Hi, NewsWrap for March 31, 2023

31-March-2023: Bihar Govt to Provide Financial Aid to Farmers, Krish-e, New Farm Laws, Amritsar Farmers in Distress

31 March 2023

  • Bihar Govt to Provide Financial Aid to Farmers for Losses Incurred During Rains & Hailstorms

    Officials said, as per the data shared in the meeting, 33 per cent and above of standing crops, covering a total area of 54,022 hectares in six Bihar districts of Muzaffarpur, Sheohar, Sitamarhi, Rohtas, Gaya, and East Champaran have suffered damages in unseasonal rains and hailstorm on March 17. Officials said the Bihar government has decided to offer compensation to farmers in six districts affected by the unseasonal rains against crop losses following a report submitted by the respective district magistrates, adding that a sum of ₹92 crores would be provided to the state agriculture department by the disaster management department for paying compensation to farmers as per rules.

     

  • Krish-e Launches Smart Kit for Farm Equipment Based on IoT

    Krish-e Mahindra’s AgTech business launched the Krish-e Smart Kit (KSK). The Krish-e Smart Kit is an aftermarket item and the first of its type smart device that gives tractor and agricultural equipment owners extensive insights into their vehicles through GPS-enabled time tracking and remote monitoring of numerous parameters from the convenience of a smartphone. A cutting-edge offering, the Krish-e Smart Kit is developed by Carnot Technologies, an Ag-Tech start-up, founded in 2015 by four alumni from IIT Bombay in their mid-20s, who as part of the IITB racing team, developed solutions to monitor the performance of race vehicles from the pit. Today Carnot Technologies is engaged in manufacturing and retailing products and services related to internet-connected devices for monitoring the performance of vehicles and equipment, with M&M Ltd. having acquired a significant stake in the company.

     

  • New Farm Laws Only Applicable After Discussion with Farmers, Says Minister Som Parkash

    Som Parkash has announced that any new farm laws will only be implemented after taking into account the views of farmers. Speaking at the second Agricultural Deputies meeting of the Agricultural Working Group, Parkash acknowledged that the government had failed to communicate effectively with farmers about the benefits of the previous farm laws, which were withdrawn after widespread protests in 2021. He emphasized that the government is dedicated to the welfare of farmers and will take their views and demands into consideration when framing new laws.

     

  • Amritsar Farmers in Distress as Mustard Cultivation Grows Amidst Falling Prices

    The comparatively low prices of mustard and potato this season have disheartened the farmers, especially the mustard growers after good prices last year. However, the area under mustard cultivation has significantly expanded this year in the district. Last year, mustard fetched a price of Rs 7,000 per quintal the highest compared to the opening purchase price of around Rs 4,500 per quintal this year, the farmers said. The potato growers too reported a significant fall in the price this year. The farmers stated that in the Amritsar district, mostly Pukhraj variety of potato is sown. They claimed that last year the crop fetched a price of over Rs 900 per quintal which has fallen to nearly Rs 500 per quintal this year. To this, the farmers added that fixing a minimum support price (MSP) for these crops is the need of an hour as currently, these depend on the notion and fancies of the private buyers.

     

  • Farmers Gherao PSPCL Chief Engineer’s Residence Over Alleged ‘Illegal’ Tube Well Connections

    Farmers of various villages of Rampura Phul constituency of Bathinda district stayed put on Thursday after they gheraoed the official residence of PSPCL chief engineer – distribution (west zone) in Bathinda district on Wednesday. Although, Punnerdeep Singh Brar, chief engineer, Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL), and his family had left the official residence ahead of this dharna. Sources say that the PSPCL chief engineer was tipped off about the protest so he could keep himself and his family out of harm’s way. The trigger for the protest was PSPCL rejecting farmers' plea to substitute the damaged transformers of tube wells. In Rampura Phul village, the transformers of tube wells of four farmers had been damaged for months and also, they were not being replaced by PSPCL on the ground that these connections were ‘illegally installed’ and were not in the records of PSPCL.

     

On the news

31 March 2023

That's it for for 31 March 2023
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