Media Monitor
Agriculture Industry
Wheat production in India is set to jump to a record on higher planting areaedit
Mint – Online
The wheat production in the country is set to jump to a record this year as all-time high prices prompted farmers to expand planting areas, and opting of high-yielding varieties, news agency Reuters said. Scientists and traders have projected ‘good weather conditions’, another factor for the largescale wheat production. India, which is world’s second largest wheat producer, may consider lifting a ban on exports of the staple becaus eof the higher output. The move will help ease concerns over persistently high inflation in food prices. “This year production could rise to 112 million tonnes because of the higher area and favourable weather,” Gyanendra Singh, director at the Indian Institute of Wheat and Barley Research told the ...
Budget
Budget may focus on ecology, climateedit
Hindustan Times – Online
The government’s commitment in eco-friendly and sustainable development, may find an echo in the Union Budget, which could nudge both public and private entities to invest in the circular economy with an initial focus on about a dozen areas, including agricultural, municipal, electronic and petroleum waste, two officials familiar with the thinking on Raisina Hill said. The transition from a linear to a circular economy has been part of the budgetary exercise since Prime Minister Narendra Modi envisaged his vision of ‘Lifestyle For Environment’ or ‘LIFE’ at Glasgow in November 2021. Since then, India has committed to reach net zero emissions by 2070. The coming budget may incentivise investments in the circular economy for both ...
Govt. Policies
Niti Aayog preparing index for agri transformation nowedit
The Economic Times – Online
The Niti Aayog is preparing an index on agriculture transformation which will rank states on their performance on farm sector policies, a move that will help the Centre gauge measures taken by the states to increase farmers’ income. A senior government official told ET that the Agriculture Transformation Index is likely to measure the performance of states across seven pillars – inputs, sustainability, productivity and diversification, policy, preservation, processing and exports.
Paddy in India
Govt may lift curbs on rice exportsedit
The Financial Express – Online
The government is actively considering lifting some of the restrictions imposed on rice exports in the wake of the improved stock position. Paddy procurement by the Food Corporation of India and state agencies in the current season (October 2022-September 2023) rose 8% on year to 57.4 million tonne (MT) till Monday, which has given a boost to the buffer. In September, India, the world’s biggest rice exporter with 40% share in global trade, had imposed ban on broken rice exports and put 20% export tariffs on the non-basmati and non-parboiled rice, a measure that was aimed at improving domestic supplies amid expectation of a decline in production in 2022-23 crop season (July-June).
Bengal government’s paddy procurement progresses at slow paceedit
Telegraph – Online
The Mamata Banerjee government has procured only 18.88 lakh tons of paddy since the harvesting of kharif crop was completed two months ago. The progress, which is considered to be poor, has left the Bengal government in a tight spot as the state might face trouble to run the cheap rice grain scheme if the procurement process does not get momentum immediately. “The secretary of the food and supplies department held a video conference with officials of district administrations today (Tuesday) and asked them to expedite the procurement process immediately. The state is in a spot as it had expected more paddy to be procured immediately after the harvesting of kharif crop,” said a senior government ...