Page 5 - Indian Farmers

Govt to set up 1,100 farmer producer organisations in cooperative sector

The cooperation ministry on Wednesday said 1,100 new farmer producer organisations will be established in the cooperative sector under a central scheme. Since February 2021, the agriculture ministry is implementing a central sector scheme titled 'Formation and promotion of 10,000 Farmer Producer Organisations (FPOs) with a budgetary provision of Rs 6,865 crore. Under the scheme, a target of establishing 1,100 additional FPOs has been allocated to the National Cooperative Development Corporation (NCDC), an official statement said. A financial assistance of Rs 33 lakh is provided to each FPO under the scheme. Further, a financial assistance of Rs 25 lakhs per FPO is provided to the Cluster Based Business Organisations (CBBO). According to the cooperation ministry, primary Agricultural Credit Societies (PACS) --- which have a member base of around 13 crore farmers and are primarily engaged in short-term credit and distribution of seeds and fertilisers -- will now be able to undertake

Safe farming

Indiscriminate use of pesticides must be contained

Farmer groups flag crop loss risk if 27 popular pesticides banned

The panel was initially given a time of three months for submission of the findings which was later extended due to the pandemic

Green peas growers in MP stage protest, demand fixed MSP for open market

Farmers engaged in the cultivation of green peas have staged a protest on Jabalpur-Bhopal national highway after getting low prices for their produce and demanded the Madhya Pradesh government fix a minimum support price for it in the open market. The protest staged by farmers on Saturday is significant since the Madhya Pradesh government has selected green peas under one-district one-product scheme for Jabalpur district, Bharatiya Kisan Sangh national spokesperson Raghvendra Patel told PTI on Sunday. Green peas are grown on a large scale in the district and supplied to various other states, he said. "The farmers want the state government to fix the minimum price for the trading of green peas in the open market, he said. This has been a long pending demand of farmers from the district, he said. Currently, in the absence of such norms, farmers incur losses in the production of green peas if the rate per kilogram goes down in the open market - below the actual production cost per kg

Tamil Nadu farmers demand govt to distribute sugarcane through ration shops

Sugarcane farmers of Tamil Nadu have demanded that the state government procure sugarcane directly from the farmers and distribute it through ration shops during Pongal

TN farmers demand annual de-silting of water bodies to increase storage

With most of the water bodies in Tamil Nadu not reaching their full capacity even during the monsoon season, farmers have demanded the state government to conduct annual desilting to increase storage

30% drop In Punjab's stubble burning cases: How reliable is the data?

Experts say cloudy skies in 2022 and farmers only burning part of the stubble could have led to an underestimation of this year's stubble fires

Kinnow output in Punjab likely to drop by 25% amid shortage of water supply

Punjab, a major grower of kinnow crop in the country, is likely to witness at least a 25 per cent decline in the output of the citrus fruit even as the growers are fetching higher prices this season. The orchardists blame the acute short supply of canal water and unexpectedly higher temperature during the flowering stage of the crop for the lower yield early this year. Punjab is the largest producer of kinnow fruit in the country, with around 59,000 hectares of land under the crop and almost 12 lakh metric tonne of annual output. Harvesting of kinnow, a hybrid between king and willow leaf mandarins, starts in December and goes on till February-end in Punjab. Abohar is the leading district in the state, with a maximum area of 35,000 hectares under the kinnow crop. It is also grown in Hoshiarpur, Muktsar, Bathinda and some other districts, an official of the Punjab Horticulture department said. "There is going to be around 25 per cent drop in the production of kinnow this year," sai

Agriculture sector remains resilient; Rabi sowing off to strong start: RBI

Reserve Bank Governor Shaktikanta Das on Wednesday said the agriculture sector remains resilient, and the rabi sowing has got off to a strong start. However, India is expecting some moderation in kharif production due to uneven rainfall. India's total kharif crop production is estimated to moderate to 149.92 metric million tonnes (MMT) from 156.04 MMT in the previous kharif crop year, as per the first advance estimate. On the supply side, Das said, "The agricultural sector remains resilient. Rabi sowing got off to a strong start. The area sown so far is 6.8 per cent higher than the normal sown area (as on December 2, 2022)". Area sown to wheat has increased by 5.36 per cent year-on-year to 211.62 lakh hectares in the first two months of the ongoing rabi (winter) season, with higher coverage being reported in Rajasthan, Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, according to the agricultural ministry data released on Friday. The sowing of wheat, the main rabi crop, begins in October and harvesting i

Bank of Baroda approves Rs 134 crore agri-loans to farmers in Tamil Nadu

Public sector Bank of Baroda has sanctioned over Rs 100 crore worth of agricultural loans in Tamil Nadu during its 15-day farmer outreach programme held here recently. At the fifth edition of 'Baroda Kisan Pakhwada' held between November 15 and 30, as many as 161 semi-urban and rural branches of the bank took part. More than 20,000 farmers across Tamil Nadu received farm loans of Rs 134 crore, the bank said in a statement on Saturday. The 'Baroda Kisan Pakhwada' has been designed to help the bank boost engagement with the farming community and create awareness about various agricultural products, schemes offered by the Bank. "We at Bank of Baroda are pleased to be reaching out to the farming community on a larger scale and provide them with details and financial assistance and make them familiar with various types of agri-loans, banking services and various agricultural initiatives launched by the government," Bank of Baroda general manager and zonal head (Chennai) A Saravanakumar .

Govt plans pilots on new direct benefit transfer model for fertilisers

Currently, the version of DBT in fertilisers involves farmers purchasing their fertilisers through point of sale (PoS) devices after undergoing Aadhaar authentication

Re-design and deliver

Govt crop insurance scheme needs radical rethink

Cash-strapped states pulled out of flagship PMFBY, says Centre

Centre willing to make additional pro-farmer changes in response to climate change

Farmers' groups urge govt to allow global trading of farms' carbon credits

The farmers' representatives urged the Finance Minister to focus on human resources development over infrastructure

Wheat acreage till Nov 18 up 15% YoY, record open market prices spur sowing

Centre refutes the assertion of artificial shortage of fertilisers in country

SKM alleges breach of assurance by Centre, to hold marches on Nov 26

The group will also celebrate November 19 as 'Fateh Diwas' to commemorate the repeal of the laws

Tracking the fields: Wheat acreage almost 10% more than last year

The government and fertiliser company officials have said nutrient supplies are adequate

Farmers lukewarm to bio-decomposers as stubble burning incidents rise

Industry players and farmers said there were other reasons for the slower-than-targeted adoption

Punjab CM wants Shah to look into farmers' problems along border fence

Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann urged Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Thursday to sympathetically look into the problems being faced by farmers along the India-Pakistan border fence in the state. Addressing a two-day "Chintan Shivir" of home ministers here, Mann urged Shah to reduce the distance between the border fence and the actual border to facilitate the farmers cultivating their land across the fence, according to an official release. The chief minister said the distance must be reduced to 150-200 metres, instead of the existing around one kilometre, to ensure that the farmers of the border region benefit from it. He said this will ensure optimum utilisation of the land on one hand and strengthen the security of the country on the other. Flagging another issue, Mann urged the Centre to set up a regional centre of the National Security Guards (NSG) at Pathankot. He said the setting up of the NSG centre at Pathankot will help effectively combat any terror activity in the

Govt restricts use of Glyphosate in agriculture; industry body opposes it

The government has restricted use of herbicide Glyphosate and its derivatives, fearing health hazards and risk to human beings/animals, a move opposed by an industry association AGFI citing endorsements from global studies and regulatory bodies. Glyphosate and its formulations are widely registered and currently used in more than 160 countries, including the EU and the USA. Farmers across the globe have been using it for safe and effective weed control for over 40 years. "The use of Glyphosate is hereby restricted and no person shall use Glyphosate except Pest Control Operators (PCOs)," said a notification issued by the agriculture ministry on October 25. The companies have been asked to return the certificate of registration granted for Glyphosate and its derivatives to the Registration Committee for incorporation of the warning in bold letters "The use of Glyphosate formulation to be allowed through PCOs" on the label and leaflet, it said. The companies have been given three mont