DAIRY SECTOR GIVES JOBS TO 60 MILLION FARMERS , GROWS 9.59 % ANNUALLY
According to information revealed by the union agriculture ministry , the America , Brazil , Australia and other countries are importing indigenous Indian milch animals to develop heat resistant species . As per agriculture ministry , the livelihood of 60 million rural households depends upon dairy sector . Out of this , two third are small , marginal and landless labourers .
India is a global leader amongst dairying nations and produced 160.35 million tonnes of milk during 2015-16 . The dairy cooperatives of the country have the singular distinction of providing seventy five percent of their sales , on an average , to the farmers .
As per the figures revealed by agriculture ministry , during 2015-16 , Indian farmers produced 160.35 million tonnes of milk . The indigenous breeds have been found to be robust and resilient and are particularly suited to the climate and environment of their respective breeding tracts . They are endowed with qualities of heat tolerance , resistance to diseases and the ability to thrive under extreme climates and low plane of nutrition .
GOVT WITHDRAWS ITS BT COTTON NOTIFICATION , SEEKS PUBLIC COMMENTS FOR 90 DAYS
In a short press note put out on May 23rd , the union agriculture and farmers welfare ministry withdrew its earlier notification and also decided to put it for the public and all stakeholder comments as well as feedback for next ninety days . It is interesting that while agriculture ministry earlier decided to implement it immediately , the order was also taken back in no time . Perhaps the U-turn was due to the pressure and feedback not only from outside but strongly within the government top scientific advisory circle as well .
Meanwhile the fresh note mentioned , “ The notification regarding guideline for Bt cotton technology issued on May 18,2016 will be put in the public domain for the period of 90 days , in the same form for comments and suggestions of all stakeholders .”
On May 18th , the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare had issued a Gazette Notification over ‘ Cotton Seed Licensing ’ which stated that the licensor of an approved GM technology shall not refuse grant of a licence to any eligible seed company wanting to incorporate it into its own hybrids or varieties .
The agri-biotech companies had expressed dismay over the move by the government and said that the notification contradicts its own policy on intellectual property rights . The important question asked was that why should researchers innovate in first place if their rights are no longer applicable on the product that they develop after a cumbersome process ?
INDIA ' S 32 MILLION TON COLD STORAGE CAPACITY FOR AGRI PRODUCTS IS LARGEST IN WORLD
Indian government has expedited the efforts to ensure better storage of perishable agricultural products so that the farmers may get better return of their produce by adopting better market practices . During last two years , India has acquired largest cold storage capacity in the world which is 32 million tones . Nearly 250 projects comprising of more than one million capacities have been developed . So far , the 37795 storage projects with 619.49 lakh metric tonnes capacity have been approved . As on March 31 , a provision of Rs . 2199.07 crore subsidy has been made .
" Now , horticulture sector has become the largest source of income within the precincts of agriculture sector ," informed Union Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Minister , Mr Radha Mohan Singh during a meeting of food , civil supply and Consumer Affairs incharge State Ministers and related union ministers on May 23 .
GOVT TARGETS FOOD GRAINS PRODUCTION WORTH 270.10 MILLION TONNES
The union agriculture and farmers welfare minister , Mr Radha Mohan Singh on May 25th revealed that the country will have record production of food grains during 2016-17 . The Minister added that a good monsoon is expected in coming months and target of food grains production is set as 270.10 million tonnes for the year 2016-17 .
Agriculture minster observed that this is an ambitious target for the food grains production and he has given his approval for the target production of different corps for the year 2016-17 .
Mr Singh said that a target of 108.50 million tonnes rice production has been fixed for the year 2016-17 . Whereas , it is 96.50 million tonnes for the crop of wheat . For all kinds of pulses , the target has been fixed 20.75 million tonnes whereas it is 35 million tonnes for oilseed . A target of 355 million tonnes production of sugarcane has been earmarked .
POPULARIZING HYBRID PIGEONPEA FOR SELF-SUFFICIENCY IN INDIA
Government has called on all value chain actors including farmers , seed companies , private sector and research organizations to find a joint solution to resolve all hurdles and issues that are preventing Indian farmers from meeting their demand for hybrid pigeonpea seeds and other pulses .
At the request of the Government of India , the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics ( ICRISAT ) recently hosted a high-level planning meeting at its headquarters in Hyderabad , which was chaired by Mr Shobhana K Pattanayak , Secretary , Agriculture , Department of Agriculture Cooperation and Farmers Welfare .
Over forty participants including farmer representatives , government officials from five State Departments ( Andhra Pradesh , Telangana , Maharashtra , Karnataka and Odisha ), state agricultural universities and eight seed companies involved in the production of hybrid seeds came together and started a new initiative to explore ways of making India self-sufficient in the production of pulses , in particular hybrid pigeonpea .
At a time when India is keen to be pulse self-sufficient and is committed to overcome the under supply and export costs , popularization and increasing the uptake of hybrid pigeonpea across India was recognized as one of the key solutions during the deliberations . agriculture
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