel prices to record highs and drawing criticism from the Group of Seven worried about protectionism as inflation soars in the wake of the Ukraine war. What did India announce? The world’s second-largest producer of wheat said that traders could only enter into new export deals with express government approval. Still permitted are requests approved by New Delhi from other governments reeling from record high prices “to meet their food security needs”, according to an order dated May 13. What was the policy before? India previously said it was ready to help fill some of the supply shortages caused by the February invasion of Ukraine, which had accounted for ...

Krishi Jagran – Online

Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar told the media that despite the pandemic, the country’s agriculture sector is currently growing at a pace of 3.9 percent. He credited the government of India’s agriculture-friendly policies as well as the hard work of the farming community for making this possible. The Union Agriculture Minister, while speaking at an agri-conclave held by a private TV news station in the capital Bhubaneswar yesterday, said that the country’s agriculture exports have accomplished great heights despite a global pandemic. Farmers generated bumper foodgrain crops, while the government procured paddy and wheat crops at record levels, he noted. According to the minister, India’s agricultural exports have surpassed Rs 4 lakh crore, which ...

The New Indian Express – Online

Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu has stressed the need for further investment in agricultural research and extension, to achieve sustainable gains in agricultural productivity. He said that expenditure on research and development in India was less than one per cent of the contribution of agriculture in the Gross Development Product (GDP), and less than what other developing and developed nations were spending on that front. Addressing the fourth graduation ceremony of PGDM (ABM), ICAR- National Academy of Agricultural Research Management (NAARM) in Hyderabad on Saturday, he felt that investment in genomics, molecular breeding and nanotechnology was the way forward. Terming the role of extension workers, researchers, agricultural scientists and agro-business professionals as ‘indispensable’; ...

Business Standard – Online

Narendra Singh Tomar, Minister of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare, Govt of India yesterday said that the popularity of maize is not only growing globally but also in India with its diversified use in many sectors including poultry and ethanol production. The government, under crop diversification is promoting farmers to increase maize production through various initiatives. The MSP of maize has been increased by 43 percent in last 8 years and with the increase in production the farmers are also getting benefited from this, he added. Addressing the 8th edition of ‘India Maize Summit 2022’, organized by FICCI, Tomar also assured the industry of government’s support to boost the maize sector. Speaking on the role of ...

Business Standard – Online

India has formally proposed at the World Trade Organization (WTO) to allow members to sell foodgrains from their public stockholdings to weather the ongoing food crisis that has led to sky-rocketing inflation. “We need to look at the existing constraints in the Agreement on Agriculture that are coming in the way of augmenting (food) supplies during this crisis. And we know that there is no other substitute than augmenting the global supply at this moment,” India’s ambassador to the WTO Brajendra Navnit said last week. Existing WTO rules do not allow member countries to export subsidised foodgrains to the world market, as it may distort global food prices. India believes an exception needs to be ...

CNBC TV18 – Online

A scorching sun… lakes and rivers drying up… parched earth… an acute shortage of water… and dead or dying crop. The multiple heatwaves that have swept across many parts of India since March have wreaked havoc on the agricultural community. At Shyam Dhakre’s 5-acre plantation in Danapur in Maharashtra’s Akola area, the situation is grim. His entire harvest of bananas, worth lakhs of rupees, has been destroyed by the heat, a fall in the water table, and disrupted irrigation systems due to power cuts. Dhakre said, “The crop is getting destroyed because of the high temperatures. We are trying to use net to cover the plants, but the temperature is so high that it’s not ...

The Indian Express – Online

The National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) has extended financial support of Rs 19,718 crore for agriculture and rural development in Haryana during the financial year of 2022-23. The financial support has been given to various stakeholders under different NABARD schemes. According to a release, in order to bring micro irrigation facilities to farmers’ fields, Rs 24.76 crore was released under Micro Irrigation Fund (MIF) for judicious use of water resources. Under developmental initiatives, NABARD released a grant of Rs 9.79 crore for supporting various development initiatives in the farm sector, off-farm sector, skill development, financial literacy and programmes on employment generation. In order to address the issue of alkaline soils, NABARD ...

Mint – Online

Farmers are in a race against the clock to get their crops in the ground this week, with planting of corn, soybeans and wheat well behind their usual pace. Wet and cool temperatures in key parts of the Midwest have delayed farmers’ planting plans, leaving them days to get crops in the ground before they start to lose out on a bigger harvest. If they don’t, some grain traders say that already high prices for agricultural commodities could rise even more, with supplies thinning as farmers world-wide grapple with tough weather. On Monday, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said 22% of corn was planted, compared with 50% for the previous-five-year average. For soybeans, 12% was planted, ...

NewsOnAIR – Online

An Indian delegation led by Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar, yesterday visited Agricultural Research Organization, Volcani Institute of Israeli Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development. The domain experts made a presentation before the Indian delegation on various areas of advanced agricultural research, precision agriculture, remote sensing, and post-harvest technology. The demonstration of application of Drone technology- advanced techniques and interventions in agriculture operation were also shown to the Indian delegation during their visit to Ganei Khna’an. Minister also visited Desert Farm at Be’er Milka, owned by an Indian origin farmer growing Indian vegetables in Negev desert area.

The Times of India – Online

Of the total 38 lakh hectares of natural farming across India, 17.31 lakh hectares is under cultivation in Madhya Pradesh alone, state’s farmer welfare and agriculture minister told a meeting chaired by Union agriculture minister Narendra Singh Tomar recently. Agriculture ministers of other states were part of the meeting as well. Patel told the meeting that close to half of the total area under cultivation of natural farming is in Madhya Pradesh making it the the leader amongst other states. Madhya Pradesh has set a trget of adding another one lakh hectare this year and chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan has constituted a natural agriculture development board, Patel said. Taking a cue from ...

The Times of India – Online

With agriculture being the backbone of the country’s economy and employing a huge section of the population, both directly as well as indirectly, no doubt India is called the land of farmers. Besides, agriculture also contributes significantly to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of our country and its share in recent years has risen to roughly 20% after a gap of about 17 years. As per the recent Economic Survey, “during 2020-21, while the GVA (Gross Value Added) for the entire economy contracted by 7.2%, growth in GVA for agriculture maintained a positive rate of 3.4%.” Despite the positive outlook for the agricultural sector and in spite of all the back-breaking work by ...

Business Today – Online

The Jammu and Kashmir administration on Saturday restructured the agriculture production department with the aim of doubling income of farmers, orchardists and people dependent on animal, sheep husbandry and fisheries for their livelihood. PlayUnmute Loaded: 0.17% Fullscreen Around 70 per cent of population is dependent on these sectors and creation of a fully-fledged Agriculture Production Department by merging three existing line departments – Agriculture Production and Farmers Welfare, Animal, Sheep Husbandry and Fisheries and Horticulture – is likely to synergize efforts of the government in achieving the target of doubling farm income, an official spokesman said. He said the restructuring would ensure that all schemes for welfare of the population engaged in these sectors are ...

The Economic Times – Online

Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar will visit Israel during May 8-11 for bilateral meetings between the countries and discuss various issues related to the farm sector. A delegation under the leadership of Tomar is going to visit Israel from May 8-11, 2022, on the invitation from Oded Forer, Minister of Agriculture of Israel, for bilateral meetings to discuss various issues related to agriculture between two countries. On May 9, the delegation is proposed to visit facilities of Green 2000 – Agricultural Equipment and Know How Ltd and NETAFIM Ltd which are engaged in planning, set-up, consultation and on-going management of various projects in different spheres of agriculture and micro & smart Irrigation Systems (drip ...

DownToEarth – Online

The Centre announced May 4, 2022, that it would procure only 19.5 million tonnes (MT) of wheat in 2022-23, about 56 per cent less than the target decided for this year. It also announced that government procurement of wheat in Punjab would stop from May 5. The reason given was the lesser amount of wheat reaching the mandis or wholesale markets. According to government data, around 16.2 MT of wheat was procured in the country till May 1, of which, 8 MT had been procured from Punjab, where the target set was to procure 13.2 MT. Sudhanshu Pandey, secretary, Department of Food and Public Distribution, Government of India, said in a conference May 4 that this ...

The Times of India – Online

Governor P S Sreedharan Pillai said the only means to achieve gram swaraj as well as economic and social freedom was agriculture. “A country’s growth depends on the efforts of agriculturists and farmers and 17% to 18 % of our country’s GDP is achieved from agriculture. It is only through agriculture that we can make our country self-reliant,” Pillai said, while addressing a group of farmers during his visit to an agricultural farm in Rivona owned by a progressive farmer Pandurang Patil. Congratulating Patil for his dedication towards agriculture, Pillai said other farmers should take inspiration from him. “Raj Bhavan will also take this as a classic example and will try to do ...

The Indian Express – Online

India’s wheat production stood at 109.59 million tonnes in the 2020-21 crop year (July-June). (File) The government has revised downwards the estimate for wheat production by 5.7 per cent to 105 million tonnes in the 2021-22 crop year ending June from the earlier projection of 111.32 million tonnes, as the crop productivity has been affected due to the early onset of summer. Addressing a press conference, Food Secretary Sudhanshu Pandey said the agriculture ministry has revised the wheat production estimate downwards to 105 million tonnes for the 2021-22 crop year from 111.3 million tonnes earlier. India’s wheat production stood at 109.59 million tonnes in the 2020-21 crop year (July-June). The lowering of estimates has ...

Business Standard – Online

Santosh Patkar of Devgadh Taluka Sindhudurg district of Maharashtra is a worried man these days. Devgadh, which is known as the home to world famous Alphonso variety of mangoes, has seen an unusual drop in yields which is affecting farmers’ income. Being one of the primary agricultural produce from the area, Santosh is not untouched by this somewhat rare phenomenon. He said in his own mango garden, yields have come down by a third from most trees. “In whole of Devgadh, usually during the peak season, around 50,000-60,000 tonnes of Alphonso mangoes are produced of which around 15,000-20,000 tonnes goes straight for processing while the rest is sold as delicacies across the globe,” Patkar told ...

News18 – Online

Punjab and Haryana’s farmers’ obsession with unsustainable big cereals wheat and paddy has begun to hurt, as returns diminish. The climate crisis farmers faced this time was the hottest months of March and April in the past 122 years. The northern and central parts of the country reel under heat waves, that is, temperatures around 45 degrees Celsius and even more. A climate crisis as high rise temperatures has reduced the yield of the harvested crop up to 25 per cent. Temperature rise has shrivelled up wheat grain and other Rabi crops resulting in low yield and raising worries among farmers about just-sown pulse crops. According to a report tabled in parliament by the parliamentary standing ...

India Today – Online

Business conglomerate ITC is set to launch the ‘ITC MAARS’ app, which seeks to offer a wide range of agricultural solutions to farmers, while creating new revenue streams and providing better markets for advanced agriculture and rural services. The company said that the app is set to benefit around 10 million farmers across multiple crop clusters. The company is also collaborating with farmers to develop robust models for value-added segments, such as better quality and organic chillies, mango pulp traceable to farms, specialty coffee certified for fair trade, wheat flours, and medicinal and aromatic plant extracts. “ITC MAARS is a transformative business model, a very creative monetization model which will be built on the strength ...