Agricutlure Sector

The National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) on Saturday said it has sanctioned Rs 770 crore financial assistance for the construction of two irrigation projects in Jharkhand. These projects were approved under the Rural Infrastructure Development Fund (RIDF) for the fiscal year 2024-25. "NABARD has sanctioned financial assistance of Rs 769.58 crore for construction of two irrigation projects in Palamu and Giridih districts under Rural Infrastructure Development Fund during FY 2024-25," S K Jahagirdar, Chief General Manager, NABARD Jharkhand Regional Office, said. Once completed, the project in Palamu will provide irrigation to an additional 11,000 hectares of land through pipelines across eight blocks in the district. The megalift irrigation project in Giridih will cover 165 of the 197 villages in Pirtand block, leading to the development of 10,158 hectares of cultivable command area. Both projects are expected to significantly enhance agricultural activities

Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Monday directed the Regional Rural Banks (RRBs) to increase their share in ground-level agriculture credit disbursement with a special focus on horticulture and allied agriculture activities like piggery, poultry, dairy and fisheries, officials said. Chairing a review meeting of the RRBs in the northeastern states at the civil secretariat here, Sitharaman urged the banks to put greater thrust on the identification of the right beneficiaries while sanctioning loans under various central schemes, they said. The meeting focused on business performance, upgrading digital technology services, and fostering business growth in allied agriculture and MSME clusters, they added. Among those present in the meeting were chairpersons of RRBs and sponsor banks, representatives of RBI, NABARD and SIDBI, and senior officers of all the northeastern states.

Significant progress has been made in the production, yields and the cultivation area of pulse and oilseed between FY19 and FY23

Amid criticism over low rate of hike in MGNREGS wages, sources on Friday said the increase was calculated on the basis of Consumer Price Index for Agricultural Labour, which rose by around 7.7 per cent since last year. The Rural Development Ministry had notified new wage rates under the MGNREGS on Wednesday, with hikes ranging between four and 10 per cent for different states, and an overall national average of around seven per cent. Sources from the ministry said the central government has indexed the wage rate under the MGNREGS with the Consumer Price Index for Agricultural Labour (CPI-AL) to compensate the workers against inflation. Relevant data on CPI-AL was taken from the Labour Bureau, Shimla and the revisions were done on the basis of changes in CPI-AL and as per section 6(1) Mahatma Gandhi NREGA Act 2005. The wages were revised on the basis of a formula where the proposed wage rate is equal to last year's wage rate, multiplied by the quotient of CPI-AL for December 2023 ..

Two Karnataka ministers held meetings with farmers groups in favour of and against the land acquisition for development of Palya 2nd Phase Industrial Area of Channarayapatna Hobli in Devanahalli

Cooperation Minister Amit Shah on Friday said the contribution of agriculture and allied sectors to the country's GDP can further be enhanced by strengthening marketing, for which farmer producer organisations (FPOs) are the key. Addressing a conclave here, the Minister said agriculture can become a profitable venture if modern technology and marketing methods are adopted. Primary Agricultural Credit Societies (PACS) and FPOs can help in this endeavour. He urged both FPOs and PACS to operate in a "hybrid model" under which around 11,770 FPOs that have already been set up can link themselves with PACS through an agreement to provide services to cooperative members. Existing 65,000-odd PACS can begin operating as FPOs. Stressing the need to work in a hybrid model, Shah said: "GDP (Gross Domestic Produce) is very important for any country. If you increase GDP through manufacturing, the job creation will not be much. If you strengthen agriculture and allied sector through cooperatives,

This gap may shrink as the monsoon gathers pace

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday said his government was spending Rs 6.5 lakh crore annually for the agriculture sector and farmers' welfare, and called upon cooperatives to help in making the country self-reliant in cooking oils. Speaking at an event on the occasion of International Day of Cooperatives, the prime minister also highlighted the work done by his government, like PM Kisan scheme, MSP operations, and fertilizer subsidy since coming to power in 2014. In the last 9 years, Modi said more than Rs 15 lakh crore have been given to farmers by procuring their produce on the MSP. The government, he said spent Rs 10 lakh crore towards fertilizer subsidy last year. In other words, the government is spending around Rs 6.5 lakh crore per year on agriculture and farmers, the prime minister said. "This means that every year the government is providing an average of Rs 50,000 to every farmer in some form or the other. "That is, in the BJP government, farmers are guaranteed t

India is a leading producer of many commodities like cereals, fruits, vegetables, milk, eggs, and fish

He alleged that Adani Farm-Pik was allowed to build a near-monopoly on apple procurement in Himachal Pradesh

15 startups selected in government's supported product accelerator programme for innovators developing solutions will soon start working towards solutions in healthcare, agriculture domains

The idea behind supporting agritech startups in India is to make the agriculture sector more durable along with supporting small farmers and encouraging best practices through raising awareness

Highest week-on-week numbers since 2017-18; hopes of strong harvest

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

This acreage was, however, 1.13 per cent more than the normal area in which paddy is planted

Despite the price hikes, margins continued to be under pressure in the quarter

Rice procurement a tad higher than 50.98 mn tonnes in 2021-22; market sources say this could be a sign that govt does not expect a major drop in Kharif rice output

The model bylaws will enable PACS to offer economic activities other than credit which includes developing cold-storage facilities in villages, running PDS shops and locker facilities for depositors

Rabi sowing begins from October while harvesting starts from March onwards

The Asian Development Bank will provide a $100 million (around Rs 749 crore) loan to promote agribusiness network to boost farm incomes and reduce food losses in Maharashtra