Agriculture Reform

From nuclear power generation to agri reforms, from a noisy middle class to central bank's moves on interest rates, the government must jump over many obstacles to achieve its objectives

The government is trying to bring policy-level changes for simplifying agriculture, Union Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Monday said and indicated that providing subsidies on fertiliser, seed and farming equipment through direct benefit transfer could be considered in the future. In an interaction with farmers, who were invited to witness the Republic Day parade as special guests, at his residence here on Monday, the Agriculture and Rural Development Minister said the government spends up to Rs 2,00,000 crore on fertiliser subsidies. "The fertiliser subsidy that the government gives costs to the tune of Rs 2,00,000 crore. A sack of urea costs Rs 265 to the farmers, but it costs Rs 2,400. The subsidy goes to the company. The fertilizer is also used for other purposes... If there is a reliable system, farmers can be given the subsidy directly in their accounts," Chouhan said. "The PM Kisan Samman Nidhi's cost comes to around Rs 60,000 crore, if the fertilizer subsidy is given throu

It also recommends implementing a robust and legally binding MSP in the country

The Crop Care Federation of India (CCFI) on Thursday urged the government to reject patent evergreening for agrochemicals, arguing that such a move would harm farmers and local manufacturers by creating monopolistic market conditions. The industry body criticised a newly formed government committee examining data protection provisions for agrochemicals, claiming it would unfairly benefit multinational corporations and importers at the expense of domestic producers. CCFI Chairman Deepak Shah, in a statement, said extending patent protections beyond the standard 20-year period would lead to overpricing and reduced accessibility for small and marginal farmers. "The government should protect the interest of domestic manufacturers and farmers," Shah stated. The federation highlighted that between 2010 and 2022, while 62 new pesticide molecules were patented in India, only 27 were commercially launched. Of the remaining 35 products, their patent periods have already expired. Citing a 20

Agriculture Secretary Devesh Chaturvedi on Thursday urged states to swiftly adopt and implement new technology-driven initiatives to improve farm production estimates and enhance data accuracy. Addressing a national conference here, Chaturvedi emphasised the need for continuous collaboration between the central and state governments to enhance the quality of agricultural statistics, an official statement said. The new initiatives include the Digital Crop Survey, Digital General Crop Estimation Survey (DGCES), and the revamped FASAL (Forecasting Agricultural Output using Space, Agro-meteorology, and Land-based Observations) programme. The Digital Crop Survey is designed to provide plot-level data with geotagged areas of crops, serving as a single source of truth for accurate crop area estimation. DGCES aims to calculate yield based on scientifically designed Crop Cutting Experiments for all major crops across the country. The revamped FASAL programme leverages remote sensing techno

Increased production of pulses, oilseeds, and cereals will help boost domestic supplies and contribute to keeping inflation low in the coming months

With India's consumption of micro-nutrients in the agriculture sector remaining below the global average, the International Zinc Association (IZA) on Thursday called for the integration of micro-nutrients in agri-practices to produce nutrition-rich crops. Recently, there has been a shift in Indian consumer preferences towards healthier food options that can aid in maintaining and improving health. This has resulted in a surge in demand for high-value crops, thus driving the need for micro-nutrients in the Indian agriculture industry, it said. "India's journey towards optimal health and well-being hinges on the pervasive integration of micro-nutrients into our diets, healthcare, and agriculture practices," IZA South Asia Director Sourmitra Das said. He was addressing a two-day global micro-nutrient summit organised by IZA in association with the Fertiliser Association of India (FAI) here in the national capital. Highlighting the pressing challenge of micro-nutrient deficiencies ...

Under SHC scheme, a soil health card contains soil health indicators and descriptive concepts based on farmers' knowledge of local natural resources and practical experience

According to the Global Report on Food Crisis released earlier this month, 193 million people were acutely food insecure and in need of urgent assistance across 53 countries and territories in 2021

Repeal of farm laws a setback or a step in the right direction? Why's the cable TV industry stagnated? Will the market cheer withdrawal of farm laws? What are cloud kitchens? Let's find the answers

Govt must keep pushing farm reforms

Here is the best of Business Standard's opinion pieces for Saturday.

A 21-year-old climbing the flag pole and hoisting Nishan Sahib at Red Fort became the defining image of the protest.

This episode of legislating bad laws and rolling back, means those issues will not be addressed for fear of sparking another agitation, writes Devangshu Datta

The reverse migration sparked by the 2020 lockdown led to a drop in the demand for women farm workers who have few other job opportunities in villages

Union minister Narendra Singh Tomar on Thursday said agricultural reforms by the central government will bring a revolution in the lives of the country's farmers

A group of farmers protesting against the central farm laws staged a demonstration at the Jewar toll plaza, partially disrupting traffic movement on the Yamuna Expressway

A $2 trillion group of investors urged the European Commission to be more ambitious in planned overhaul of the bloc's huge farming subsidy programme to fight climate change and protect biodiversity

After New Delhi summoned the UK envoy over discussion on agricultural reforms in India, Congress MP Shashi Tharoor justified the debate, saying in a democracy you are free to discuss whatever you want

Targeting specific products will help the agri sector