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HomePosts Tagged "Himachal Pradesh"
Acquaculture, AgroPolicy, Live Stock

10 foreign missions from different countries along with various International organisations attend the conference

On the occasion of World Fisheries Day, the Dept. of Fisheries, GoI is organising a Global Fisheries Conference India 2023 which began at Gujarat Science City, Ahmedabad, Gujarat. Parshottam Rupala, Union Minister for Fisheries, Animal Husbandry & Dairying inaugurated the Special Pavilion and main Exhibition of Global Fisheries Conference India 2023. Minister of States for Fisheries, Animal Husbandry & Dairying Dr Sanjeev K. Balyan, and Dr L Murugan, Chief Minister of Gujarat, Bhupendra Rajnikant Patel, Ministers of various states, Ambassador of various countries, other dignitaries and heads of various organisations and fisheries research institutes were present in the event.

Parshottam Rupala released the “State Fishes of India Booklet” to encourage each state in India to adopt a fish and conserve its biodiversity. The booklet contains details of 21 fish species adopted as State Fish and declared as State Aquatic Animals. The other key publication released was “Handbook on Fisheries Statistics year 2022” which aims at providing key data points and performance indicators for the Fisheries sector making accurate and reliable fisheries data available to all.

Further, Rupala distributed Group Accident Insurance Scheme (GAIS) claim cheques (Rs 5 lakhs each) to beneficiaries /legal heirs from the states of Odisha and Puducherry, Kisan Credit Card (KCC) to eligible beneficiaries with the loan amount of Rs 35 thousand to Rs 3 lakhs for beneficiaries from Gujarat, Green Fuel conversion kit for sustainable development of fisheries sector that included beneficiaries from Kerala and transponders for beneficiaries from Gujarat.

Sagar Mehra Joint Secretary for DoF, highlighted that the Department of Fisheries organised an event of this scale and magnitude for the first time. He said it is a moment of pride for DoF (MoFAH&D, GoI) to host 10 foreign missions from the countries of France, New Zealand, Norway, Australia, Russia, Spain, Zimbabwe, Angola, Brazil and Greece along with International organisations namely Food and Agriculture Organisation (UN-FAO), Asian Development Bank (ADB), Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ), Bay of Bengal Program (BoBP), Marine Stewardship Council India (MSC), Ministers from the States/UTs of Arunachal Pradesh, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Tripura, Goa and Andhra Pradesh.

The delegation interacted with the exhibitors in the special pavilion that included a demonstration of aquariums, Artificial reefs, Seaweed Cultivation, capture fisheries, marine cage culture, bio floc, RAS, fish feed, LPG converter kits, pearl extraction and nucleus implantation, model of Setcom satellite terminals communication system, eco-friendly movable kiosks, multi-species hatchery etc.

10 foreign missions from different countries along

AgroPolicy, Supply Chain, Vegetables

Tomato to be distributed at discounted prices to consumers in places of concern including the Delhi-NCR region

The Department of Consumer Affairs has directed National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation (NAFED) and National Cooperative Consumers Federation (NCCF) to immediately procure Tomatoes from Mandis in Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Maharashtra for simultaneous distribution in major consumption centres where retail prices have recorded maximum increase in the last one month. The stocks of Tomatoes will be distributed through retail outlets at discounted prices to the consumers in Delhi-NCR region by Friday, this week.

The targeted centres for release have been identified on the basis of the absolute increase in retail prices over the past month in centres where prevailing prices are above the All-India average. Key consumption centres in states having a higher concentration of the identified centres are further selected for the intervention.

Tomato is produced almost in all the states in India, though in varying quantities. Maximum production is in southern and western regions of India, contributing 56 per cent-58 per cent of all India production. Southern and Western regions being surplus states feed to other markets depending on production seasons. The production seasons are also different across regions. The peak harvesting season occurs from December to February. The periods during July-August and October-November are generally the lean production months for tomatoes. July coinciding with the monsoon season adds to further challenges related to distribution and increased transit losses adding to price rise. The cycle of planting and harvesting seasons and variation across regions are primarily responsible for price seasonality in Tomato. Apart from the normal price seasonality, temporary supply chain disruptions and crop damage due to adverse weather conditions often lead to sudden price spikes.

Currently, the supplies coming to markets in Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and some other states are mostly from Maharashtra especially Satara, Narayangaon, and Nashik which is expected to last till this month end. Madanapalle (Chittoor) in Andhra Pradesh also has continued arrivals in reasonable quantities. Delhi-NCR arrivals are mainly from Himachal Pradesh, and some quantity comes from Kolar in Karnataka.

New crop arrivals are expected soon from the Nashik district. Furthermore, in August, additional supply is expected to come from Narayangaon and Aurangabad belt. Madhya Pradesh arrivals are also expected to start. Prices are anticipated to cool down in the near future, accordingly.

Tomato to be distributed at discounted prices

AgroPolicy, Finance, Horticulture, India, Water

The project builds upon a pilot financed by ADB’s project readiness facility which demonstrated the subtropical horticulture production of over 200 hectares

The Government of India and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) signed a $130 million loan to increase agricultural productivity, improve access to irrigation and promote horticulture agribusinesses to raise farmers’ income in the state of Himachal Pradesh.

The signatories to the Himachal Pradesh Subtropical Horticulture, Irrigation, and Value Addition Project were Rajat Kumar Mishra, Additional Secretary, Department of Economic Affairs, Ministry of Finance, for the Government of India, and Takeo Konishi, Country Director of ADB’s India Resident Mission, for ADB.

After signing the loan agreement, Mishra stated that improving subtropical horticulture in the southern areas of Himachal Pradesh, hitherto dependent on temperate horticulture in northern areas, offers opportunities for crop diversification, climate adaptation and more equal economic and social development across the state’s rural areas. Supporting horticulture value chains will also boost the subsector’s contribution to the country’s development and food security.

“The project builds upon a pilot financed by ADB’s project readiness facility which demonstrated the subtropical horticulture production over 200 hectares and prepared the draft water user association (WUA) act and the draft state horticulture development strategy,” said Konishi.

The project interventions will help increase the income and resilience to the effects of climate change of at least 15,000 farm households across 7 districts of the state namely Bilaspur, Hamirpur, Kangra, Mandi, Sirmour, Solan, and Una. These households have stopped farming or have reduced their farming areas because of a lack of irrigation facilities and crop damage by wild and stray animals.

The project will improve on-farm irrigation and water management in about 6,000 hectares of farmland by rehabilitating or building new irrigation schemes and strengthening the capacity of WUAs for micro-irrigation management through joint efforts from the state’s Jal Shakti Vibhag (Water Resources Department) and Department of Horticulture (DOH).

The project will also help create an ecosystem to enhance farmers’ access to markets of subtropical horticulture. The farmers will be organised into cluster-wide community horticulture production and marketing associations (CHPMAs) and district-wide CHPMA cooperative societies. CHPMA apex institution, a farmer producer company (FPC), will lead state-wide agribusiness development with the aim of ensuring profitability and access to markets of subtropical horticulture. The FPC will handle business plan development; agribusiness promotion; and designing value-addition facilities such as sorting and packaging facilities, and storage and collection centres. It will also assist CHPMAs in managing these facilities.

The project will also modernise public and private subtropical horticulture nursery facilities for improved plant health, and boost beneficiary farmers’ access to information and communication technologies, and other digital agri-technology systems for real-time farm advisories and better CHPMA management.

The project builds upon a pilot financed

Agro Universities, Company News, India, Inputs, R&D

The collaboration will focus on producing high-quality, disease-free planting material that meets the needs of the industry.

Himachal Pradesh based Dr YS Parmar University and Rajat IG Biotech have joined hands to launch a collaborative project aimed at producing and marketing clean planting material for the industry. The partnership combines the university’s agricultural research expertise with the technical know-how and commercial reach of Rajat IG Biotech.

The collaboration will focus on producing high-quality, disease-free planting material that meets the needs of the industry. By leveraging the latest techniques and technologies, the partners aim to deliver a range of clean planting material that is affordable, reliable, and sustainable.

“We are excited to partner with Rajat IG Biotech in this important initiative,” said Dr Sanjeev Chauha, Director Research, at Dr Y S Parmar University. “This collaboration will not only strengthen our research capabilities but also provide farmers and the industry with access to superior planting material that will help increase productivity and profitability.”

The clean planting material produced under this collaboration will be marketed and sold by Rajat IG Biotech. The university will receive a share of the sales revenue generated from the plants sold under this MOU.

“We are thrilled to collaborate with Dr. YS ParmarUniversity on this project,” said Shri Vinod Soni, CEO of Rajat IG Biotech. “This partnership will help us leverage the cutting-edge research capabilities of the university to develop and market innovative solutions that meet the needs of the industry.”

The joint collaboration between Dr. YS Parmar University and Rajat IG Biotech is a significant milestone in the field of agriculture and is expected to benefit farmers and the industry at large. The partners are committed to delivering high-quality, sustainable, and affordable planting materials that will help increase productivity and profitability in the agriculture sector.

The collaboration will focus on producing high-quality,

AgroPolicy, Bamboo industry, India, Sustainability

The National Workshop of Bamboo Sector Development and Bamboo Exhibition aims to bring together key stakeholders from the bamboo industry, including policymakers, researchers, industry experts

Dr Abhilaksh Likhi, Additional Secretary, Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, inaugurated the Bamboo Exhibition at the National Workshop on Bamboo Sector Development in New Delhi. The Additional Secretary, along with Joint Secretary (Horticulture), Priya Ranjan and Horticulture Commissioner, Dr Prabhat Kumar, visited all 58 stalls at the event, interacting with State Bamboo Mission officials, State Department officials, artisans, bamboo experts and entrepreneurs.

The exhibition saw participation from State Bamboo Missions including Tripura, Telangana, Madhya Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Meghalaya, Himachal Pradesh and Sikkim. Institutes like Bamboo and Cane Development Institute, Phoenix Foundation, Northeast Cane and Bamboo Development Council, Foundation of MSME Clusters along with startups and new age companies like Epitome (Mutha Industries), BioCraftBiomize, Bamboo India, ESES Biowealth Pvt Limited, Corner Art Store and organisations like Maharashtra Bamboo Board, Handicraft Sectorial Council and Bamboo FPOs under NAFED also participated in the event.

The National Workshop of Bamboo Sector Development and Bamboo Exhibition aims to bring together key stakeholders from the bamboo industry, including policymakers, researchers, industry experts, institutes and organisations to discuss the current state of the bamboo sector in India and identify ways to promote its growth and development.

The event is being organised by the Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare, Invest India and the Kerala State Bamboo Mission in New Delhi.

The National Workshop of Bamboo Sector Development

Finance, Horticulture, India, Schemes - Banks, Sustainability, Water

The project will improve on-farm irrigation and water management in about 6,000 hectares of farmland by rehabilitating and constructing new irrigation facilities

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has approved a $130 million loan to increase agricultural productivity and promote horticulture agribusinesses to raise farmers’ income in Himachal Pradesh, India.

The Himachal Pradesh Subtropical Horticulture, Irrigation, and Value Addition Project will help increase the income and resilience to the effects of climate change of at least 15,000 farm households in Bilaspur, Hamirpur, Kangra, Mandi, Sirmour, Solan, and Una.

The project will improve on-farm irrigation and water management in about 6,000 hectares of farmland by rehabilitating and constructing new irrigation facilities, establishing new water sources, and strengthening the capacity of water user associations and of Jal Shakti Vibhag (Water Resources Department).

Farmers will be organised into cluster-wide community horticulture production and marketing associations (CHPMAs) and district-wide CHPMA cooperative societies. They will be introduced to other agricultural practices such as intercropping, beekeeping, and other modern agronomic techniques and skills. A farmer-producer company (FPC) will be created at the state level to lead agribusiness development with the aim of ensuring profitability and access to markets of subtropical horticulture. The FPC will handle business plan development; agribusiness promotion; and designing value-addition facilities such as sorting and packaging facilities, and storage and collection centres. It will also assist district CHPMAs in managing these facilities.

“More than half of Himachal Pradesh’s land area is in the mountains and 90 per cent of the population lives in rural areas that are dependent on agriculture,” said ADB Sunae Kim Senior Natural Resources and Agriculture Specialist for South Asia. “Improving subtropical horticulture in the state offers a lot of economic opportunities to farmer households. Supporting horticulture value chains will also boost the subsector’s contribution to the country’s development and food security.”

The project will improve on-farm irrigation and

Agro Universities

The Punjab Agricultural University (PAU), Ludhiana recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Chaudhary Sarwan Kumar Himachal Pradesh Krishi Vishvavidyalaya (CSKHPKV), Palampur, Himachal Pradesh in the presence of Dr Satbir Singh Gosal, Vice Chancellor, PAU and Dr Harinder Kumar Chaudhary, Vice Chancellor, CSKHPKV.  

The main objective of this MoU is to promote and enhance scientific and academic interaction between both the universities and to strengthen ties among researchers, farmers and students of these universities.

Dr Ajmer Singh Dhatt, Director of Research, PAU, said that this association leads for joint evaluation and screening of crop varieties under different climatic conditions available in Punjab and Himachal Pradesh. 

Synthesis of research proposals based upon emergent needs will also be a part of this MoU, he adds. In addition, joint experimentation to address common agricultural issues of the border districts of both the states, collaboration in research programmes of postgraduate students in different disciplines of agriculture and allied fields, and cooperation for sharing of scientific knowledge, library, laboratories and field facilities will be the focus areas, he informs.

The Punjab Agricultural University (PAU), Ludhiana recently

Agro Universities, AgroPolicy, Agrotech, Environment, Sustainability, Water

Union agri minister applauds the concerted efforts of the Government of Himachal Pradesh in the promotion of natural farming in the state

Narendra Singh Tomar, Union Minister of Agriculture & Farmers’ Welfare. recently took part in a two-day ’12th Biennial National Krishi Vigyan Kendra Conference – 2022′ in Solan Himachal Pradesh. The conference was jointly organised by the Indian Council of Agricultural Research, New Delhi and Dr Yashwant Singh Parmar University of Horticulture and Forestry, Nauni, Solan, Himachal Pradesh at Solan, Himachal Pradesh.

The Union Minister regarded the KVKs and agricultural universities as the prominent source of guidance for the farming communities. Tomar applauded the concerted efforts of the Government of Himachal Pradesh in the promotion of natural farming in the state.

“It is the need of the hour to give more importance to save water as it is the essential element not only for the agricultural practices; but, the survival of human life too”, stressed Jai Ram Thakur, Chief Minister, Government of Himachal Pradesh. The various initiatives taken up by the Government of Himachal Pradesh for promoting natural farming practices on a large scale in the state were highlighted by the chief minister.

Kailash Choudhary, Union Minister of State for Agriculture & Farmers’ Welfare urged the agricultural scientists for disseminating the new and latest agricultural technologies at the farmers’ doorsteps effectively.

Union agri minister applauds the concerted efforts

AgroPolicy, Oilseeds

Brings all states/UTs under Single Central Order on stock limits for edible oils and oil seeds

The government has notified a Central Order on March 30, 2022, amending the removal of licensing requirements, stock limits and movement restrictions on Specified Foodstuffs Order, 2016 and its Central Order dated February 3, 2022, by extending the stock limits for all edible oils and oil seeds put together for a period up to December 31, 2022, for all States/Union Territories. This order is effective from April 1, 2022, up to December 31, 2022.

Six states viz Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka, Himachal Pradesh, Telangana, Rajasthan and Bihar that had issued their control order in pursuance of the

Central Order dated October 8, 2022, have also been brought under the purview of the latest order with effect from April 1, 2022. With the issue of this Central Order, all States/UTs have been brought under one single order. It is mentioned that the six states mentioned above were earlier exempted from the Central Order dated February 3, 2022, as they had issued their Central Orders.

Eight central teams have been deputed by the Government of India, Department of Food & Public Distribution till April 30, 2022, for strict compliance/ enforcement of the above Central Order. The surprise inspections are presently underway in selected districts of eight States for checking the stocks of edible oils and oilseeds at ground level i.e with the retailers, wholesalers, big chain retailers and processors. These states are Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Telangana, Gujarat, West Bengal and Delhi. Strict action in accordance with the provisions in the EC Act will be initiated against the entities if found to be violating the Act.

The above Stock Limit Order notified by the government empowers the Union Government and all states/UTs to regulate the storage and distribution of edible oils and oilseeds. This step coupled with surprise inspections seeks to help the Government in checking the hoarding of edible oils and oilseeds in the country and ensure that the prices of edible oils, which are a basic necessity, do not go out of reach of the common man.

Brings all states/UTs under Single Central Order