Want to know what is going on in the agricultural sector of India? Here’s a round-up of the top 10 news.

1. Natural Farming Scaled To 4 Lakh Hectares

Following the ‘Paramparagat Krishi Vikas Yojana’ scheme, India now holds 4 lakh hectares of land under natural farming, said the Agriculture Minister, Narendra Singh Tomar. Niti Aayog will prepare more roadmaps to scale this even further. Tomar said that natural farming is the need of the hour as it creates harmony with nature, reduces the cost of production and ensures good quality produce and helps farmers earn profits. Many places like Andhra Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, and some parts of Haryana and Gujarat are rapidly adopting natural farming. Now, Niti Aayog will prepare a roadmap for the future of natural farming in India and will move forward with it accordingly. Read more here.

2. Agriculture Ministry To Create Real-time Crop Forecasting Portal

The Agriculture Ministry is in the process of creating an integrated portal for getting real-time crop forecasting. This new portal will be based on advanced digital technologies that can go through a variety of data. To create this portal, the ministry has already started collaborating with some enterprises. Currently, the ministry collects various data and analyses it on different levels to get monthly crop forecasts. Now, their aim is to bring in real-time forecasts. To achieve this milestone the ministry has already formed a task force under the co-chairmanship of ADG (Statics) from the Department of Agriculture and Farmer’s Welfare. Read more here.

3. Odisha: Cashew Farmers Suffer Losses Due To Tea Mosquito Bug

Due to climate change, tea mosquito bugs have started attacking cashew crops in Odisha, says experts. In the Ganjam district, thousands of cashew farmers have already suffered crop loss. The tea mosquito bug (Helopeltis Antonii) has been active for years, but it mostly destroyed the cashew crops in South Indian states, said Prabhu Charan Lenka, former professor of Horticulture at Odisha University Agriculture and Technology (OUAT), Bhubaneswar. Fruits infested by these bugs develop a warty appearance. This affects the market value of the cashews. Read more here.

4. Awareness Activities To Be Hosted By Agriculture Ministry

From 29th April 2020, Agriculture Ministry will launch a week-long special awareness campaign – ‘Kisan Bhagidari Prathmikta Hamari’ – for the benefit of farming communities of the country. These activities will be carried out by the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, the Department of Agricultural Research and Education, and the Ministry of Rural Development. Agricultural Ministry will start the campaign with farm machinery demonstrations at different locations across the country. The Farm Machinery Training and Testing Institute will provide training to women farmers. There will be field visits and also online webinars during the campaign. Read more here.

5. Government Raises Fertilizer Subsidy By ₹40,000 Cr To Help Farmers

For the upcoming kharif season, the Union Cabinet has approved an additional subsidy of ₹40,000 Cr for phosphate-based fertilizers. This decision has made sure that the farmers will be able to buy Diammonium Phosphate at the current rate. Earlier the allocation of subsidy was ₹21,000 Cr for the first half of the year but the government will now spend around ₹61,000 Cr.  Due to the ongoing war between Ukraine and Russia, the international price of phosphate-based fertilizers has increased further. Read more here.

6. Mustard Can Turn Out To Be An Alternative To Wheat For Punjab

Since last year the price of mustard crops have seen a substantial growth. In comparison to last year, this year farmers have increased the area under mustard cultivation. Now mustard is being cultivated on over 3,000 hectares of land. During the current season, mustard crops are being sold at a good price. This year alone, it was being sold between ₹5,600 to ₹6,250 per quintal in the local markets. According to some farmers, if mustard keeps giving such a good price, then in the future it can be an alternative to wheat. Read more here.

7. Gujarat: Onion farmers Will Get Paid ₹2 More Per Kg

Following the decision made by the cabinet on Wednesday, onion farmers will be offered ₹2 more per kg at APMCs in the Gujarat state. Also, they will get additional ₹100 on selling each 50 kg bag to the APMC said state government spokesperson Jitu Vaghani. Due to the increased production of onion this year the price in the market was low. According to Jitu Vaghani farmers who will sell their onions between April 1 and 30 will get benefit from this scheme. The government is expecting to receive around 45 lakh bags (50 kg per bag) to be sold at APMC by April 30. Read more here.

8. Farmers Will Learn About Insurance Cover Through ‘Fasal Bima Pathshalas’

The government has asked the insurance companies to conduct ‘Fasal Bima Pathshalas’ from 25th April to 1st May 2022. This will be a national-level special program to educate the farmers about the insurance policies. All the insurance companies need to organize pathshalas with the active participation of at least 100 farmers. At the pathshalas, farmers will be educated and informed about Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY). They will learn about its basic schemes, the importance of crop insurance and how to avail the benefits of the scheme. During the pathshalas, information such as contact details of the district to block-level offices of insurance companies, toll-free numbers, email, chatbot, apps, etc. will be shared with farmers. Read more here.

9. Junagadh: 300+ Farmers Form Own Company To Get Better Prices For Their Produce

Tired of not getting good produce prices from the market as a solo farmers, more than 300 farmers from Junagadh came together and started their own company. Farmers from seven talukas in Junagadh formed this company and named it Visavadar Taluka Farm Cooperative Group Limited. This step was taken to sell together and get better prices. The total land acquired by these farmers is around 4,000 bigha. Now apart from the crops, this company also sells seeds, fertilizers and pesticides to its members. To get better prices all the farmers will give their produce to the company after harvesting. The company will charge farmers for sorting, packing, and processing the produce. Later they will conduct surveys to know where they can get the best prices and sell the produce. This cooperative way of farming is helping all the farmers who joined the company. Read more here.

10. Now Get Concise Collection Report On ChargeERP

ChargeERP, the easiest, fastest, and most secure mandi accounting software from Bijak has introduced a concise version of the Collection Report, along with the detailed one. Users will now be able to download Collection Reports in a concise format displaying 150 accounts on one page and a few columns including ‘Account’, ‘Closing Balance’, and ‘Dr/Cr’. Before this, they launched an independent Seller Bill.

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