News

From the RSS:

• Government to buy 3 lakh tonnes of onion in Rabi season: Union Minister Piyush Goyal

  Union Minister Piyush Goyal on Thursday announced that the government agencies will buy 3 lakh tonnes of onion once the winter harvest starts coming in. Goyal, who handles the Consumer Affairs, Food and Public distribution portfolio, said that last year, the overall buying of the rabi harvest stood at 2.5 lakh tonnes.

• Discussions at second ADM to steer towards consensus for global agri growth: Union minister

  The second Agriculture Deputies Meeting (ADM) of the G20 Agriculture Working Group is discussing sustainable agriculture, food security and nutrition with a climate smart approach. The meeting of 19 member countries, 10 invited countries and 10 international organizations will focus on drafting a communique, covering four thematic areas – food security and nutrition, sustainable agriculture, inclusive agricultural value chains and digitalization for agricultural transformation.

• Sugar getting even pricier poses new threat to food inflation

  Prices of refined sugar surged to the highest in more than a decade this week, while the raw variety is near to the costliest in over six years. Global supply is tightening, mainly because India, one of the top shippers, has cut exports after rains hurt the sugar cane crop and as more sweetener is diverted to biofuel.

• Tur, urad prices jump by 8-10% in a month

  The bullish sentiments in tur and sudden sharp jump in prices last week has influenced prices of the entire pulses complex.

• Wheat procurement begins: Food ministry

  The government expects to procure a total of 341.50 LMT wheat during RMS 2023-24 as against 187.92 LMT wheat actually procured during last RMS 2022-23. As per the Second Advance Estimates published by Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare, the estimated production of wheat is around 112.1 million tonnes this season.

• Too early to predict any damage to wheat crop because of heat stress: Narendra Singh Tomar

  During March 16-22 period, he said scattered to fairly widespread light /moderate rainfall has been received over Punjab, Haryana, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan due to which the maximum temperatures were near normal or below normal over these parts.""In the current scenario, it is too early to predict any damage to the wheat crop due to heat stress," Tomar said.

• Urea imports to fall in 2022-23; 74.86 lakh tonne imported till March 24: Govt

  Urea imports stood at 91.36 lakh tonnes in 2021-22 fiscal, 98.28 lakh tonnes in 2020-21, 91.23 lakh tonnes in 2019-20 and 74.81 lakh tonnes in 2018-19. As per the data, the country has imported 74.86 lakh tonnes up to March 24 of the current financial year.

• Wheat procurement to be delayed by a fortnight due to the unseasonal rainfall

  Procurement centres have already been opened in Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan, where arrivals begin early, and will be ready by April 1 in Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh. The FCI procures wheat for the central pool through different mechanisms: it procures directly in some places and works jointly with local governments or state agencies in some other places.

• India's Maharashtra state to produce less sugar as mills close early

  The western state of Maharashtra, which accounts for more than a third of India's sugar output, could produce 10.7 to 10.8 million tonnes in the 2022/23 marketing year that began on Oct. 1, down from an earlier forecast of 12.8 million tonnes, Maharashtra's sugar commissioner Shekhar Gaikwad said.

• Assam to boost scientific research in natural farming

  Vast areas of North eastern States including Assam are still untouched by application of different fertilizers, pesticides and other synthetic chemicals- Assam Agriculture Minister Atul Bora

• Government sets up committee to monitor tur stocks to check hoarding

  Earlier on August 12 last year, the government had issued an advisory to the state governments and Union Territories to enforce stock disclosure in respect of tur dal under the Essential Commodities Act, 1955. Further, in order to facilitate smooth and seamless import, the government has removed the 10 per cent duty applicable for tur imports from non-LDC countries as the duty creates procedural hurdles even for zero duty imports from the Less Developed Countries (LDCs).

• Govt hikes raw jute MSP by Rs 300 to Rs 5,050 per quintal

  The MSP of Raw Jute (TD-3 equivalent to earlier TD-5 grade) has been fixed at Rs 5,050 per quintal for 2023-24 season. Anurag Thakur said the decision would ensure a return of 63.2 per cent over the all India weighted average cost of production.

• For every Rs 100 of premium paid for crop insurance under PMFBY; farmers received Rs 514 as claims: Govt

  "During this period, nearly Rs 25,252 crore were paid by farmers as their share of premium against which claims of over Rs 1,30,015 crore (provisional) have been paid to them. Thus, for every 100 rupees of premium paid by farmers, they have received about Rs 514 as claims," the minister said.

• An impending water crisis can cripple India's agriculture sector. Here's how to tackle it

  Consuming over 80% of the country's freshwater, agriculture in India is one of the key areas being disrupted by climate change. Farmers often rely on groundwater resources to secure their crops against uncertain weather patterns. According to the Water Resources Group (WRG), by 2030, India will only have 50% of the water it needs. This imminent crisis is likely to be the worst in India's history and will disproportionately impact agriculture.

• Unseasonal rain expected to increase prices of commodities in short supply

  Unseasonal rainfall is expected to increase prices of commodities in short supply and reduce the returns for farmers in commodities that are perishable and where farmers have lost their crop.

• Zuari FarmHub signs MoU with ICRISAT for agri solutions

  Zuari Farm Hub, one of the leading agritech players in India announced a collaboration with ICRISAT. Under this collaboration, ICRISAT will develop a data-driven digital agriculture platform that will bring all required data for the decision-making process on a single platform and the knowledge-driven tools developed on top of this data platform will provide actionable information for dissemination.

• Agri Ministry ropes in Nafed for promotion of millets

  It will also establish a millets' experience centre at Delhi Haat, to promote nutritious millets and create awareness on the rich history of India through millet-based dishes. Nafed will extend marketing linkage to millets-centric startups, it added.

• India to harvest record mustard crop in 2022-23, finds SEA’s crop survey

  Total nine states including Assam, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Haryana, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal were surveyed. “Based on the primary survey of nine major states and secondary survey of rest of the states, India's rapeseed-mustard acreage for 2022-23 is estimated at 95.77 lakh hectares, which is lower than the Ministry of Agriculture's estimate of 98.02 lakh hectares,” said SEA.

• India likely to harvest record 11.5 million tonnes rapeseed this year: Industry body

  Farmers are likely to harvest a record 11.5 million tonnes in the crop year to June 2023, the Solvent Extractors' Association of India (SEA) told a news conference in the north-western state of Rajasthan, producer of more than half of India's rapeseed.

• Some damage to rabi crops due to unseasonal rains; yet to receive full report from states: Centre

  The Centre has said that there has been some damage to the rabi (winter) crops, including wheat, due to unseasonal rains and hailstorm brought about by western disturbance. However, the state governments have not yet reported the extent of damage. The minister asserted that the central government will provide compensation under the National Disaster Relief Fund (NDRF) if the state governments submit a report after assessing the extent of damage.

• India hosts roundtable on millets to strategise production and consumption globally

  India held its first mega-global event Global Millets (Shree Anna) Conference in Delhi to celebrate 2023 as the International Year of Millets (IYM). The aim of United Nations to declare 2023 as the International Year of Millets on India's initiative is to elevate awareness of millets for food security and nutrition, enhance investment in R&D and extension, and to inspire stakeholders towards improving production, productivity and quality of millets.

• Rs 900 crore sanctioned for holistic development of agriculture sector in J-K

  Director Agriculture production and farmers welfare department said besides educating farmers and agri-Startups about the latest developments, the event has been organised with a focus to encourage farmers to adopt cultivation of Millets.

• SLCM’s AI-based app Agri Reach gets NABL accreditation

  The smartphone application uses artificial intelligence to conduct a quality check of agricultural products by simply taking a picture. The app analyses the image for a variety of quality metrics.

• Wheat ban should continue: Roller Flour Millers’ Federation of India

  “The government’s closing balance for wheat will be at its lowest this year,” said Pramod Kumar S, President, Roller Flour Millers’ Federation of India adding that the continuation of export ban will help in restoring it’s stocks.

• Weather threatens Indian winter crops just before harvesting

  India's weather department has warned key growing states in central, northern, and western regions could receive more rain and hailstorms in the next 10 days. That could curtail production and lift food inflation, which the government and central bank have been trying to contain.

• Heatwave yet to affect vegetable output, prices

  The country has witnessed the hottest ever February this year and the India Meteorological Department has issued warnings of heatwaves from March to May, with temperatures expected to rise 3-5 degree Celsius above normal.

• Too early to say about impact of high temperatures on wheat crop, says Agriculture Minister

  "Lekin main samjhta hoon ki abhi koi aisi stithi nahi hai. Koi prabhav pada hai, aisa kahna jaldbazi hogi (But I think, there is no such situation as of now. It will be too early to say that there has been any impact)," the minister told reporters here.

• FCI to sell 10.13 lakh tonnes of wheat to bulk users on Wednesday via e-auctions

  Food Corporation of India has sold 28.85 lakh tonnes of wheat to bulk consumers in the five rounds of e-auction held so far. According to a senior government official, FCI will offer 10.13 lakh tonnes of wheat to bulk consumers in the sixth round of e-auction to be held on March 15. FCI will offer wheat from its 620 depots.

• Mamata Banerjee urges Centre to allow poppy cultivation in West Bengal

  "Bengalis love 'posto'. Why should it be cultivated in only four states? Why not in West Bengal, despite it being on our menu every day?" she said.

• Axis Bank partners with ITC to offer rural lending products to farmers in remote region

  The deal will enable Axis Bank to cater to the financial requirements of the unserved and under-served farmers based in the remote regions of the country. “The Bank will offer a wide range of assets and liability products such as farmer loans, gold loans etc,” the company stated in a press release.

• Inadequate rains: 15-30 pc of Rabi crops damaged in Himachal

  In five districts of Bilaspur, Hamirpur, Mandi, Shimla and Sirmaur up to 33 per cent of Rabi crops have been damaged. The total loss to the crop was estimated at Rs 9,462 lakh rupees so far in ten out of 12 districts in the state barring the tribal areas of Kinnaur and Lahaul and Spiti, a spokesman of the Agriculture department said.

• Nafed to begin onion procurement from 3 mandis in Gujarat from Thursday

  "Farmers are requested to bring their good quality and dried stock to the procurement centres to avail better rates at these centres," the ministry said.

• AP outfit gets first foxtail millet food safety certification

  Certification schemes like IndG.A.P are designed to help farmers and exporters meet global food safety standards, essential to access overseas markets."Adoption of G.A.P verified by a robust certification will enhance value realisation by farmers and make India globally competitive in agri exports," said Samunnati founder Anil Kumar SG.

• Centre directs Nafed, NCCF to buy red onion from farmers

  "Prices remained stable due to consistency in demand and supplies as well as export potential. However, the month of February saw a decline in prices of red onion, particularly in the State of Maharashtra where the modal rate dropped to Rs 500 -700/quintal," the agriculture ministry said in a statement.

• Govt agencies to buy red onion as prices plunge on surplus output

  Prices of the crop have fallen to as low as 200 rupees ($2.44) per 100 kilograms prompting some farmers to dump the crop in fields in the western state of Maharashtra, the largest producer of red onion in the country, where rates have fallen sharply.

• No income tax on agri produce for next 2 fiscal years: Bengal FM Chandrima Bhattacharya

  Presenting the Finance Bill in the assembly, Bhattacharya said the current exemption period for agricultural income tax ends on March 31. She also said that the state government has taken up a "detailed and convenient" scheme to resolve issues related to arrears of tax to facilitate sales tax payers.

• Demand-supply projections for crops, livestock in the works

  Government's think-tank NITI Aayog has set up a working group on demand and supply projections of crops, livestock, fisheries and agriculture inputs to assess and project demand for 2025-26, 2030-31 and 2035-36, a senior government official said.

• Demand for J&K, Himachal apples rises as Turkey quake hits supply

  "The severe earthquake that rocked Turkey last month has impacted exports of apples from the country to India. The domestic demand is now being met by the apples produced in Himachal Pradesh and Jammu & Kashmir," said Tarun Arora, director of IG International, a fruit importing firm.

• Heat may scorch fruit, vegetable output by 30%

  While mango farmers have already reported massive flower and fruit drop, the sudden and early onset of summer will also adversely affect lychee, citrus fruits, watermelons, bananas, and cashew crops, experts said. Vegetables like cabbage, cauliflowers, leafy vegetables, and tomatoes will not only be of lower size but of lower nutritional content, they said.

• High temperature unlikely to damage wheat crops, says Food Secretary Sanjeev Chopra

  Food Secretary Sanjeev Chopra said the ban on wheat exports would continue, boosting the availability of grains for the government procurement. He said the government would procure around 35 million tonne of wheat in 2023-24 marketing year (April-March).

• Over two dozen sugar mills close early in Maharashtra

  Maharashtra, which accounts for more than a third of India's sugar output, has produced 9.51 million tonnes sugar in the 2022/23 marketing year that began on Oct. 1, down from 9.73 million tonnes at the same point last season, a senior government official told Reuters on Thursday.

• Several steps taken to address emerging challenges, create global brand for Indian tea: Comm Min

  India has taken several steps to boost tea output, create a niche brand for the Indian tea and ensure the welfare of families associated with this industry, the commerce ministry said on Thursday. India is the second largest tea producer and the largest black tea producer and is self-sufficient in meeting domestic requirements and export obligations.

• Mustard farmers seek help as prices fall below MSP

  This has prompted the edible oil industry to seek immediate steps to arrest the fall. The industry has suggested that government agencies like the National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India (Nafed) be asked to procure mustard seeds and defend the MSP.

• A total of 2.347 MT wheat sold under OMSS: Food Ministry

  This led to an abnormal increase in the price of the food grain, compelling the government to sell wheat under the open market sales scheme (OMSS). The FCI, which is the nodal agency of the government for procurement and distribution of food grains for welfare schemes, has already undertaken three e-auctions to sell wheat to bulk buyers.

• Government sets a target of 35 MT for wheat procurement

  “The target has been set at 350 LMT for wheat procurement,” said a senior official present at the meeting during which the decision was taken.

• Agritech firm Fasal enters procurement business to sell directly to retailers, exporters

  Through its patented IoT system called Kranti, Fasal has been making horticulture farming guesswork-free with advanced irrigation alerts, farm-level forecasts, and pest/disease forewarnings. Today, Fasal works with Indian farmers over 60,000 acres across 20 plus crops.

• Onion prices will stay depressed till mid-March: Experts

  Independent farm sector analyst Deepak Chavan told PTI that there are a variety of reasons for the current spate of troubles which has led to panic selling by farmers as the shelf life of the late kharif harvest is too small, and called for government intervention.

• El Nino threat raises fears of stress on lenders' agri books

  Since 1994, India has encountered seven instances of El Nino, hurting farm production and hence resulting in higher NPAs for banks in the related subsequent three-four quarters. The latest instance was in 2019, after which agricultural NPAs for the State Bank of India shot up, from 11.6% in the fiscal year 2019 to 15.9% in the fiscal year 2020.

• Government looks to integrate 100 more interstate mandis with e-NAM

  E-NAM, which was launched in April 2016, is being implemented by the Small Farmers Agribusiness Consortium, a central government agency, with the support of state governments. Since its inception, the minister said, about Rs 649.87 crore had been released for the integration of mandis with the e-NAM platform, the minister had said.

• Wheat prices may go below MSP as arrivals begin in Gujarat, MP

  Prices are expected to go below the minimum support price (MSP) by mid-March, when arrivals will pick up further. Meanwhile, Food Corporation of India (FCI) has called a meeting of wheat growing states on March 1 to take a call on starting procurement operations for the 2023-24 rabi marketing season. It is expected to consider an early beginning of the procurement operations.