Harish Damodaran
Articles By Harish Damodaran
New blockbuster wheat from IARI
Called HD-3226 or Pusa Yashasvi, the new variety has recorded a weighted average yield of 57.5 quintals per hectare in coordinated trials at 56 locations over three years of testing (2015-16 to 2017-18).
Artificial insemination: Technology hits cost barrier
Govt’s push notwithstanding, farmers will not pay for sex-sorted semen unless they see value for money
Not a single Uttar Pradesh farmer has got PM-Kisan 3rd tranche, Finance Ministry concerned
Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat and Telangana are the top three states, having disbursed the third instalment to almost 16.35 lakh, 13.99 lakh and 11.03 lakh farmers, respectively.
First time in 30 years, why NAFED faces challenge
NAFED has been tasked with purchasing all the apples that growers bring to sell at mandis in the Valley. A bumper crop, for which there would hardly be any private buyers with all the current movement restrictions, makes it all the more challenging.
Top agricultural scientists body rejects zero budget natural farming
This comes even as Prime Minister Narendra Modi, addressing the 14th Conference of Parties to the UN Convention to Combat Desertification on Monday, mentioned that “we are focusing on ZBNF”.
A straw that is worth clutching at
Boosting farm incomes is the best way to combat the Indian economy’s woes today.
Explained: In ethanol, government’s sugar solution
Government has hiked ethanol procurement price for blending with petrol, allowed conversion of old sugar into ethanol. How is the move expected to address problems of overproduction and unpaid dues?
RBI’s presses print more notes than in pre-demonetisation period
In other words, despite the Modi government’s emphasis on digital payments and a less-cash economy, the official printing presses are churning out more currency notes than before, both in volume and value terms.
Farm reform: From company to kisan
The Modi government is readying a plan to pay fertiliser subsidy directly to farmers through e-wallets.
August push: Monsoon recovery spurs nutrient sales
Monsoon rains have recharged the groundwater and filled up reservoirs. That, along with companies reducing prices, should help prop fertiliser demand.
Explained: In economic slowdown, a back story of falling investor confidence
Fixing the economy today cannot happen through consumption; revival in investment is what's desperately needed.
Dumping of a different kind
Subsidies for farmers shouldn’t end up benefiting consumers and depressing market prices
Plant protection: The next blockbuster basmati
Breeding for resistance, rather than spraying pesticides, is the way ahead to secure a $ 5-billion export industry.
There is a fundamental problem of demand today. At the core of it is incomes that aren’t rising enough
The certainty that producers once enjoyed — of finding buyers for their wares without doing much beyond minor price adjustments to bring supply and demand into equilibrium — has ceased to exist.
Latest count is in: Desi cattle numbers continue to go downhill
The increase is more than 238 per cent (from 15.22 million to 51.47 million) for exotic/crossbred animals between 1992 and 2019, a period that witnessed a 26 per cent-plunge in the numbers for indigenous/nondescript breeds (from 189.37 million to 139.82 million).
Monsoon revival spurs kharif sowing recovery
In June, the country as a whole received an area-weighted rainfall of just 112.1 mm, almost a third below the “normal” long period average (LPA) of 166.9 mm for this month. But in July — the southwest monsoon season extends from June to September — the rains were 4.6% above normal.
Nutrient boom: Make in India
The country may turn a zero urea importer even before the Modi government’s second term ends.
Make versus Buy: India can both manufacture and import urea
In June, domestic and imported re-gasified liquefied natural gas (R-LNG) was being delivered to urea-making units at an average uniform “pooled” price of Rs 813.76 or $ 11.72 per mmBtu (million metric British thermal units) on a gross calorific value (GCV) basis.
Dairy industry opposes RCEP
Unlike other industries that fear “dumping” from China (steel), South Korea (chemicals) or Indonesia and Malaysia (palm oil) in the event of an RCEP deal, the concerns of Indian dairies largely pertain to New Zealand and Australia.
GM crops: Farmers clear, politics muddled
The opposition to GM crops is clearly not from farmers. Were that so, the global annual area planted under them wouldn’t have risen from a mere 1.7 million to nearly 190 million hectares between 1996 and 2017.
