Indian Agriculture

Industry flags 'licence raj' concerns in draft Pesticides Management Bill

Plant protection industries say the draft Pesticides Management Bill risks fostering 'licence raj' and hampering research, citing sweeping inspector powers, price controls and unclear licensing terms

Govt to push green fuel farm machinery to boost mechanisation: Agri secy

The government will prioritise green fuel-based farm machinery and enhance access to mechanisation for small and marginal farmers as part of India's vision to become a global food basket by 2047, Agriculture Secretary Devesh Chaturvedi said on Thursday. Addressing the ninth edition of EIMA Agrimach event organised by FICCI here, Chaturvedi said mechanisation is crucial for achieving the four key objectives of increasing farmers' income -- reducing farming costs, boosting productivity, improving price realisation through value addition, and building climate resilience. "Over the next 5-10 years, we should shift our technologies towards green fuels -- whether electrically operated tractors or machines running on CBG (compressed biogas) available from rural CBG plants," he said. The agriculture secretary said this transition will bring down both maintenance and operational costs for farmers, and government schemes will increasingly prioritise green fuel-based technologies. He also cal

Low prices dampen sentiment in rabi sowing season despite good outlook

Things are in place for a good rabi harvest. But farmers must contend with poor prices for their kharif harvest. And that may have a knock-on effect on rabi prices in a vicious cycle

Extended rains may hit rural consumption: AWL Agri Biz top executives

While talking about crop damage, Mallick said that groundnut crop has gone bad. The same was witnessed with the paddy crop in Punjab and Madhya Pradesh

India can spark second Green Revolution with more agri R&D: CIMMYT chief

CIMMYT chief Bram Govaerts says India can drive a second Green Revolution by investing in agricultural research and global partnerships as the farm sector faces new challenges

PM draws the line amid US tariff heat, govt plans strategy for exporters

Govt working on three-pronged strategy to support exporters

Centre gears up for the launch of PM-KUSUM 2.0 to meet growing demand

The second phase is likely to match or exceed Phase 1's scale, with possible additions like agrovoltaics and minor guideline revisions

A fresh approach needed to manage demand and supply of fertilisers

India is the second-largest consumer of fertilisers in the world, but lacks the natural resources to manufacture them

The voice of farmers: How Subramaniam backed Swaminathan's seed dream

How C Subramaniam's political backing helped MS Swaminathan secure funds for hybrid seed trials, setting the stage for India's Green Revolution and agricultural self-reliance

Chhattisgarh to get APEDA regional office in Raipur for agri-exports

The regional office will facilitate direct exports of fruits, vegetables, rice, GI-tagged products, millets, and other agri-commodities to international markets

Cooperative major Iffco appoints KJ Patel as new MD, replaces Awasthi

Cooperative major IFFCO has appointed K J Patel as its new Managing Director (MD) with former chief U S Awasthi's term ending on Thursday. IFFCO Chairman Dileep Sanghani announced Patel as the new MD, the cooperative said in a statement. Patel, who was Director-Technical at IFFCO, holds a mechanical engineering degree from Saurashtra University and has a rich experience of more than 32 years in the maintenance of Nitrogenous & Phosphatic fertiliser plants. He was heading the IFFCO Paradeep Plant, the biggest complex fertiliser plant in India. "Patel brings deep industry knowledge and, proven strategic thinking approach that aligns with the goals of IFFCO," Sanghani said. Further, he said the board is confident that Patel will steer IFFCO into a new era of innovation and value creation. Sanghani also thanked the outgoing MD US Awasthi for his invaluable contribution and dedication to IFFCO as well as farmers across the country. IFFCO posted a 16 per cent increase in net profit to

Kharif sowing hits 75% of target, but pulses and cotton lag behind

Owing to deluge of cheap imports, the area under pulses is down

Google focuses on India's farms and languages in new AI initiatives

Google unveils open-source AI initiatives targeting India's agriculture and linguistic diversity, aiming to enhance farming productivity and cultural representation in AI models, boosting partnerships

Fertiliser sector needs policy clarity to attract investment: FAI chairman

Sailesh Mehta urges clearer subsidy mechanism, market-based urea pricing, and Direct Benefit Transfer to resolve imbalances and revive fertiliser sector investment

Panel working on IPR issues of gene-edited rice, says ICAR's ML Jat

Genome editing is a relatively new technology, and we've had a breakthrough with the development of two novel varieties using this approach

Centre likely to distribute 3 months' ration in one go to clear stocks

With surplus foodgrain stocks and more wheat arriving, the Centre may allow states to lift and distribute three months' ration quota in advance to prevent a storage crunch

Centre withdraws 20% onion export duty as prices slump

India has exported around 1.71 million tonnes of onions in FY24 while in FY25 (till March 18) around 1.16 million tonnes has already been exported

Reaping gains: Role of phosphorous and potash in Indian agriculture

Phosphorous helps in root development, flowering, seed formation, photosynthesis and disease resistance, while potash provides plant resistance from disease and stress

Google building digital agri stack for India using satellite imagery

Global tech giant Google is building a digital agri-stack using satellite imagery and has started with a base layer that will help identify farm boundaries, a senior official said on Saturday. Data and analysis of this base layer of the stack can be used in a slew of applications like bettering the subsidy payments, farm insurance or farm loans, Manish Gupta, a senior director at Google DeepMind said. ".. we have built the first such model that using satellite imagery analysis can now start to identify field boundaries based on usage pattern start to identify what crops are being grown and so on," Gupta said, speaking at the Mumbai Tech Week here. The model has taken inspiration from UIDAI's Aadhar, ascribing a unique ID to each farm and is intended to act as a base layer of the "digital agri stack", he said. Gupta said it is upon the startups and other agri-tech players to build solutions which will provide loan crop insurance and also subsidies using the data churned out by the .

PM calls for speedy implementation of agri budget, keeping focus on action

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday urged stakeholders to suggest ways to make ongoing schemes more effective and implement this year's budget in a speedy manner on the ground level. Addressing virtually the post-budget webinar on "Agriculture and rural prosperity", Modi said the government has presented a full budget in the third term, ensuring consistency in policy and reflecting the vision of Viksit Bharat. Modi said before the budget, inputs and suggestions from all stakeholders helped in framing it. "Now this budget needs to be implemented more effectively on the ground," he said. Agriculture is considered as the first engine of growth and the government is moving ahead with the target of achieving agricultural growth and rural prosperity, he said. Modi highlighted the need to enhance production of pulses to reduce the country's dependence on imports, and also asked private sector to focus on high-yielding crop seeds. He urged the stakeholders to discuss how the ongoin