News

From the RSS:

• Maharashtra farmers to get Rs 12,000 annually under 'Kisan Samman Nidhi', announces CM Shinde

  

• Will it rain on India’s parade? El-Niño on top of mind of businesses that have an eye on the countryside

  India’s rural heartland bets on the monsoon — forecast to be delayed, but normal, this year. But El Niño could play joker in the pack, and drag rural consumption down.

• Rice fortification pilots in India show drop in anaemia

  Four large-scale pilots in different parts of the country were done - three in the school lunch and one in the Integrated Child Development Scheme. These pilots effectively demonstrated that rice fortification could be rolled out through existing social assistance distribution systems and costs could be lowered through economies of scale, according to the UN.

• Paddy worth Rs 159,660 cr procured from farmers at support price: Govt

  Food Corporation of India, the nodal central agency, along with other state agencies undertakes procurement of paddy under the price support scheme (at MSP). Those procured paddy is then milled to make rice and distributed to the public under various food security schemes.

• IMD predicts normal monsoon for this year despite El Nino threats

  

• India's summer crops sowing marginally lower at 70.3 lakh hectare

  The ministry's data showed that the sowing area under pulses and coarse cereals is higher year-on-year, while the acreage of rice and oilseeds is lower. Coming to pulses and coarse cereals, the area increased from 19.09 lakh hectares to 19.81 lakh hectares, and 11.56 lakh hectares to 12.01 lakh hectares, data showed.

• Govt's rice procurement reaches 52.06 million tones so far; makes Rs 1.6 lakh crore MSP payment

  The Indian government has procured 52.06 million tonnes of rice since the start of the 2022-23 marketing season, benefiting 1.12 crore farmers with an MSP of Rs 1.6 lakh crore, according to the food ministry. The Centre has set a target to buy 62.60 million tonnes of rice during the current marketing season, and farmers have received MSP of Rs 2,040 per quintal for ‘common’ grade paddy and Rs 2,060 per quintal for ‘A’ grade paddy.

• Record 330.5 million tonne foodgrain estimated for 2022-23 crop year: Govt

  The assessment of the production of different crops is based on the feedback received from States and validated with information available from other sources. This assessment shall undergo further revision over successive estimates based on feedback and inputs.

• Foodgrain output seen at record 330.5 MT in 2022-23

  India's foodgrain production is estimated to increase to 330.5 million tonnes in 2022-23, setting a new record compared to the previous year's 315.6 million tonnes. The Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare's third advance estimate projected a record production of wheat, rice, maize, nutri, and coarse cereals, sugarcane, and oilseeds.

• Centre signs agreement with 6 states to start digital crop survey

  The workshop deliberated on the implementation plan of the digital crop survey, advantages for various stakeholders, responsibilities of the central government. The workshop also emphasised on outcomes, expectation from states and support the Centre will provide for effective and successful implementation of digital crop survey.

• India's wheat output set to touch a new record of 112.74 mn ton in 2022-23: Govt data

  The country's wheat production is estimated to set a new record of 112.74 million tonne in the 2022-23 crop year (July-June), while the overall foodgrain output is also likely to be a record 330.53 million tonne, the Agriculture Ministry said on Thursday.

• Himachal Pradesh aims to bring additional 30,000 acres of land under natural farming in FY24

  The agriculture department of Himachal Pradesh has set the target to bring an additional 30,000 acres of land under natural farming in 2023-24. So far, 1.59 lakh farmers in the state are practicing natural farming on around 50,000 acres of land, officials said.

• Cotton prices take a knock as farmers offload stocks

  The daily arrival of cotton in the markets has increased fivefold to 100,000 bales (each weighing 170 kg) from the historical average of 20,000 bales a day in May.

• Odisha to provide free crop insurance to farmers for 3 years

  "The Cooperation Department would bear the premium of the insurance from the 2023 Kharif season to the 2025-26 Rabi season. Odisha is the first state in the country to provide free crop insurance to farmers," Naveen Patnaik said.

• Uttar Pradesh surpasses Maharashtra in sugar production this season

  "The total sugar produced by Uttar Pradesh in sugar season 2022-2023 is 107.29 lakh tonnes (which includes 3.05 lakh tonnes of Khandsari (physically extracted sugar from liquid jaggery), as compared to 105.30 lakh tonnes by Maharashtra. The area under cane cultivation in Uttar Pradesh is 28.53 lakh hectare (maximum in India) as compared to 14.87 lakh hectare in Maharashtra," said UP's Cane Development and Sugar Mills' minister Laxmi Narayan Chaudhary

• Wheat prices rise 4% in two weeks

  "Prices have increased sharply during the past two weeks," said Ajay Goyal, a veteran wheat processor and director, at Shivaji Roller Flour Mill. "It is in more than a decade that I have seen wheat prices increase in the month of May," he said.

• Why traders want you to shun tur dal and eat other pulses

  The Indian government is trying to stem the rising prices of tur dal by encouraging consumers to replace it with other pulses. Tur dal prices in Delhi have increased by 27% in the past one year and by 10% in the last six months. Production has not kept pace with demand and the highest selling dal's wholesale price has shot up about 60%. Tur traders are of the view that reducing demand for tur by influencing a change in consumer preference is essential as not enough tur is being produced

• Tur traders propose campaign to promote use of other pulses

  The Indian Pulses and Grains Association (IPGA) has proposed a joint campaign with the Department of Food and Public Distribution to promote consumption of pulses like masur, moong, chana and yellow peas as an alternative to tur.

• Cabinet clears fertiliser subsidy for Kharif season

  The Union Cabinet on Wednesday approved a subsidy of Rs 1.08 lakh crore for fertiliser for the Kharif season 2023-24. This will benefit about 12 crore farmers and there will be no change in the Maximum Retail Price (MRP) of fertilisers.

• Apple production may halve due to unseasonal rains, snowfall; import restrictions to keep prices up

  Unseasonal rains, snowfall, and low temperatures in April have affected the apple crop in India's Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, and Jammu & Kashmir regions, with growers expecting production to drop by half from last year's level. Prices of apples grown in the country are likely to remain firm as the government has put a cap on import of apples from Iran at Rs 50 per kg.

• Rang De collaborates with Mission Samriddhi to launch Mushroom Fund for underserved TN farmers

  Peer-to-peer social investing platform Rang De has partnered with social impact-enterprise Mission Samriddhi to launch a specialised investment Mushroom Fund designed to help Indian farmers develop sustainable income through mushroom cultivation. Starting with 40 farmers in the Tamil Nadu region, the first year should see a minimum of Rs 8,000 in earnings, with the fund offering social investors a maximium 8% ROI per year following an 18-month investment.

• Growing for the future! Discussing the untapped potential of India's horticulture sector

  India is the second-largest producer of horticultural products but enjoys a share of less than 2% as compared to the related world trade.

• Summer crop area marginally down YoY

  The sowing area under pulses and coarse cereals is higher year-on-year, while the acreage of rice and oilseeds is lower.About 19.61 lakh ha area coverage has been reported under pulses compared with 18.44 lakh ha last year. They are mainly in Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal and Gujarat.

• MoS Agri pitches for mass adoption of new farm technologies for achieving $5 trillion economy

  Kailash Choudhary, Minister of State for Agriculture, believes that mass adoption of new technologies like drones, artificial intelligence (AI), and precision farming in the agriculture sector is necessary for India to reach the USD 5 trillion economy. Choudhary also urged scientists to identify untapped areas such as rain-fed districts, empowering farmers with new agricultural technologies. 6-7%.

• Area under summer crops down marginally

  The area has been reported mainly from the states of Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal and Gujarat. For Shri Anna and nutri and course cereals about 11.73 lakh ha area coverage has been reported compared to 11.30 lakh ha during the corresponding period of last year with Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal being the top three states.

• Sugarcane growers to lobby against inclusion of sugar mill owners in new Karnataka cabinet

  In December last year, sugarcane farmers had protested for 23 days, demanding higher prices and alleging that sugar factory owners were cheating farmers by using faulty measures to weigh the cane that they brought in. The Ministry for Textiles and Sugar had in response ordered raids on 22 sugar factories, but officials did not find any evidence of malpractice in the weighing.

• NFCSF revises down sugar output estimate to 32.7 million tons for 2022-23

  The revised sugar production estimate is, however, down by 8.88 per cent from the actual production of 35.92 million tonnes in the 2021-22 marketing year (October-September). In a statement, NFCSF said about 531 sugar mills across the country have produced 32.03 million tonnes of sugar till April 30. Of 531 sugar mills, 67 mills are still in operation.

• Tea exports from Andrew Yule up four fold

  AYCL is the sole central public-sector enterprise (CPSE) of the Indian government in the tea industry. This company was established in 1863 and is a CPSE since 1979. It is an industrial conglomerate with active interests in tea, engineering, and electrical businesses. The company has 15 tea gardens spread over Assam and West Bengal.

• Unsure about open market sale, private sector laps up wheat from the markets

  The industry depends largely on government supply at timely intervals under the Open Market Sales Scheme (OMSS) to procure wheat. Last year, mills were forced to buy the grain from the open market at prevailing market prices, as the central government could procure just enough wheat to distribute food under various welfare schemes.

• Fertiliser flying squads to crack down on diversion of agriculture-grade urea

  The squad has registered 30 first information reports for diversion of urea, seizing 70,000 bags of the agrochemical. Around 11 persons have been jailed under the Prevention of Black Marketing and Maintenance of Supplies Act. The Centre provides urea at a highly subsidised rate of ₹266 per bag (of 45 kg) to farmers. It has to bear a subsidy of about ₹2,500 per bag.

• Gujarat govt announces relief package for farmers hit by unseasonal rains

  Under this package, farmers who lost 33 per cent or more of their total crops will get the financial assistance in addition to the compensation provided by the State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF) as per norms.

• India’s shrimp sector to see 5% growth in 2024: CRISIL

  Debt to be contracted for part-funding such as capex and incremental working capital requirements will be comfortably absorbed by the strong balance sheets of the players. An analysis of 98 shrimp exporters rated by CRISIL Ratings, accounting for two-thirds of the industry revenue, indicates as much.

• Absolute launches biological agri-input business Inera CropScience

  Primarily, Inera’s biological inputs offer growers the benefit of tailored solutions to improve soil quality, plant immunity, disease resistance, pest protection and overall crop health to increase yield and quality of produce in a diverse range of agro climatic conditions. Starting with India, Inera aims to meet the needs of 20% of the world’s population and the highest arable land of any single nation in the world.

• Flying tractors a window into future of farming

  Farmers have been using drones over the past 20 years mainly for aerial imaging - scanning farms from the sky with cameras to map where crops are thriving and failing. Now drones are being designed for hands-on crop management.

• Govt making efforts to boost production, consumption of millet: Narendra Singh Tomar

  Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar on Friday said the government is making efforts to boost the production and consumption of millets. He was speaking after inaugurating the 'Millets Experience Centre (MEC)' at Dilli Haat, INA, in the national capital.

• IPGA urges govt to replace tur dal with other pulses in mid-day meal project

  Last fiscal, India had imported 850,000 tonnes of tur (pigeon peas) to meet domestic demand. The Centre has also extended the import of tur and urad pulses under the ‘free category’ till March 31, 2024. "We have urged the government to float tender for 5 lakh (500,000) tonnes for other pulses,” Bimal Kothari, chairman of IPGA, said. “Now the government only floats tender for tur pulses for its mid-day meal scheme. If this happens then prices of tur will soften."

• Arya.ag announces partnership with Shivalik Small Finance Bank to drive farmers' financial inclusion

  Grain commerce platform Arya.ag on Thursday announced a strategic partnership with Shivalik Small Finance Bank. With this business correspondent model partnership, Arya.ag, will further its mission to drive financial inclusion for farmers and FPOs and offer loans through Shivalik Small Finance Bank under Warehouse Receipt Finance.

• El Nino contingency plan being readied for farmers & output

  The ministry of agriculture and farmers' welfare has set up a system for specific advisory services and forecasts for the main agricultural belt of the country based on different rainfall scenarios. It will also come out with agromet advisories specific to different regions to help farmers take appropriate steps to mitigate any damage to crops.

• Diversion of sugar for ethanol to fall by 11%, says ISMA

  The Indian Sugar Mills Association (ISMA) has lowered its sugar production forecast to 368 lakh tonnes, down 4.6% from the January estimate of 385 lakh tonnes due to unexpectedly lower cane yields in Maharashtra caused by higher ratoon crop share and uneven rainfall.

• India's horticulture sector holds untapped potential despite challenges

  The horticulture sector faces many production challenges that stop it from realising its full potential, such as small operational landholdings, lack of irrigation and poor soil management.

• The pulse of food production

  The share of wheat and rice in the country’s total crop output has increased since 2014-15, despite the focus to move farmers away from these crops, according to official data from the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation.

• Tea planters suffering from 'crop loss', 'falling' prices in Tripura

  Tea plantations, the second largest industry in the state after rubber, are facing "crop loss" this season due to a drought-like situation, Tripura Tea Development Corporation (TTDC) chairman Santosh Saha said.

• NRRI submits proposals for identification of 10 new rice varieties

  Former NRRI director and Department of Agricultural Research and Education's ex-secretary Trilochan Mohapatra, who is presently officiating as chairperson of the Protection of Plant Varieties and Farmers' Rights Authority, will deliver the foundation day lecture on Sunday.

• Wheat procurement 12% higher so far

  The wheat stocks had fallen to 8.3 MT in April 1, the lowest since 2016, as the government's procurement had plunged to a record low due to a drop in production and increased private buying this year.

• Sugar prices on a high: Untimely rains and heat waves might sour your taste this summer

  

• NITI Aayog suggests states to formulate specific AgriTech policy to promote start-ups

  In its white paper on ‘Gearing Up To Solve Food Security Challenges’, the Aayog said that the agritech solutions available in the market are making the lives of smallholders better by improving access to quality input, access to market, reducing risks, access to information, and a host of other products and services, resulting in improved productivity and price realisation.

• Modern tech, AI, and sustainable techniques propelling Indian agriculture growth, watch!

  

• India's cotton output could fall to 14-year low: Cotton Association of India

  Lower production will reduce exports from the world's biggest producer in the current marketing year ending on Sept. 30 and support global prices. It could also lift domestic prices and weigh on margins of local textile companies. Production could fall to 30.3 million bales, down 3.2% from the previous estimate of 31.3 million bales, Cotton Association of India (CAI) said in a statement.

• Agritech firm Arya.ag more than doubles its loan disbursals in FY23

  Arya.ag, an agritech firm that offers financial support to small farmers cultivating less than 5 acres, experienced a 55.81% increase in its loan disbursals through its fintech platform, Aryadhan. Digital loans comprise over 98% of all loans, and the firm's IoT, analytics, AI, and ML technology stack provides minimal transaction costs and an expedited turnaround time for loan disbursements.

• Tea Mosquito Bug Crisis: Planters Association urges immediate government intervention

  The United Planters Association of South India (UPASI) has urged the government to immediately intervene and take appropriate steps to control the Tea Mosquito Bug (Helopeltis theivora) (TMB) problem in the tea plantations in India.