Paddy

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin on Thursday slammed the BJP-led Union government for rejecting the state's request to relax moisture norms for paddy procurement and urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to immediately intervene to protect the state's farmers. In a social media post, Stalin said the Centre had turned down Tamil Nadu's plea to allow procurement of paddy with a higher moisture content in view of heavy northeast monsoon rains in the Cauvery delta and other districts. Only on Wednesday did the Prime Minister attend a farmers meet in Coimbatore, after the Centre had denied a Metro rail project for the western city, besides Madurai. "Even before the dampness of his visit has dried, the union BJP government has rejected our request for relaxation of moisture norms in paddy procurement," the CM said. According to him, the state has been pressing the Centre to raise the permissible moisture level in paddy from the existing 17 per cent to 22 per cent for the current Kharif

The Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) has directed Punjab and Haryana to ensure zero stubble burning during the upcoming paddy harvest season and strictly enforce measures to manage crop residue. The directions came after detailed review meetings held on Thursday and Friday with senior officers, deputy commissioners, district magistrates and police officials from 23 districts of Punjab and 22 districts of Haryana. The meetings, chaired by CAQM chairperson Rajesh Verma, focused on the states' preparedness for the season in line with the commission's directions mandating effective crop residue management. CAQM said flying squad teams will be deputed in hotspot districts of both states to monitor progress at the ground level. A dedicated CAQM cell has also been set up at Kheti Bhawan in Mohali to coordinate between Punjab and Haryana and oversee paddy residue management activities. Punjab was asked to bridge gaps in availability of crop residue management machinery, ensure

Edible oil demand-supply gap may widen to 40 mn tonnes by 2047, warns paper

The Odisha government is planning to supply broken rice for ethanol production, with more farmers taking up paddy cultivation following an increase in the procurement rate, officials said on Tuesday. The state has the main ethanol plant in Bargarh district, which uses both rice grain and rice straw to produce the item for fuel blending, they said. There are smaller ethanol plants in the state as well, utilising grain feedstock, with the Food Corporation of India (FCI) allocating surplus rice to them for the ethanol blended petrol (EBP) programme. A discussion regarding the proposal was held at the first meeting of the Inter-Ministerial Committee for procurement for the Kharif 2025-26 season on Monday, officials said. The meeting, chaired by Deputy CM KV Singh Deo, who is in charge of the Agriculture and Farmer Empowerment Department, discussed the preparation of a roadmap for post-paddy purchase management, they said. The government has planned to procure the Kharif crops by the e

Paddy sowing so far this kharif season is higher by 12 per cent at 364.80 lakh hectares, according to government data. Sowing of paddy -- the main crop of kharif (summer-sown) season -- stood at 325.36 lakh hectares in the same period last year. The Department of Agriculture has released progress of area coverage under kharif crops as on August 8, 2025. Total sowing area of all kharif crops rose to 995.63 lakh hectares till August 8, from 957.15 lakh hectares a year ago, an official statement said on Monday. The acreage of pulses increased marginally to 106.68 lakh hectares from 106.52 lakh hectares, while the sowing area of coarse cereals rose to 178.73 lakh hectares from 170.96 lakh hectares. In the non-foodgrains category, the acreage of oilseeds was down at 175.61 lakh hectares from 182.43 lakh hectares. Area under cotton was down at 106.96 lakh hectares from 110.49 lakh hectares. However, sugarcane sowing was slightly higher so far at 57.31 lakh hectares against 55.68 lakh

Goa's latest paddy seed variety, which offers improved resilience against salinity, waterlogging, and crop lodging, is likely to be released for large-scale cultivation in the Kharif season 2026, state Agriculture Minister Ravi Naik has said. In a written reply in the legislative assembly on Friday, Naik said that the new variety is currently in its second year of on-farm trials and has already shown promising results in demonstration plots under the Minikit Programme. He was responding to a question by independent MLA Aleixo Reginaldo Lourenco. According to the data furnished by the Indian Council of Agricultural Research, Goa Dhan-5 was developed to build on the performance of earlier salt-tolerant varieties Goa Dhan-1 and Dhan-2 released in 2017, and Dhan-3 and Dhan-4 released in 2019, the minister said. Naik said that while the first four Dhan varieties are tolerant to saline conditions, Goa Dhan-5 stands out for its added resistance to waterlogging and complete or partial ...

Better prices above MSP, coupled with demand from ethanol producers for their fuel-blending programme, are pushing the popularity of maize

Paddy sowing so far this Kharif season is higher by 58 per cent at 13.22 lakh hectares, according to the government data. Sowing of paddy stood at 8.37 lakh hectares in the same period last year. The Department of Agriculture has released progress of area coverage under kharif crops (summer-sown) as on June 20, 2025, an official statement said on Monday. The acreage of pulses has increased to 9.44 lakh hectare from 6.63 lakh hectare. Sowing of Shri Anna cum Coarse cereals rose to 18.03 lakh hectare over 14.77 lakh hectares in the year-ago period. In the non-foodgrains category, the acreage of oilseeds is down at 5.38 lakh tonnes against 5.89 lakh hectares in the same period last year. Sugarcane sowing is also slightly higher so far at 55.07 lakh hectare against 54.88 lakh hectare in the year-ago period. Area under cotton is higher at 31.25 lakh hectare from 29.12 lakh hectare. Total sowing area of all kharif crops has risen to 137.84 lakh hectare till June 20, 2025, from 124.88

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Paddy sowing so far this Kharif season is higher by 13 per cent at 4.53 lakh hectares, according to the government data. Sowing of paddy stood at 4 lakh hectares in the same period last year. The Department of Agriculture has released progress of area coverage under kharif crops (summer-sown) as on June 13, 2025, according to an official statement on Tuesday. The acreage of pulses has also increased to 3.07 lakh hectare from 2.6 lakh hectare. Sowing of Shri Anna cum Coarse cereals remained flat at 5.89 lakh hectare so far this kharif season as against 5.9 lakh hectares in the year-ago period. In the non-foodgrains category, the acreage of oilseeds has risen to 2.05 lakh hectares so far from 1.5 lakh hectare in the same period last year. Sugarcane sowing is also slightly higher so far at 55.07 lakh hectare against 54.88 lakh hectare in the year-ago period. Area under cotton is marginally lower at 13.19 lakh hectare from 13.28 lakh hectare. Total sowing area of all kharif crops h

The minister emphasised that there is no power shortage in the state, ensuring seamless support for farmers across all zones

Unchecked paddy cultivation over the years has pushed groundwater levels to unsustainable levels, but a recent decision to stagger sowing might meet with limited success

The release of genome-edited rice marks a policy and scientific shift, positioning India to lead biotech-driven farming amid climate, resource, and food security challenges

The government already offers a higher minimum support price (MSP) for millets like Bajra and Jowar compared to paddy

FSII has also filed a petition in the Punjab and Haryana High Court, challenging the state's decision. The hearing is scheduled for later this month

The Kerala government on Wednesday said it intends to protect and preserve the existing paddy lands in the state at any cost and will not allow them to be converted for other purposes. The announcement was made in the state assembly by Kerala Agriculture Minister P Prasad in response to a query during question hour on whether the government intends to preserve existing paddy fields. The minister stressed the need to preserve the existing paddy fields from the perspective of ensuring food security and recharge the groundwater table. According to Prasad, one acre of paddy land collects around five crore litres of water underground in a year and therefore, it was important to preserve them from the angle of water resources. The minister opined that just like forest reserves, "there should be paddy reserves". However, we cannot tell a farmer that his agricultural land is being declared a reserve paddy field, he added. "That is why we enacted the Kerala Conservation of Paddy Land and

The state government has set up 2,058 cooperative societies and 2,739 paddy procurement centres where farmers can sell their yield

Farmers get Rs 2,300 for a quintal of paddy, the difference amount of Rs 800 being paid later as input subsidy

The Odisha government has deployed special enforcement teams in various districts to curb the illegal inflow of paddy from neighbouring states during the procurement season, the state government said on Friday. So far, 84 enforcement teams have been deployed in various districts, including 10 in Bargarh district and 21 in Sambalpur district, it said. While the central government's minimum support price (MSP) for paddy is Rs 2,300 per quintal, the state government has announced an additional Rs 800 per quintal as assistance to farmers. This has triggered concerns that some traders may attempt to bring paddy from other states to sell it in Odisha at a higher price. The government has set a target of procuring 80 lakh tonnes of paddy during the current Kharif Marketing Season (KMS) 2024-25. According to the statement, the teams will monitor vehicles entering Odisha with paddy from neighboring states, as well as vehicles moving from mandis (paddy procurement centres) to mills and ...

Rains continued overnight in Tamil Nadu's Cauvery delta areas affecting standing paddy crops and the India Meteorological Department on Wednesday said heavy to very heavy and extremely heavy rainfall is likely in a few places in Cuddalore and Mayiladuthurai districts, also part of the delta region. Rains submerged crops, partially and completely, at several places including those in and around Tiruvarur, Thiruthuraipoondi, Muthupettai, Mayilduthurai, Vedaranyam and according to farmers' rough estimates, crops over at least 2,000 acres were affected. In view of the rains, November 27 has been declared a holiday for schools and colleges, including Tiruvarur, Cuddalore, Nagapattinam, and Mayiladuthurai districts. A holiday has been declared only for schools in Chennai, Chengelpet, Ariyalur, Kanchipuram. According to the IMD--Regional Meteorological Centre's update on Wednesday morning, the deep depression over southwest Bay of Bengal moved nearly northwards with a speed of 10 kmph and