Media Monitor
Technology in Agriculture
Goa’s farmers turn to technology, research to weather nature’s vagariesedit
The Times of India – Online
Cyclone Tauktae left Goa’s agricultural sector devastated — leaving horticulture crops uprooted and causing fruit drop — in addition to a trail of destruction. The agriculture department pegged losses across the state at Rs 30 crore. Farmers who had opted for late sowing of paddy were affected the most as water-logging due to rain coupled with high velocity winds flattened the crops in many areas. Vegetable crops like ladyfinger, brinjal and sweet potato suffered damage due to water-logging in fields while mango, banana and coconut plantations were damaged by Tauktae’s cyclonic winds. In its aftermath, scientists and agriculture experts have tried to hand-hold farmers onto the road to recovery. From choosing crop varieties ...
Govt. Policies
Centre offers farm drones cheap under new scheme to spur adoptionedit
Hindustan Times – Online
A range of incentives has opened up India’s vast agriculture sector for commercial use of drones. New federal guidelines for a scheme called Kisan Drone have provisioned substantial subsidies for farmers and organisations alike for unmanned aerial vehicles. Drones could prove transformative, making farming smart and efficient, although experts say the costs involved are still high and prohibitive for smallholders. Civil aviation minister Jyotiraditya Scindia on Tuesday launched a drone experience studio at the state-run think tank NITI Aayog. He unveiled two policies — Drone Shakti and Kisan Drone. The former seeks to spur adoption in non-farm sectors. Technology should be welcomed in a country where farm incomes are low, about one-third of those of ...
Andhra government to provide 3,500 tractors to farmers soonedit
The New Indian Express – Online
Agriculture Minister K Govardhan Reddy has said farmers will soon be getting 3,500 tractors and the subsidy amount will be deposited in their accounts in 15 days. He assured them the government support for the losses suffered due to Cyclone Asani. The minister formally launched an agriculture equipment making unit of KisanKraft at Prabhagiri Patnam in Podalakur mandal in the district on Sunday. On the occasion, he noted that the Rythu Bharosa Kendra (RBK) initiative of Andhra Pradesh has won international recognition as it was nominated by the Centre for the Champion Award, the highest honour by Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) of the United Nations. Stating that the initiative is the brainchild ...
Paddy in India
Direct paddy sowing reaps benefitsedit
Business Standard – Online
Rice growers generally use much more water than the crop actually needs. Estimates show that 40-45 per cent of the water used for irrigation goes to paddy alone. This, perhaps, is the result of the mistaken belief that paddy is an aquatic plant that needs standing water to thrive. The truth, however, is that though rice plants can survive in waterlogged fields, they do not necessarily need flooding all the time. The key advantage of constant submergence is that it keeps weeds under check. But its disadvantages are many and far more serious. It causes loss of applied plant nutrients due to leaching, increases emissions of environment-injurious gases, especially methane, and encourages proliferation of pests ...
DSR sowing in Punjab won’t be smooth sailing: Expertsedit
Hindustan Times – Online
The Punjab government may have decided to double the area under the direct seeding of rice (DSR) method from 6 lakh hectares to 12 lakh hectares in the upcoming kharif sowing season to conserve water, challenges are many while sowing paddy by adopting the mechanised technique. These include lack awareness among farmers, seeds in short supply, shortage of till-drill machines, besides ensuring uninterrupted eight-hour power supply, say experts. Moving away from the traditional method of transplanting paddy saplings in puddleed fields, the new DSR method entails sowing paddy seeds directly in the soil cutting water usage. The Punjab government has announced ₹1,500 incentive per acre for farmers opting for the DSR. Producing a kilogram of ...
Stubble Burning
45 days on, stubble burning cases finally drop below 50edit
The Times of India – Online
After one-and-a half months of the start of wheat straw burning season, cases came down across Punjab on Sunday as only 49 were reported in the past 24 hours. With 49 incidents, the count reached 14,166, 270 behind the highest wheat stubble burning cases in the last seven years at 14,436 recorded in 2017. No district witnessed burning cases in double digits, with Jalandhar recording 9 cases as seven districts recorded 1 case each. As per the data sourced from Punjab Remote Sensing Centre, till now Ferozepur has recorded maximum cases at 1,416, followed by 1,228 at Amritsar, 1,107 at Gurdaspur, 1,093 at Moga, 1,059 at Tarn Taran, being the districts having recorded ...