Agriculture Current Affair 19 July 2020

₹637 crore for a new beginning for seaweed farming

Any story about seaweed farming in India begins and ends in Mandapam, Tamil Nadu.

The narrative is invariably the same: the immense potential offered by long coastline and biodiversity and how 900 fisherfolk families in southern coastal Tamil Nadu have been earning at least ₹8,000 a month from this vocation. The needle has been stuck at this point for three decades—due to inadequate attention, according to experts.

Oilmeal imports cross 1.1 mt as demand from feed industry rises

Amid rising demand from the feed industry, India registered record oilmeal imports in four years at 11,42,902 tonnes (1.1 mt) for the year 2019-20.

According to Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) data, India’s oilmeal/oilcake imports rose to 11,42,902 tonnes worth ₹3,218 crore for 2019-20 as against 6,70,709 tonnes worth ₹2,558 crore in 2018-19. The value of imports rose by 26 per cent.

‘Amul’ brand sales cross ₹52,000 crore in 2019-20

Dairy major, Amul marketer, Gujarat Co-operative Milk Marketing Federation Ltd has registered a turnover of ₹38,542 crore for the financial year 2019-20, showing a growth of 17 percent over previous year.

The sales turnover has jumped by nearly five times in the past decade from ₹8,005 crore in 2009-10 to ₹38,542 crore in 2019-20. The rise is attributed to the dairy major’s rapid expansion in both – processing capacities and product portfolio.