AGRICULTURE CURRENT AFFAIRS MAY 2021

AGRICULTURE CURRENT AFFAIRS MAY 2021

1. STRATEGY FOR KHARIF 2021

With an aim to attain self-sufficiency in the production of pulses, the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare after consultation with all the states has formulated strategy for Kharif 2021. It covers both area expansion and productivity enhancement for Tur, Moong and Urad.

• High yielding varieties (HYVs) of Arhar, Moong, Urd (certified seeds) released during last 10-15 years and having best productivity will be distributed free of cost. To boost the production, the government will distribute more than 20 lakhs mini kits of Arhar, Moong and Urad which will cover 4.05 lakh hectare areas across the country. The total cost for these mini-kits will be borne by the Central Government.
• Tur intercropping will be covered in 11 states namely Andhra Pradesh, Chattisgarh, Gujarat, Haryana, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Telangana and Uttar Pradesh. Moong intercropping will be covered in 9 states namely Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Haryana, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Telangana and Uttar Pradesh. Urad intercropping will be covered in 6 states namely Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu and Uttar Pradesh. Urad sole cropping will be covered in 6 states.
• For effective implementation, District level training programmes during the crop season will be organized through the District Agriculture Office and the ATMA network. The Agricultural Technology Application Research Institutes (ATARIs) and Krishi Vigyan Kendras will also take part for effective implementation and training to the farmers.

Kharif Strategy 2021, to achieve self-sufficiency in Edible oils

The Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare has planned to distribute high yielding varieties of seeds to farmers. More than 8 lakh Soybean mini-kits and 74 thousand groundnut mini-kits to be distributed free of cost under the National Food Security Mission (Oil Seeds and Oil Palm) Mission as under;

• Distribution of soybean seeds for intercropping for 41 districts in the 6 states of Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Karnataka, Telangana and Chhattisgarh.
• Distribution of soybean seeds for in 73 districts of the 8 states of Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Telangana, Karnataka, UP, Chhattisgarh and Gujarat.
• Distribution of mini kits in 90 districts of the 9 states of Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Karnataka, Telangana Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, UP and Bihar.
• The soybean seeds to be distributed will be having a yield of not less than 20 qtl/ha. The distribution of seeds for intercropping and high potential districts will be through the state seed agencies and the seeds for the mini-kits will be through the Central seed producing agencies.
• Distribution of 74,000 Groundnut seed mini kits in the 7 states of Gujarat, AP, Rajasthan, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and Tamil Nadu. Seeds to be distributed having not less than 22 Qtl/ha.

2. UNION AG. MINISTRY HAS ALLOCATED RS 2250 CRORE FOR HORTICULTURE SECTOR IN 2021-22

Keeping in view the huge potential and role of the horticulture sector in increasing farmer’s income, the Government of India has allocated Rs. 2250 Crore for development of horticulture sector during 2021-22.

• ‘Mission for Integrated Development of Horticulture’ (MIDH), a centrally sponsored scheme has been implementing since 2014-15 realizing the potential of the horticulture sector covering fruits, vegetables, root and tuber crops, mushrooms, spices, flowers, aromatic plants, coconut, cashew and cocoa. MIDH has played a significant role in increasing the area under horticulture crops through boosting best practices to be followed in farms which have significantly improved the quality of produce and productivity of farmland.
• During the year 2019-20, the country recorded its highest ever horticulture production of 320.77 million tonnes from an area of 25.66 million hectares. As per the 1st Advance Estimates for 2020-21 the total horticulture production in the country is 326.58 lakh MT from an area of 27.17 lakh ha.

3. NATIONAL HORTICULTURE BOARD CLEARS RECORD 1278 PENDING SUBSIDY APPLICATIONS

• National Horticulture Board (NHB), an autonomous organization under the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare has cleared a record 1278 subsidy applications for integrated development of hi-tech commercial horticulture in the country including promotion of post-harvest and cold chain infrastructure during the last one year. During the last one year, the subsidy has been released to 357 beneficiaries while 921 new projects have been approved.
• With the financial support of NHB, an additional area of 2210 acres under hi-tech commercial horticulture, both in open and protected cultivation has been brought under horticulture.  Also, additional cold storage capacity of 1.15 lakh MT has been created under the Cold Storage Scheme of NHB.

4. AGARBATTI SECTOR TO BRING BACK LIVELIHOODS FOR LOCAL COMMUNITIES

• National Bamboo Mission has launched an MIS (Management Information Systems) based reporting platform for agarbatti stick production to collate the locations of stick making units, availability of raw material, functioning of the units, production capacity, marketing, etc. With the help of MIS, linkages with the industry will be synergized better to enable easily procurement from production units and information gaps can also be plugged.
• Through NBM, direct subsidy of 50% is given to farmers at Rs 1.00 lakh per ha, 100% to Government agencies and also to entrepreneurs for setting up various product development units, etc. The Mission is presently being executed by 21 States, including all the 9 States of NER through the respective State Bamboo Missions.

5. PM RELEASES 8th INSTALMENT OF FINANCIAL BENIFIT UNDER PM-KISAN

• Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi released 8th instalment of financial benefit of Rs.2,06,67,75,66,000 to 9,50,67,601 beneficiary farmers under Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-KISAN) scheme.
• For the first time, farmers of West Bengal will benefit from this scheme.

6. AGRICULTURE MINISTER LAUNCHES HONEY TESTING LABORATORY PROJECT

• On the occasion of World Bee Day (20 May), Union Agriculture & Farmers Welfare Minister Shri Narendra Singh Tomar launched the project of setting up of a regional honey quality testing laboratory under the National Beekeeping and Honey Mission at the Indian Agricultural Research Institute, Pusa, New Delhi.
• Rs. 300 crores have been approved for the overall promotion of National Beekeeping & Honey Mission (NBHM), development of scientific beekeeping and achieving the target of “sweet revolution”. Besides, Rs 500 crore has been allocated to NBHM by the Centre under the Atmanirbhar Bharat Campaign. A world-class state of art Honey Testing Lab has been established at National Dairy Development Board (NDDB), Anand with the help of Rs 5 crore.
• The Madhu Kranti portal for online registration and traceability system to track the source of honey and other bee products has also been launched two months ago.

7. INDIA AND ISRAEL ON 24^TH MAY SIGN A THREE-YEAR WORK PROGRAM FOR COOPERATION IN AGRICULTURE

India and Israel are implementing the “INDO-ISRAEL Agricultural Project Centers of Excellence” and “INDO-ISRAEL Villages of Excellence”.

• MIDH, Ministry of Agriculture & Farmer’s Welfare, Government of India, and MASHAV (Israel’s Agency for International Development Cooperation) are working with 29 operational Centres of Excellence (COEs) across India in 12 States, implementing Advanced-Intensive agriculture farms with Israeli Agro-Technology tailored to local conditions. The COEs generate knowledge, demonstrate best practices and train farmers. Every year, these COEs produce more than 25 million quality vegetable seedlings, more than 387 thousand quality fruit plants and train more than 1.2 lakh farmers about latest technology in the field of horticulture.
• “INDO-ISRAEL Villages of Excellence” (IIVOE) aims at creating a model ecosystem in agriculture across eight states, alongside 13 Centers of Excellence within 75 villages. It will promote the increase of net income and better the livelihood of the individual farmer, transforming traditional farms into modern-intensive farms. The IIVOE program will focus on: (1) Modern Agriculture infrastructure, (2) Capacity Building, (3) Market linkage.

8. THIRD ADVANCE ESTIMATES OF PRINCIPAL CROPS FOR 2020-21 RELEASED

As per 3^rd Advance Estimates released by the Department of Agriculture, Cooperation and Farmers Welfare, the estimated production of major crops during 2020-21 is as under:

Foodgrains – 305.44 million tonnes. (record)

• Rice – 121.46 million tonnes. (record)
• Wheat – 108.75 million tonnes. (record)
• Nutri / Coarse Cereals – 49.66 million tonnes.
• Maize – 30.24 million tonnes. (record)
• Pulses – 25.58 million tonnes
• Tur – 4.14 million tonnes.
• Gram – 12.61 million tonnes. (record)

Oilseeds – 36.57 million tonnes.

• Groundnut – 10.12 million tonnes (record)
• Soyabean – 13.41 million tonnes
• Rapeseed and Mustard – 9.99 million tonnes (record)

Sugarcane – 392.80 million tonnes

Cotton – 36.49 million bales (of 170 kg each)

Jute & Mesta – 9.62 million bales (of 180 kg each)

9. HORTICULTURE CLUSTER DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMME

To ensure holistic growth of horticulture, A central sector programme implemented by the National Horticulture Board (NHB) i.e., Horticulture Cluster Development Programme (CDP) launched on 30 May 2021. In a pilot phase, the programme will be implemented in 12 horticulture clusters out of the total 53 clusters selected for the programme.

• CDP aims at growing and developing identified horticulture clusters. It will focus on issues related to Indian horticulture sector including pre-production, production, post-harvest management, logistics, marketing and branding. It is also based on geographical potentiality.
• The clusters of the pilot phase include Shopian (J&K) and Kinnaur (H.P.) for Apple, Lucknow (U.P.), Kutch (Gujarat) and Mahbubnagar (Telangana) for Mango, Anantpur (A.P.) and Theni (T.N.) for Banana, Nasik (Maharashtra) for Grapes, Siphahijala (Tripura) for Pineapple, Solapur (Maharashtra) and Chitradurga (Karnataka) for Pomegranate and West Jaintia Hills (Meghalaya) for Turmeric. These clusters will be implemented through Cluster Development Agencies (CDAs) which are appointed on the recommendations of the respective State/UT Government.

SOME OTHER POINTS FOR EXMINATION

1. World Agri-tourism day is celebrated on May 16. In 2021, celebrated under the theme- Rural Women Sustainable Entrepreneurship Opportunities through Agri-tourism. It is celebrated since 2005.
2. Soyabean variety named MACS 1407 recently developed by Agharkar Research Institute of Pune along with ICAR. The variety contains 41% protein and 19.81% oil. This variety is also resistant to pests like leaf miner, leaf roller, girdle beetle, stem fly, white fly and aphids.
3. International Labor Day or worker’s day or May day- May1. It was firstly hosted by the labor kisan party Madras in 1923.
4. Decadal climate update is released by- World Metrological Organization.
5. The Telangana state after Kerala recently imposed a total ban on Glyphosate. Glyphosate is used to kill weeds in cotton field.
6. The united Nations recently announced that the world food prices reached at highest level since May 2014. The cereal price index increased by 1.2%, dairy by 1.2% and sugar prices increased by 60% as compared to previous year. (Food Price Index is a measure of monthly change in international prices of a basket of food commodities.)
7. International Tea Day is celebrated on May 21 by the United Nations food & Agriculture Organization. It is celebrated since 2005. The theme was- “Tea and Fair Trade”.

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