-The Times of India In the next few days, India’s northern region, especially Delhi, is again likely to become among the most polluted places on earth because a vast number of farmers in Punjab and Haryana have decided to continue their annual ritual of setting fire to paddy straw. This has brought back the spectre of smog choking the region despite the Centre doling out more than Rs 1,000 crore to the...
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Govt. gives in to some demands, but farmers adamant -Nistula Hebbar & Priscila Jebaraj
-The Hindu Protesters seek implementation of the Swaminathan Commission report; Centre says formula for MSP is economically unviable As the thousands of protesting farmers affiliated to the Bhartiya Kisan Union (Tikait group) were prevented from entering Delhi in support of their demands, Minister of State for Agriculture Gajendra Singh Shekhawat on Tuesday said the Centre would consider reducing GST on farm equipment to 5%. The farmers have demanded that farm equipment be...
More »Punjab labour shortage: Rising scarcity of farm workers pushes up production cost, inclination towards machine farming -Arjun Sharma
-Firstpost.com Ludhiana: Free meals, payment in advance, free liquor to ease aching limbs after a hard day’s work. Migrant labour in Punjab, mainly from Bihar, West Bengal and Uttar Pradesh, the mainstay of the state’s agriculture sector, has never had it so good. The problem, however, is the decreasing availability of this labour. Ask Baljinder Singh, a farmer with a 10-acre holding in Dakha village. Come sowing season in mid-June, Baljinder...
More »'Rationalising subsidies, improving infrastructure could revive agri-sector' -Kiran Pandey
-Down to Earth For every million rupees spent on agricultural research, 328 people are pulled out of poverty. In contrast, the same amount spent on power subsidies brings only 23 people come out of poverty. The message is clear. With the Union elections only a few months away, the Centre should prioritise capital investments over populist subsidies to deliver on its promise of strengthening the farm sector. This is important, especially when the...
More »Rs 15/litre diesel price hike burns a big hole in farmers' pockets -Anju Agnihotri Chaba
-The Indian Express But it may give a boost for S-SMS/Happy Seeder technology adoption to prevent paddy straw burning Jalandhar: Thakur Dyal Singh has never in the past raised the rates for operation of his combine harvester in farmers’ fields by more than Rs 100 per acre. Till around 2012-13, he was charging Rs 800-1,000 for harvesting, threshing and cleaning their paddy or wheat crop from one acre using his machine. In...
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