Media Monitor
Agriculture Industry
Kharif crop output to fall after steady rise in 6 yearsedit
The Financial Express – Online
After consistently setting new records for six years in a row, India’s kharif crop output is likely to witness a significant fall in the current year, owing to a big drop in paddy sowing area and marginal decline in area under pulses. As of Monday, sowing of summer crops was 3% below the year-ago level, with the fall in paddy area being close to 13%. Area under paddy in West Bengal, the largest rice-producing state, was down 41% on year. Paddy sowing has been hit mainly because of severe deficiency in monsoon rainfall against the benchmark in key states — Uttar Pradesh (-40%), Bihar (-35%) and West Bengal (-25%). Lower paddy sowing has raised ...
About 90% of kharif crop sowing completed in distedit
Times of India – Online
The district agriculture department officials said that about 90% sowing of kharif crops had been completed in Pune, comprising 13 tehsils. This year, sowing was badly affected due to less rainfall in June. Till the first week of July, the sowing was close to 20%. The process picked up momentum following sustained rainfall in the subsequent three weeks of July, the officials said. However, the officials hinted that the district might not achieve 100% sowing due to rainfall in August. They said that the paddy cultivation may be less than the average 59,627 hectares of land. “The continuous rainfall in the last three weeks of July had affected nurseries badly in paddy growing tehsils. ...
CLAAS Global Mentions
CLAAS CELEBRATES XERION ANNIVERSARY WITH LIMITED SPECIAL EDITION TRACTORedit
Trekker – Online
25 years ago Claas released the Xerion. The tractors can still be used multifunctionally at various companies today. Claas is celebrating the anniversary with a limited special edition: a retro-look tractor from 1997. Claas presented the Xerion 2500 for the first time in 1993. It was subsequently introduced to the market in 1997. After more than 20 years of development, the first production-ready Xerion with Caterpillar six-cylinder engine, 250 hp and HM08 continuously variable transmission has established a new product segment. The Xerion is unique in many areas thanks to the different mounting and superstructure areas, the large payload, the rotating cab, two steering axles with equal-sized drive wheels with permanent four-wheel drive and the continuously ...
Govt. Policies
Maharashtra CM seeks Centre’s aid in agriculture, education sectorsedit
Times Now – Online
Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on Sunday urged the central government to increase the procurement limit for the minimum support price (MSP) be increased to 50 per cent of the production, and also sought its support in the implementation of the National Education Policy (NEP). Speaking at the Governing Council meeting of the NITI Aayog in New Delhi, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Shinde highlighted the steps taken by the state for implementation of the NEP, and said his government was fully committed to effective rollout of this education policy. He also said that the cost norms need to be revised to boost the horticulture sector. “In the mission for integrated development of horticulture, ...
Paddy in India
Paddy acreage still down 13%, triggers final output fall concernsedit
Business Standard – Online
The area under paddy — the biggest foodgrain during the kharif season — was almost 13 per cent lower in the week ended August 5 as compared to the same period last year despite a slight pick-up in rains in the main growing regions, triggering fears of a 10-12 million-tonne drop in final output. Sources said with the peak sowing season for paddy almost coming to an end in the big-growing states, any uptick in coverage from here onwards may not give the desired yields. With 30 per cent of normal average area in which paddy is grown every year remaining unsown till early August, there is a limited chance of a big uptick in ...
Drought and Sudden Rain Lead to Catastrophic Losses Among Paddy Farmers in Kashmir Valleyedit
The Wire – Online
In April this year, when the Jammu and Kashmir administration issued an advisory asking farmers not to cultivate paddy in the light of low discharge of water from nearby irrigation canals, Mudasir Ahmed, of Anantnag in south Kashmir, gave up all hope for a good crop this year. He was among thousands of farmers who were left puzzled first and ultimately despondent thanks to dryness followed by sudden but paltry rains that upended their plans of cultivating paddy – and also their plan B of cultivating maize. So punishing was the weather pattern – triggered by climate change according to experts – during peak cultivation season at Anantnag this year that a district which used ...