Page 23 - Farmers

Farmers coming to Jantar Mantar stopped at Singhu border, 24 detained

A group of farmers coming to Delhi to express solidarity with wrestlers protesting at Jantar Mantar was stopped by the Delhi at the Singhu border, with officials saying 24 of them have been detained. The farmers were headed to the protest site in the national capital to join the agitating wrestlers who alleged last night that they were manhandled by Delhi Police personnel at Jantar Mantar, and appealed to people to arrive there for support. After the ruckus, the Delhi Police intensified patrolling, increased the number of police pickets, and put heavy barricading in the border areas. They said the borders have not been sealed yet, but strict vigil is being kept to check the movement of farmers. A police official said Thursday they have inputs a large number of farmers from Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh are trying to enter Delhi with their tractors. "We have detained 24 farmers at the Singhu border. They have come from different cities of Haryana. Their vehicles have been kept a

IFFCO's net profit increases by 62% to record Rs 3,053 cr last fiscal

Cooperative major IFFCO, which sells conventional granular as well as nano (liquid) fertilisers, has reported 62 per cent increase in net profit to record Rs 3,052.73 crore for the last fiscal year on better income. Its profit stood at Rs 1,883.77 crore in the previous year. Total revenue also grew to Rs 60,324 crore in 2022-23 from Rs 40,171.67 crore in the previous year. "IFFCO has registered the highest ever Profit After Tax of Rs 3,053 crore along with the highest ever turnover of Rs 60,324 crore for FY22-23," IFFCO's MD U S Awasthi said. He attributed the record profit to better plant performance, efficient marketing channel, good support from the government and better management. On operational front, IFFCO reported the highest production of 95.61 lakh tonne last fiscal. It also achieved the highest production of nano fertilisers at 479.38 lakh bottles of 500 ml each. The company sold 128.07 lakh tonne of fertilisers in the last fiscal. The sale of nano fertilisers was at r

Mushroom farmers upbeat over commercial farming of Shiitake in J&K

Farmers engaged in mushroom cultivation in Jammu and Kashmir are upbeat over the government announcement to introduce one of the costliest mushrooms 'Shiitake' for commercial farming in the Union Territory. The agriculture department will launch commercial farming Shiitake in September after successful field trials of the cultivation of this Japanese-origin variety. "We are happy. I have heard it (Shiitake mushroom) is being launched in September (for commercial farming). We will go for it," Mushroom farmer Rahul Sharma told PTI. Sharma, who owns a 4,000-bag unit in the border belt of Marh, said that it is grown in states like Haryana, but it is good news that it will be grown in Jammu for the first time. "Its cost and market value is very good. Farmers would be largely benefited. For Jammu and Kashmir, it will be good to cultivate Shiitake mushroom, as you can grow anywhere due to suitable climate," he added. Like him, Arvind Kumar, who has been into mushroom farming for the last

Xi's food security drive could end up backfiring for Chinese farmers

With government stockpiling efforts expected to have ended in April, future demand could fall even further

24,000 farmers attend first session of Kisan Sampark Abhiyan in J&K

Over 24,000 farmers attended the orientation programme under Kisan Sampark Abhiyan during the first 3-day session held across 264 venues in Jammu and Kashmir. Jammu and Kashmir Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha on Wednesday kick-started a 4-month long Abhiyan in 3,565 panchayats to educate farmers on various issues, including business management, entrepreneurship and government schemes. Kisan Sampark Abhiyan of the Agriculture Production Department is aimed at the overall welfare of farmers across the Union Territory. "There has been huge enthusiasm from the farming community in the past three days. Over 24,000 farmers attended the orientation programme under Abhiyan, the first 3-day session held across 264 venues of the Union Territory, Additional chief secretary Atal Dulloo told reporters here. The exercise which commenced on 24th April will conclude on 31st August, 2023. This ambitious farmers' outreach program has been planned under the recently launched holistice agriculture ...

Gujarat State Farmers' Front holds Millets awareness programme at 90 places

The United Nations General Assembly, recognising the growing importance of millets, declared the year 2023-24 as the Year of Millets, thanks to the efforts of Prime Minister Narendra Modi

Defying police notice, Maha farmers start 52-km 'long march' in Ahmednagar

The agitation, coming exactly a month after the Nashik-Mumbai 'long march', has been organised by the All India Kisan Sabha and other organisations

NCLAT to hear Yamuna e-way authority's plea on compensation for farmers

Insolvency appellate tribunal NCLAT on Tuesday said it will hear the plea of Yamuna Expressway Industrial Development Authority (YEIDA), which challenged the NCLT's order to approve Suraksha Group's bid to acquire debt-ridden Jaypee Infratech. However, the National Company Law Applette Tribunal (NCLAT) declined to stay the order passed by the National Company Law Tribunal on March 7 and said the matter requires an early decision. Finding "substantial merit" in the YEIDA's appeal for higher compensation to farmers, the NCLAT issued notices to the Suraksha Group as well as the monitoring panel constituted to implement the resolution plan on YEIDA's petition. A two-member bench, headed by Chairman Justice Ashok Bhushan, said the appeal filed by YEIDA on NCLT judgment "requires an early decision". The appellate tribunal further noted that the NCLT in its order dated March 7, 2023 "has virtually extinguished the claim of the appellant (YEIDA) of additional farmers compensation by ...

J&K govt to launch kisan sampark abhiyan in 3,565 panchayats on April 24

The Jammu and Kashmir government is all set to launch Kisan Sampark Abhiyan in 3,565 panchayats to educate farmers on various issues, including business management, entrepreneurship and government schemes, from April 24. Kisan Sampark Abhiyan is a prestigious programme of the Agriculture Production Department, aimed at the overall welfare of farmers across the Union Territory. This was announced by Additional Chief Secretary, Agriculture Production Department Atal Dulloo during a high-level meeting chaired by him to review progress on preparations being put in place for the programme launch. The Abhiyan will be launched across 3,565 panchayats in Jammu and Kashmir from April 24, which will last for 4 months, Dulloo said. It aims to involve Panchayati Raj Institutions in the scheme and celebrate 'Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav' as part of the programme. "To ensure the success of the ambitious program, 2,400 resource persons have been identified and trained for all districts besides 45 ...

KFL posts Rs 621 cr sales turnover, passes Rs 42 cr as subsidy to farmers

The state-run Kerala Feeds Limited (KFL) on Monday said it has posted impressive results in 2022-23 with its total sales turnover going up to Rs 621 crore from Rs 577 crore the previous year. In a release, KFL, a State Public Sector Undertaking, said it has played a vital role in the growth of the animal husbandry sector in Kerala during the period by ensuring an adequate supply of high-quality cattle, poultry, and rabbit feeds at affordable prices to farmers. The company claimed that its products like Kerala Feeds Midukki, Kerala Feeds Elite, Dairy Rich Plus, Karamine Mineral Mixture and Milk Booster were well accepted in the market. Even as the price of raw material kept soaring, KFL made available to farmers high-quality cattle feed at subsidised rates. The company passed on benefits worth Rs 42 crore by way of subsidies during the year, the release said. Significantly, 80 per cent of the company's revenue was netted through the sale of its products in the open market and the .

Poland prohibits food imports from Ukraine to soothe Polish farmers

Poland's government said Saturday that it has decided to temporarily prohibit grain and other food imports from Ukraine as it seeks to soothe the rising anger of Polish farmers, who say they are losing huge amounts of money to a glut of Ukrainian grain on the market. Ruling party leader Jaroslaw Kaczynski said at a party convention in eastern Poland that the Polish countryside is facing a moment of crisis, and that while Poland supports Ukraine, it was forced to act to protect its farmers. Today, the government has decided on a regulation that prohibits the importation of grain, but also dozens of other types of food, to Poland, Kaczynski said. The government announced that the ban on imports would last until June 30. The regulation also includes a prohibition on imports of sugar, eggs, meat, milk and other dairy products and fruits and vegetables. Farmers in neighboring countries have also complained about Ukrainian grain flooding their countries and creating a glut that has cause

Despite hoping for better prices this season, rain dampens farmers' returns

Growers are staring at lower margins due to unexpected downpour during the March harvest. However, the FCI has come to their rescue

Women-run farmer producer organisations make inroads into may sectors

Looking at the success of these Farmer producer organisations, the central government has set a target to form 30 additional women's FPOs in the state

Madhya Pradesh govt plans to pay insurance premium of small farmers

According to officials, the government is preparing an insurance road map for farmers whose farmlands are of 2 hectares or less

Farmers will get compensation for crop damage in May: Haryana Agri Minister

Haryana Agriculture Minister J P Dalal on Thursday said that farmers will be given compensation in May for crop damage caused by recent unseasonal rains and hailstorms in various parts of the state. Targeting opposition parties, mainly Congress, he said they should stop misleading farmers and claimed that the BJP-led government was "pro-farmer" which always thinks about the welfare of peasants. Dalal told reporters here that currently wheat and mustard procurement was going on in the mandis in the state. "It is true that unseasonal rains and hailstorms have recently caused damage to the crops but the government stands shoulder-to-shoulder with the farmers. 'Special girdawari' (field inspection) will be completed this month and compensation will be given to farmers in May," he said. He said that in the 'girdwari' process, farmers and revenue officials are involved. Besides, drones are also used. The field inspections to assess crop damage was going on in a transparent manner, he ...

Maha govt releases Rs 177.8 cr for losses suffered by rain-affected farmers

The Maharashtra government on Monday said it has released Rs 177.80 crore relief to be disbursed to farmers who suffered crop losses due to unseasonal rains in March. Chief Minister Eknath Shinde had earlier given instructions to officials to process the damage assessment claims and disburse financial assistance, a statement issued by the government said. After verification, the state government has disbursed Rs 177.80 crore to districts, where farmers suffered losses due to unseasonal rains last month, it said. As per the statement, the Aurangabad revenue divisional commissioner has received Rs 84.75 crore, followed by Rs 63.09 crore to Nashik, Rs 24.57 crore to Amaravati and Rs 5.37 crore to Pune.

Govt allows 5 pvt firms for cluster farming with Rs 750 cr investment

The Centre has allowed five private firms to undertake cluster farming of specific horticulture crops in about 50,000 hectares on a pilot basis entailing an investment of Rs 750 crore, including government subsidy -- a moved aimed at making Indian produce globally competitive and boost farmers' income. Desai Agrifoods, FIL Industries, Sahyadri Farms, Meghalaya Basin Management Agency, and Prasad Seeds are five companies selected for pilot cluster farming through a bidding process. The Centre will give financial assistance up to Rs 100 crore depending on the size of the project under the recently launched central scheme Cluster Development Programme (CDP), which is implemented by the National Horticulture Board with an outlay of Rs 2,200 crore. Speaking with PTI, Priya Ranjan, Joint Secretary in the Agriculture Ministry, said, the cluster-based approach has seen an incredible amount of success across the world. In India, the government for the first time is encouraging market-led .

AAP MP seeks special package from Centre for weather-struck Punjab farmers

AAP MP Raghav Chadha Saturday sought from the Union Finance Minister a special package for Punjab farmers ensuring them adequate compensation for their crop damaged by an inclement weather. In a letter to the Finance Minister, Chadha, who is Rajya Sabha MP from Punjab, sought to draw his attention towards the plight of the Punjab farmers, saying that since March 24, rains, high-velocity winds, and hailstorm have impacted wheat crop more than 14 lakh hectares of 34.9 lakh hectares of total wheat area in the state. "The unseasonal rains have adversely affected the yield and the quality of the standing wheat crop," said Chadha in his missive to the FM. "I met a Manjeet Singh at a village in Barwa, who clutched the stems of his damaged crop tightly as he described his plight with teary eyes. Manjeet has a sick wife to look after and a daughter to educate. "For those inspecting, loss of crop may well be just a matter of records and statistics. However, for our farmers, it also means a l

About 150,000 farmers practising natural farming in HP to be certified

About 1.5 lakh farmers practising natural farming in Himachal Pradesh would be certified under Prakritik Kheti Khushhal Kisan Yojana (PK3Y) in 2023-24. According to a study, 28 per cent farmers have adopted natural farming techniques on their own through peer-to-peer learning without any training and therefore the focus of PK3Y in this financial year will be consolidation of farmers practising natural farming, said Agriculture Secretary Rakesh Kanwar. Addressing a meeting of the agriculture department officers to discuss the cluster-based agriculture development programme in the state, he said efforts would be made in 2023-24 to certify about 1.5 lakh farmers practising natural farming, a statement issued here on Friday said. He said focus should be on consolidation of the existing farmers, increasing their area under natural farming, conducting refresher workshops, capacity building training and exposure visits. The response and success in results on ground show that everyone is .

Ashok Gehlot approves Rs 736 cr for interest-free crop loans to farmers

Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot has approved a financial proposal of Rs 736 crore for interest-free crop loans to the farmers of the state. According to a statement, the chief minister has approved a grant of Rs 560 crore for farmers under interest-free crop loan subsidy scheme and Rs 176 crore under compensatory interest subsidy scheme. According to the statement, a five percent interest subsidy will be given to the farmers who repay the longterm agriculture cooperative loan on time. Gehlot has approved the grant proposal. He has also allowed permission to give subsidy on housing loans to the farmers who have built houses on their farms. Under this, the farmers who have repaid their long-term agricultural cooperative loans on time from April 1, 2014 will get a five percent interest subsidy every year from the state government. Along with this, from the financial year 2023-24, a five percent interest subsidy will be given every year to the farmers who have taken housing loans