The India meteorological department has stated that day temperatures are likely to be above normal by 0.5 degree Celsius, reports Sanjeeb Mukherjee.

India is expected to harvest 291.95 mt of foodgrain in 2019-20

This is the highest in the past five years and almost 24 per cent more than last year.

While rising food inflation is a matter of grave concern for a significant chunk of the population and for policy makers as well, it marks a turnaround in the fortunes of the farmer, reports Sanjeeb Mukherjee.

A pick-up in farmer income could have a cascading impact on the rural economy, though agriculture is becoming a smaller part of India's overall rural incomes.

India exported $102 million worth of dehydrated onions in 2018-19.

Although demonetisation and improper implementation of GST along with falling prices are being blamed for much of the distress in rural India for some time, experts believe those may not be the only reason.

A data shows the number of backyard poultry has risen by 46 per cent between 2012 and 2019. The development is extremely positive because it provides an incentive for small and marginal farmers to rear birds.

As the number of cross-bred female cattle rise, the entire concept of lean and flush seasons for milk will go away, as these animals give similar quantities in all seasons.

However, the estimates could change in the coming months, as full impact of excess rainfall and floods on the standing soybean and urad crops in central and western India in late August and September has not yet been fully taken into account.

It has decided not to levy the 2 per cent tax deducted at source (TDS) on cash payments above Rs 1 crore made through Agricultural Produce Market Committees.

This should augur well for the rabi crops as delayed withdrawal will leave enough moisture in the soil for early sowing.

Farmers should be encouraged into crops needing less of water, while ensuring a market for what they sow, said ICAR's head.

The subsidy will be credited to bank accounts of farmers against cane price dues and are compliant with WTO norms. This will benefit millions of farmers in Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra and Karnataka.

The slowdown in sowing is mainly because of the delayed onset of the southwest monsoon and its slow progress in June.

However, the areas under paddy - the biggest cereal grown during the kharif season - continue to be less than last year, mainly due to delayed onset of rains and also on account of shift towards the more lucrative maize.

Officials said good rain in August - though it might not improve acreages much for most crops except urad, moong, and paddy - would help in improving yields in the crops already planted.

Low rain coupled with the fact that maize prices in the open market have surged from around Rs 15-16 a kg to almost Rs 25 this year have forced farmers to turn to this crop.

Till July 26, kharif crops have been sown in around 68.87 million hectares, which is 6.43 per cent lower than the area covered during the same period last year.

The high-level panel also asked the government to work towards re-orienting subsidies in a targeted manner from the crop sector to the non-crop sector and redesign the electronic National Agriculture Market.

The groups, including those associated with the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party's parent organisation the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, have also threatened a big nationwide agitation if growth of illegal GM crops isn't checked.

The committee has been tasked to come up with policy measures to boost agriculture exports, raise growth in food processing, attract investments in modern market infrastructure, value chains and logistics.

Till June 30, the southwest monsoon was 33 per cent lower than normal, which is among the worst in the last five years, with 28 of the 36 meteorological divisions recording deficient rain.

It would involve constructing over 125,000 kilometres of roads and would form part of the third phase of the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana.

By June 14, the monsoon should have reached central India. But this year it hasn't even covered Karnataka properly or entered the Northeast.

"The season averaged maximum temperatures in Himachal Pradesh, West Rajasthan, Konkan, Goa, Coastal Karnataka, Kerala and Arunachal Pradesh are likely to be higher than normal by 0.5-1.0 degree Celsius," the Met department has said in its forecast.

For potato farmers in the north and wheat growers in the eastern parts -- particularly in Jharkhand, Bihar, and Odisha -- the recent rains could in fact be beneficial.

A normal monsoon will augur well for the country's agriculture sector and boost crop yields. However, good rains - and surplus crops - could also depress prices, hurting farm income, unless adequate steps are taken.

Families with tax-paying members, government employees, professionals, among those who have been exempted from the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-KISAN) scheme.

Allegations abound that traders milked the scheme to artificially keep prices down, while a significant amount of growers didn't even register owing to multiple difficulties in registration and were deprived of the payout.

Experts say improper records could lead to large-scale leakages and pilferage and benefits going to ineligible people.

'To bring about a paradigm shift in farmers's income, we need to change our approach to agriculture, and transit from the narrow prism of cultivation to a full-fledged enterprise, by building all associated supply chain linkages.' 'This alone will make the farmer an entrepreneur in his own right.'

The area-based income compensation scheme says that farmers should be paid the difference between the actual price they get and the state-mandated MSP. The compensation will be determined on a per acre basis by using district-level estimates of marketable surplus and prices in the harvest season.

Many farmers in drought hit states are seeking MGNREGA work but the state government's coffers do not have enough fund to pay the salaries of these workers.

Cheap milk prices, rising fodder cost and the difficulties in buying new cattle and selling old ones on account of cow vigilantism have cast a triple shadow on this sunshine sector in Indian agriculture, reports Sanjeeb Mukherjee.

The latest official numbers on the price of agricultural produce gives an idea of what's fueling the farmers' protest in Delhi.

For the entire UPA regime, from 2005-06 to 2013-14, the average annual farm growth according to the GDP back series data is 3.8 per cent, which too is higher than the first four years of the NDA, though these two periods aren't comparable because one spans nine years and the other four.

Unlike last year, the state has imposed a cap on what it will pay growers of major crops under the scheme

The minimum support price for the rabi season will not radically alter the falling trajectory of farm incomes

Twelve of the 36 meteorological subdivisions recorded deficient rainfall, while the rest witnessed normal to excess rain. In total, 38 per cent of the 662 districts received below-normal rain.