Want to know what is going on in the agricultural sector of India? Here’s a round-up of the top 10 news.
1. Union Budget 2022: Sowing Seeds Of Chemical-Free Farming
The Budget seems to be keen on taking agriculture on a sustained progress trajectory with an emphasis on digital infrastructure and incentivizing investments via public-non-public partnership. The measures address key issues of livelihood generation, enhancing farmer incomes, and building climate resilience. The multi-dimensional interventions to usher in Next Generation Agriculture through digitaization, R&D, leveraging strengths of agri-techs and FPOs, will transform the agri sector,” said the experts. Read more here.
2. ₹2.37 Lakh Crore Allocated For Procurement Of Wheat And Paddy
Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said the government will pay ₹2.37 lakh crore towards procurement of wheat and paddy under MSP operations while presenting the Union Budget for 2022-23 in Parliament. The Finance Minister also added that fiscal 2022-23 has been announced as the ‘International Year of Millets’. With this, the government will provide post-harvest support for enhancing domestic consumption of millet products internationally, she added. Read more here.
3. Drone Usage To Boost Agri GDP By 1-1.5%
The use of drones can increase agriculture GDP by 1-1.5%, experts said. The market size for just the drones is estimated to be around ₹20-30,000 crore. Out of this, even if 10-15% is adopted, it will have a huge impact on the agriculture sector. There are a lot of small and medium companies as well as established original equipment manufacturers (OEMs). Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, in her Budget speech, mentioned the use of Kisan drones, which will be promoted for crop assessment, digitization of land records, spraying of insect pesticides. Read more here.
4. Natural Farming Will Be Promoted Along The Ganga River Corridor
Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said that the government will promote chemical-free natural farming throughout the country along the river Ganga. Chemical-free natural farming will be promoted with a focus on farmers’ land in 5 km wide corridors along the river Ganga, in the first stage,” she said. The Finance Minister said that India’s economic growth in the current year is estimated to be 9.2% the highest among all large economies. Read more here.
5. A Big Cut In Fertilizers Subsidy In Union Budget 2022
Amid the acute shortage of fertilizers in India, Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman reduced the subsidy on urea and nutrient-based (NPK) fertilizers. ₹63,222.32 crore allocation for urea subsidy in her Budget for 2022-23 was 17% lower than the revised estimates (RE) for 2021-22. Another ₹42,000 crores were allocated to subsidize NPK fertilizers; that was 35% below the RE. The actual government spending on fertilizers in 2020-21 was ₹127,921.74 crore. It was brought down to ₹79,529.68 crore in the 2021-22 Union budget. Read more here.
6. Good Rainfall And GI Tag Boosts Saffron Production In Kashmir
Over the years, the sale of cheaper and inferior Iranian saffron in Indian markets and worldwide has discouraged many Kashmir farmers from investing in saffron cultivation. Up to 48% cheaper than the Kashmiri variety, Iranian saffron commands 95% of the world market. However, the saffron yield in 2021 has touched a two-decade high of 15.04 metric tonnes, courtesy ₹400 crore National Saffron Mission and Geographic Indication tagging by the government. Read more here.
7. Centre Proposes Merger Of Jute Corp With Cotton Corporation Of India
The Centre proposes merging the Jute Corporation of India Ltd (JCI) and the Cotton Corporation of India Ltd (CCI) to form a larger public sector entity to handle all textile fiber procurement. To that end, a request for proposal (RFP) has been issued in order to appoint a consultant for the merger of both PSUs under the Ministry of Textiles. “A new entity with a wider scope of business covering developments of all types of textile fibers is to be constituted,” the RFP document said. Confirming the development, sources said the proposal was in the very early stages. Read more here.
8. Drones Used For Agriculture In Rajasthan
The use of drones is being applied to the agriculture sector in Rajasthan. An action plan has been formulated for its multi-purpose use for spraying farm chemicals and water-soluble fertilizers on crops. The State Government’s Agriculture Department is examining technical parameters and safety features of drones. Agriculture Minister Lalchand Kataria witnessed the demonstration of drones at a field in Kalwar, on the outskirts of Jaipur. A drone flew over the agricultural field and sprayed organic inputs and nano urea on the crops during the demonstration. Read more here.
9. ISMA Revises Upward Sugar Output At 314.5 Lakh Tonnes
India’s sugar production estimate has been revised upward by 3% to 314.5 lakh tonnes for the 2021-22 marketing year ending September as against the earlier forecast of 305 lakh tonnes, according to industry body ISMA. Sugar output stood at 311.8 lakh tonnes in the 2020-21 season. Sugar marketing year runs from October to September. The higher estimate of sugar production this year is mainly due to the increase in cane area by about 11% and better cane yields and sugar recovery as compared to last season. Read more here.
10. ChargeERP Launches Journal And Cash/Bank Book In Bills & Reports
ChargeERP, the easiest, fastest, and most secure mandi accounting software from Bijak has introduced Journal and Cash/Bank Book features in their Bills and Reports Module. While Journal will record your miscellaneous transactions such as food and beverage expenses, etc., Cash/Bank Book maintains an online book to record all cash and bank-related transactions. Cash/Bank book can tell users how much money they started with, and how much they are left with at the end of the day.
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