Farmers

He informed that a group of 101 farmers, will march towards Delhi on December 14

The programme spared India from famine and the humiliation of its ship-to-mouth existence from Public Law or PL480 wheat shipments from the US

ITC is expanding its network of FPOs, further aiming to connect one crore farmers in the next 4-5 years and scaling up sourcing of fruits and vegetables through this platform, said its Agri Business Division CEO S Ganesh. ITC, present in around 22 states through FPOs (Farmer Producer Organizations) and working on 20 crops, has plans to expand and deepen it further in states including Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Haryana, Punjab and Bihar. Besides, ITC is working on expanding the reach of its super app MAARS -- a phygital' initiative with FPOs through which it is providing personalised advisories to farmers from weather forecast to sales of crops at mandi prices, supply of seeds and fertiliser and services as soil testing to helping them get credit from banks. Through MAARS (Metamarket for Advanced Agriculture Rural Services), ITC is also enhancing agricultural practices to small farmers through technology aggregation, AI-enabled solutions, AgTech and an e-marketplace for commodities

He pointed out that "farmers often complain about receiving poor-quality inputs, resulting in significant losses"

Cooperation Minister Amit Shah on Tuesday said the government will soon provide long-term finance through Primary Agricultural Credit Societies (PACS) to further empower the farming community. Speaking at the National Federation of State Co-operative Banks Ltd (NAFSCOB)'s Diamond Jubilee Celebration, Shah also directed the National Federation of State Co-operative Banks to prioritise making PACS more viable, transparent, and modern. The minister stressed the strengthening of the spirit of cooperation while expressing concern over the "dilution" of this spirit in state and district-level cooperative banks in many places. "We will provide long-term finance through PACS...We will start this soon. This will further empower farmers," Shah said, addressing NAFSCOB's Diamond Jubilee Celebration. Currently, PACS provide short-term finance to the farmers. Urging the NAFSCOB to play a bigger role in strengthening the cooperative banking sector, Shah said its work is "not just about holding

Following her nomination, Rollins expressed her gratitude for the opportunity, stating that it will be the honour of her life to advocate for America's farmers and agricultural communities

To intensify agitation, start fast unto death from Nov 26, demanding legal MSP

A group of Indian Americans has developed an app that provides AI-driven insight to farmers for making better farming decisions. Launched at the InvestSmart Caribbean Summit in Washington DC last week, the LetZFarm App is being put to use in the Caribbean Island nation of Trinidad and Tobago. It has been developed by Massachusetts-based Abris Inc in collaboration with the Carbon Zero Institute of Trinidad and Tobago. It is a smart agricultural farmer's companion app that helps the farmer through AI-driven insights to make better farming decisions. It helps them from a food security perspective, and also it helps them to combat climate change. That means to adapt to the changing environmental conditions, Priya Samant, CEO and co-founder of Abris Inc, told PTI. Our goal is now to go to different Caribbean nations. We are already in talks with Guyana and other nations, she said. It's a very scalable app. Our roadmap is to make this a one-stop solution for the farmers. This is what we .

French farmers escalated protests on Monday against the European Union-Mercosur trade agreement, citing fears of unfair competition. Backed by their government, they argue the deal would threaten their livelihoods by allowing a surge of South American agricultural imports produced under less stringent environmental standards. In Beauvais in northern France, dozens of farmers with about 50 tractors disrupted traffic before walling up a government office tasked with enforcing environmental standards. The protesters dumped manure and tires in front of the building and moved to the local prefecture, where they set up a noisy camp with firecrackers. "The government slept on its agriculture, so we won't let them sleep," said Regis Desrumaux (54), head of the FDSEA Oise farmer's union. "Last year, we protested for the same reasons -- too much paperwork, overly strict norms, not enough help from the state. Now, with unfair competition from South American products boosted with hormones and ..

Punjab farmers have found a way to outwit Nasa satellite surveillance in the ongoing stubble-burning crisis by strategically timing their fires

A group of farmers allegedly held a food inspector and a naib tehsildar (revenue official) captive and later clashed with police at a grain market in Bathinda district of Punjab on Monday evening, officials said. Three police personnel were injured in the incident. The farmers also damaged two police vehicles, they said. Some farmers were protesting over the issue of moisture content limit in paddy crop during its auction at the grain market in Bathinda's Raike Kalan village when they held the food inspector captive there. When the naib tehsildar went there to get the food inspector released, the protesting farmers also took him into their illegal custody, police said. They said a police team reached the grain market to get the two officials released but the protesting farmers refused to let them go. When the police personnel tried to get the officials released, the farmers clashed with them. Three police personnel were injured and two police vehicles were damaged in the clash, the

The Congress on Friday attacked Prime Minister Narendra Modi, asking why Gujarat's white onion farmers were given preferential treatment over Maharashtra's onion farmers, and why has the BJP "diluted" Adivasis' forest rights in Maharashtra. Ahead of Prime Minister Modi's rallies in Dhule and Nashik, Congress general secretary in-charge communications Jairam Ramesh posed questions to him. "Why were Gujarat's white onion farmers given preferential treatment over Maharashtra's onion farmers," he asked. Since December 2023, onion farmers in Maharashtra have been reeling from the Modi government's restrictions on onion exports, he said. During the cultivation season, the state suffered from unsatisfactory rainfall and water crises, and most farmers were only able to produce 50 per cent of their usual crop, he pointed out. "When the onions were finally harvested, farmers were hit with the arbitrary export ban which led to devastatingly low sale prices. As a result, farmers racked up ...

These changes reflect the amendment to the rules governing the imposition of environmental compensation for stubble burning under the Commission for Air Quality Management

The farmers say that they have been here for almost 70 years, but despite that the Waqf board is claiming ownership of their land, Pal added

Warring emphasized that the government's actions are not only failing farmers but are effectively dismantling the very foundation of Punjab's agricultural economy

About 90 per cent of the current national biodiversity policies fail to specify behavioural changes expected of an individual or a group, such as farmers, consumers and fishers, a finding that researchers said could explain the lack of progress on meeting conservation targets. A total of 1306 policy actions proposed by ten National Biodiversity Strategies and Action Plans (NBSAPs) from all world regions were coded for target actors, target behaviour and responsible agents as well as the policy options. The team, including researchers from the University of Surrey, UK, found that only 11 per cent of national biodiversity policies explicitly addressed the critical role of behavioural changes expected of individuals to meaningfully deliver on biodiversity conservation. "Unfortunately, we have collectively developed a major blind spot in biodiversity policies. There's a heavy focus on grand actions such as resource management, but little attention is paid to the everyday behaviours -- .

Union Food Minister Pralhad Joshi on Monday launched a mobile application of FCI Grievance Redressal System (FCI GRS) for rice millers. This is one of the measures taken by the government to enhance transparency, accountability and stakeholder satisfaction. State-owned Food Corporation of India (FCI) is the nodal agency for the procurement and distribution of food grains. Joshi noted that rice millers are important stakeholders and integral part of the food security system and said the government is "committed to their welfare". He said the mobile app will help in addressing their grievances. This mobile application is available for download on the Google Play Store for Android users. Joshi said the government is also working for farmers' welfare and also ensuring that consumers get food products at reasonable rates. Aligned with the Digital India initiative, the mobile application aims to improve responsiveness and accountability by providing rice millers with a convenient plat