Media Monitor
Agriculture Industry
Amid heatwave, poor power supply to feeders worries Haryana farmersedit
Hindustan Times – Online
Amid heatwave and extended dry spell, Haryana farmers are finding it difficult to protect their crops from weather conditions as the power supply to feeders has been curtailed to five hours. Farmers said the electricity supply of five hours to agriculture feeders is insufficient as they are depending on tube well water to keep their crop alive. Sugarcane and vegetable growers are demanding that the electricity supply to agriculture feeders in their belts be increased immediately. Farmers said the power supply to agriculture feeders has been curtailed to five hours from previous eight. They claimed of spending on diesel pumps to keep their crops alive as day temperature currently remains above 40 degrees Celsius and ...
Climate change having adverse impact on agriculture: Ministeredit
Hindustan Times – Online
Developed nations are following India when it comes to renewable energy, said Union Rural Development and Panchayati Raj Minister Giriraj Singh while addressing the ‘Conference of panchayats-2022’ at Indira Gandhi Pratishthan here on Sunday. He said that at present climate change is having adverse impact on agriculture. “Not just production but quality of crop is being affected too. In fact climate change is making an impact across the globe,” he said. Deputy chief minister Brajesh Pathak, while addressing the programme, said that although man has made progress, for that progress the nature was disturbed. We should take a pledge to conserve environment and one strong step could be planting saplings, he said. State’s forest minister ...
Crisis-hit Karnataka agriculture department working with only 44% staffersedit
The New Indian Express – Online
With the onset of monsoon in Karnataka, farmers might be rejoicing as the India Meteorological Department (IMD) has predicted good rain for this year. But what may come as a shock to many is the serious crisis being faced by the State Agriculture Department. The department is facing an acute staff shortage with less than 50 per cent employees working. This has negatively impacted the functioning of the department and the affected parties are mostly the beneficiaries and farmers who haven’t received benefits. The sanctioned staff strength of the department from different cadres is 9,007 posts, of which only 4,020 posts have been filled. This means there are only 44 per cent of ...
Govt. Policies
Andhra Pradesh: Ryots can hire tractors, harvesters at Custom Hiring Centresedit
The Times of India – Online
In a move to reduce the burden on farmers by strengthening farm mechanisation, the state government is launching Custom Hiring Centres (CHCs) in a big way across the state. The agriculture inputs including tractors will be made available at the CHCs for the benefit of farmers. Since purchase of the tractor and harvester is an expensive affair, the state government is making them available through CHCs. The move to provide advanced and expensive agriculture tools right in the neighbourhood is expected to be a gamechanger moment for small and marginal farmers who could not afford to invest on them. Chief minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy will flag off the tractors to be placed ...
Govt likely to hike MSP by 5-20% for summer cropsedit
Financial Express – Online
The government may announce higher-than-usual increases in minimum support prices (MSP) for the summer-sown crops in 2022-23 year soon, taking into consideration a sharp rise in costs of farming inputs. The MSP increases this year could roughly be in the range of 5-20%, the highest since 2018-19 when a new policy of 50% profits over computed cost of production led to MSP hikes for kharif crops in the range of 4.1-28.1%. In the last three years, MSP increases were roughly in the 1-5% range. According to sources, the sharpest MSP hikes this year have been recommended by the Commission of Agriculture Costs and Prices for oilseeds like soyabean and groundnut. Among pulses, tur and moong ...
Goa Government revises agriculture loss scheme, compensation now up to Rs 1.6 lakhedit
The Times of India – Online
Farmers facing crop loss can now avail of higher compensation from the state government as it has revised the Shetkari Adhar Nidhi scheme. Earlier, the maximum benefit per farmer was Rs 25,000 per hectare, which has now been increased to Rs 40,000 per hectare. A farmer can claim a maximum of up to four hectares. Damages that are caused due to floods, drought, cyclonic rains, landslide and siltation, an epidemic of pest and diseases, unseasonal rains, accidental fire, lightning, cloud burst, earthquake and attacks by wild animals will be considered for compensation. To be eligible, farmers must cultivate the land with a valid Krishi Card. NGOs, self-help groups, farmers’ clubs, institutes and organisations ...
Monsoon + Indian Agriculture
IMD to offer area-specific weather forecasts to farmers free of costedit
Financial Express – Online
The India Meteorological Department (IMD) is working on a plan to provide localised medium-range weather forecasts in regional languages through short message service (SMS) to farmers on request and for free.By dialling a dedicated number, farmers from anywhere in the country can request for weather information such as rains, temperature, humidity and wind speed for the next five days for their village or block. The requests made by the farmers would be processed by a dedicated team in IMD and information would be given to them in respective regional language through SMS. According to M Ravichandran, secretary, ministry of earth sciences, customised information on weather events at the regional level on request would help farmers ...
Paddy in India
Paddy sowing: Punjab farmers miss DSR deadlineedit
Hindustan Times – Online
The farmers in Punjab have missed the May 31 deadline to sow paddy through the DSR method, as against a target of 12 lakh hectares, only 80,000 hectares have been sown with the non-conventional technique so far. As per the schedule set by the state agriculture department, paddy sowing through the DSR method was to done between May 20 and 31 with 8 hours regular power supply, every alternate day. According to agriculture experts, paddy sowing should have been over by May 31. However, it is still continuing. The agriculture department owes the slow pace of paddy sowing to erratic power and water supply and lack of outreach to the farmers. “Shutting down of Sirhind ...