Farmers are doing well

In 2022, India will record the fifth consecutive year of bumper wheat crop

 Labour statistics from CMIE’s Consumer Pyramids House­hold Survey has shown a large migration of workers towards ag­riculture in recent years. Dur­ing fiscal 2021-22, agriculture saw an estimated 4.5 million increase in employment.

Dur­i­ng the pandemic-stricken 2020-21, while total employment fell by 21.7 million, agriculture provided employment to a substantial 3.4 million. In 2019-20, too, agriculture saw an addition of 3.1 million to its count of emp­loyed. Over the past three years, therefore, agriculture added 11 million jobs while the rest of the ...

Foodgrain output rose 5 times in 60 years but farmers are still distressed

52% of India's agricultural households are indebted; with an average outstanding loan of Rs 47,000

 

 

India’s foodgrain production rose five times over six decades, according to 2016 government data, the latest available. But with the average Indian farm half as large as it used to be 50 years ago and yields among the lowest in developing economies, both the agriculture sector and farmers have been driven to the brink, shows an IndiaSpend analysis.

Output of foodgrains in India increased from 50.82 million tonnes in 1950-51 to 252.22 million tonnes in 2015-16, according to the Agriculture Statistics At A Glance 2016 report. Yield increased as well, from 522 kg per hectare (ha) in 1950-51 to 2,056 kg/ha in 2015-16.

 Source: Agriculture Statistics At Glance 2016

Though it is the largest producer of pulses in the world, India’s pulses crop yield (659 kg/ha) was the lowest among BRICS countries in 2014.

Cereal yield in India was the second lowest in the BRICS list, above Russia (2,444 kg/ha), according to Food and Agriculture Organisation’s 2014 data, the latest available. China reported the highest yield of cereals (5,888 kg/ha) and pulses (1,725 kg/ha) among BRICS nations.

(economy news )

Why is India’s agriculture growth volatile?

India’s agriculture growth rate has been volatile, from 1.5% in 2012-13 to 5.6% in 2013-14, -0.2% in 2014-15 to 0.7% in 2015-16......

The primary reason, as we discussed, is that more than half of India’s farms still depend on the
monsoon, increasingly uncertain in an era of climate change. Climate change can impact crop yields, as well as the types of crops that can be grown in certain areas, by impacting agricultural inputs such as water for irrigation.
Yields in rainfed areas remain low, underscoring the importance of irrigation in the country. Similarly, rising temperatures are likely to worsen yield fluctuations of many crops, the agriculture report said.
Yield can be achieved by adopting non-conventional methods such as sprinkler, drip or micro-sprinkler irrigation, said the report.....

Average farm holding shrinks by half over 50 years
The size of the average farm holding in India declined from 2.28 hectares in 1970-71 to 1.15 hectares in 2010-11. These small and marginal l....(read more)

 

Poultry producers cash in on beef slaughter ban as demand for chicken rises

Demand rose due to cattle restrictions, especially in northern states where Muslims are a minority

India's poultry producers are posting record profits as feed costs have dropped to a five-year low and on rising chicken demand after cattle slaughtering restrictions were enacted in the majority Hindu country.

Poultry company profits should continue to rise as raw material costs are set to remain depressed and demand rises due to the political fight over cattle slaughtering in India, home to the world's biggest population of Hindus, who hold cows to be sacred, plays out in the courts.|economy news

On May 31, the Madras High Court in the southern state of Tamil Nadu overturned a government ban on cattle trading for slaughter, an industry dominated by Muslims, but the case is set to go before the Supreme Court.

The cattle restrictions have been good for poultry producers as average broiler chicken prices in Mumbai have jumped 47 per cent so far in 2017 to 100 rupees ($1.55) a kg, while corn and soymeal prices, the main chicken feed ingredients, have fallen 7 per cent and 2 per cent respectively.

"For the first time, broiler prices sustained above 100 rupees (per kg) for a fortnight," said Uddhav Ahire, the chairman of leading poultry firm Anand Agro Group based in the western city of Pune. "The average margin of integrated poultry firms was more than 30 rupees."

Usually soymeal and corn rise during the summer as supplies drop, but this year bumper harvests and sluggish exports have kept prices in check, Ahire said.

Feed typically makes up two-thirds of poultry production costs. Back-to-back droughts that crimped grain output in India in 2014 and 2015 pressured the poultry farmers but that has changed.|economy policy

Shares of Venky's Ltd, India's biggest poultry producer, shot to a record high on Thursday after the company reported net profit more than doubled during the quarter that ended in March and full-year profit was a record Rs 125 crore.

Poultry profits may be even higher in the June quarter on the rising average chicken prices, said Prasanna Pedgaonkar, general manager at Venky's, which is also the owner of Blackburn Rovers Football Club in Britain.

 

Yogi Adityanath's farm loan waiver: SBI, PNB, Allahabad Bank top exposure

The state government has formed an eight-member committee to implement the decision

 

#LATEST| State Bank of India, Punjab National Bank and Allahabad Bank lead the pack of commercial banks with exposure to the agriculture sector in Uttar Pradesh, where the state government has decided to pay all crop loans owed by small and marginal farmers. 

As of December 2016, nine banks (also including Union Bank of India, Bank of India and Bank of Baroda) had extended loans worth Rs 70,046 crore to the agriculture sector in the state. Of this, crop loans were Rs 49,811 crore.

 The state government has formed an eight-member committee under Chief Secretary Rahul Bhatnagar to implement the decision. Sources said the committee would formalise the loan waiver with the banks by April 21. It will also try to find ways for making payment to the banks by May 15, so that farmers will be in a position to avail of crop loans this year. There are 700,000 farmers in the state whose combined Rs 5,630-crore debt has been declared non-performing by the banks; they cannot get new loans.(READ MORE)