Page 5 - Agriculture Ministry

Deficit in paddy sowing narrows to 4.5%; Jharkhand worst hit: Agri Ministry

The deficit in paddy sowing has reduced to 4.52 per cent at 399.03 lakh hectares so far in the ongoing kharif season on revival of rains in some states, but it is badly affected in Jharkhand, according to agriculture ministry data released on Friday. Paddy sowing in Jharkhand has halved to 8.25 lakh hectares so far this kharif season, compared to 17.62 lakh hectares in the year-ago period, the data showed. Paddy is the main kharif crop, sowing of which begins with the onset of southwest monsoon from June. Paddy sowing is now almost over as the crop will be harvested from October. About 80 per cent of India's total production comes from this season. The government expects 6-7 million fall in kharif rice production based on the crop condition till last week. According to the ministry data, there was 12.39 per cent lag in paddy sowing till August 12 of this kharif season. However, the deficit in paddy coverage has reduced to 4.52 per cent at 399.03 lakh hectares now when compared to

RBI to run pilot for digitising Kisan Credit Card lending in MP, Tamil Nadu

Project aims to prune costs and turn-around time for borrowers, will entail automation of various processes within banks and integration of their systems with those of service providers

Centre provides 1.5 mn tonnes of chana at discount for states' programmes

Procurement limit for tur, urad and masur raised

Ministry to seek Cabinet nod for allowing projects access agri fund: Tomar

Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar on Saturday said his ministry will soon seek the Cabinet nod for a proposal to allow emerging technology-based farm projects like hydroponics

Monsoon rains will progress, too early to comment on paddy sowing: Tomar

Data from Agriculture Ministry showed that as of July 15, the paddy sowing was down by 17.4% to 128.50 lakh hectares this Kharif season as against 155.53 LH in corresponding period of previous year

CBI arrests agriculture ministry officer Padam Singh, 3 others for bribery

Cash of Rs 1,29,63,450 was recovered from the premises of Padam Singh and Rs 56,86,000 allegedly belonging to the public servant was recovered from the premises of others," said the CBI official.

Govt unearths leakages of Rs 100 crore in urea usage in two months

Per year, about 1-1.2 million tonnes of urea meant for farming gets diverted towards industrial use, say officials

Lag in kharif sowing to be covered in July as monsoon progresses: Official

Till last week, area sown to total kharif crops was down 9.27 per cent at 406.66 lakh hectare as compared to the year-ago period.

Pawar urges PM Modi to raise sugar export quota by another million tonnes

Production of the sweetener is expected to be higher than earlier estimates

Govt to organise week-long nationwide campaign for farmers from April 25

As part of the campaign beginning April 25, farmers' fair will be organised at each Krishi Vigyan Kendra (KVK) along with field exhibition on natural farming, an official statement said

Agri ministry to start campaign to highlight farm sector achievements

More than 1 crore farmers and stakeholders are expected to participate in the campaign through direct (offline) and virtual (online) medium across the country

About 2,349 FPOs formed in last two years under central scheme: Tomar

"During the last two years, 2,349 FPOs have been formed under the said scheme," Tomar said in his written reply to the Rajya Sabha

Rs 375 cr pending for reprocessing under PM-KISAN since 2019: Govt

Tomar said the cumulative number of failed transactions of PM-KISAN were at 69,02,227 from February 1, 2019, till November 30 of this year

Centre taking steps to achieve nutritional security: Agri Min Tomar

Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar said the government is taking necessary steps to achieve nutrition security along with food security.

Agriculture ministry signs 5 MoUs to promote digital tech in farm sector

Agriculture Ministry signed five MoUs with CISCO, Ninjacart, Jio Platforms, ITC and NCDEX e-Markets to conduct pilot projects for promotion of digital tech and other best practices in farm sector

Centre to increase database of farmers from 55 mn to 80 mn by Dec: Tomar

The Centre will increase the farmer database from the current 55 mn to 80 mn by December this year with the support of states, Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar said on Monday

Sowing area of kharif crops 1.55% lower than last year so far: Govt data

Area sown to summer crops like paddy was lagging behind by 1.55 per cent so far in the ongoing kharif season of the crop year 2021-22 (July-June), according to data released by agriculture ministry

India's foodgrain output to rise 2.66% to record 305.43 MT in 2020-21: Govt

India's foodgrain production is estimated to rise 2.66 per cent to a new record of 305.43 million tonnes in the current crop year 2020-21, on better output of rice, wheat and pulses

India expected to harvest record wheat, rice crops this year: Agri ministry

Rice output is estimated to rise by 1.2% to 120.32 million tonnes

Agri ministry allowed to use drones for remote sensing data collection

The agriculture ministry has been permitted to use drones for remote sensing data collection under Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY). "The Ministry of Civil Aviation and Directorate General of Civil Aviation have granted conditional exemption for Remotely Piloted Aircraft System (RPAS) usage to Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare (MoAFW)," an official statement said on Friday. This will allow MoAFW to use drones for remote sensing data collection in agricultural areas of 100 districts of the country for gram panchayat level yield estimation, under PMFBY. The conditional exemption will be valid for one year from the date of issue of the permission letter or until the operationalisation of the Digital Sky Platform, whichever is earlier, the statement by the civil aviation ministry said. This exemption shall be valid only if all conditions and limitations are strictly adhered to, it said. While conditional exemption has been given to MoAFW, it still needs to obtain ...