The low-intensive and high-potential agriculture sector should be the country’s best bet to recover from the economic losses caused by the coronavirus and subsequent lockdowns. In his recent nationally televised speech, Prime Minister Narendra Modi openly thanked the Indian farmer and the taxpayer in the same breath. The farmers though wear both hats as they […]
Tag Archives: Farmers of India
The good news With India headed for a bumper kharif harvest, agriculture continues to hold out hope amid crisis
Farmers have completed sowing of kharif crops in nearly 55 per cent of the season’s normal area by the first week of July. Last year at this time, they had achieved hardly 38 per cent coverage, while undertaking the bulk of plantings after mid-July and all through August. The primary reason has been the southwest […]
WhatsApp groups to keep farmers alert over locust threat
The district Agriculture Department has been organising mock drills and keeping farmers updated on the current location and chances of locust attack in various areas. The department is on alert and has formed various WhatsApp groups. Around 250 progressive farmers from the district are a part of these groups. These groups keep farmers updated about […]
Farmers using cash scheme well: Study
The study found that beneficiaries were diverse and there was no “statistical evidence” of any bias in selection of farmers on the basis of caste, community or faith. A study of the impact of PM-KISAN, the Modi government’s income transfer scheme for farmers, has found that poor cultivators don’t squander the free money they receive, […]
Farmers ditch short-duration crops for soyabean and cotton, bumper produce expected
Timely arrival of monsoon had seen farmers accelerating their sowing activities. As of July 10, India has reported 580.21 lakh hectares (lh) of sowing as against the 402.57 lh of last year. Farmers across the country have increased soyabean cultivation this kharif, with oilseeds reporting the largest year-on-year increase in the country. Oil processors and […]
With 34% rise in direct sowing of rice this year, Punjab farmers save Rs 600 cr, 30% ground water
The pandemic has pushed Punjab’s paddy producing farmers to embrace ‘Direct Seeding of Rice’ (DSR) technique like never before. While bringing record 20 per cent of the total targeted rice area (27 lakh hectares) in the state under DSR, Punjab has increased its DSR area by 34 per cent compared to the cumulative area under the technique […]
Sowing growth: Incentivising agri-reforms in the states
Incentivising states for better performance in the agriculture sector with a transparent implementation and monitoring system is important. The Fifteenth Finance Commission (FC-XV) has, in its interim report for the year 2020-21, recommended implementation of a specific set of agricultural reforms by the states for liberalising agricultural markets, provide for seamless trading and catalyse private […]
Water in agriculture: Revisiting priorities in times of COVID-19
Currently, 600 million Indians face high to extreme water stress and about 2,00,000 people die every year due to inadequate access to safe water. In the current environment, it is near impossible to look at any sector or scenario without applying the COVID lens. The scale of the problem as well as lessons from nations […]
Agriculture Machine to Machine (M2M) Market Extensive Growth Opportunities to Be Witnessed by 2019-2025
Global “Agriculture Machine to Machine (M2M) market”- Report defines the vital growth factors, opportunities and market segment of top players during the forecast period from 2019 to 2025. The report Agriculture Machine to Machine (M2M) offers a complete market outlook and development rate during the past, present, and the forecast period, with concise study, Agriculture […]
Aatmanirbhar in agriculture will require incentives for export of high-value agri-produce
On the agri-imports front, the biggest item is edible oils — worth about $10 billion (more than 15 mt). This is where there is a need to create “aatma nirbharta”, not by levying high import duties, but by creating a competitive advantage through augmenting productivity and increasing the recovery ratio of oil from oilseeds. With […]