Media Monitor
Agriculture Industry
Wheat crisis: All eyes on weather as mercury shoots up in Februaryedit
Down to Earth – Online
The central government has claimed the country’s wheat production is likely to set a new record in the crop year 2022-23. Farmers, however, seem to have less faith in these claims, with many worried about the temperature rise reported early in February. The Union Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare has claimed wheat production in the current crop season is estimated to be 112 million tonnes — 4.44 million tonnes more than last year. Farmer Sandeep Singroha of Assandh area of Karnal district of Haryana has planted wheat on 12 acres. “It was unusually hot in the first week of February. I checked my crops; the wheat grains have already started forming and wilting ...
Budget
Union Budget 2023: Stepping stone towards Aatmanirbhar agricultureedit
The Times of India – Online
The Union Budget lays the foundation for the financially inclusive and digitally propelled Aatmanirbhar agriculture sector for India. Supply chain inefficiencies in the sector have been Achilles’ heels and the announcement of the Agri Accelerator Fund is a welcome step to unlock the potential. It also converges with the government’s focus on start-ups. Young agripreneurs would be encouraged to focus on solving local challenges and constraints in the Agri-supply chain. This may help arrest the migration of youth from villages to a certain extent and make agriculture an exciting sector for provisioning technology-enabled services across the agriculture value chain including storage.
Govt. Policies
Patnaik asks farmers to use latest technology in farmingedit
The Print – Online
Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik Thursday stressed the need for farm mechanisation and crop diversification besides asking farmers to adopt the latest technology. If cultivators use technology properly in the farm sector, it will benefit farmers and their state, the chief minister said while inaugurating the 3-day ‘Krushi Odisha’-2023 here. The theme of this year’s event, which will continue till February 18, is “Emerging Technology in Agriculture”. Pointing out that technology is the basis of development, Patnaik said there is a great need for technology in the field of agriculture as well.
Paddy in India
Paddy procurement process: Vigilance raid unearths serious irregularities in Trivandrumedit
The New Indian Express – Online
The Vigilance on Thursday conducted a state-wide raid targeting the corrupt practices existing in the paddy procurement process of the Supplyco. Several serious irregularities were unearthed during the raids, which also brought to the fore the unholy nexus between the Supplyco paddy marketing officers, paddy quality assessment officers, agriculture officers, mill owners and farmers, inflicting huge financial loss to the exchequer. Vigilance Director ADGP Manoj Abraham said they found that many farmers manipulate the records and fraudulently show that they are cultivating paddy in large areas and obtain minimum supporting price and other perks from the state government.