Page 2 - Farmers

Govt paying attention to needs of millet farmers for 1st time, says PM Modi

PM Modi said that India's Millet Mission will become a blessing for 2.5 crore marginal farmers

IMD asks farmers to postpone harvesting due to rains across India

As rains lashed several parts of the country, the weather office on Thursday asked farmers to postpone harvest of mustard in Punjab and Haryana, and wheat and pulses in central Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh. The western disturbance-induced rains provided respite from high temperatures, but sent farmers scrambling to protect their crops. Some parts of hill states of Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh witnessed snowfall. "Postpone harvesting of mustard till cessation of rains in Punjab and Haryana; if already harvested, store at safe places to avoid losses. Withhold irrigation to wheat crops to avoid lodging," the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said. The weather office advised use of hail nets to protect apple, pear, plum and peach orchards in Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand as well as for fruit plantations in Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra. For farmers in Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh, the IMD has suggested to carry out harvesting of matured mustard, chickpea and wheat at the

As protesting farmers march towards Mumbai, Maha CM meet their delegation

Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Thursday met a delegation of farmers here even as thousands of farmers continued their march towards Mumbai from Nashik district to press their demands. The meeting was underway, said an official in the Chief Minister's Office. Earlier, the state government rushed ministers Dada Bhuse and Atul Save to hold a discussion with the farmers whose demands include an immediate financial relief of Rs 600 per quintal to onion growers, uninterrupted electricity supply for 12 hours and a waiver of agriculture loans.

Light to moderate rains over most parts of India in next 5-6 days: IMD

Warns farmers to harvest matured wheat, chickpea and veggies at the earliest

Farmers committing suicide is not new issue: Maharashtra agri minister

Maharashtra Agriculture Minister Abdul Sattar has said the farmers committing suicide is not a new issue and such incidents had been happening for many years. He was responding to a query by reporters who sought his comment on suicides committed by farmers in his constituency, Sillod, in Aurangabad district recently. "The issue of farmer suicide is not new. Such incidents are happening for many years. I feel suicides by farmers should not take place anywhere in Maharashtra, including my constituency," said Sattar, a member of the Shiv Sena faction headed by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde. At least two farmers had ended their lives in Sillod during March 3 to 12, police had said. However, sources claimed at least six agriculturists had ended their lives in Aurangabad district in the Marathwada region during the same period, prima facie due to indebtedness. He said a committee has been set up under Agriculture Commissioner to study this issue. Sattar on Sunday inspected losses caused

Maha govt must compensate farmers: Ajit Pawar after unseasonal rain damages

Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Ajit Pawar on Wednesday urged the state government to come forward to support and compensate the farmers.Addressing the media, Pawar said, "Maharashtra's farmers have suffered a lot in the past three days due to unseasonal rains. We'll raise the issue of compensation to farmers in Assembly today. Today, the state government (Shinde-led government) must come forward to support and compensate the farmers.""We have given adjournment notice in the Assembly on the issue of compensation to the farmers, the Maharashtra LoP further said. "There was a forecast of rain for these 3 days everywhere. Now, the government should focus on ensuring the materialisation of the farm insurance claims," he added.On February 28, the Maharashtra Legislative Council was adjourned after opposition legislators created a ruckus on the issue of farmers demanding an appropriate price for onions as prices dipped.The Opposition leader of the Legislative Council, Ambadas Danve

Untimely rains ahead of harvest worry farmers in central, western India

Reports suggest standing crops in some parts of Maharashtra, MP and Gujarat may have been impacted, though the exact extent of damage can be gauged only after a proper survey

No income tax on agricultural produce for next 2 fiscal years: Bengal FM

The West Bengal government has decided that farmers will not have to pay income tax on any agricultural product for the next two fiscal years, Finance Minister Chandrima Bhattacharya said Monday. The state government has also announced the withdrawal of two types of cess on raw tea leaves for the period. 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. In her budget speech on February 15, Bhattacharya had said without imposing new taxes, income tax exemption on agricultural produce will be maintained. The West Bengal government has also decided to fill thousands of vacancies in several departments, including minorities and agriculture, official sources said.

Rajasthan government's Irrigation subsidy scheme a hit with farmers

Agriculture commissioner Kanaram said that in the last four years, over 282,290 farmers have received subsidies of Rs 736.18 crore

Agritech firm DeHaat's FY23 revenue set to rise by over 80% to Rs 2,300 cr

Agritech startup DeHaat's revenue is likely to grow by over 80 per cent this fiscal to around Rs 2,300 crore on better sales of farm inputs to farmers and trading of agriculture produces in domestic and overseas markets, its CEO Shashank Kumar said. DeHaat will also hit positive EBIDTA (Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation, and Amortisation) by the end of this calendar year, he highlighted. DeHaat is a technology-based business-to-farmers platform that offers a complete range of agricultural services to farmers. These include distribution of high-quality agricultural inputs, customised farm advisory, access to financial services and market linkages for selling their produce. DeHaat has so far raised USD 221 million from investors like Sofina, Lightrock, Prosus Ventures, Sequoia Capital India, Omnivore partners, and FMO. "Our turnover was around Rs 1,250 crore in the last fiscal. We are seeing significant growth in revenue this financial year and will touch around Rs 2,300

Nano DAP important step towards making life easier for farmers: PM Modi

Prime Minister Narendra Modi said Sunday that the approval of nano DAP fertiliser is an important step towards making life easier for farmers. He was replying to a tweet from Union Chemicals and Fertilisers Minister Mansukh Mandaviya, who had announced the government's nod to the launch of nano liquid DAP (di-ammonium phosphate) fertiliser. It is a big step towards self-reliance in fertilisers, he had said. Fertiliser cooperative IFFCO, which introduced nano liquid urea in 2021, on Friday announced that the government has approved the launch of its nano DAP fertiliser in the market.

Nano-DAP included in Fertilizer Control Order paving way for early release

DAP is the second most consumed fertilizer in the country after urea and out of the estimated annual consumption of around 10-12.5 mn tonnes; local production is around 4-5 mn tonnes, rest is imported

The rich medicinal values of turmeric: Chhattisgarh is creating treasure

Sensing the favourable condition for spice cultivation in the state, the Chhattisgarh government is promoting farmers to pursue the crop as part of a diversification strategy

Farmers rights to be protected during food processing modernisation: MoS

As the Centre moves to modernise the food processing sector of the country, it will also protect the rights and interests of farmers, Union Minister of State (MoS) for Food Processing and Jal Shakti Prahlad Singh Patel said here on Friday. The Minister, who is presently in the southern state, gave the assurance while visiting the CSIR-National Institute For Interdisciplinary Science and Technology (NIIST) at Pappanamcode here during the day, a government statement said. Scientists at the Institute apprised the Minister of the activities of NIIST and he also viewed a presentation on the progress of various projects of the institute, it said. Patel visited various labs at NIIST and the officials briefed him about the eco-friendly products manufactured there, it further said and added that the Minister also planted a sapling in the institute's campus. He later visited MoS External Affairs and Parliamentary Affairs V Muraleedharan who is undergoing treatment at KIMS hospital in ...

Farmers crowd swell at 'seed counter' on first day of Pusa agri-mela

Hundreds of farmers, who thronged to the famous 'Krishi Vigyan Mela' held at the Pusa campus here on Thursday, had to face a lot of inconvenience while buying seeds and complained about poor management by the organiser IARI. The rush for buying seeds was so much that the Delhi Police had to intervene to control the crowd. The seed counter was also well guarded by security personnel to avoid commotion. The three-day annual 'Pusa Krishi Vigyan Mela', organised by the Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI), was inaugurated by Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar on Thursday. The sale of seeds developed by IARI has always been the main attraction of the mela and farmers from states like Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Haryana, Punjab and Bihar travel long distances just to buy the "quality Pusa seeds". A huge counter has been set up for sale of seeds at mela, where IARI plans to sell paddy seeds, including basmati rice varieties as well as moong till March 4. On the first day of

We're with onion farmers, says Maharashtra CM Eknath Shinde in Assembly

Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on Tuesday told the legislative assembly that his government is with onion farmers amid reports of falling prices of the key kitchen staple in the wholesale market, and talked of financial help for the growers if required. Speaking on the floor of the lower house, Shinde said, We are firmly standing by the onion growers in the state. NAFED (National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India Limited) has started onion procurement and that would push the prices up. NAFED, an apex organisation under the Union Ministry of Agriculture, deals with marketing cooperatives for agricultural produce in India. On our request, NAFED has increased its onion procurement and 2.38 lakh tonnes have already been purchased from farmers. If a particular area does not have a procurement centre, then it will be opened for farmers, Shinde said on the second day of the budget session of the state legislature. The price per kilogram of onion came down to

Nafed intervenes to stabilise markets as onion and potato prices plunge

Sharp drop in onion and potato prices since last few weeks have forced farmers to dump their produce in fields as selling price is far less than even cost of carrying produce to the market

Give us fair price or permission to commit suicide, say Nashik farmers

Farmers in Maharashtra's Nashik district have asked the Modi government to grant them permission to commit suicide as they have been facing difficulties due to the low prices of onions in the state

Making millets mainstream: The two-day event to begin on Friday

The roundtable discussions on millets processing will be attended by members from the private sector

Centre sets up panel to protect wheat as farms gear up for heat wave

The states that could see a possible heatwave are in the Northwest region mostly, which is India's main food bowl plain and comprises Haryana, Punjab, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh