This week on Startup Street, we have a report by Nasscom that outlines the emerging trends in India’s agritech startups along with what more is needed. Commerce and industry body Assocham is launching a quick-pitch series for Indian startups. And cab ordering applications have taken another step towards the future of electric and driverless cars. […]
Author Archives: Rajat Dalal
Explained: How geographical indication can boost agriculture exports
An increased thrust on agricultural exports is well documented in the Agriculture Export Policy 2018, and is also visible through alterations in the tariffs and non-tariffs measures. India continues to be a net agriculture exporting economy, having a high share of primary commodity exports—rice, shrimps, bovine meat, sugar, tea, spices. Most of its imports are […]
Odisha Releases Draft Agricultural Policy-2019, KALIA To Remain Flagship Scheme For Next 5 Yrs
Bhubaneswar: Aiming to actualize the vast untapped potential of the State’s agriculture, strengthen the economic and social well-being of farmers, sharecroppers and landless labourers while ensuring the growth process environmentally, economically and technologically inclusive, scalable and sustainable, the Draft Agricultural Policy of Odisha-2019 was released today. Introduction of the Draft mentions, “Odisha Agricultural Policy 2019 is […]
Agri loan moratorium extended till December 31
Thiruvananthapuram: The moratorium on rescheduled agricultural loans has been extended until December 31. The decision came in a meeting of bank representatives called by Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Wednesday. A total of 1.31 lakh customers have rescheduled small and medium loans for home, agriculture and education. However, the new deadline will apply only […]
Farmers make a beeline to insure Kharif crops
Farmers who have taken crop loans are automatically covered under the scheme. So far, only 14,000 farmers have availed the kharif loan from banks against a target of 40,000. DHENKANAL: With the district registering scanty rainfall, farmers have been making a beeline for PACS and the agriculture office to pay the premium to insure their […]
Community farming in Goa emerges as a tool against land conversion
Many villagers in Goa have banded together to revive rice cultivation through collective mechanised sowing and transplanting. The success in several villages has now become a catalyst for others, particularly for those who want to resist real estate development. The acreage under paddy cultivation has fallen significantly over the years in Goa. The fallow fields […]
World Bank study on PMGSY: ‘Rural roads scheme triggered shift from farm to non-farm employment’
PMGSY was rolled out in 2000 to provide access to all-weather roads in 1.78 lakh rural habitations across the country. A recent independent World Bank assessment of the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY) rural roads programme meant to establish ‘farm to market connectivity’ shows that the PMGSY roads, in fact, “triggered a shift from […]
PM Kisan enrolments speed up, likely to be 70 million by July
Under the scheme that became operational on December 1, the Centre gives a cash benefit of Rs 6,000 to eligible farmers in three equal instalments to help them fund agricultural input costs. NEW DELHI: Enrolments for the farmers’ income support scheme have picked up pace with owners of large plots of land joining the welfare […]
Centre Approves Rs 206.8 crore for Implementation of Agriculture Export Policy Scheme
The Indian government has approved a sum of Rs 206.8 crore for a Central Sector Scheme named ‘Implementation of Agriculture Export Policy’ that aims to double farmers’ income by the year 2022. The government through a notification informed that “It has approved a Central Sector Scheme ‘Implementation of Agriculture Export Policy’”. Of the total amount, […]
Uniform yardstick needed for farm credit
‘Scale of finance’, a measure of loans permissible per acre per crop, varies across districts, causing confusion. It must be harmonised The Modi government had rolled out an innovative loan scheme for farmers engaged in animal husbandry and fisheries in February 2019. The scheme was to provide short-term loans for activities such as dairy farming, […]