Page 2 - Indian Agriculture

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

As kharif harvest gains momentum, what's in store for crop prices?

As the Kharif harvest season intensifies, crop prices may see shifts driven by increased arrivals, inflation pressures, and recent govt interventions aimed at stabilising key agricultural commodities

India's agri-exports slip slightly, but rice and meat shipments show growth

Basmati rice exports rose sharply by 11 per cent between April and September 2024, compared to the same period in FY24 reaching $2.87 billion, aided by the recent removal of the minimum export price

Minimum support price: Need for improved methodology, institutional reforms

There are two contentious questions related to MSP. First, how is the MSP fixed? Second, how to ensure that farmers get the recommended MSP?

PM Modi to release 109 high yielding, climate resilient varieties of crops

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will release 109 high yielding, climate resilient and biofortified varieties of crops at Indian Agricultural Research Institute here on Sunday, according to an official statement. The prime minister will also interact with farmers and scientists during the event, the statement said. The 109 varieties of 61 crops to be released include 34 field crops and 27 horticultural crops, it added. Among the field crops, seeds of various cereals, including millet, forage crops, oilseeds, pulses, sugarcane, cotton, fibre and other potential crops will be released, the statement said. Among the horticultural crops, different varieties of fruits, vegetable crops, plantation crops, tuber crops, spices, flowers and medicinal crops will be released, it added. Prime Minister Modi has always encouraged sustainable farming and adoption of climate resilient methodologies, the release said. He has also emphasised on promoting biofortified varieties of crops by linking them