Page 5 - Agriculture

Agriculture sector remains resilient; Rabi sowing off to strong start: RBI

Reserve Bank Governor Shaktikanta Das on Wednesday said the agriculture sector remains resilient, and the rabi sowing has got off to a strong start. However, India is expecting some moderation in kharif production due to uneven rainfall. India's total kharif crop production is estimated to moderate to 149.92 metric million tonnes (MMT) from 156.04 MMT in the previous kharif crop year, as per the first advance estimate. On the supply side, Das said, "The agricultural sector remains resilient. Rabi sowing got off to a strong start. The area sown so far is 6.8 per cent higher than the normal sown area (as on December 2, 2022)". Area sown to wheat has increased by 5.36 per cent year-on-year to 211.62 lakh hectares in the first two months of the ongoing rabi (winter) season, with higher coverage being reported in Rajasthan, Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, according to the agricultural ministry data released on Friday. The sowing of wheat, the main rabi crop, begins in October and harvesting i

Agriculture, allied activities clock a buoyant 4.6% growth in 2nd quarter

Gross value added (GVA) for agriculture, forestry and fishing during the comparable period of last year was 3.2 per cent

Govt plans pilots on new direct benefit transfer model for fertilisers

Currently, the version of DBT in fertilisers involves farmers purchasing their fertilisers through point of sale (PoS) devices after undergoing Aadhaar authentication

Wheat, flour prices soar, expected to remain high till new crop arrives

In the past one month, prices of wheat and flour have soared by 5% and 4%, respectively, and commodity watchers expect them to remain high till the new crop arrives

India eyes bumper wheat harvest in 2023 as record price lead to more sowing

The surge in wheat prices is despite the ban on exports of the grain, indicating a far bigger drop in this year's output

Bird flu prompts slaughter of another 1.8 million chickens in Nebraska

Nebraska agriculture officials say another 1.8 million chickens must be killed after bird flu was found on a farm in the latest sign that the outbreak that has already prompted the slaughter of more than 50 million birds nationwide continues to spread. The Nebraska Department of Agriculture said Saturday that the state's 13th case of bird flu was found on an egg-laying farm in northeast Nebraska's Dixon County, about 120 miles (193 kilometers) north of Omaha, Nebraska.. Just like on other farms where bird flu has been found this year, all the chickens on the Nebraska farm will be killed to limit the spread of the disease. The U.S. Department of Agriculture says more than 52.3 million birds in 46 states mostly chickens and turkeys on commercial farms have been slaughtered as part of this year's outbreak. Nebraska is second only to Iowa's 15.5 million birds killed with 6.8 million birds now affected at 13 farms. In most past bird flu outbreaks the virus largely died off during the

Growing across nations and continents

According to agriculture ministry estimates, exotic fruits were grown in 2021-22 in over 2.8 million hectares. The area under such crops was almost negligible in the early 2000s

Cash-strapped states pulled out of flagship PMFBY, says Centre

Centre willing to make additional pro-farmer changes in response to climate change

Delhi HC stays govt order limiting use of herbicide glyphosate for 3 months

Directs Centre to review decision with all stakeholders in the interim and come out with a solution

Agri booster: Centre hikes UP fertiliser quota to over 1.7 million tonnes

State farmers to get additional 88,000 tonnes of DAP in current rabi season; 24 railway rakes carrying DAP and NPK expected to arrive in the state within a week

Wheat acreage till Nov 18 up 15% YoY, record open market prices spur sowing

Centre refutes the assertion of artificial shortage of fertilisers in country

Retail inflation for farm and rural workers eases slightly to 7.22% in Oct

Retail inflation for farm and rural workers eased marginally to 7.22 per cent and 7.34 per cent, respectively, in October compared to September 2022, mainly due to lower prices of certain food items. "Point to point rate of inflation based on the CPI-AL (consumer price index-agricultural labour) and CPI-RL (rural labour) stood at 7.22 per cent & 7.34 per cent in October 2022 compared to 7.69 per cent & 7.90 per cent respectively in September 2022 and 2.76 per cent and 3.12 per cent respectively during the corresponding month of the previous year," a labour ministry statement said. Food inflation stood at 7.05 per cent and 7 per cent in October 2022 compared to 7.47 per cent & 7.52 per cent respectively in September 2022 and 0.39 per cent & 0.59 per cent respectively during the corresponding month of the previous year. The All-India Consumer Price Index Number for Agricultural Labourers and Rural Labourers for the month of October 2022 increased by 10 points and 9 ...

Govt refutes any shortage of fertilisers in rabi season, says enough supply

The Centre on Friday said there is adequate availability of key fertilisers, including urea and DAP, across the country for the ongoing rabi season, rejecting reports of shortage in Tamil Nadu and Rajasthan. "There have been some media reports claiming shortage of fertilizers in Trichy, Tamil Nadu and Rajasthan. Such reports are beyond the facts," the Fertiliser Ministry said in a statement. It is clarified that there is more than adequate availability of fertilizers in the country to meet the needs of the ongoing rabi (winter) season, it said. The central government is sending fertilizers as per need to all states, and it is the responsibility of respective state governments to ensure availability within the states through proper intra-district and inter-district distribution, it added. According to the ministry, urea requirement is projected at 180.18 lakh tonne for the 2022 rabi season. The pro rata requirement up to November 16 was 57.40 lakh tonne against which the government

Wheat sowing up 15% to 10.14 mn hectares so far; pulses coverage dips: Data

Area sown to wheat has risen by 15 per cent to 101.49 lakh hectares while pulses acreage has declined in the current rabi (winter) season so far compared to the year-ago period, according to the Agriculture Ministry data released on Friday. Sowing of wheat, the main rabi crop, begins in October and harvesting starts in March-April. Besides wheat, gram and mustard are other major crops grown during the rabi season of the 2022-23 crop year (July-June). According to the latest sowing data, wheat has been sown in 101.49 lakh hectares till November 18 of this rabi season as against 88.46 lakh hectares in the year-ago period. The higher area under wheat has been reported from Punjab (7.18 lakh ha), followed by Rajasthan (4.24 lakh ha), Uttar Pradesh (2.59 lakh ha), Maharashtra (1.05 lakh ha), and Gujarat (0.67 lakh ha), data showed. However, the area sown to pulses remained lower at 73.25 lakh hectares so far this rabi season as against 76.08 lakh hectares in the year-ago period. Among .

COP27: India opposes efforts to extend scope of mitigation to agriculture

India has opposed the developed world's efforts to extend the scope of mitigation to agriculture at the ongoing UN climate summit in Egypt, saying rich nations do not want to reduce emissions by changing their lifestyles and are "searching for cheaper solutions abroad", sources said on Thursday. Expressing concern over the draft decision text on the Koronivia Joint Work on Agriculture, India said the developed countries are blocking a pro-poor and pro-farmer decision by insisting on expanding the scope for mitigation to agriculture, thereby compromising the very foundation of food security in the world, a source in the Indian delegation said. "At every climate summit, the developed countries wish to change the goalposts of the international climate regime using diversionary means to dilute their responsibilities arising from their historical emissions. "Annex-I countries, it may be recalled, owe the world a carbon debt of 790 gigatonnes of carbon dioxide (GtCO2), which is worth USD

Union Agriculture Minister inaugurates M&M's Farm Machinery Plant in MP

Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar on Tuesday inaugurated the first greenfield farm machinery plant of Mahindra & Mahindra at Pithampur in Madhya Pradesh. According to an official statement, the minister said that the India has reached a point where the world looks at us with hopeful eyes. The minister emphasised on being fully equipped with technology for the country's development. Tomar said the mechanisation and technology are very much needed today. Tomar stressed on the need to increase production-productivity in order to meet the domestic requirement as well as other countries. The minister also spoke about the challenge of climate change. Tomar said the trend of testing quality has been increasing.

Centre spent Rs 10 trn to provide affordable fertilisers to farmers: Modi

The Centre has spent approximately Rs 10 lakh crore during the last eight years to see that farmers in the country are not burdened by the high global prices of fertilisers, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Saturday. Modi, who was speaking after laying foundation stones and dedicating to the nation multiple projects worth over Rs 9,500 crore at Ramagundam in Telangana, said the Union government would spend more than Rs 2.5 lakh crore this year to make fertilisers available to the farmers at affordable rates. He also said his government has transferred more than Rs 2 lakh crore to the bank accounts of farmers under the PM Kisan Samman Nidhi scheme. The Prime Minister said five big fertiliser plants in the country that were lying closed for years are being restarted towards achieving 'atmanirbharta' (self-reliance) in urea. The Gorakhpur plant in Uttar Pradesh has started production and the Ramagundam plant has been dedicated to the nation. When these five plants are fully ...

Tracking the fields: Wheat acreage almost 10% more than last year

The government and fertiliser company officials have said nutrient supplies are adequate

World food import bill to be at record high of $1.94 trillion in 2022: FAO

The world food import bill is estimated to rise to US$1.94 trillion in 2022, higher than previously expected, according to the latest Food Outlook forecast released by the FAO

India urges BIMSTEC nations to work in cooperation to transform farm sector

Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar on Thursday urged the member countries of BIMSTEC to work together for development of a comprehensive regional strategy to strengthen cooperation for transformation of farm sector. India hosted the second Agriculture Ministerial-level meeting of the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) here under the chairmanship of Tomar, an official statement said. Agriculture ministers of Bhutan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Myanmar, Sri Lanka and Thailand participated in the meeting. BIMSTEC was established in 1997. It includes five countries of South Asia -- Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal, Sri Lanka and two countries of South-East Asia -- Myanmar and Thailand. Addressing the meeting virtually, Tomar urged the "member countries to cooperate in developing a comprehensive regional strategy to strengthen cooperation for the transformation of agriculture." He emphasised on the importance of millet as a ...