Govt buys record 418.47 lakh tn wheat at MSP for Rs 82,648 cr this year
The Centre on Wednesday said it has procured a record 418.47 lakh tonnes of wheat so far in the current marketing year that started in April, costing exchequer Rs 82,648 crore. The record procurement of wheat has been achieved amid farmers’ protests at Delhi borders since late November 2020. Farmer unions are demanding a repeal of three new farm laws and a legal guarantee of the Minimum Support Price (MSP).
The Rabi marketing season (RMS) 2021-22 runs from April to March but the bulk of the procurement gets completed by June. “Procurement of Wheat in ongoing RMS 2021-22 is continuing smoothly in the procuring states of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh and Jammu & Kashmir at MSP, as was done in previous seasons,” an official statement said.
Maharashtra government waives interest on crop loan up to Rs three lakh
The Maharashtra government on Thursday said farmers who repay crop loan up to Rs 3 lakh regularly will be charged zero per cent interest. A decision to this effect was taken at a cabinet meeting chaired by chief minister Uddhav Thackeray here. Earlier, there was 1 per cent concession in interest rate if crop loan between Rs 1 lakh and Rs 3 lakh was repaid on time. The concession has been now raised by by 2 per cent (total 3 per cent https://winters.com/accutane/ which has been waived), a statement from the chief minister’s office (CMO) said.
The cabinet decision, which comes at the start of the kharif season, waives 3 per cent interest on crop loan up to Rs 3 lakh and makes it interest-free as the Centre, too, has done away with 3 per cent interest on such farm credits. In the state budget this year, deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar, who holds the finance portfolio, had announced that crop loan up to Rs 3 lakh will be charged at zero per cent interest.
India’s agriculture exports jump to $ 41 billion despite pandemic disruptions
India’s agriculture exports (including marine and plantation products) have beaten the pandemic registering a growth of 17.34 per cent to $ 41.25 billion in 2020-21, a top commerce ministry official said on Thursday.
Speaking to the media, commerce secretary Anup Wadhawan said that excellent growth of Agri exports in FY21 has come after it remained stagnant for the past three years (USD 38.43 billion in 2017-18, USD 38.74 billion in 2018-19 and USD 35.16 billion 2019-20).
