Page 10 - Agriculture Sector

Pre-Budget meet: Farmers' bodies ask govt to lift export ban on wheat

In a pre-budget consultation with the finance ministry, farmers' organisations on Tuesday asked the government to lift ban on exports of agri items like wheat and restrict import of products that cost below the minimum support price (MSP). They also demanded that the government should focus on increasing domestic output of local oilseeds such as soyabean, mustard, groundnut and sunflower, instead of palm. Imposition of higher taxes on processed foods was another suggestion made by farmers' bodies during the virtual meeting with finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman. The finance minister chaired her third pre-budget consultation with the experts of agriculture and representatives of the agro processing industry here. In his wish list for the Union Budget 2023-24, Bharat Krishak Samaj Chairman Ajay Vir Jakhar demanded that the government should "not allow import of produce where landing costs are below MSP". He also urged the Centre to focus on human resources development in the farm

Assam govt launches initiative 'Assam Millet Mission' to boost agri sector

The Assam government on Wednesday launched a special programme aimed at increasing agriculture productivity and doubling farmers' income. A special initiative, Assam Millet Mission, was inaugurated by Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma for this purpose. Launched Assam Millet Mission, targeted to raise nutrition quotient & doubling farmers' income. To increase productivity, it will also contribute in crop diversification, Sarma tweeted. Distributed power tillers, pump sets, mini trucks, harvesters, crop seeds, financial aids among beneficiaries, he added. The chief minister also inaugurated six soil testing and quality control labs, and two knowledge centres, which will help the state become self-sufficient in agriculture.

World food import bill to be at record high of $1.94 trillion in 2022: FAO

The world food import bill is estimated to rise to US$1.94 trillion in 2022, higher than previously expected, according to the latest Food Outlook forecast released by the FAO

Private channels to have 30-min slot for 'public interest' programmes

Part of new uplinking-downlinking rules prescribed by I&B ministry

Going forward, IOB will be posting very good results: MD & CEO Sengupta

'It has been in the range of 20-30 per cent in almost every quarter'

BKU leader Rakesh Tikait says he will boycott trials of GM Mustard

BKU leader Rakesh Tikait here on Sunday said he will not allow trials of genetically modified (GM) Mustard proposed by the central government. Addressing the mahapanchayat of farmers near Ghungroo intersection of Jhalwa, Tikait said, "The Ministry of Science and Technology has approved the trial of GM mustard. Preparations are being made to conduct trials at two places, Shahjahanpur in Uttar Pradesh and Bharatpur in Rajasthan. We will not allow the trial, neither in Uttar Pradesh nor in Rajasthan." The Bhartiya Kisan Union leader said that there was no reason why the GM Mustard should be allowed into the country after objections from scientists from several countries. "When something is banned in the whole world, we have reports of 400 scientists, we have bad results of BT cotton cultivation, then what is the need for the Indian government to allow the cultivation of GM mustard. Is there a shortage of mustard in the country?" he said. Tikait claimed there will not be a dearth of cr

UPL Ltd Q2 net profit up 25.19% on robust sales despite Ukraine impact

Agro-chemicals maker UPL Ltd on Tuesday posted a 25.19 per cent jump in its consolidated net profit at Rs 969 in the second quarter of FY23 on strong sales, despite some impact faced due to the Russia-Ukraine crisis. The company had posted a consolidated net profit of Rs 774 crore during the second quarter previous year. "Due to ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine, and the sanctions in the region, the Group's business has been impacted to some extent," the company said in a regulatory filing. The Group is having approximately Rs 86 crore of inventory and Rs 54 crore of receivables as on September 30 in this war affected region, it said, adding that the company is continuously monitoring the situation. "The Group continues to do business in these two countries and taking necessary steps to protect itself from various risk involved. Management is confident of realisation of these assets," UPL added. According to the filing, the company's net income rose 18.35 per cent to Rs 12,50

Scientists say GM mustard production can start from this rabi itself

An official clarification made later says approval has come from GEAC, which is authorised to do so, and not from MoEF

Rajasthan govt takes action to prevent black marketing of fertilisers

Agriculture Commi­ssioner Kana Ram said teams formed to check illegal activities at the level of agriculture commissionerate had been sent to districts.

Potato and tomato output projected to be down by 4-5% in 2021-22

The production of overall vegetables is projected to be higher at 204.84 million tonnes as against 200.45 million tonnes in the said period

Corporatisation of power, agri sectors will be disastrous: K T Rama Rao

The Centre is trying to privatise power and agriculture sectors which will have disastrous impact on farmers and others, Telangana Minister for IT and Industries K T Rama Rao has alleged. Speaking to reporters in Siricilla on Thursday, he said if the Electricity (Amendment) Bill brought in by the Central government turns into an Act, farmers would lose free power, Scheduled Caste members, Scheduled Tribe persons, poultry farmers, washermen, barbers, weavers, and others will have to bid goodbye to power subsidies. Rama Rao reiterated Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao's stand against the reforms in agriculture and power sectors, and reminded the state government's resolution passed in the state assembly against the Bill. "Telangana is a state where farmers cultivate lands relying on power supply. The state has 26 lakh pump sets. What would be the fate of farmers if free power is not supplied?" he asked. Crops are grown across 1.35 crore acres in Telangana. An additional 50 lakh acre

Axis Bank looking at more partnerships with Big Tech: Axis Bank MD

Amitabh Chaudhry says the private lender spends Rs 900 crore every buying priority sector lending certificates to meet its targets

Rajasthan to tap solar energy to fulfil electricity demand in agri sector

Rajasthan's solar generation potential has been assessed at 142 Gw. The state government plans to harness this potential systematically and has set an ambitious target of 30 Gw capacity by 2024-25

Obituary: Abhijit Sen - A great economist with rural, agriculture focus

He was an excellent analytical economist and his is a great loss to the profession of economics vis-a-vis research and policy, writes S Mahendra Dev

Demand for MGNREGA work drops in monsoon deficit states by 35% in July

In the eastern states where monsoon is in deficit, work demand has also fallen barring Jharkhand, which has seen a 12.38% spike in households demanding work under MGNREGA in July

Inflation eats into India's rural demand while green shoots become visible

After a pandemic slump, consumer goods makers are banking on a good monsoon but erratic rain patterns make a sustained recovery open to question

Eight months after rolling back farm laws, Centre sets up MSP panel

Representatives of agriculture universities and institutions have also been included in the panel. Joint secretary (crops) in the Ministry of Agriculture will be the member secretary in the panel

Centre wants to create framework for PPP in farm sector: Agriculture Secy

Manoj Sinha said work on the framework is ongoing, private players are encouraged to share their inputs

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

Govt taking steps to fix post-production challenges in agri sector: Tomar

Tomar said govt has connected about 1,000 regulated wholesale mandis with electronic National Agriculture Market (e-NAM) so far and sanctioned Rs 9,500 cr for 13,000 projects under the Agri-Infra Fund