Page 12 - Agriculture Economy

India leads with world's largest food-based safety net programs: MoS Agri

India is committed to developing resilient agricultural systems and ensuring food security on the global stage, Minister of State for Agriculture & Farmers' Welfare Ram Nath Thakur said. He made the remarks while representing India at G20 Agriculture Ministerial Meeting in Cuiab, Brazil on September 12-14, 2024. India also emphasized enhanced international trade's contribution to food security at the meeting. "Our approach not only focuses on productivity but also ensures economic, social, and environmental sustainability, enhancing farmer prosperity and embodying a comprehensive vision for development," an official statement quoted him as saying. The minister also pointed to India's implementation of "the world's largest food-based safety net programmes" to ensure food security and nutrition. He stressed the need for Special and Differential Treatment for developing and least-developed countries, particularly to empower small and marginal fishers, the statement said. "This is ..

Sowing area swells to 109.23 mn hectares but floods pose risk to yields

As of September 6, improved monsoon rainfall has boosted Kharif sowing to 109.23 million hectares, the data released by the Centre showed

Punjab farmers end protest after CM Mann's assurance on agri policy

Farmers protesting against the alleged delay in implementation of Punjab's new agriculture policy ended their strike on Friday, a day after Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann assured them that a draft of the policy would be shared with them by September 30. Mann also assured them that their suggestions would be incorporated before the policy's implementation. Mann on Thursday held an over two-hour meeting with leaders of the Bharti Kisan Union (Ugrahan) and Punjab Khet Mazdoor Union, which led the protesting farmers, to discuss their demands. Farmers under the banner of the Bharti Kisan Union (Ugrahan) and the Punjab Khet Mazdoor Union began a five-day protest on Sunday to press for their demands, including the agriculture policy's implementation. Speaking to reporters at the protest site, Bharti Kisan Union (Ugrahan) president Joginder Singh Ugrahan said they had urged the state government to make the agriculture policy public. "They (the government) said it was being finalised They sa

CFIUS warns against Nippon merger with US Steel, citing China steel glut

The Committee on Foreign Investment said in its 17-page letter sent to Nippon Steel and US Steel, that decisions by Nippon could lead to a reduction in domestic steel production capacity

Govt starts discounted onion sale at Rs 35 per kg in Delhi-NCR, Mumbai

The Centre on Thursday began the first phase of retail sales of onion at a subsidised rate of Rs 35 per kg to provide relief to Delhi-NCR and Mumbai consumers from rising prices of the kitchen staple. NCCF and NAFED, which are maintaining a buffer stock of 4.7 lakh tonne onion on behalf of the government, will undertake the retail sale through their own stores and mobile vans. Onion will be sold at 38 retail points in Delhi-NCR and Parel and Malad in Mumbai. Onion will also be sold at a subsidised rate on the e-commerce platforms and outlets of Kendriya Bhandar and Mother Dairy's SAFAL in major consumption areas. Currently, retail prices of onion are ruling over Rs 60 per kg, depending on the quality and locality in the national capital. After the launch, Food and Consumer Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi said the quantity and disposal channels for onion will be enhanced, deepened, intensified and diversified as per the trend in onion prices. He said more cities will be covered in t

Farmers body AIKCC urges state govts to frame comprehensive agri policy

Farmers body All India Kisan Coordination Committee on Wednesday asked state governments to formulate a comprehensive 'agriculture policy' in the interest of farmers and maintain the policy consistency for a minimum period. Farmers body All India Kisan Coordination Committee (AIKCC) discussed the issue during a two-day brainstorming session organised in memory of late Sharad Joshi, a prominent farmers leader and founder of Shetkari Sanghatana. "More than 60 per cent of India's population depends on agriculture for their livelihood, yet many states lack their own agricultural policies, leading to conflicts between the Centre and states on various issues," AIKCC Chairman and former Rajya Sabha MP Bhupinder Singh Mann said in a statement. AIKCC emphasised the importance of maintaining policy consistency for a minimum period to boost agricultural exports and prevent frequent policy changes that harm farmers the most. Binod Anand, Vice Chairman of AIKCC, emphasised the strategic need fo

Centre okays Rs 14,000-crore for 7 new schemes to boost farmer income

Seven new schemes aim to leverage technology, crop science in agri sector

Paddy acreage surpasses normal levels, reaching 40.87 million hectares

Overall, till August 30 kharif crops have been sown in around 108.73 million hectares which was almost 2 per cent more than the same period last year

India's agriculture growth dips in Q1 as heatwave stings crop output

Low post-monsoon rains, which dried most of the reservoirs in several states across the country, also impacted the production of many crops

Canada's Vitera invests Rs 250 cr in Karnataka's Vijayapura for agriculture

Vitera, a leading Canadian agricultural product manufacturing company, has invested Rs 250 crore to develop agricultural infrastructure in Vijayapur district in Karnataka, state Minister M B Patil said on Friday. Vitera made this capital investment decision during a meeting with the Minister held here today. Vitera's investment will help reduce post-harvest losses faced by farmers by building state-of-the-art cold storage facilities for the agricultural community in Vijayapur district, thereby enhancing the efficiency of the production, supply, and sale of agricultural products, Patil who holds medium and large industries portfolio, said in a statement. The company will utilise advanced manufacturing technology to achieve this, he added. Patil also mentioned that the use of modern Canadian agricultural technology, along with this capital investment, will increase agricultural production, thereby boosting the overall economy of the state.

'Huge potential to increase agri collaboration between India, Africa'

Large arable land in the African continent offers huge scope for collaboration between India and Africa in the agriculture sector, BRICS Agri Business Council Vikramjit Singh Sahney has said. He said that Africa can be a reservoir for the supply of pulses, oilseeds and other agri products like millets. "There is large arable land still unutilised in Africa which can be put to fertile use through agri inputs and India can help develop the whole Agri Value chain in various African countries," he added. Sahney, who is also a Rajya Sabha member from Punjab, said this while addressing a session on India-Africa Business Conclave here on August 22. He also highlighted that the manufacturing growth and services sector can be a game changer for Africa's youth which has got the world's largest young population. Sahney added that India can also help various startups in Africa in cities like Lagos, Nairobi and Cape Town which are hubs of becoming startup capitals. Emphasising the importance

Union govt urges states to adopt new tech initiatives for better farm data

Agriculture Secretary Devesh Chaturvedi on Thursday urged states to swiftly adopt and implement new technology-driven initiatives to improve farm production estimates and enhance data accuracy. Addressing a national conference here, Chaturvedi emphasised the need for continuous collaboration between the central and state governments to enhance the quality of agricultural statistics, an official statement said. The new initiatives include the Digital Crop Survey, Digital General Crop Estimation Survey (DGCES), and the revamped FASAL (Forecasting Agricultural Output using Space, Agro-meteorology, and Land-based Observations) programme. The Digital Crop Survey is designed to provide plot-level data with geotagged areas of crops, serving as a single source of truth for accurate crop area estimation. DGCES aims to calculate yield based on scientifically designed Crop Cutting Experiments for all major crops across the country. The revamped FASAL programme leverages remote sensing techno

PM Modi to release 109 high yielding, climate resilient varieties of crops

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will release 109 high yielding, climate resilient and biofortified varieties of crops at Indian Agricultural Research Institute here on Sunday, according to an official statement. The prime minister will also interact with farmers and scientists during the event, the statement said. The 109 varieties of 61 crops to be released include 34 field crops and 27 horticultural crops, it added. Among the field crops, seeds of various cereals, including millet, forage crops, oilseeds, pulses, sugarcane, cotton, fibre and other potential crops will be released, the statement said. Among the horticultural crops, different varieties of fruits, vegetable crops, plantation crops, tuber crops, spices, flowers and medicinal crops will be released, it added. Prime Minister Modi has always encouraged sustainable farming and adoption of climate resilient methodologies, the release said. He has also emphasised on promoting biofortified varieties of crops by linking them

Uttar Pradesh govt set to launch Rs 4,000 cr agriculture business project

The project is estimated to benefit a million farmers, including 30 per cent of the rural women associated with agri self help groups (SHGs)

Draft policy proposes easier lending, new mandis for FPOs; Is it enough?

India has over 24,000 functional FPOs established under the Companies Act as of March 31, 2023, with many of them being set up in recent years under the Central scheme to promote and form 10,000 FPOs

Centre to invest Rs 18,000 crore to build agri-export clusters: Chouhan

Opposition Congress accuses Centre of misleading Parliament on the MSP issue

Viksit Bharat needs a new paradigm: Reforming the thinking behind policy

The time has come to imagine the contours of a new paradigm of progress

Agriculture at the centre of India's economic policies, says PM Modi

He also mentioned a big focus on sustainable and climate-resilient farming in this year's budget, as well as developing a complete ecosystem to support India's farmers

India food surplus; working to provide solutions for food security: PM

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday said India has become a food surplus country and is working to provide solutions for global food and nutritional security. Addressing a gathering after inaugurating the 32nd International Conference of Agricultural Economists (ICAE), which is being organised in India after 65 years, the Prime Minister also said the Union Budget 2024-25 focuses on sustainable agriculture. Noting that the last time when the conference was hosted here, India had just achieved Independence, and it was a challenging time for the country's agriculture and food security. "Now, India is a food surplus country," he said, adding that the country is the number one producer of milk, pulses and spices in the world. Also, the country has become the second-largest producer of foodgrains, fruits, vegetables, cotton, sugar and tea. "There was a time when India's food security was a concern for the world. Now, India is working to provide solutions for global food security an

Being 'anti-farmer' is in DNA of Congress: Agri min Shivraj Singh Chouhan

Being 'anti-farmer' is in the DNA of Congress, said Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Friday as he took on opposition parties for accusing the Modi government of working against the interest of the farm sector. Replying to a discussion on the working of his ministry in the Rajya Sabha, the Union minister said the central government increased the budget outlay for the sector many-fold in the last 10 years from 2013-14. He said farmers are getting fertilisers at highly subsidised prices and will continue to get the farm nutrients at low prices. "Being anti-farmer is in the DNA of Congress. Priorities of Congress have been misplaced since the beginning," Chouhan said while highlighting the works done by the Modi government in the crucial agriculture sector. On the other hand, he said, the current government has set six priorities, including increasing farm production, reducing input cost, providing remunerative prices and adequate relief in case of calamities. The ministe