Topic: Agriculture
Everything is rotting, say Maharashtra and Karnataka farmers as shut markets spell doom
Unseasonal rains, manpower shortage and no buyers have left farmers in Maharashtra and Karnataka staring at destruction as their produce lie rotting in fields.
Labour shortage amid coronavirus may hamper agricultural production & hit supply chain
As people flock home during the 21-day Covid-19 lockdown, dearth of labourers at cold storages & godowns in West Bengal signal a potential crisis in supply chain.
Heavy damage to rabi crops after unseasonal March rainfall, hailstorm in North India
India registered an over 80 per cent increase in rainfall in the first two weeks of March, with Punjab, Haryana, UP and Rajasthan bearing the maximum damage.
Indian policymakers get it wrong because farmers’ lack of market access is not the problem
Farmers are the only producers who don't get to declare the price of their produce in market. And this is highly unfavourable.
Agriculture minister blames Mamata for 10 lakh Bengal farmers not getting PM-KISAN benefits
Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar said he has written twice to Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee to push for implementation of PM-KISAN, but hasn’t received a reply yet.
No one wants imported onions. So, Modi govt plans distress sale to states at Rs 10/kg
Govt spent Rs 226 crore to import the onions, but has only sold worth Rs 17-19 crore to the states.
Now, Bangladesh set to steal march over India with GM rice that fights malnutrition
A GM rice variety called golden rice has been deemed safe in fresh tests conducted by researchers from the Philippines-based International Rice Research Institute.
India can’t have true reform in agriculture if we keep hitching it to rural development
The systematic marginalisation of agriculture in Indian economy, including by Nirmala Sitharaman in her Budget, reveals why we can never fix it.
Cherry tomatoes are 80,000 yrs old. No humans were domesticating plants that long ago
For many years, scientists believed that humans domesticated the tomato in two major phases. But maybe the tomato as we know it started as a wild species.
Budget 2020 pays little more than lip service to farmers and agri sector. Just like last year
Nirmala Sitharaman's Budget has missed the opportunity to give farm sector the much-required thrust. And by reducing food & fertiliser subsidy, it has made matters worse.
Animals have come home. Covid-19 lockdown gives control back into nature’s hands
With people in India and elsewhere locked down in homes due to the coronavirus, the peaceful reclamation of public spaces by animals is teaching us important lessons.
Modi’s 9-min candle plan Sunday: Needless spectacle or much-needed motivation for Indians?
PM Modi requested Indians to light candles, lamps or mobile torches at 9 pm Sunday for nine minutes in a show of solidarity in the fight against Covid-19.
Defence
In a first, Army deploys medical team at civil coronavirus quarantine camp in Delhi
The Indian Army has so far only been operating out of quarantine camps set up by the armed service for coronavirus patients.
Poke fun at taali, thaali, diya and mombatti all you want. Modi couldn’t care less
Modi knows who he needs to speak to, who he should toss, who he can address in kind. People accuse him of infantilising his voters, but it’s a winning strategy.