The government has decided to set up a Joint Group of the Agriculture Ministry and the Finance Ministry to tailor a fresh crop insurance scheme.

The National Common Minimum Programme had promised to take a relook and have a more effective crop insurance scheme wherein farmers would have a safety net even in the years there is a drought and they are unable to pay insurance premium for their crop.

The new Joint Group has been set up following orders from Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and given time till October 31 to suggest ways to improve the existing crop insurance schemes and assess the up-front subsidy that the government needs to pay to get these schemes going.

Courtesy: The Indian Express, 9^th September '04
(Website : http://www.indianexpress.com)

Widespread rainfall in the north-western region of the country last month proved to be a boon for the growth of kharif crops, particularly in Punjab. It has moderated the extra cost on diesel for pumping groundwater. As contingent crop planning in Rajasthan, the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) has suggested sowing of short duration varieties of oilseeds and pulses. With the recent rains, sowing of Moth, fodder Bajra and cowpea may also be taken-up.

In Central India also, recent rains have improved the situation. Sowing of moong, urd, sesame, cowpea, maize and castor may be taken up. Only short-duration varieties may be sown.

In east India, where floodwaters submerged the crop fields in Assam and Bihar, farmers have been advised to make arrangements to drain out the accumulated water. Occurrence of pest and diseases need to be closely monitored.

Courtesy: PIB, 8^th September '04
(Website : http://pib.nic.in)

The UPA government at the Centre plans a new policy promoting speedy approval of GM crops to boost yields and feed its growing population, Kapil Sibal, science and technology minister, said on Wednesday.

The policy, which should be in place within eight to nine months, would also promote foreign and private sector investment in the biotechnology sector. "We intend to have a biotech policy as quickly as possible to supply to the farmers pest-resistant and drought-resistant seeds with high nutritional values," the minister said.

Courtesy: Economic Times, 2^nd September '04
(Website : www.economictimes.com)

More than 2.5 lakh agricultural workers have been covered under the Krishi Shramik Samajik Suraksha Yojana by the Life Insurance Corporation of India in 50 select blocks in as many districts in 28 states.

Four blocks each have been covered in Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra, three blocks each in Bihar and Madhya Pradesh and two blocks each in Chattissgarh, Gujarat, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Orissa, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Uttaranchal and West Bengal.

One block each has been covered in the remaining 14 states, an official release said.

The scheme with a corpus of Rs 150 crore was launched by the labour ministry in ’01 to provide comprehensive life insurance protection, periodical lump sum survival benefit and pension to agriculture workers.

Courtesy: Economic Times, 28^th August '04
(Website : www.economictimes.com)

A new foodgrains export policy is at an advanced stage of consideration of the government, Lok Sabha was informed today.

Minister of state for food and public distribution Kanti Lal Bhuria said the present policy permits Food Corporation of India to sell wheat and rice to private trade subject to the buffer stock being over 243 lakh tonnes at any given point of time.

In reply to a question in the House, he said, because of reduction in surplus stock in recent times, fresh allocation for exports has been stopped with effect from August 11 and therefore the release of subsidy does not arise, at present.

In reply to another question, he said, the central issue prices of Antyodaya Anna Yojana and below the poverty line (BPL) which constitutes close to 90% of the total PDS offtake have never been higher than effective export prices of rice.

The effective export price has been lower than central issue prices of only the APL beneficiaries, who constitute a small segment of PDS beneficiaries and thus it does not lead to heavy discounts, he added.

Courtesy: Economic Times, 24^th August '04
(Website : www.economictimes.com)

The central government is planning to procure 22.5 million tonnes of rice from farmers during the kharif (summer crop) marketing season beginning Oct 1. The amount being procured is almost the same as in the previous year.

This preliminary estimate emerged at a meeting of state food secretaries and senior officials of the state-owned Food Corporation of India (FCI) here Wednesday.

The meeting was convened to take stock of arrangements and preparedness of state governments for purchase of paddy and coarse grains from farmers under the Minimum Support Price during the coming kharif marketing season.

Addressing the meeting, Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar urged the state governments to procure grains for the meeting the requirement of people below the poverty line through Targeted Public Distribution System (TPDS) in their respective areas while the remaining quantity will be taken over by the FCI.

Courtesy: NewKerala.com, 18^th August '04
(Website : www.newkerala.com)

With the summer monsoon in good form past the midway point in the four-month season, India's agriculture prospects are looking up.

"The monsoon is in good shape and in the fortnight since July 28, when the cumulative rainfall across the country was minus 15 percent, it has bridged the deficiency to minus seven percent," said S.C. Bhan, director in the India Meteorological Department (IMD).

As against the 558 mm of normal average monsoon rainfall that India receives during June 1-Aug 11, it got this year 519 mm of rainfall after a largely dry spell in July, particularly in the northwest and central regions.

"The monsoon revival has definitely improved crop prospects. It would help in further paddy sowing. So far only Punjab and to some extent Haryana have completed paddy sowing," said an agriculture ministry official after the weekly meeting of the crop weather watch group of experts.

Courtesy: KeralaNext.com, 18^th August '04
(Website : www.keralanext.com)

Fresh rains in major cotton-growing regions in India, the world’s third-largest producer, have brightened crop prospects that were looking grim during last month’s dry spell, traders said.

Cotton output in the current winter season is likely to cross last year’s 16.75 million bales (of 170 kg each), helped by better weather and a rise in the crop acreage, they said.

The area under cotton cultivation in India has risen to 7.5 million hectares this year from 7.15 million a year ago, but monsoon rains were poor in June and July when sowing takes place. Rains were 13% below normal in the first half of the four-month wet season ending in September, but later picked up.

There was no report of any major attack of pests and diseases in the country, but the crop might be hit if cloudy weather continued for another week or 10 days, traders said.

Courtesy: Economic Times, 13^th August '04
(Website : www.economictimes.com)

Alleging ''discrimination'' and ''exploitation'' by the banks, farmers in Kerala are setting up legal advisory panels to educate the crisis-hit farming community.

Besides legal assistance, committees would be set up at district and state levels to bail out farmers who were targeted by the banks in the name of revenue recovery, leaders of the Indian Farmers Movement (Infam) told a press conference here today.

Courtesy: deepikaglobal.com, 11^th August '04
(Website : www.deepikaglobal.com)

The National Bank of Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) has initiated schemes to provide security and relief to farmers all over the country. NABARD has conducted State level meetings of stakeholders in agriculture like banks, experts, government officials and farmers in various states for first hand feedback into the issues confronting the farmers, its chairperson Ranjana Kumar said in Hyderabad today.

Kumar said the two-day 'National Consultative Meet' which begins here is the culmination of the month-long meetings where the critical issues confronting farmers will be discussed.

Addressing reporters after the inaugurating the meet, Kumar said the agricultural situation in the country is beset with several problems. Some of which were beyond the control of farmers, particularly the small and marginal farmers and with a view to understand the ground realities,the NABARD has organised state level farmers meets in seven select states AP, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Punjab, Rajasthan and Orissa last month.

Courtesy: 123bharath.com, 9^th August '04
(Website : www.123bharath.com)

The government has set up a Task Force, headed by noted agricultural economist A Vaidyanathan, to revive ailing cooperatives and boost farm credit. The Finance Ministry has also identified 90 model projects that could be funded by banks, as part of the ambitious package to increase rural credit by 30 per cent to Rs 1045 bn in this fiscal.

The Centre has already sent letters to Chief Ministers to implement the package announced by Finance Minister P Chidambaram in June, which included cheaper credit to farm sector, debt relief to distressed farmers, revival of cooperatives and bank funding of rural projects.

Of the total Rs 1045 bn farm credit targeted for this fiscal, cooperatives are slated to provide Rs 390 bn while commercial banks would lend Rs 570 bn and regional rural banks (RRBs) would offer Rs 85 bn.

Courtesy: deepikaglobal.com, 8^th August '04
(Website : www.deepikaglobal.com)

The Maharashtra Government will provide free electricity and power to farmers beginning July 1.

The decision came after Wednesday's weekly state cabinet meeting. It will place an additional burden of Rs 400 crore on the state government for the next three months, Chief Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde said after the meeting.

The decision was on the cards for a long time, with Union Minister for Agriculture Sharad Pawar also asking the Minister for Energy to assist in working out a package for the state's farmers who have been reeling under a severe drought for the past two years, and are in more trouble with the monsoon in deficit so far this year as well.

Courtesy: Hindustan Times, 2^nd August '04
(Website : www.hindustantimes.com)

With drought situation slightly improving following good rains in some states, Union agriculture minister Sharad Pawar on Monday said a liberalised package for farmers, including rescheduling of farm loans and greater employment, would be unveiled this week.

After reviewing the situation with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh last night, Union Food and Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar today said that a liberalised package for farmers, including the rescheduling of farm loans and greater employment, would be finalized by the end of this week.

"The situation is not that alarming now as compared to a week ago as rains in Maharashtra, Gujarat and parts of Rajasthan have improved the farm scenario," said Pawar.

He said that a package for the crisis-ridden sugar industry is on the cards and affirmed that adequate resources would be provided to the states facing scarcity conditions.

Under the liberalised package, the Centre has proposed to provide fresh credit to farmers with assistance from the states and putting a two-year moratorium on the earlier loans taken by them.

Courtesy: New Kerala, 2^nd August '04
(Website : www.newkerala.com)

The government is considering a uniform food law that will be applicable across the country to give a fillip to food and agro-processing industries and to remove red tape.

The food processing ministry will soon present a draft of the proposed law to a group of ministers headed by Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar for consideration.

"The integrated food law will replace the existing surfeit of laws dealing with food and agro-processing industry in the country, including some that overlap and lead to bureaucratic delays," Minister of State for Food Processing Subodh Kant Sahai said.

"With the common minimum program of the central government according top priority to the agriculture and food processing sectors, we have decided to have one single law in place of 15-16 laws involving half-a-dozen ministries at the central level," Sahai told IANS in an interview.

The proposed law will be on the lines of Codex, an international standard for all countries under the World Trade Organisation. It will measure up to a similar law adopted by the European Union.

A regulatory authority will also be set up to supervise various activities, especially quality to minimise waste and delays, particularly in the case of perishable fruits and vegetables.

Courtesy: Kerala Next, 2^nd August '04
(Website : www.keralanext.com)

India is preparing a national action plan for ushering in a second green revolution to realise the target of doubling food grain production by 2012 to enable the country to meet its growing domestic needs.

The plan for doubling food production from around 212 million tonnes and accelerating agriculture growth will include crop and state-wise projections, Minister of State for Agriculture Kanti Lal Bhuria told Lok Sabha in a written reply Monday.

The first green revolution during 1967-1978 helped India take a giant step towards self-sufficiency in food grains. Through the second green revolution, India hopes to diversify and reduce import dependence in other crops.

"Crop-wise, year-wise and state-wise projections for area, production and yield are being outlined in the action plan. Besides, strategies for increasing the availability of various inputs for increasing the productivity of different crops are also being incorporated or outlined in the action plan," Bhuria said.

Courtesy: newkerala.com, 5^th July '04
(Website : www.newkerala.com)