Page 8 - Agriculture Sector

El Nino after La Nina year tends to result in rainfall deficit: Experts

With the India Meteorological Department (IMD) predicting a normal monsoon this year despite El Nino concerns, experts say an El Nino that follows a La Nina year tends to result in a significant rainfall deficit. The evolving El Nino conditions this year follow three consecutive La Nina years. La Nina, which is the opposite of El Nino, typically brings good rainfall during the monsoon season. The IMD on Tuesday predicted normal rainfall (96 per cent of the long-period average of 87 cm) in the country during the southwest monsoon season which be of great relief for the agriculture sector. The IMD forecast came just a day after private agency Skymet Weather predicted "below-normal" monsoon rains (94 per cent of the long-period average) owing to the evolving El Nino conditions, which are generally associated with the weakening of monsoon winds and dry weather in India. Raghu Murtugudde, visiting professor, Earth System Scientist at IIT Bombay and Emeritus Professor at University of .

Citi, JICA announce co-finance loan to IndusInd Bank for agriculture sector

This includes a $30 million loan by Citi and JPY 13 billion loan by JICA

Yara International looking aggressively at clean ammonia: Global CEO

In a Q&A, Svein Tore Holsether says his company is looking at more expansions in India as well

India's FY24 urea imports likely to dip by 33%, say trade sources

According to trade and industry sources, in FY24 domestic production is expected to be around 30 million tonnes, up from the more than 28 million tonnes in FY23

Facing price crash: Mustard farmers cry for help, better market avenues

Samay Singh, a mustard seed grower in Gudawali village, is busy harvesting but is worried that he may not get a better price for his produce this year as the wholesale rate in mandi here has already crashed below the minimum support price (MSP) of Rs 5,450 per quintal. Last year, Singh had harvested three quintals of mustard seed in his half acre land and sold at an average rate of Rs 7,000 per quintal. This year, yield is higher as there was no pest infestation and he expects production of at least four quintals but fears he may not get even MSP this time. Harikishan Sharma, a farmer from Dheeg block, is shocked at the mustard prices which began falling from October 2022 onwards, much before the harvesting and somewhere feels the cheaper palmolien imports is the culprit. In the last three months, mustard prices have fallen from Rs 8,000 per quintal to Rs 5,200 per quintal in Bharatpur mandis, the hub for mustard production and processors, according to these farmers. Farmers in thi

Farm sector to grow 3.7% in Oct-Dec on kharif output: 2nd advance estimates

At current prices, the growth in the third quarter of this financial year is projected at 8.6 per cent, which is almost at the same level in the corresponding quarter of FY22

GDP growth rate seen below 5% in December quarter on a normalising base

FY23 quarterly, annual estimates may be revised on Tuesday

Annual agri-budget rose 5-fold to Rs 1.25 trn since 2014: PM Modi

India's agriculture sector's annual budget has increased five-fold to Rs 1.25 lakh crore since 2014, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Friday, as he stressed that his government is focusing on progress of the farm sector and working on mission mode to reduce import dependence of food items like edible oils. The Prime Minister was addressing a post-budget webinar on 'Agriculture and Cooperatives'. It is the second of a series of 12 post-budget webinars organized by the government to seek ideas and suggestions for the effective implementation of the initiatives announced in the Union Budget 2023. Modi also outlined the various steps announced in the budget to attract young talent in the sector, and expansion of the cooperative sector across the country. He stressed that various decisions are being continuously taken in the budget to promote the agricultural sector so that the nation becomes 'atmanirbhar' and the funds used for imports can reach farmers. Highlighting the importance

There'll be a time when people will have cash but no products to buy: Tomar

Tomar was addressing the Fourth convocation ceremony of Chaudhary Charan Singh National Agricultural Marketing Institute, Jaipur (Rajasthan)

India appeals to G20 nations to adopt '3S' formula in agriculture

India on Tuesday called on G20 nations to adopt '3S' strategy - Smart, Sustainable and Serve - for the agriculture ecosystem in order to address the global food security concerns. Addressing media on the sidelines of the first G20 Agriculture Deputies' Meeting here, Union Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia said agriculture for India has always been a priority and for the world it has fully come to the fore now. "Our thinking is we have to adopt 3S strategy for the agriculture ecosystem to make a mark on the world food system," Scindia said. The 3S strategy is 'smart' and 'sustainable' agriculture which should 'serve' all, he said. For smart agriculture, Scindia emphasised on adopting drone and other new technologies for increasing the crop yield. For sustainable agriculture, farmers should focus on achieving higher yields, use better inputs besides focusing on advanced technologies and marketing, he said. Stating that India has made a significant progress in agriculture, the minister s

Budget Session: Census paused, no plan to hike amount under PM-Kisan & more

The existing annual income ceiling of Rs 8 lakh is 'sufficient' to determine the OBC non-creamy layer status of community members: Centre

Supporting farm growth

Budget has enabling proposals

Budget 2023-24 wishlist: Here're the key challenges in agriculture sector

The emerging trends in Indian agribusiness point at the shift in focus from a production-driven sector to market-driven factors

Rozgar Mela will act as catalyst in employment generation, says Tomar

Union Minister of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Narendra Singh Tomar on Friday said that the Rozgar Mela will act as a catalyst in employment generation and provide meaningful opportunities

Centre to expedite crop insurance for kharif 2021 season to Barmer farmers

The Centre on Wednesday said it will expedite the payment of a Rs 540 crore claim of the kharif 2021 season to eligible farmers of Barmer district, Rajasthan

Centre to revamp agricultural education, emphasis to skill development

Sponsored by Agricultural Education Division of the ICAR, the Winter School is aimed at providing an opportunity to update the analytical skills of social science researchers and make them familiar

NITI Aayog to rank states on measures taken to increase farmers' income

The NITI Aayog is working on this project with other stakeholder ministries and has developed several indices to rank states annually on measurable parameters

3,700 Indian dams will lose 26% storage capacity by 2050: UN study

Around 3,700 dams in India will lose 26 per cent of their total storage by 2050 due to accumulation of sediments which can undermine water security, irrigation and power generation in future, warns a new study by the United Nations. The Central Water Commission, had in 2015, reported that among 141 large reservoirs which are over 50-years-old, one quarter had lost at least 30 per cent of their initial storage capacity. Trapped sediment has already robbed roughly 50,000 large dams worldwide of an estimated 13 to 19 per cent of their combined original storage capacity. The study by the United Nations University Institute on Water, Environment and Health (UNU-INWEH), also known as the UN's think tank on water, shows that 6,316 billion cubic metre of initial global storage in 47,403 large dams in 150 countries will decline to 4,665 billion cubic metre, causing 26 per cent storage loss by 2050. The loss of 1,650 billion cubic metre storage capacity is roughly equal to the annual water u

Cropin raises Rs 113 cr funds from investors including Google, JSR Corp

Agritech company Cropin on Monday said it has raised Rs 113 crore funding from new investors Google and JSR Corporation, as well as existing investors ABC Impact and Chiratae Ventures. The funds will aid in expanding Cropin Cloud, the company's recently launched intelligent agriculture cloud platform, to cater to the growing demand for digitization and predictive intelligence in the global agriculture sector, the company said in a statement. "The involvement of new strategic investors like Google and JSR Corporation, and the support of our existing investors, demonstrates confidence in our mission and impact," Cropin Co-founder and CEO Krishna Kumar said. Cropin was founded in 2010. The company has partnered with more than 250 Business-to-business (B2B) customers and has digitized 16 million acres of farmland, benefiting over 7 million farmers. Its Cropin Cloud's intelligence platform has already provided predictive intelligence for over 200 million acres of farmland worldwide.

Philippines rushes to import onions as prices touch nearly Rs 1,000 per kg

The Philippines' agriculture department is planning to import 22,000 tons of onions to boost domestic supply as surging prices of the cooking ingredient push inflation to a 14-year high