Media Monitor
Agriculture Industry
How temperature forecast can cut losses for farmersedit
The New Indian Express – Online
Lalchand Yadav (62) a wheat grower from the Alwar district of Rajasthan, is a worried man. He owns over 4 hectares of land and has sown wheat and mustard this year. The high market price of wheat and good rainfall in October-November last year motivated him to increase wheat acreage. But things didn’t go as well as his expectations. “The untimely heat in February month has affected our crops – both quality and quantity,” said Yadav to this newspaper. Confused and worried, Yadav said that if he had a little idea of the high temperatures in February, he would have recalibrated his irrigation schedule differently. Another farmer Man Singh (36) from Gujarpurkhurd village ...
How the international year of millet could bring nutrition security and propel Indian millets into the world marketedit
ET Hospitality – Online
The year 2023 has been declared the International Year of Millets by the United Nations. This move comes following a proposal by India, following Prime Minister’s Narendra Modi’s aim to make IYM 2023 a ‘People’s Movement’ and to position India as the global hub for millets. One of the first steps to this movement was in April 2018, when the government launched the National Year of Millets and rebranded the grain as a ‘Nutri Cereal’. The intention was to generate more consumption, and therefore more demand in the country.
Avoid Sowing Moong in Cotton Belt to Prevent White Fly Attack: Advices Agriculture Departmentedit
Krishi Jagran – Online
The government has reportedly decided not to buy the summer moong crop in Fazilka and other districts in Punjab because as per the reports, approximately more than 80 percent of the moong that reached the market was bought below the MSP last year in Punjab. The government has decided to discourage farmers from sowing moong in cotton belt districts of Punjab on request that the cultivation of moong is resulting in white fly attacks which also attacked the standing cotton crop and further result in damage to the crops. Swaran Singh, Chief Agriculture Officer (CAO) said that white fly attacks are eventually leading to the leaf curl disease and resulting in the low yield of ...
Agriculture Ministry couldn’t use, surrendered Rs 44,000 crore in 3 yearsedit
The Indian Express – Online
The Department of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare, which comes under the Agriculture Ministry, surrendered Rs 44,015.81 crore of its budget during the last three years, as it could not fully utilise its allocation, according to a Parliamentary Standing Committee report tabled in Lok Sabha on Monday. In its report on Demand for Grants (2023-24) of the Department of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare, the Standing Committee on Agriculture, Animal Husbandry and Food Processing, headed by P C Gaddigoudar, asked the government to “avoid” the “practice” of surrender of funds.
Paddy in India
Uttarakhand: Paddy ‘never grown’ procured for Rs 1 croreedit
The Times of India – Online
In a large-scale paddy purchase scam in Udham Singh Nagar, Uttarakhand’s “rice bowl”, over 6,500 quintal paddy, shown to have been “grown” on 108 hectares of land that was actually part of national highway-74, schools and cemeteries, was procured by the Uttarakhand Cooperative Federation (UCF). UCF, which is one of the four government agencies responsible for purchasing farmers’ produce in the district, “bought” the “extra” 6,500 quintal paddy from around 46 farmers for Rs 1.27 crore at Nakatpura procurement centre in Sitarganj in the last procurement year, 2021-22. A review of the centre revealed the crop was never grown or sold.