Page 45 - Agriculture

Punjab taps agricultural residues to speed up lean energy transition

Punjab's agriculture holds a huge potential for energy generation from agro-residues, an alternative model of diversification, besides clean energy transition by tapping solar power

Need to diversify agriculture towards power, energy sectors: Gadkari

With India being energy deficient, there is a need for the country to diversify agriculture into energy and power sectors, Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari said on Saturday. "We already have energy shortage. We are making an expenditure of Rs 15 lakh crore every year for importing petrol, diesel and other petroleum products. So, this is the time we can diversify agriculture towards the energy and power sector," Gadkari said while addressing the felicitation programme of National Cogeneration Awards 2022 in Mumbai. He urged the industry to focus on alternative fuels with the help of futuristic technologies. "While 65-70 per cent of our population depends on agriculture, our agricultural growth rate is only 12-13 per cent. And the next move should be cogeneration to increase revenue from sugar. The industry should produce less sugar and more byproducts, embracing the vision for futuristic technologies and using the power of leadership to convert knowledge .

Centre implements 'One Nation One Fertiliser' plan under 'Bharat' brand

All fertiliser bags to sport this common brand irrespective of company making it

MSP panel forms 4 sub-groups even as farmers descend on Delhi again

Commuters brave traffic snarls; SKM stays away from the protests; next MSP panel meet likely in Hyderabad

Paddy sowing continues to lag, acreage down by 8.25%, shows govt data

The deficit in paddy acreage has narrowed in UP, Bihar, and West Bengal between the two weeks in consideration owing to revival in rain, the data reflected

Floriculture can flower more

The net profit from growing flowers, on per unit of land, can be 10 to 20 times higher than from most field crops

Modi govt surpassed previous govts in increasing agri budget: J P Nadda

BJP president Jagat Prakash Nadda said on Saturday that Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led central government has done a lot for farmers with a fourfold increase in the agricultural budget in eight years. Addressing a public meeting at the municipal council ground in Paonta Sahib in Himachal Pradesh's Sirmour district, Nadda claimed that no other government worked so much for the farmers as the current dispensation. The Opposition kept talking about the farmers' agitation, but the Modi government focused on helping farmers prosper, he claimed. "The agricultural budget has seen a fourfold increase during Narendra Modi's tenure as prime minister. It is now Rs 1,33,000 crore from just Rs. 33,000 crore in 2014," he said. The country has to grow unitedly to become a developed nation by 2047, he added. We have to also keep in mind our traditions and Indian culture, the oldest in the world, he added. Earlier, he paid obeisance at Paonta Sahib Gurudwara. Nadda is scheduled to address a pu

Punjab orders probe in 11,275 missing crop residue management machines

The Punjab government has said it has initiated a vigilance probe into a Rs 150-crore scam in the distribution of crop residue management machines among farmers during the previous dispensation led by the Congress. Agriculture Minister Kuldeep Singh Dhaliwal, in a statement on Wednesday, said during a physical verification, a total of 11,275 machines were not found with the beneficiaries and ordered a thorough probe into it. He said the central sector scheme of promotion of agriculture mechanisation for in-situ management of crop residue was implemented by the previous government from 2018-19 to 2021-22. He said according to initial investigation by the agriculture department, it appears that a sum of Rs 125-150 crore has been misused. Giving details, the minister said under this scheme, a total of 90,422 machines for crop residue management have been provided to the beneficiary farmers, registered farmer groups, cooperative societies, farmer producers' organisations and panchayats

Kharif paddy sowing almost 15% lesser than last year, shows data

The drop in acreage has triggered fears of the government clamping down in exports as it did in the case of wheat in May

Centre asks states and UTs to monitor trader stocks as tur prices rise

In the initial stages, tur sowing dropped due to delayed onset of monsoon over the major-growing states

India at 75: A journey from growing more food to smartly growing it

Unless policies are pursued to address all the problems facing Indian agriculture holistically, the sector would find it difficult to meet the challenges of a new India

In the field

New agricultural census will inform policymaking

CM asks Assam Agriculture Commission members to visit farming clusters

CM Himanta Biswa Sarma has urged members of the Assam Agriculture Commission to make extensive visits to farming clusters to ensure qualitative improvement in the sector, an official release said

Deficient distribution

Lower rainfall in some regions will affect rice output

India's unemployment lowest in six months at 6.8% in July: CMIE data

Urban unemployment jumped to 8.21 per cent in July from 7.80 per cent in June as the number of jobs fell both in industry as well as services

Paddy sowing dips 13% due to poor rains; likely to hurt final output

Last year, India produced over 111 million tonnes of rice in the kharif season

Cost to crop: What it will take for effective, transparent delivery of MSP

MPS's effective and transparent delivery has been part of multiple committees and reports. Many recommendations have been implemented and others put in cold storage

National agricultural market

New facility will boost trade on e-NAM

Centre sends animal experts team to Gujarat to control lumpy virus spread

The Central government has deputed a team of animal experts team to Gujarat to study and control the Lumpy Skin disease, Agriculture Minister Raghavji Patel said on Monday.

After dung, Chhattisgarh's Congress govt to use cow urine as fertiliser

About two months ago, Chief Minister Baghel had envisaged using cow urine for strengthening the rural economy and organic farming