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GOVT TO ENSURE TIMELY LOANS TO NEEDY
FARMERS, SAYS AGRICULTURE MINISTER
As per the union minister, Mr Radha Mohan Singh, the government
is working expeditiously to
provide agriculture loans to
farmers as per their needs
and in a timely manner.
Union Minister of Agriculture
and Farmers Welfare, Mr
Radha Mohan Singh on
August 29, 2016 addressed
the 96th Annual Conference
of Kota Co-operative
Societies at Kota, Rajasthan.
Speaking on the occasion, union minister said that the Central
Government is working expeditiously to provide agriculture loans to
farmers according to their needs and in a timely manner.
Mr Singh mentioned that NABARD is making groups of farmers
and agriculture producers to provide them cheap agricultural loans
from banks. Till January 2016 across the country 14.43 lakh joint
liability groups were formed and by March 2016, NABARD has set
up approximately 2424 producer groups. The Minister said that
from April 2005 to March 2014, Rs. 6775 crore were spent.
Whereas, the new Government has, from April 2014 until
December 2015, extended Rs.7084 crore as financial assistance to
joint liability groups.
Mr Singh talked about the imbalance in the availability of credit to
the agriculture sector and amongst small and big farmers. He
acknowledged that credit availability per capita in the region is
much lower than in other regions. The National Sample Survey
Organisation (NSSO) survey, 46 percent of farming households are
burdened by debt and the loans are from different institutions.
INI FARMS LAUNCHES INDIA’S LARGEST
INTEGRATED PACK-HOUSE FACILITY NEAR PUNE
The Mumbai-based horticulture company, INI Farms focused
on Pomegranates and Bananas, launched India’s largest and one
of its kind post-harvest Integrated Pack-house facility near Pune
on August 31, 2016. The
facility shall lead to
improvement in quality and
wastage reduction of Banana
and Pomegranate. The
integrated facility includes
complete handling and
primary processes such as
cleaning sorting, grading and
packaging of the produce
which shall be exported
across the globe.
Constructed over a record period of five months, this is India’s
largest post-harvest Integrated Pack-house facility designed as
per international standards and spread over 5 ½ acres and
70,000 sq. feet constructed space at Vasunde village, 80-km
from Pune city. The facility will also have additional capability
to manage value added fresh consumer products like
pomegranate seeds (Arils) and Coconut Chunks. The packhouse is expected to employ over five hundred labour for its
daily functioning, of which 70 percent shall be women. The
facility is going to be active from 15th September, 2016.
Talking about the new facility, Pankaj Khandelwal, Chairman and
Managing Director, INI Farms said, “The launch of the largest
facility in the country dedicated to banana and pomegranate will
enable us to work with farmers to meet international standards of
quality products and position India as a leading player in
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BioVoiceNews | September 2016
international trade. This will allow us to capitalise the growing
segment of branded fruits across the globe. Through this
initiative, we have cemented our presence and reach nationally as
well as globally to cater to the needs of the consumers as well as
improving and enhancing farmers lives.”
HORTICULTURE CROP PRODUCTION ESTIMATED
TO BE AROUND 283.36 MILLION TONNES
DURING 2015-16
The Department of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare has
released the Third Advance
Estimates for 2015-16 of area
and production of
horticulture crops. These
estimates are based on the
information received from
different State/UTs in the
country. The total
horticulture production of
the country is estimated to be
around 283 million tonnes
during 2015-16 which is 0.8
percent higher than the previous year.
As per the All-India Final Estimates for 2014-15, total
horticulture area under cultivation is 23410 and for 2015-16, it
is 23787 hectare. The Third Advance Estimates put the total
horticulture production at 280986 MT for 2014-15 while the
same for 2015-16 has been estimated as 283360 MT.
Production of fruits is estimated to be 91 million tonnes which is
2% higher than previous year. Vegetable production is estimated
to be around 167 million tonnes which is almost same as the
previous year. Total production of Spices is estimated to be
around 6 million tonnes which is 4% higher than the previous
year. Onion production is estimated to be around 210 lakh
tonnes which is 11% higher than the previous year. Potato
production is estimated to be around 437 lakh tonnes which is
9% lower than the previous year.
INCOME OF FARMERS CULTIVATING MEDICINAL
PLANTS COULD BE DOUBLED VIA IMPROVED
TECHNOLOGIES: ICAR DG
As per Dr Trilochan Mohapatra, Director General, Indian
Council for Agricultural Research (ICAR), the farmers
cultivating medicinal plants need to be supported through
technological interventions to improve their livelihood.
Dr Mohapatra laid
foundation stone for the
Residential Quarters at the
ICAR-Directorate of
Medicinal and Aromatic
Plants Research (DMAPR),
Anand, Gujarat. Addressing
the scientists and staff, Dr
Mohapatra emphasized the
need to develop technologies
for doubling the income of
the medicinal and aromatic
plants (MAP) cultiv