Media Monitor
Agriculture Industry
A food security threat is looming over the country’s poor this yearedit
Mint – Online
Indian agriculture was lucky to have a good run of monsoons for the last four years. This helped ensure that not only was agriculture the only sector largely unaffected by the pandemic, but it also provided refuge to many who lost their livelihoods during the crisis. It appears that this streak of luck is finally running out, with the likelihood of a deficient monsoon due to El Niño conditions getting stronger. The prediction by India’s official meteorological department has been cautious, but estimates by most private and foreign weather agencies suggest a strong likelihood of rainfall this year being in deficit.
Govt’s wheat purchases below target, but sufficient: Dataedit
Hindustan Times – Online
The Centre’s purchase of wheat for state-held stocks has touched slightly over 26 million tonnes, but is likely to be below a targeted 34 million tonne – sufficient to cover all food-distribution programmes and still leave a surplus of about 6-7 million tonne, data seen by HT show. Wheat-market trends show this year’s output is unlikely to have been a record 112 million tonnes as expected by the government. Hail and untimely rain in April may have shaved off 3-4 million tonnes of output, analysts said.
Monsoon + Indian Agriculture
Bhopal: Farmers advised not to sow soyabean due to unpredictable monsoonedit
The Free Press Journal – Online
In Madhya Pradesh, regarded as India’s soyabean state, the farmers have been advised not to sow the long duration kharif crop because of unpredictable nature of monsoon. The monsoon arrives in state between June 15 to June 20. State’s kharif crops are soyabean, paddy, maize, arhar, moong, urad, sorghum, millet, kodo, kutki, sesame, cotton. According to experts, cultivation of short duration varieties (SDVs) of kharif crops are preferable for farmers as SDV crops incur minimum loss in case crops are damaged in natural calamity. Besides, SDVs provide extended window between kharif harvesting of paddy and wheat sowing for rabi, thereby giving sufficient time to rice farmers for in-situ management and removal of excess ...
Paddy in India
Telangana: Paddy procurement gains momentum in erstwhile Warangaledit
Telangana Today – Online
The procurement of paddy grain is gaining pace in the six districts of the erstwhile Warangal district, as District Collectors and other officials diligently oversee the purchase process in accordance with the State government’s directives. To prevent any manipulation of paddy weight under the guise of soaked paddy, officials, including the police, are conducting regular inspections of the paddy procurement centres (PPCs) and rice mills. The purchase of paddy was temporarily halted at various centres due to unseasonal rains that occurred in the district last month.
Stubble Burning
Clearing the fog on stubble burningedit
Hindustan Times – Online
Punjab has been in the news of late for, among other things, the issue of stubble burning after harvesting. A combination of a third harvesting cycle coinciding with a thick winter fog has led to one of the biggest environmental and health challenges in India today. The issue has become political too. Not only has it been one of the critical points of discussion in Parliament, but the Punjab chief secretary has now raised stakes by ambitiously announcing that the state will reduce the stubble burning instances by 50% in comparison to 2022.