Page 5 - Agriculture Economy

5 days early, monsoon likely to arrive by May 27 over Kerala coast: IMD

An early onset of the southwest monsoon may boost kharif sowing and farm output, with IMD forecasting rainfall to be above normal at 105 per cent of the LPA this year

Shedding old habits: Rethinking agricultural practices in India

The government needs to actively push greater cultivation of millets, while encouraging farmers to move away from water-guzzling wheat and rice

India's millet moment: A holistic shift from paddy to sustainability

As of now, paddy has the largest area under cultivation in India, and agricultural input subsidies are skewed towards paddy production

Credit growth to agriculture slows to 10.4% in March 2025: RBI data

The bank credit growth to the agriculture sector slowed to 10.4 per cent year-on-year for the fortnight ended March 21, while advances to the industry remained flat at 8 per cent, as per the RBI data released on Wednesday. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has released the data on sectoral deployment of bank credit collected from 41 select commercial banks, accounting for about 95 per cent of the total non-food credit deployed by all banks taken together. Credit to agriculture and allied activities registered a growth of 10.4 per cent (y-o-y) as of the fortnight ended March 21, 2025, against 20 per cent in the corresponding fortnight of the previous year. "Credit to industry expanded by 8.0 per cent (y-o-y) as on the fortnight ended March 21, 2025, same as in the corresponding fortnight of the previous year," the RBI said. Among major industries, outstanding credit to 'petroleum, coal products and nuclear fuels', 'basic metal and metal products', 'all engineering' and 'construction'

India's farm exports might face challenges in FY26, but all is not lost

India's farm exports could surge past $40 billion in FY25, driven by rice and seafood, but fresh geopolitical tensions and US tariff risks could cloud the outlook for FY26

GreenGrahi raises ₹32 cr in a seed funding round led by Avaana Capital

The company also plans to expand its team and enter global markets, including the United States, United Kingdom, and the European Union

Rallis India Q4 results: Clocks ₹2,663 cr sales; loss widens to ₹32 cr

Agricultural inputs company Rallis India, a subsidiary of Tata Chemicals, on Wednesday reported a loss of Rs 32 crore during the quarter ending March 31. The company's loss stood at Rs 21 crore during the corresponding quarter of the previous financial year, Rallis India said in a regulatory filing. The company's revenue from operations during the quarter under review was almost flat at Rs 430 crore compared to Rs 436 crore in the same quarter of the previous year. For 2024-25, Rallis India's profit after tax (PAT) stood at Rs 125 crore, while its revenue from operations was Rs 2,663 crore. "The company has reported FY25 revenue of Rs 2,663 crore and PAT of Rs 125 crore. For Q4 FY25, revenue is Rs 430 crore with positive volume growth in domestic business. Control over working capital has enabled strong cash flow from operations. "I am particularly pleased with the growth of 23 per cent and 24 per cent in soil and plant health and herbicides categories, respectively. Our Innovatio

If agri growth rate rises, rural youth won't migrate to cities: Gadkari

Union Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari on Tuesday emphasised the need to increase agriculture growth rate and purchasing power in rural India to prevent migration of rural youth to cities. Addressing an event here, Gadkari said currently the government's minimum support prices for agriculture crops are way higher then commercial market prices. "If agriculture growth rate increases then rural youth will not be forced migrate to metro cities like Delhi and Mumbai for livelihood," he said. According to him, the growth rate in agriculture will lead to increase in purchasing power of rural population. Gadkari also emphasised the need for more intensive use of bamboo resources in the country, saying bamboo can create employment opportunities and contribute to rural development. He pointed out that the use of bamboo in the energy sector will help India in reducing import of fossils fuels. Gadkari said bamboo has the potential to be used as an alternative to coal and ca

Resetting the base year for CPI-AL/RL likely to impact minimum wages

After almost four decades, the government is planning to revise the base year for CPI for agri and rural workers, with more weightage likely to be given to items such as health and education

A below-par monsoon could imperil Bihar's agri sector, Assembly elections

If rainfall is below average this year, too, it would mark it as the fourth consecutive year that the agriculturally important state would get lesser rains from the Southwest monsoon

HADP to build Rs 1 trillion agri-economy for J&K by 2030: Omar Abdullah

Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Wednesday said the Holistic Agriculture Development Programme is a movement to build a sustainable Rs 1,00,000 crore agri-economy for the state by 2030. He was chairing a review meeting on the implementation of the Holistic Agriculture Development Programme (HADP). The chief minister said digital innovation in agriculture aims to integrate cutting-edge technologies like AI-based advisory tools and real-time monitoring applications to strengthen governance at the grassroots level. "The programme is not just a policy intervention but a movement to empower farmers, modernise the agri-sector, and build a sustainable Rs 1,00,000 crore agri-economy for Jammu & Kashmir by 2030. "We are redefining how governance reaches the grassroots. HADP is making agriculture smart, data-driven, and future-ready," Abdullah said. Terming progressive farmers as the backbone of agricultural transformation, the chief minister said, "Their stories of success

This smallcap agricultural products stock has zoomed 49% in 1 month

Kaveri Seed share price surged 18% in 3 days after private weather forecasting agency Skymet said that the southwest monsoon is expected to be 'Normal' this year at 103% of the Long Period Average.

India exported 19.86 million tonnes rice till Mar 25 of FY25: Govt tells RS

India has exported 198.65 lakh tonnes of rice till March 25 of the last fiscal year, surpassing the outward shipment of 163.58 lakh tonnes in the entire 2023-24 financial year. In a written reply to Rajya Sabha, Minister of State for Food and Consumer Affairs Nimuben Jayantibhai Bambhaniya said, "The domestic production of agri-commodities. their availability and import/export is monitored closely by the government..." "...keeping in mind the interest of the consumers, domestic farmers and industry, the government makes necessary policy interventions as and when required to balance domestic food security in the country," she said. The minister shared the rice export data for the last five fiscal years. As per the data, India's rice exports stood at 198.65 lakh tonnes during April 1, 2024 to March 25, 2025. Out of the total exports till March 25 of the last fiscal, basmati rice shipments stood at 59.44 lakh tonnes. Exports of parboiled rice stood at 90.44 lakh tonnes, non-basmati

States can choose to include tenant farmers in farmer registry: MoS

State governments can decide on whether to include tenant and lessee farmers in their farmer registry, Minister of State for Agriculture Ramnath Thakur said in Lok Sabha on Tuesday. The State Farmer Registry under the Digital Agriculture Mission enables farmers to receive a unique farmer ID to access government benefits. In his written reply to the Lower House, Thakur said the State Farmer Registry covers all the landholder farmers, including women farmers. "Farmers Registry application also has the provision to onboard the tenant and lessee farmers. A state can decide to include such farmers in the Farmers Registry as per the state's policy," it said. The minister said although internet penetration has increased in rural areas, additional steps have been taken to ensure digital inclusion of farmers who do not have mobile phones, they can use existing support structures like Farmer Producer Organisations (FPOs), Krishi Sakhis, and Common Service Centres (CSCs), to get them register

Shivraj Singh Chouhan urges quick transfer of farm tech from labs to fields

Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Saturday emphasised the need for faster transfer of farm technologies from laboratories to the fields to benefit farmers. Addressing the Indian Agricultural Research Institute's (IARI) 63rd convocation, Chouhan stressed the adoption of agricultural machinery, smart farming and advanced digital technologies to address global challenges. "Research will have to be further strengthened to make India a leader in the agricultural sector," he said, noting that innovations are particularly necessary to increase income for the country's numerous small and marginal farmers. India's agricultural growth rate currently stands at 5 per cent, which Chouhan attributed to the combined efforts of IARI and farmers, resulting in abundant food reserves, according to an official statement. The minister stressed the need for sustainable agriculture, climate-resilient farming, and organic and natural farming practices. He urged students to address agricultura

State govts boost farmer incentives amid concerns over fiscal strain

States are topping up PM-KISAN disbursement with own allocation to keep their poll promises. But can a rise in direct benefit transfer and bonus over MSP go hand in hand? Sanjeeb Mukherjee writes

BL Agro launches Rs 1,000 crore dairy breeding project in Bareilly

Leading FMCG company BL Agro on Saturday inaugurated a high-tech cattle breeding and dairy centre in Bareilly at an initial investment of Rs 1,000 crore with an aim to transform local agriculture. The state-of-the-art Centre of Excellence for Cow Breeding and Dairy Technology, a part of the subsidiary firm BL Khamdhenu, was inaugurated by Union Food Processing Industries Minister Chirag Paswan, the company said in a statement. The project, "Satat Kamdhenu", with a focus on circular practices in dairy sector was unveiled on the occasion. The "BL Kamdhenu Farms" will initially house 5,000 indigenous cows, eventually doubling to 10,000, as part of the company's Satat Kamdhenu initiative. "The initial investment in the project is around Rs 1,000 crore and the whole project once it is up to full capacity will cost Rs 3,000 crore," BL Agro Managing Director Ashish Khandelwal said. The key focus has been to create a sustainable and a circular economy that minimises agri-waste and boosts

Only 15% paddy, 9.6% wheat farmers benefit from MSP system, says paper

However, the MSP system also gives farmers a 23.2 per cent income bump from paddy and 9.6 per cent more income from wheat cultivation

Google building digital agri stack for India using satellite imagery

Global tech giant Google is building a digital agri-stack using satellite imagery and has started with a base layer that will help identify farm boundaries, a senior official said on Saturday. Data and analysis of this base layer of the stack can be used in a slew of applications like bettering the subsidy payments, farm insurance or farm loans, Manish Gupta, a senior director at Google DeepMind said. ".. we have built the first such model that using satellite imagery analysis can now start to identify field boundaries based on usage pattern start to identify what crops are being grown and so on," Gupta said, speaking at the Mumbai Tech Week here. The model has taken inspiration from UIDAI's Aadhar, ascribing a unique ID to each farm and is intended to act as a base layer of the "digital agri stack", he said. Gupta said it is upon the startups and other agri-tech players to build solutions which will provide loan crop insurance and also subsidies using the data churned out by the .

PM calls for speedy implementation of agri budget, keeping focus on action

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday urged stakeholders to suggest ways to make ongoing schemes more effective and implement this year's budget in a speedy manner on the ground level. Addressing virtually the post-budget webinar on "Agriculture and rural prosperity", Modi said the government has presented a full budget in the third term, ensuring consistency in policy and reflecting the vision of Viksit Bharat. Modi said before the budget, inputs and suggestions from all stakeholders helped in framing it. "Now this budget needs to be implemented more effectively on the ground," he said. Agriculture is considered as the first engine of growth and the government is moving ahead with the target of achieving agricultural growth and rural prosperity, he said. Modi highlighted the need to enhance production of pulses to reduce the country's dependence on imports, and also asked private sector to focus on high-yielding crop seeds. He urged the stakeholders to discuss how the ongoin