The Times of India – Online

Minister for agriculture P Prasad inaugurated a one-day training on smart farming using the e-crop system developed by Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR)-Central Tuber Crops Research Institute (CTCRI) here on Thursday The e-crop is an internet of things (IoT) device based on artificial intelligence. Launching the facility, the minister said that farmers become smart when smart services are provided to them. “The agricultural sector will gain vigour only when farmers become smart. Every human being who consumes food is related to agriculture. The government and the society have to interfere to solve the problems being faced by farmers. Whenever a technology is developed, farmers should be given priority,” said Prasad. He congratulated ...

FirstPost – Online

For many of us, the term holiday holds happy connotations. But when cultivators declare a ‘crop holiday’ it usually comes when they are at the end of their wits. Like farmers in Andhra Pradesh’s Godavari Delta have done recently, for example. Let’s take a closer look at why this is happening and the politics over it: As per The Hindu, farmers in the Godaveri Delta have taken this measure due to delay in payment of paddy procured by the government and poor access to irrigation water through the existing canal system. Farmers in the stretch of Allavaram, Katrenikona, Uppalaguptam and I.Polavaram Mandals under the Godavari Delta have declared the ‘crop holiday’ without commencing Kharif operations. As ...