Amidst the predictable tidal wave of opinion pieces to mark the Narendra Modi government’s third anniversary, one little event last week squeezed its way into the inside pages of a few newspapers. This was a call for a “farm strike” in Maharashtra from June 1, entailing, among other things, cutting off vegetable and milk supplies to Mumbai and Pune. Those behind the proposed stir have demanded a comprehensive loan waiver for farmers, fixing minimum support prices for produce at 50 per cent above

The IMD forecast of a near normal monsoon brings some cheer. However, effects of the El Nino may have an adverse effect towards the tail end of the rain-bearing season. The normal monsoon in 2016 helped India, reeling from two consecutive droughts, come back from the brink and also helped take food-grain output to a new high.

One of the most radical decisions taken at last week’s Srinagar meeting of the Union and state finance ministers to approve rates applicable to various commodities under the new Goods and Services Tax (GST) regime was to fix these at zero per cent for most primary farm produce.

CHANDIGARH: Already struggling with shortage of staff, Haryana government's elementary education, secondary education, police and irrigation departments would be witnessing maximum number of retirements this year.

JEYPORE: Resentment is brewing among farmers of Jeypore over the decision of Upper Kolab project authorities to stop irrigation to ayecut areas at a time when rabi paddy crop is in flowering stage. The Upper Kolab irrigation project authorities had released irrigation water to Borrigumma, Kundra, Jeypore and Kotpad command areas, spread over 27,000 hectares, on January 1 and it was decided to stop the supply in the third week of May.

Pavittar Pal Singh Pangli, president of the Borlaug Farmers’ Association for South Asia, Chairman of the United Farmer Empowerment Initiative and the president emeritus of Punjab Agricultural University Kisan Club, has been chosen as a member of the working group of eco-agriculture and bio-products.

GANDHINAGAR: With agriculture playing a critical role in their economies, India and Africa both see a lot of scope for partnership and knowledge sharing. "This (agriculture) is an area where India and the bank can fruitfully join hands," Prime Minister Narendra Modi said while formally opening the 52nd African Development Bank's (AfDB) annual event on Tuesday.

New Delhi: Genetically modified (GM) mustard plants are as safe and nutritious as regular mustard, the environment ministry said, even as the country await its final word on commercial production.

With the Narendra Modi-led government completing three years in office, it is high time to assess its performance in various sectors. We focus here on agriculture. Without robust growth of agriculture, “sabka saath, sabka vikas” will remain an empty slogan.

Could Maharashtra government and the Centre have mitigated Maharashtra’s tur (pigeon pea) crisis by facilitating and encouraging pledge loans? Yes, say farm sector experts, bankers, warehouse industry officials and former government officials.

NEW DELHI: Amid demands for farm loan waiver from different states in the wake of relief to small and marginal farmers in Uttar Pradesh, agriculture minister Radha Mohan Singh on Sunday said the UP's decision was its own and the Centre did not have such a proposal at the national level.

PATNA: Bihar CM Nitish Kumar shot off a letter to the Union ministry of environment and forests on Wednesday, expressing afresh his reservation on the commercial cultivation of genetically-modified (GM) mustard.

India is poised to allow the commercial introduction of its first GM food crop, a genetically modified mustard variety developed in India, in the face of opposition from farmer and environmentalists.

ITANAGAR: A day after the Centre gave a green signal to an agriculture research institute in Assam, chief minister Pema Khandu sought the Centre's support for a full-fledged agriculture university and a Centre of Excellence for horticulture in the state.

KOLKATA: Mamata Banerjee's much hyped sabji mandis and sufal markets are running much behind deadline and it was decided during a review meeting on Tuesday that the chief secretary Basudeb Banerjee and additional chief secretary (agriculture) Sanjeeb Chopra will oversee so that all the 186 sabji mandis turn operational soon.

NUAPADA: Irrigation projects (IPs) in Bargarh have not only failed in terms of irrigation but also do not provide succour to villagers who depend on it for domestic water needs. There are five IPs under Nuapada irrigation division namely Sundar, Saipala, Jonk and Dumerbahal and Jharbandh of Bargarh. Water level in three of these projects was less than dead storage level since May 1 while there was some water left in the remaining two.

LUCKNOW: Uttar Pradesh expressed its interest in using the expertise of Israel in development of agriculture, irrigation, horticulture, energy, science and technology, smart cities and other sectors, chief minister Yogi Adityanath said in a meeting with Israeli ambassador Daniel Carmon here on Tuesday.

As it happens, the crucial breakthrough may not take place in cities at all, but on farms. If emerging nations like India want to replicate China's success, they first have to improve their agricultural productivity.

Even as chilli farmers are in distress, both the TRS and BJP are accusing each other on the plight of farmers, said TPCC president N. Uttam Kumar Reddy. He was addressing a public meeting here on Saturday.

A report on sugar price policy for 2015-16 by union agriculture ministry had highlighted that Maharashtra’s sugarcane cultivation, which is less than 4% of the total cropped area, consumes 70% of water needed for irrigation.

Permaculture is a system of agricultural and social design principles centered around simulating or directly utilizing the patterns and features observed in natural ecosystems. So, how is it different from conventional agriculture? Conventional farming is about monocropping – one crop, one yield. Alternatives are more about diverse yields.

Food security has improved around the globe over the past five years, but hunger and food insecurity still persist. On its part, India continues to battle huge challenges with regards to its agriculture output. Despite the country’s ‘Jai-Kisaan’ clarion call since the 1960s, Indian farmers have had to surmount huge odds in their bid to eke out a respectable livelihood and feed the nation. And this is reflected in the 2016 Global Food Security Index that is not very flattering to India.

A new report examining 25 years of India’s economic liberalisation says exclusion of a large section of Dalits and Muslims have not gained adequately from the growth unlike more influential empowered sections of the society.

Middlemen who vandalised the e-National Agriculture Market (e-NAM) facility at Khammam agriculture market yard have been allowed to go scot free and chilli farmers are being victimised instead, BJP State president K. Laxman said.

New Delhi, May 11: India needs to double or triple its investment in agricultural research if it has to reach to anywhere close to what China has achieved on the farm front, the head of an international food policy institute said here on Thursday.

Union Agriculture & Farmers Welfare Minister, Radha Mohan Singh, has written a letter to the all Chief Ministers of the States/UTs on Monday, for the review of the state of preparedness in managing any weather related contingency if any in advance so that the possible adverse impact of sub-par rainfall on the farmers can be mitigated.

While politicians are busy earning brownie points through waving off farmer loans, the farmers in Maharashtra's Pune and Ahmednagar districts have a different story to tell.

NEW DELHI: Central government on Monday asked states to review their preparedness for the upcoming Kharif (summer crops) season so that they can take contingency measures on time in case prediction of normal monsoon goes wrong. Though the country's national weather forecaster - India Meteorological Department (IMD) - has predicted normal monsoon this year, it will be able to come out with an update of time and region-specific distribution of rainfall early next month.

A few years ago, Umes Deka of Urangapara village in South Kamrup district of Assam, like any other smallholder farmer in the area, was practicing agriculture that barely met the needs of his family. Today, he is a successful vegetable grower who is prospering by using a small pump to irrigate his field.

Competition Commission has concluded that no bid-rigging was involved among eight firms that participated in bidding during the sale of the state government sugar mills in Uttar Pradesh over six years ago. The matter pertains to the sale of as many as 21 operational and non-operational sugar mills by the Uttar Pradesh State Sugar Corporation Ltd (UPSSCL) and its subsidiary UPRCGVNL. These transactions took place during 2010 and 2011.

Farming stories are reported through emphasis on sad stories by Indian media.

Tamil Nadu, India - The southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu has been reeling under its worst drought in more than 100 years. It has plunged the state into an agrarian crisis, with reports of distressed farmers committing suicide. In the coastal town of Vedaranyam, facing the Bay of Bengal sea, however, some farmers have overcome the drought with simple but innovative practices.

Chandigarh, May 2 () Subsidised and unmetered power supply to the farm sector in Haryana is leading to "inefficient" utilisation of groundwater and electricity on paddy cultivation, a study has found. The study said an estimated amount of Rs 844 crore is being spent as power subsidy on excess consumption of electricity on the paddy crop in the state.

Chandigarh, May 5 (PTI) Wheat procurement for the central pool in Punjab grew by 10 per cent in the ongoing Rabi marketing season over the previous season's purchase, on higher arrivals. Wheat procurement by the state-owned agencies reached 112.20 lakh metric tonne (LMT) so far as against procurement of 102 LMT in the corresponding period of last season, FCI official said today.

With many states reporting agriculture sector crisis including indebtedness of their farmers, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will review the implementation of farmers' welfare schemes on Friday with concerned ministries and their officials. The agenda of the meeting also includes steps being undertaken to double farmers income by 2022. The focus will be on availability of credit and access to capital at reasonable rates to farmers, official sources said.

Washington, May 4 Pitching for foreign direct investment in the food processing sector, India has asked the US companies to take advantage of its liberalised foreign investment rules, ready made infrastructure and improving business environment.

Mumbai, May 3 (PTI) The Maharashtra government is mulling a law to make purchase of agriculture produce by traders below the MSP (Minimum Support Price) a punishable offence.

Rome/New Delhi: Sustaining 4 percent growth in the farm sector is a challenging task though it remains one of the top priorities of the government, Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh said Monday. Singh said India has the about 17 percent of the world's population and to feed the country it has just 2.4 percent of the total geographical area.

Joining the debate on taxing agriculture income, Chief Economic Adviser Arvind Subramanian today said states, which have the option to levy the tax, should make a distinction between rich and poor farmers. "The legal situation is...nothing prevents state governments from taxing agriculture income. The constitutional restriction is on central government taxing agriculture income.

NEW DELHI: Prabhat Kamal Bezboruah and M S Boje Gowda were today appointed as chairmen of the Tea Board and the Coffee Board, respectively. Bezboruah is a leading tea association industrialist and Gowda is a renowned coffee grower.

New Delhi: Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Wednesday said the government does not plan to impose any tax on agricultural income, dismissing the suggestion of NITI Aayog member Bibek Debroy.

There is no doubt that farmers are in distress. Agriculture has become very risky. Farmers have to contend with weather and price risks. They suffer if the weather turns out to be very good for a crop, and also if it is unhelpful.

Amnesia and ignorance don’t facilitate discourse, especially when indulged in by people who catapult themselves into it, without being aware of the present policy or its past evolution. This piece is not meant to stir the pot on agricultural income taxation further, but it will state some facts. First, Section 2 (1A) of the Income Tax Act defines agricultural income as rent/revenue from land, income derived from this land through agriculture and income derived from buildings on that land. Second

The subject of taxation on farm income has once again taken centre stage not just because there have been some distinguished opinions voiced on this subject but also that this has been recognised as one area where money is channelled to avoid paying taxes. As the focus of the Government is on black money, looking at agriculture for enhanced tax collection appears a logical corollary.

Digamber Negi, 37-year-old farmer in picturesque Doon Dwara village on the border of Dehradun-Tehri Garhwal districts, is cursing his fate after monkeys barged into his field a week ago and destroyed vegetable crop.

Minister for Agriculture V.S. Sunil Kumar has said that the decline in agriculture combined with climate change is edging the State towards a crisis.

Union Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh on Thursday said that newer developments in the agriculture sector have led to greater employment opportunities for skilled youth in various segments.

Ever since Sachidanand Rai, a farmer from Khushinagar in Uttar Pradesh, started growing medicinal plants, he has significantly increased his income, while also contributing to preservation of rare medicinal species.

The Modi government should waive loans of farmers to ameliorate their sufferings as it has done for corporates, CPI(M) General Secretary Sitaram Yechury told a peasants’ rally at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi on Thursday. Slamming the Modi government on the demonetisation issue, Yechury said it is saving the “looters” while “punishing” the poor as “more than 74” people have died in queues outside banks and ATMs.

India is readying a raft of far-reaching reforms in the neglected agriculture sector, often seen as a politically sensitive subject, by trying to pitch the Niti Aayog’s blueprint directly with the states.