Agriculture Current Affair 3 August 2020

Nafed procures 95,000 tonnes of onion to create buffer stock

National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India (Nafed) on Sunday said it had procured 95,000 tonnes of onion directly from farmers at prevailing rates for creating a buffer stock on behalf of the government.

Last year, Nafed had purchased a total of 57,000 tonnes of onion from the 2018-19 Rabi (winter) crop under the Price Stabilisation Fund (PSF). The target this time is to buy 1 lakh tonnes of essential kitchen staple from the major producing states.

Edible oil trade bodies differ on import restrictions

India’s rising edible oil imports has left the domestic industry in splits as two of the prominent trade bodies came face-to-face on quota suggestions.

Recently, Soybean Processors Association of India (SOPA) sought a quantitative quota and higher import duty for crude soybean and sunflower oils citing “unbridled and burgeoning” imports of edible oils in India – hurting interests of the farmers and processors.

Pesticide offtake edges up even as more farmers shun agrochemicals

After witnessing a slump in 2018-19, pesticide consumption registered a marginal growth in 2019-20. However, more States are reporting a decline in usage of agrochemicals on rising awareness of the harmful effects among both producers and consumers.

States such as Punjab, Rajasthan, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Chhattisgarh and Kerala reported a decline in usage of technical grade chemical pesticides during 2019-20, according to the provisional data released by the Agriculture Ministry.