PM-KUSUM: Focus shifts from pump to agri feeder
Move would obviate need for farmers to replace every existing pump with solar pump
The Centre has now introduced modifications to an existing component of the PM-KUSUM scheme – a farmer income support and a de-dieseling scheme – so as to channelise its focus on solarising agricultural feeders instead of pumps. This move would obviate the need for farmers to replace every existing pump in a village with a solar pump.
It will now bear 30 per cent of the cost of building a small solar plant to supply electricity to the agricultural feeder, which essentially supplies electricity to all the pumps in a village. Hitherto, under component C – which has now been changed – of the PM-KUSUM scheme, farmers were being provided 30 per cent subsidy from the Centre and another 30 per cent from their State government to replace their existing grid connected agricultural pumps with grid connected solar pumps.
ITC partners with farmers’ body to procure pesticide residue-free cumin from Rajasthan
A farmers’ producer organisation, Shri Balaji Farmers Producers Company Ltd, and Kolkata-based multinational conglomerate ITC Ltd have agreed to work together for procurement, aggregation and buyback of quality-IPM and organic cumin (jeera) from small farmers of Jaitran tehsil of Pali district of Rajasthan.
This collaboration is an outcome of Department of Biotechnology (DBT)-South Asia Biotechnology Centre’s Biotech Kisan Hub project, which is promoting integrated pest management (IPM) and good agriculture practice (GAP) among cumin farmers in Western Rajasthan.
Focus more on post-harvesting and food processing: Modi
‘Important to have good storage facilities near villages, and better logistics to carry farm produce to processing units’
India needs to focus on revolutions in post-harvesting technology and food processing as well as value addition as the country faces a glut in food production, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Monday.
Participating in a webinar on effective implementation of budgetary allocation for agriculture and allied sectors, the Prime Minister said such efforts should have been made at least two to three decades ago and now that it has not had been done earlier, there is a need to double up to cover lost ground as well as to take India forward in the global food market.
