E-News

Government relaxes import norms for onion to boost domestic supply, check prices

The government has relaxed import norms for onions until Dec 15 and used the buffer stock to increase supplies and moderate prices that have risen rapidly in recent days.
It has also asked Indian diplomats in onion-producing countries to contact traders for supply to India, the government said on Wednesday.

Punjab farmer leaders walk out of meeting with Agriculture Secretary

Union Agriculture Minister should have met the delegation, says one of them

Farmers Leave Meeting Over Minister's Absence, Tear Copies Of Farm Laws

New Delhi: 

A meeting of 30 protesting farmers' groups from Punjab with the government regarding the contentious farm bills ended abruptly today over the absence of the Union minister for agriculture Narendra Singh Tomar. The Centre had called the meeting and the farmers' groups had finally decided yesterday that they would attend.  

Agricultural reforms reek of parochial thinking, promote lazy farming: SBI economists SECTIONS

Mumbai: State Bank of India's house economists on Monday said the recent farm sector reforms reek of parochial thinking and promote lazy farming as they only cater to cereal-producing states. In the recently concluded monsoon session, the government rushed through three legislation to change the way agricultural produce is marketed, sold and stored by dismantling the decades-old APMC (Agricultural Produce Market Committee) mandis.

Agricultural exports rise 43.4% to Rs 53,626.6 crore in Apr-Sept

The balance of trade during April-September 2020 was significantly positive at Rs 9,002 crore as against the trade deficit of Rs 2,133 crore in the said period

The economic arguments in favour of the three farm bills: All you need to know

The argument that these bills will remove intermediaries, and therefore make farmers well-off, assumes that an unfair exchange is the biggest problem facing India’s farmers. But Inflation data shows that retail and wholesale prices for important food items, cereals, pulses, vegetables and fruits, move in tandem. (AP File)

Rural roads take workers away from agriculture

·         Roads built under the PMGSY were expected to transform agriculture in villages. Instead, they help workers leave farming to take on other jobs, a study suggests

The revolutionary ‘Uberization of Agriculture’ one step at a time by FarmERP

FarmERP, a market leader in AgriTech, is working effectively towards the Uberization of smallholder farmers and aims towards making them independent and more efficient in their agriculture practices.

Haryana BJP Leader Shyam Singh Rana Quits Over New Agriculture Laws

The former MLA from Radaur in Yamunanagar district submitted his resignation to state BJP chief Om Prakash Dhankar.

Latest Agriculture Reforms will Bring Revolution in Indian Agriculture; Drastically Improve Farmers’ Income: Dr. S. Krishna Kumar

Regarding the latest farm bills, Dr. S Krishna Kumar IAS (Retd.) Former Union Minister says, “I applaud Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the latest agriculture reforms which will bring a revolution in Indian

An Expert Explains: Farm Acts and federalism

As Opposition and regional parties protest the contentious farm laws, now challenged in Supreme Court, engaging with the key question: Does the enactment of the laws violate the federal principle?

Govt extends sugar export deadline by 3 months till December

The government has given additional three months’ time till December to millers to undertake mandatory export of their sugar quota allocated for this year, a senior Food Ministry official said on Monday.

Indian agriculture has changed since Green Revolution. Reform is about giving farmers choice

With realistic input costs, that form of agriculture is no longer viable in those Green Revolution tracts. Farmers, and governments, in Bihar and Kerala, don’t want APMCs, nor do UP, MP, Gujarat and Karnataka.

Explained Ideas: Why are farmers unwilling to trust the govt’s farm reforms?

Farm bills are seen by farmers to deliver freedom — not to them, but to private capital, writes Himanshu.

Farmers take to the streets over farm Bills

They block rail, road traffic; accuse Centre of implementing ‘anti-farmer’ policies

CACP wants review of government procurements, Centre wants them unchange

NEW DELHI: The Commission for Agricultural Cost and Prices (CACP) that recommends minimum support price (MSP) for 22 crops had suggested in July that open-ended procurement of wheat and rice should be reviewed so that farmers are encouraged to plant other crops such as oilseeds, pulses and nutri-cereals.

Govt Committed to MSP But it is 'Not Part of Law,' Says Agriculture Min amid Row over Farm Bills

Tomar further said that the NDA government took the key decision in the interest of the country and added that farmers would benefit from these legislations.

Why the new agri laws are not anti-farmer

Vested interests in the APMC set-up have a lot to lose as a result of the recently passed ordinances, not

Govt creating 50,000 tonne of onion buffer to curb price rise

Wholesale prices at Lasalgaon in Maharashtra, Asia's largest wholesale market for onion, have shot up by over 29 per cent to Rs 11 per kg Tuesday when compared to Rs 8.50 per kg on the same day a year ago, as per official data. In the national capital, retail onion prices are ruling at Rs 20-25 per kg depending on the varieties, as per the trade data. "Due to drought conditions in producing region, the production of rabi onion is expected to be lower.

PM Modi’s income support scheme will benefit over 8 lakh large

Food subsidy to be hiked by 20% to Rs 2.21 lakh crore

Food subsidy may be increased 20 per cent in the budget, likely in July, after it was stepped up to Rs 1.84 lakh crore for the current financial year in the interim budget, presented on February 1, on account of the Food Corporation of India's allocations under the National Food Security Act and the sum granted for decentralized grain procurement taking the amount to over Rs 2.21 lakh crore. A 20 per cent rise will add over Rs 36,000 crore to the subsidy bill, currently pegged at Rs 1.84 lakh crore, and take the total to Rs 2.21 lakh crore. In the 2018-19, the subsidy was Rs 1.71 lakh crore. 

Government to offer extra subsidised foodgrain

Government is planning to provide one kg of sugar to an additional 16.3 crore families through public distribution system at a subsidised rate that will cost the exchequer Rs 4,727 crore and is also mulling offering additional foodgrains from buffer stock to clear storage ahead of monsoon. 

SEA seeks bulk export of rapeseed oil, mustard oil

The Solvent Extractors Association of India has approached the Director General of Foreign Trade seeking permition of exports of rapeseed oil and mustard oil in bulk without any restrictions of pack size and MEP in line with other edible oils.

Punjab surpasses Centre’s target, set for record produce

Riding on a bumper crop, Punjab has procured 130.15 lakh tonnes of wheat this season, the highest in 20 years, surpassing the targets set by the state and the central governments. The feat becomes all the stupendous considering the fact that this year, there was lesser area under wheat crop and the yield in at least 50 per cent of the districts was marred by the unseasonal rain and hailstorms.

Birds impacting agricultural crops a major concern

Birds, known to play an important role in pollination, putting a check on pesky insects and rodents, could also be causing drastic decrease in crop yields by destroying them, according to a report, which calls it as an emerging concern in Indian agriculture. The avian species inflict losses in agriculture by damaging crops during sowing, seedling and ripening stages, leading to economic losses to the farming community, shows  the inter ministerial report of the Committee on Doubling Farmer’s Income (DFI) - Volume X titled "Risk Management in Agriculture", released by the Ministry of Agriculture.

High resolution rice maps for NE may help boost production

Mapping and monitoring of paddy cultivation areas is essential for making effective targeting strategies for the spread of new technologies, sustainable crop management and diversification options among rice growing farmers. Recently scientists have developed high resolution seasonal maps for Northeast India and Bangladesh to study cloud-prone rice paddy cultivation regions in South Asia. Large scale paddy mapping at medium or high spatial resolution is rare, primarily due to limited availability of cloud-free optical imagery. The rice paddy maps, which are freely distributed by International Rice Research Institute, Philippines are of coarse spatial resolution and more than nearly seven years old.

Soft Agriculture Segment Showing Waters Down Deere's Fiscal Q2 Results

Deere, the world’s largest agricultural-equipment maker delivered a mixed performance for its fiscal second quarter. The company reported adjusted earnings of $3.52 per share which missed the consensus estimate of $3.57 by a margin of 2%. Notably, though, the reported figure represents an improvement of 12% from the adjusted EPS figure of $3.14 for the prior-year period even as net sales from the company’s equipment operations rose 5% year-on-year to $10.3 billion. The revenue gains were primarily driven by higher shipment volumes and price realization, partially offset by the negative impact of currency translation.

Ministry held session for stakeholders in renewable energy industry

The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy today held a brainstorming session for all stakeholders in the renewable energy industry. Major challenges faced by the industry were deliberated upon at the day long meet.