Page 7 - Agriculture

India-US BTA negotiations throw up tricky farm trade riddles to solve

Any decision on granting access to maize from the US may send the ruling JD(U)-BJP-led coalition back to the drawing board in poll-bound Bihar, writes Sanjeeb Mukherjee

PM Modi emphasises India's commitment to BRICS, begins 5-nation visit

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday said India is committed to BRICS as a vital platform for cooperation among emerging economies as he left on a week-long visit to five countries, including Brazil where he will attend the bloc's meeting. "Together, we strive for a more peaceful, equitable, just, democratic and balanced multipolar world order," he said in his departure statement. During the week-long travel, the PM will visit Ghana, Trinidad and Tobago, Argentina, Brazil and Namibia. Ghana will be his first port of call. Modi said that at the invitation of President John Dramani Mahama, he will be there on July 2 and 3. Ghana is a valued partner in the Global South and plays an important role in the African Union and the Economic Community of West African States, he said, adding that he looked forward to talks aimed at further deepening the two countries' historical ties and opening up new windows of cooperation, including in the areas of investment, energy, health, security,

Tafe settles Agco dispute, retains Massey Ferguson brand in India

TAFE to buy back AGCO's 20.7% stake for $260 million, retains exclusive Massey Ferguson rights in India, Nepal, Bhutan; ends legal battle and commercial ties

MoSPI launches GoIStats app for easy access to official statistics

The National Sample Survey Office (NSO), under the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI), on Sunday launched the GoIStats mobile application, an all-encompassing data ecosystem for seamless access to official data. The application features an interactive "Key Trends" dashboard showcasing important socio-economic indicators with dynamic visualizations of critical metrics including GDP, inflation, employment data. Currently the android version of the mobile application is available free of charge on google play store. The iOS version will be released shortly, an official statement said. Advanced filtering and search capabilities with comprehensive metadata, and mobile-optimized data tables are also available for seamless viewing. In another statement, MOSPI said on the occasion of 19th Statistics Day, on June 29, it released publications on Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). These publications are the National Indicator Framework Progress Report, 2025; Data

Centre issues draft rules to ease tree felling on farms, boost agroforestry

The Centre has issued model rules for the felling of trees on agricultural land in a bid to promote agroforestry with the aim of doubling farmers' incomes, increasing tree cover outside forests and mitigating climate change. In a letter sent to all state governments on June 19, the environment ministry said the objective of 'Model Rules for Felling of Trees in Agricultural Lands' is to enhance the ease of doing business in agroforestry and incentivise farmers to integrate trees into their farming systems without facing undue procedural hurdles. The government has been promoting agroforestry to double farmers' income, enhance tree cover outside forests, mitigate climate change, reduce timber imports and ensure sustainable land use. It also supports India's climate goals under the Paris Agreement. A key barrier is the lack of clear, harmonised rules for felling trees on agricultural land which affects cultivation and marketing of agroforestry produce, according to the ...

Will take up fertiliser export curbs by China as required, says MEA

India before the curbs used to import around 1-2 million tonnes of urea from China out of the total imports of around 6-7 million tonnes

Farmers want DBT for schemes, AI based price forecasting tools from govt

On DBT, sources said the officials in the agriculture ministry feel that as of now, financial assistance for lots of schemes, such as farm mechanisation, goes directly into the bank account of farmers

Landed prices of imported edible oils move up despite halving of duty

While exporters have raised prices to nullify duty cuts, concerns over the Israel-Iran conflict, and the expected global diversion of additional vegetable oil for biofuel blending schemes are factors

India's parboiled, raw rice exports dip for 4th month in a row in May

The dip in export has come despite India lifting almost all the restrictions on overseas shipments from September 2024

Monsoon likely to hit Delhi by June 22, ahead of normal schedule

Delhi has been facing scorching summer heat over the past two weeks, with heat index temperatures reaching as high as 54.4 degrees Celsius last week

Agri-tech offers productivity gains, but structural challenges remain

The use of drones in agriculture is now being scaled up with speed. Agri-drones can cover 10 times the area of manual sprayers in a day

Upcoming kharif crop area estimates to be fully based on satellite data

India will use satellite data instead of the traditional girdawari system for estimating kharif crop acreage, improving accuracy and coverage across all districts

Maharashtra urges farmers to delay sowing as monsoon lags until June 15

The Maharashtra agriculture department on Tuesday appealed to farmers not to rush into sowing till June 15 as the southwest monsoon is expected to become fully active in the latter half of this month. The Chief Minister's Office (CMO) stated that thunderstorms and heavy rainfall are expected in some areas and advised farmers and fisherfolk to exercise caution. The state cabinet meeting chaired by Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis reviewed the monsoon situation, crop water availability, and dam water storage levels, an official release stated. Principal Secretary of the Agriculture Department, Vikaschandra Rastogi, told the cabinet that the monsoon is likely to be active across all regions of the state only after June 15 and appealed to farmers to wait for the monsoon to settle before beginning sowing. "So far, 17 districts have received less than 25 per cent of the average, while 12 districts have received between 25 per cent and 50 per cent rainfall. Four districts received between

AP EAMCET 2025 results out: Check scores, pass percentage & next steps

The APSCHE has released the AP EAMCET 2025 results. Candidates can check their results through the official website, cets.apsche.ap.gov.in/EAPCET, using their login credentials

Seeds of change in rural landscape point to farm sector recovery signs

The recent provisional gross domestic product (GDP) estimates for FY25, for instance, captured the early signs of a rural consumption boost

Rural youth should be trained to become agripreneurs: VP Dhankhar

Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar on Saturday emphasised the need to empower the rural youth to become instruments of change in India's enormous but "underutilised" agricultural economy. Interacting with students, faculty and researchers during his visit to Dr YS Parmar University of Horticulture and Forestry in Solan, he also called for giving direct subsidy to farmers and claimed it will increase their annual income by Rs 30,000. Dhankhar said that instead of giving indirect subsidies on fertilisers, seeds and other inputs, farmers should get monetary assistance directly which will give them the choice to purchase fertilizer or opt for natural farming. He said that the income of a farmer's family in the US is higher than that of an average household in that country because farmers receive direct government support. Advocating for a hike in Prime Minister Kisan Samman Nidhi, he said that this amount needs to be factored along with inflationary component, and added that like Samman .

ICRISAT, others partner to launch agri co-op centre for Global South

ICRISAT, India's Ministry of Agriculture and global partners launch centre to strengthen collaboration on agricultural and climate challenges in dryland regions

Bihar has tremendous potential for agricultural development, says Shivraj

Maintaining that Bihar has tremendous potential for agricultural development, Union Minister of Agriculture and Farmers' Welfare Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Monday said for a "developed India, agriculture must develop and farmers must also prosper". Chouhan said this on Monday when he visited Motihari, the district headquarters town of East Champaran district and interacted with farmers as part of his nationwide tour under the VKSA campaign. "I have come to Bihar to support and serve the farmers here and help increase agricultural productivity. For me, serving farmers is like worshipping God... 'Ek Rashtra, Ek Krishi, Ek Team' (one nation, one agriculture, one team) is the motto of this campaign," he said. "The Viksit Krishi Sankalp Abhiyan (VKSA) of the Central government is a landmark initiative aimed at transforming Indian agriculture. For a developed India, agriculture must develop and farmers must also prosper.....Bihar has tremendous potential for agricultural development.....and

India to raise agri, fisheries, investment facilitation issues at WTO meet

India will flag its concerns on issues pertaining to agriculture, fisheries agreement, China-led proposal on investment facilitation and dysfunctional appellate body of the WTO during an informal meeting of about 25 trade ministers in Paris on June 3, an official said. The mini-ministerial meeting will be held on the margins of the OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) Ministerial Council Meeting in Paris. Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal will participate in this meeting. He is on a five-day visit to France and Italy from June 1. The official said that India will raise its concerns on all key issues of the WTO including agriculture (finding permanent solution to the public stock holding); fisheries agreement, investment facilitation proposal, reforms in the WTO and dysfunctional appellate body of the Geneva-based forum. India is against the move led by countries such as China to push a proposal on investment facilitation at the World Trade ...

Farm sector clocks robust growth in FY25 on record foodgrain harvest

Agriculture and allied activities grew 4.6% in FY25, driven by strong monsoon, record rice and wheat output, and improved rabi and kharif harvests