Page 33 - Agriculture

Total kharif acreage tops last year's level for first time this season

A pick up in paddy sowing should ease some concerns on the inflation front that prompted a clampdown on exports this week

Agri sector can scale new highs with AI, other emerging technologies: WEF

The agriculture sector in India can be transformed by promoting the use of artificial intelligence (AI) and other emerging technologies, according to a new World Economic Forum report. Releasing the phase-1 report of the 'Saagu Baagu' ('agriculture advancement' in the Telugu language) being implemented by the Telangana government in collaboration with it, the WEF said its AI for Agriculture Innovation (AI4AI) initiative has helped more than 7,000 chilli farmers get access to agritech services in the first phase. These agritech services include AI-based advisories, soil testing, produce quality testing and e-commerce -- all in the project's pilot phase. The state government plans to scale existing and additional agritech services in phase II (from 2023 onwards) to 20,000 chilli and ground nut farmers in three districts. The digital public infrastructure will also be introduced in phase II, while in phase III (by 2025), the target is to reach 1,00,000 farmers in the state. The projec

17,176 PACS registered to function as common service centres: Amit Shah

Cooperation Minister Amit Shah on Friday said 17,176 Primary Agricultural Credit Societies (PACS) have been registered so far to function as Common Service Centres (CSC) for providing over 300 services like banking, insurance and Aadhaar enrolment in rural India. Shah said there are around 95,000 PACS across the country and soon all will be on-boarded to start CSC operation. In the next few years, he said around 3 lakh new PACS will be established which will provide these services from the start itself. The minister was addressing the 'National Seminar on Delivery of CSC services through PACS' here. "Today both PACS and CSC are getting united. This will not only increase the facilities of the poor, but also will give new energy and new strength to the rural economy," Shah said. He informed that around 17,176 PACS have got their registration done to function as CSC till Thursday afternoon. Out of this, 6,670 PACS have also started transactions. In the coming 1-2 weeks, the remaini

Delhi may suffer losses of Rs 2.75 trn by 2050 due to climate change

Delhi is projected to suffer losses of Rs 2.75 trillion by 2050 due to the impacts of climate change, with changes in precipitation and temperature patterns posing significant threats to the lives of the most vulnerable populations. The warning comes from the city government's draft action plan on climate change. The plan, which is pending approval, highlights "heat waves/higher temperature and heavy precipitation events over fewer number of days" as major challenges that the city will confront in the upcoming years. India introduced its National Action Plan on Climate Change (NAPCC) in 2008, following which state governments were instructed to create their own action plans. The State Action Plan on Climate Change (SAPCC) must be aligned with the strategies laid out in the NAPCC. In January 2018, the central government directed the states to revise and strengthen their SAPCCs, taking into account the evolving national and international climate action, science and policy ...

Govt to take firm decision on anti-farmer agriculture laws: CM Siddaramaiah

Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Monday said the government will take a firm decision on the anti-farmer agricultural laws implemented by the previous BJP government in the state. Speaking to a delegation of farmers led by legislators B R Patil and Darshan Puttannaiah, who met him today, Siddaramaiah said the government will take decisions to protect the interest of farmers. The Land Reforms Act has been discussed and a clear decision will be taken within the next session. There was a discussion in the House today about the amendment of the APMC Act. He said that a separate meeting will be held to discuss the problems of farmers in detail, a statement issued by the Chief Minister's office said.

Diversification of agriculture towards energy, power need of hour: Gadkari

Stressing that diversification of agriculture towards energy and power sectors is the need of the hour, Union Minister of Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari on Monday asked Uttar Pradesh to move ahead in hydrogen production so that the country could become an energy exporting country. The Union minister also said that Uttar Pradesh, which was once regarded as 'bimaru pradesh', is moving towards development now and hailed Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath for improving the law and order of the state. "Diversification of agriculture towards the energy and power sector is the need of the hour and to make our farmers prosperous, Uttar Pradesh has sugarcane farmers in large numbers. "The Narendra Modi government has made policies to change the future of the farmers and it is bringing a change," the minister said. He was speaking after jointly inaugurating two national highway projects worth over Rs 3,300 crores in the state capital with local MP and union Defence Minister Rajnath ..

Agri ministry asks banks to promote Rs 1 trillion Agriculture Infra Fund

The Agriculture Ministry on Wednesday asked banks to promote Rs 1 lakh crore Agriculture Infrastructure Fund (AIF) for creation of necessary infrastructure in the farm sector. The AIF is a financing facility launched on July 8, 2020 for creation of post-harvest management infrastructure and community farm assets. Under this scheme, Rs 1 lakh crore is to be disbursed by financial year 2025-26 and the interest subvention and credit guarantee assistance will be given till the year 2032-33. According to an official statement, Agriculture Secretary Manoj Ahuja on Wednesday launched a new campaign for banks under Agri Infra Fund titled BHARAT (Banks Heralding Accelerated Rural & Agriculture Transformation). "This one month-long campaign (from July 15 to August 15) with a target of Rs 7,200 crore was launched through video conference attended by more than 100 banking executives that included MDs/Chairman, EDs of commercial banks in public and private sector, Regional Rural Banks, Small ..

Pak aims to get investment of $30-50 bn in next few yrs in agriculture: PM

Pakistan is aiming to get investment worth USD 30-50 billion in the next four to five years in agriculture under a programme to transform the economy, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said on Monday. Sharif said this while addressing a seminar on agriculture and food security in Islamabad which was also attended by Chief of Army Staff General Asim Munir. He said that the landmark steps were being taken to exploit its full potential in agriculture and other domains under the ambit of the recently launched Special Investment Facilitation Council (SIFC). He said the Green Pakistan Initiative, which is part of the SIFC, would be the second green revolution, paving the way for prosperity and progress in the country and the government anticipated an average investment of 30 to 50 billion dollars over the next four to five years. Our efforts are focused to enhance productivity and transform barren land into fertile ground which will significantly bolster our revenues," he said, adding that .

Uttar Pradesh govt looking to invest about Rs 3,800 cr in agri start-ups

The Centre has signed a memorandum of understanding with nearly a dozen public sector banks to provide loans under the scheme

Manipur govt to provide security to farmers doing agricultural work: Police

The Manipur government will provide security to farmers engaged in agricultural work in the ethnic strife-hit state, a senior police officer said on Saturday. Addressing a press conference at Police Headquarters here, Inspector General of Police I K Muivah said as the planting period of the agriculture season is very short, the police will provide security to farmers engaged in agriculture work. The IGP said the state had recently reduced the number of security personnel deployed on VIP duty and will utilise them in providing security to farmers doing agricultural activities. However, the farmers should contact the Superintendent of Police of their respective district before heading out for their work, the IGP said. No farmers should go out for farming if they don't have any security cover, he said. The IGP said 822 security personnel will be deployed in providing security to farmers in Imphal West district, 290 in Imphal East, 236 in Bishnupur, 147 in Thoubal, 204 in Kakching, 20

Farmers hopeful of better paddy cultivation on good monsoon rains

The paddy cultivation has started gaining momentum over the past week across the Jammu division with farmers expressing satisfaction over the good amount of rainfall under the influence of Monsoon winds and western disturbance over the region. The farmers are hopeful for better yield this year compared to the previous years. The cultivation of paddy, especially the world-famous Basmati rice, serves as the sole source of income to a majority of farmers in R S Pura, Marh and parts of Samba and Kathua districts in Jammu region. "Paddy and maize are main crops of the Jammu region which are dependent on rain waterWe had good pre-monsoon rains. The Monsoon has also set on time which is good, Joint Director, Agriculture Department, A S Reen told PTI. He said the sowing of maize that is mostly cultivated in the rain-fed hilly areas was completed sometime back and the frequent rains over the past week are a blessing for the crop. The rice cultivation in Jammu plains and some parts of hilly

Top headlines: Rail freight's 1st dip after Covid, Kharif sowing falls 9%

Business Standard brings you the top headlines at this hour

India's El Nino silver lining: Resilience to poor rainfall improving

Agriculture's role in the economy has reduced over the decades, easing impact of 'climatic shock'

Irrigation coverage: Farms in majority of states are still rain-dependent

Twenty-two out of 36 states and union territories have less than 50 per cent irrigation coverage for their agricultural land

Govt revises crop residue management guidelines

The government on Saturday said it has revised the crop residue management guidelines, thus enabling efficient ex-situ management of paddy straw generated in Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Delhi. As per the revised guidelines, techno-commercial pilot projects for paddy straw supply chain will be established under the bilateral agreement between the beneficiary/aggregator and industries utilising the paddy straw, the agriculture ministry said in a statement. The beneficiary or aggregator can be farmers, rural entrepreneurs, cooperative societies of farmers, Farmer Producer Organisations (FPOs), and panchayats, it said. According to the ministry, the move will supplement the efforts of paddy straw management through in-situ options. During the three-year tenure of the interventions, 1.5 million tonne of surplus paddy straw are expected to be collected which would otherwise have been burnt in fields. About 333 biomass collection depots of capacity 4,500 tonne will be built in Pun

Govt spending Rs 6.5 trn annually on agriculture, farmers' welfare: PM Modi

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday said his government was spending Rs 6.5 lakh crore annually for the agriculture sector and farmers' welfare, and called upon cooperatives to help in making the country self-reliant in cooking oils. Speaking at an event on the occasion of International Day of Cooperatives, the prime minister also highlighted the work done by his government, like PM Kisan scheme, MSP operations, and fertilizer subsidy since coming to power in 2014. In the last 9 years, Modi said more than Rs 15 lakh crore have been given to farmers by procuring their produce on the MSP. The government, he said spent Rs 10 lakh crore towards fertilizer subsidy last year. In other words, the government is spending around Rs 6.5 lakh crore per year on agriculture and farmers, the prime minister said. "This means that every year the government is providing an average of Rs 50,000 to every farmer in some form or the other. "That is, in the BJP government, farmers are guaranteed t

Flash flood in river Chandrabhaga in Lahaul, Spiti damages agriculture land

Agricultural land along the banks of river Chandrabhaga in a village in the Lahaul and Spiti district of Himachal Pradesh was damaged on Friday due to a rise in the water level following flash floods, according to the state emergency operation centre. The water level in the river was already rising for the past one week due to the melting of snow, said villagers. They added to have suffered a loss of about Rs 80,000 till now. The state has suffered a cumulative loss to the tune of Rs 242.40 crores since the onset of the monsoon on June 24. As many as 60 roads are still closed for vehicular traffic due to heavy downpours in the past few days. About 30 roads are expected to be opened by Friday night. The hill state received 20 per cent excess rain in the month of June as the state recorded 121.7 mm of rainfall against normal rainfall of 101.1 mm, the local weather department said. Kataula in Mandi district received the highest rainfall in a day with 163.3 mm on June 24. Four active

India to import 35% more tur dal at 1.2 mn tonnes to check prices

Facing a sharp rise in tur prices amid lower production, India will import 12 lakh tonne of the pulse in the current fiscal, up by 35 per cent from the last year, to boost domestic availability and contain price rise. "Tur is giving us trouble. All-India average retail price of tur is up by 25 per cent to Rs 128.66 per kg, when compared to last year's level. But it will start cooling down after import begins," Consumer Affairs Secretary Rohit Kumar Singh said in a media briefing. The issue in tur (pigeon peas) is lower domestic production. The country's tur production remained lower at 30 lakh tonne in the 2022-23 crop year (July-June) against 39 lakh tonne last year. "We consume around 44-45 lakh tonne in India. Every year, we have to import. This year, obviously, we have to import more. We will import 12 lakh tonne in the current fiscal," Kumar said. So far, the country has imported 6 lakh tonne of tur. Imports are undertaken from Myanmar and East African countries. The crop in E

Need to transform agricultural practices for a sustainable future: IFPRI

India needs to think about alternative ways of doing agriculture so that the country doesn't run out of groundwater resources and destroy the soil, said Dr Shahidur Rashid, Director-South Asia the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI). In an exclusive interview with PTI on the sidelines of the recent launch of the Global Food Policy Report (GFPR) in Kathmandu, Nepal, Rashid stressed on the importance of developing heat-tolerant crop varieties and adopting sustainable irrigation techniques. Flood irrigation, prevalent in rice cultivation, leads to water wastage and decreases water use efficiency. Implementing innovative irrigation methods and embracing solar power for irrigation can reduce carbon footprints and alleviate water scarcity issues, he said. Rashid emphasised that while India currently has sufficient food production to feed its population, challenges lie in ensuring accessibility, nutritional value, and long-term stability. The biggest challenge, he said, f

Tomato prices soar across country due to supply dip, cost Rs 80-100 per kg

Tomato prices have also skyrocketed in the southern state of Karnataka and its capital city Bengaluru as incessant rains have damaged the crop and made transportation difficult