-Down to Earth The Centre had announced a scheme in the 2018-19 budget to upgrade rural haats so that small farmers could get fair prices for their produce It has been two years since an ambitious programme to convert 22,000 rural haats into Gramin Agricultural Markets (GrAMs) was launched. But only 1,251 have come up till now. This is barely six per cent of the target. Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar told...
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How a farm in Visakhapatnam is popularising natural farming techniques -Nivedita Ganguly
-The Hindu Shankar Lingala of Rythu Mitra has been spearheading a silent movement to run sustainable farms applying the science of the soil Ongole bulls, native cows, the intermittent fights of country chickens, sunshine yellow butterflies and the peaty smell of fresh dung... that’s Shankar and Padma Lingala’s farm for you. Shankar, despite being a city boy is an integral part of the Rythu Mitra group, where a team of farmers is bringing...
More »Historic win for farmer seed rights: PepsiCo’s IPR on potato variety revoked -Shagun Kapil
-Down to Earth Judgement against Pepsico potato variety sets precedent for all seed and food and beverages corporations not to transgress farmers’ seed rights and freedoms in India, experts say The Protection of Plant Varieties and Farmers’ Rights (PPV&FR) Authority December 3, 2021 revoked a PVP (plant variety protection) certificate granted to PepsiCo India Holding (PIH) on a potato variety (FL-2027) on multiple grounds. This means that Pepsico’s Intellectual Property Right (IPR) granted...
More »PepsiCo loses rights to special Lays variety potato in India -Priscilla Jebaraj
-The Hindu The company’s registration of the variety has been revoked by the Protection of Plant Varieties and Farmers Rights’ Authority. Two years after PepsiCo India provoked outrage by suing nine Gujarati farmers for allegedly infringing patent rights by growing its registered potato variety, the company’s registration has been revoked by the Protection of Plant Varieties and Farmers Rights’ Authority (PPV&FRA). “This judgement is a historic victory for the farmers of India. It...
More »Why the actual expenditure on Central-sector farm schemes is low -Radheshyam Jadhav
-The Hindu Business Line Farmers say the schemes do not reach them and cost of farming is only rising The government of India facilitates State governments to reduce agricultural costs through many Centrally-sponsored and Central-sector schemes. However, the latest data available for six major schemes for the last five years show that the actual expenditure on these schemes has remained low compared to Budget estimates. Farmers have been complaining that the schemes are...
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