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HomePosts Tagged "Rajasthan"
AgroPolicy, Foodgrains, Sustainability

More than 30 FPOs showcased a variety of products including raw millet grains, ready-to-cook (RTC) items, and ready-to-eat (RTE) products

To promote the consumption of millets or ‘Shree Anna’ among the Central Armed Police Personnel, the Department of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare (DA&FW) hosted a ‘Millets FPO Exhibition for Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs) under the Ministry of Home Affairs’ on 6 October 2023, at the BSF Camp in Chhawala, New Delhi. More than 30 Farmer Producer Organisations (FPOs) from around the country, showcased a variety of products including raw millet grains, ready-to-cook (RTC) items, and ready-to-eat (RTE) products etc, to approximately 1,000 attendees from various paramilitary forces.

The Exhibition was inaugurated by Shri Faiz Ahmad Kidwai, Additional Secretary, DA&FW, with a ribbon-cutting ceremony. He was joined by Maninder Kaur, Additional Secretary, DA&FW and Shubha Thakur, JS (Crops), DA&FW.

In his inaugural speech, Faiz Ahmed Kidwai, AS, DA&FW, highlighted how over 75,000 FPOs are working to support small farmers with resources and market connections. He pointed out that 34 millet FPOs from Rajasthan, UP, MP, and Haryana had gathered for the mega event with a dual aim to showcase the variety of millet products in the country and establish direct links with CAPF canteens and departmental stores for future procurement.

Shubha Thakur, JS (Crops), DA&FW, expressed gratitude to the paramilitary forces for their eagerness to embrace millets. She also commended the 34 FPOs for their range of millet products on display & looked forward to a fruitful collaboration between Millet FPOs & paramilitary forces

The exhibition served as an opportunity for the FPOs to interact directly with the armed forces and their families, introducing them to the wide array of home-grown, millet-based products. Additionally, the procurement officers and chefs/cooks also got a chance to witness the diversity of products, ease of millet procurement and linkages with FPOs for future procurement for their respective units during the exhibition.

Earlier this year, the Ministry of Home Affairs took a ground-breaking decision to introduce 30 per cent millet in the meals of personnel of the Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs) and National Disaster Response Force (NDRF). In alignment with the celebration of the International Year of Millets, this decision aimed to promote millets as an energy-rich food choice for paramilitary personnel and to support their physically demanding routines, as millets are loaded with fibre, minerals, and essential nutrients. In August 2023, the Department of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare (DA&FW) also organized a culinary training session for more than 250 chefs and cooks working with paramilitary forces, including the Assam Rifles, Border Security Force (BSF), Central Industrial Security Force (CISF), Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), Indo-Tibetan Border Police, National Security Guard, Sashastra Seema Bal, and various government canteens. The successful training session acquainted participants with a variety of millet-based recipes, ranging from simple snacks to wholesome meals, which they were eager to incorporate into the daily menus of their canteens and mess facilities.

Over 34 Farmer Producer Organisations showcased and sold their unique range of products to Commandants, Second-in-Commands, Quartermasters, Chefs/Cooks, and their families during the exhibition. Notable highlights of the exhibition included ready-to-eat products like Foxtail Millet Khakhra, Bajra Cookies, Jowar Ladoos, Millet Rusk, Ragi Namkeen, Cakes etc. Guests were not only impressed by the remarkable versatility of these ready-to-eat millet-based sweets and savouries, but they also expressed a keen interest in learning more about millet flours and ready-to-cook items, such as Ragi Idli Mix, Millet Upma and Millet noodles, to incorporate into their daily diets.

More than 30 FPOs showcased a variety

Agrotech, Dairy, Live Stock, R&D

Laxmi is from a high genetic merit IVF embryo having the potential for the production of 35-40 kg milk a day.

NDDB Dairy Services (NDS) announced the birth of the first female calf ‘Laxmi’, under the Department of Animal Husbandry & Dairying (DAHD), Government of India’s Accelerated Breed Improvement Programme through IVF Embryo Transplant (ABIP-IVF-ET). The programme targets establishing two lakh pregnancies through the transplant of IVF embryos of high genetic merit to enhance the milk yield for dairy farmers.

The results of nine months of hard ground work which started with the transplant of IVF embryos in September 2022, have started coming in. Since the news of more births only seems to pour in, with 13 healthy female births confirmed to date. Laxmi is the first female calf born from the surrogate transplanted with an IVF embryo at Rajarambapu Patil Cooperative Milk Union Ltd., Islampur (Sangli), in Maharashtra. More than 250 births are expected in due course from cows and buffaloes whose pregnancies through IVF embryo transplants have been confirmed.

“Laxmi is from a high genetic merit IVF embryo having a potential for production of 35-40 kg milk a day, which is nearly double the average of the existing cattle owned by dairy farmers in this area,” said an exuberant Sushil Dilip Khot, the dairy farmer beneficiary who has just expanded his herd with the birth of Laxmi.

Meenesh Shah, NDDB & NDS Chairman, shared that the journey has not been easy. “When we initially started, the success rate with IVF embryo transplant was as low as 9 per cent, which today has reached, in some cases, up to 46 per cent. The success depends on the proper selection of the surrogates & its management, and there is still a lot of work required in the area.”

NDDB’s wholly owned subsidiary, NDS is one of the service providers identified by the DAHD, Government of India, for the execution of the programme. NDS last year kicked off the implementation on September 22 from Islampur in Maharashtra, said a Company spokesperson.

The NDS team have been working relentlessly for over a year and has already scaled the programme to 15 milk unions in six states, i.e. Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Jharkhand, Punjab, Gujarat, and Madhya Pradesh. Since September 2022, the team so far has transferred 1,436 embryos, out of which 1,211 have been examined for pregnancies. During the current financial year, embryo transplant activity will be scaled up, and another 3,000 IVF embryo pregnancies are expected to be established.

The choice of breed of the embryo to be transplanted lies with the farmer, and the gender-sorted IVF embryos of about 6 indigenous cattle and 1 buffalo breed have been used to ensure that 90 per cent of calves born are female. As the calves will have none of the characteristics of the surrogate, the potential of producing milk goes up to 15-20 kgs from Gir and Sahiwal breeds of cows and 20 kgs from the Murrah buffalo breed, the NDS spokesperson said.

Laxmi is from a high genetic merit

Company News, Environment, India, Seeds, Sustainability

The objective of this centre is to promote sustainable and environment-friendly agricultural practices and improve soil health and fertility through natural methods

DRI, the flagship company of Pahwa Group, inaugurates the DRI Sustainable Agriculture Resource Centre at Dadhikar village in Alwar, Rajasthan, in partnership with the Sapna NGO. With an aim to provide benefits to the farmers, the centre was inaugurated on the occasion of World Environment Day Anandita Pahwa, Head-CSR Initiatives, Pahwa Group, in the presence of Jagdish Prasad Sharma, Assistant Agriculture Officer, Alwar; Sudhir Pratap Singh, General Secretary and Prof. Ranvir Singh, Secretary, Sapna NGO. Many of the farmers from the Dadhikar village were also present for the inauguration.
The objective of this centre is to promote sustainable and environment-friendly agricultural practices and improve soil health and fertility through natural methods. Benefiting more than 150 farmers in the area, this project will lead to increased access to organic, healthy and chemical-free food for the local community, along with providing training and support to farmers & villagers transitioning to organic farming methods. Initially, four types of organic khad will be made and distributed to the villagers from the new centre, namely Neemastra, Jivamrit, Vermi Compost and Rapid Compost.

This centre is aimed at generating awareness about organic farming and increasing the productivity of the crop. The long-term impact of this project will be to eliminate the use of synthetic inputs, such as synthetic fertilisers and pesticides, genetically modified seeds and breeds, preservatives, additives and irradiation. These will be replaced by site-specific management practices that maintain and increase long-term soil fertility and prevent pests and diseases.

The Center will also be used as a Farmer Training and Capacity Building centre, where the company plans to conduct workshops and training sessions on organic farming techniques. It will also provide education on soil management, composting, natural pest control, and crop rotation, and demonstrate different organic techniques suitable for the local conditions.

The objective of this centre is to

AgroPolicy, India, Sustainability, Water

Till date about 81 per cent more than the area covered during pre-PDMC 8 years

A National Workshop on Per Drop More Crop (PDMC) was organised by the Department of Agriculture& Farmers Welfare (DA&FW), Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare, Government of India discussed with the stakeholders the various approaches which can be adopted for increasing penetration of micro irrigation in the country. Participants from various Ministries/ Department of Central Government, States and UTs, Irrigation Industries, Startups working in the water management sector and Farmers Producer Organisations were present in the event.

Manoj Ahuja, Secretary, of the Department of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare (DA&FW) inaugurated the event. He emphasised the adoption of technologies in the implementation of the programmes and focused on enhancing micro-irrigation coverage and thereby increasing overall efficiency and water productivity of agriculture for ensuring the food and nutrition security of the country and incomes of the farmers, particularly in rainfed areas. Dr Himanshu Pathak, Secretary, of the Department of Agricultural Research & Education (DARE) also addressed the inaugural session. He urged all participants to make efforts to adopt micro-irrigation on a large scale to reduce the water footprint of the agriculture sector.

Franklin L Khobung, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare explained in detail the Per Drop More Crop (PDMC) Scheme and the progress made so far. It was informed that the Department of Agriculture, Farmers Welfare (DA&FW) is implementing a Centrally Sponsored Scheme of Per Drop More Crop (PDMC) from  2015-16 in all the States of the country which focuses on enhancing water use efficiency at the farm level through Micro Irrigation viz. Drip and Sprinkler irrigation systems. An area of 78 lakh ha has been covered under Micro Irrigation from 2015-16 to till date which is about 81 per cent more than the area covered during pre-PDMC 8 years. The Government has been focusing on increasing water productivity in agriculture and thereby sustainable agriculture and incomes of farmers. A Micro Irrigation Fund (MIF) with a corpus of Rs. 5000 Crore has been created with NABARD during 2018-19 with the major objective to facilitate the States in mobilising the resources to provide top-up/additional incentives to farmers for incentivising micro irrigation beyond the provisions available under Per Drop More Crop as well as innovative integrated projects including projects in the Public Private Partnership (PPP) for expanding Micro-irrigation. A Budget announcement has been made to double the initial corpus of the Micro Irrigation Fund under NABARD, by augmenting it by another Rs. 5,000 crores.

During the programme, five Best Gram Panchayats from the States of Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu were recognised for their efforts in high micro-irrigation adoption and best practices in the water management sector.

Till date about 81 per cent more

AgroPolicy, Foodgrains, Horticulture, India, Logistics, Supply Chain, Sustainability, Transportation, Vegetables

During the current year, Railways have disbursed Rs 4 crores as a subsidy.

Indian Railways have operated around 2,359 Kisan Rail services till January 2023. Kisan railway transported approximately 7.9 lakh tonnes of agricultural goods from one state to another. The Kisan railway was launched in August 2020 from Devlali Maharashtra to Danapur Bihar.  

This information was given by Ashwini Vaishnaw, Minister of Railways, Communications and Electronic & Information Technology, in a written reply to a question in Lok Sabha.

The railways have operated 116 Kisan Rail services in Andhra Pradesh, 62 in Gujarat, 46 in Karnataka, 1,838 in Maharashtra, 74 in Madhya Pradesh, 15 in Punjab, 5 in Rajasthan, 76 in Uttar Pradesh, 59 in West Bengal, and 66 in Telangana. The national transporter has operated one Kisan Rail train in Assam and Tripura.

Railways have been continuing with the subsidy, at a rate of Rs45 per cent and this subsidy is applicable till 31 March 23. Up to 31 March 2022, a 50 per cent subsidy in freight was granted by the Ministry of Food Processing Industries (MoFPI) for the transportation of fruits and vegetables by Kisan rail, which was not continued further. During 2020-21, Railways disbursed Rs27.79 crores as a subsidy which MoFPI reimbursed.  During 2021-22, Railways disbursed Rs121.86 crores as a subsidy, out of which MoFPI reimbursed only Rs50 crores.  During the current year, Railways have disbursed Rs4 crores as a subsidy.

During the current year, Railways have disbursed

Agro Universities, Animal Health, Dairy, Live Stock

Discussions were held on camel conservation like the promotion of milk for human health, popularisation of its nutraceutical-rich products, development of ecotourism etc

The ICAR-National Research Centre on Camel, Bikaner, Rajasthan recently organised a seminar on ‘Arid Animal Husbandry and One Health Concept: Challenges and Opportunities’ in Bikaner.

Dr Bhupendra Nath Tripathi, Deputy Director General (Animal Science), ICAR stressed the need of linking animal husbandry in the dry arid region with the One-Health concept. The progress made by India in improving the per capita availability of milk, egg, meat and their products was highlighted in Dr Tripathi’s address. The DDG emphasised achieving better production by linking the traditional methods of animal husbandry with the upcoming scientific and technological advancements in the area of livestock husbandry. Dr Tripathi also interacted with the trainees on camel wool processing for the women farmers to promote the utilisation of wool in the cottage industry for the value-addition.

Dr Artabandhu Sahoo, Director, ICAR-NRC on Camel, Bikaner underlined the centre’s research achievements. Continuous efforts are done in the field for camel conservation like the promotion of milk for human health, popularisation of its nutraceutical-rich products, development of ecotourism, value-addition of camel wool/hair and development of leather and bone products, etc., were also outlined by Dr Sahoo.

Dr Hemant Dadhich, Director Research, RAJUVAS, Bikaner, Rajasthan deliberated on ‘Emerging and Re-emerging Camel Health Issues and their Management.’

Dr Yashpal, Director, ICAR-National Research Centre on Equine, Hisar, Haryana also participated in the seminar.

Discussions were held on camel conservation like

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

Agrotech, Pulses, Start ups, Sustainability, Trade

The fresh capital will be used to scale the traceable, sustainable, and profitable ecosystem of seed spices, oilseeds and pulses

Delhi-based agritech startup BharatRohan Airborne Innovations has raised seed funding investments in a round led by Upaya Social Ventures and Acumen Fund.

The fresh capital will be used to strengthen its foothold across Rajasthan and Gujarat and scale its traceable, sustainable, and profitable ecosystem of seed spices, oilseeds, and pulses across 2 lakh acres of area in the next 18 months. The investment will help build the capability to sell close to 7,000 metric tonne of seed spices like cumin, coriander, fenugreek, carom, and fennel to different institutional buyers.

The startup provides drone-based advisory services to nearly 6,000 farmers across 20,000 acres in Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan. Out of which almost 20 per cent purchase agri-inputs from the company. This relationship enables the company to implement sustainable farming practices and to track every farm activity on the ground. Consequently, this ensures that the farm output meets the quality parameters of the buyers as BharatRohan also procures farm produce from the same farmers and supplies them to the major retail chains, FMCG players, masala makers and exporters based in India.

The fresh capital will be used to

Agro Universities, Dairy

The institute and Ankusham Engineering Group signed an MoU to expand camel-based entrepreneurship in South India

The ICAR-National Research Centre on Camel, Bikaner, Rajasthan in collaboration with the Ankusham organised a seminar on ‘Extended Utility of Camel, particularly its milk as a therapeutic adjuvant in treatment against diabetes and autism to Southern India’ in Coimbatore.

In his address, Dr Artabandhu Sahoo, Director, ICAR-NRC on camel stated that the centre’s efforts have inspired and helped in promoting the camel as a milch animal. He also highlighted the coming-up of the camel dairies in the different parts of India.

Manikandan, MD, Ankusham Engineering Group outlined the benefits of camel milk for diabetic and autistic patients. He also mentioned rural/peri-urban youths venturing into camel eco-tourism and helping to pave a new way in expanding the utility of the Camel species in Southern India.

Both the organisations also signed an MoU for the collaboration to expand camel-based entrepreneurship in Southern India during the occasion. The seminar registered participation by 165 delegates.

The institute and Ankusham Engineering Group signed