Food and agribusiness in Karnataka, Karnataka agribusiness, Way2Agribusiness, Way2Foods

Food & Agribusiness in Karnataka

All the participants in the food and agribusiness chain mainly the famers need to continue with their livelihood agriculture activities though the desired results and returns not achieved in their operations. This is not only important for farmers’ point of view but also for consumers, to meet their food requirements. Practically, food sector will never face recession as consumers cannot forgo food. This reveal that there is a huge scope for growth in the sector, but change in perception mainly in the mind of the farming community from merely farming to agribusiness is a must. Concept of crop

production should change from production driven to consumer/ market driven for better results. Higher priority for commercial crop cultivation, value addition to produce and application of business principles in selected commercial agriculture operations is the indicator of transition towards agribusiness.However, there is a scope to do a lot more for betterment of food and agribusiness sector in India and also in the state of Karnataka. The state is blessed with 10 agro climatic zones, which are suitable for different products offering by taking up production and marketing of different food and agricultural crops. It is the time for adoption of crop cluster approach, adoption of better cultivation practices, value addition to the produce and have a practice of marketing excellence.

Government Policies & Notifications

Karnataka government has implemented the amended Land Reforms Act, 1961

Date: 11-May-2020 & Source: https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/topic/Karnataka-agriculture-department/news
Removing what the industry terms a longstanding hurdle to its growth, the Karnataka government has implemented the amended Land Reforms Act, 1961, that now allows industries to buy land directly from farmers in a big decision to hasten rebooting of the sector. Repeals Section 79(A) that sets a limit of non-agricultural income at Rs 25 lakh to buy agricultural land, Section 79(B) that bars non-agriculturists from purchasing agricultural lands, and Section 79 (C) that deals with penalty for falsely claiming eligibility to hold agricultural land. It also makes certain amendments to Section 80 and states that the Class-A irrigated land (irrigated with water from a dam) can be used only for agricultural purposes. It also inserts a new Section 80 (A) which states that no conditions laid in this act shall be relaxed in respect of lands granted to persons belonging to the SC/STs, during the period of prohibition under the Karnataka SC and ST (Prohibition of Transfer of Certain Lands), Act, 1978.

Karnataka govt to Agricultural Produce Market Committee (APMC)

Karnataka Raitha Siri Scheme 2021 – Rs. 10,000 per Hectare for Millet Farming

Set up spices park in Chikkamagaluru: Murugesh R Nirani

Centre hikes sugarcane FRP to Rs 290/quintal; rules out raising sugar price

Food & Agribusiness News & Events

News

Area of summer crops expands by 21.58%

Karnataka Launches Helpline 24x7 For Cattle Breeders, Dairy Farmers

Karnataka's new app to help farmers sell produce directly to retail chains

New farm laws to boost competition; farmers can sell produce to corporates: Chief Economic Advisor K Subramanian

Bumper price per Arecanut, expectation of further rise: What is driving up the price? Going ahead?

Date: May 10, 2021 & source: https://www.gktoday.in/current-affairs/area-of-summer-crops-expands-by-21-58-from-last-year/
The Ministry of Agriculture and Farmer Welfare recently announced that the area of summer crops has sharply increased by 21.58% as compared to 2020. The increase has almost doubled. Summer crops are also called Zaid crops. They are grown between March and June.
Expansion of area of Summer Crops The area under summer crops has increased to 12.75 hectares in 2021. It was 6.45 hectares in 2020.
The increase has been mainly reported in the states of Madhya Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Odisha, Karnataka, Jharkhand, West Bengal, Gujarat.
The Government of India has been promoting the summer crops mainly to increase the pulse production in the country.
Which crops have increased? The area under rice cultivation has increased by 15.59%. In 2020, it was 33.82 hectares. Now it has increased in 39.10 hectares. The area under pulses has increased by 97.58%. It was 6.45 hectares in 2020 and has now increased to 12.74 hectares in 2021.
Oil seeds has increased by 15.66%. Area under coarse grains have increased by 0.93%.
Water Storage The Ministry also announced that the water storage in more than 130 key reservoirs has increased by 20% as compared to that of the average storage in the last ten years. Due to this more areas have come under cultivation in the states of Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Odisha and Karnataka. This is one of the main reasons for the increase in areas under summer cultivation.
Oil Seeds GoI is also focusing to increase the production of oil seeds in the country apart from pulses. Currently, India imports 75% of edible oil to meet its domestic requirements. The import bill has crossed Rs 70,000 crores.
Recent Developments GoI targets 17 million tonnes of Mustard Production
New Soybean Variety: MACS 1407
GoI increases Minimum Support Price of Rabi Crops
Agriculture Infrastructure Fund crosses Rs. 8,000 crores mark
Date: June 25, 2021 & source: https://www.ndtv.com/
The Karnataka government has launched a 24x7 helpline for cattle breeders and dairy farmers to increase the health and productivity of livestock in the state. The helpline will provide assistance on a variety of subjects ranging from information on the rearing of cattle to where to sell dairy products.
"In Karnataka we have around 1.2 crore bovine population. If a farmer needs basic information of rearing of cattle, diseases, vaccination schedule, where he can sell products - for all that we have established this helpline. The farmer can call anytime 24x7. Also for information on any livestock - goats, pigs," S Basavarajendra, Commissioner of the Department of Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Services told NDTV.
The information shared through the helpline will help the government to accumulate data on the livestock population in the districts and fine-tune its programmes, he said. "We can identify if there is an outbreak of disease in any particular area. And we can send messages to all the farmers in that area to segregate their livestock, be careful. So we can push notifications to come for vaccinations or administer certain medicines. It is a very important tool that increases our connectivity to cattle rearers," Mr Basavarajendra said. Animal Husbandry minister Prabhu B. Chauhan said the department will try to address all the issues raised by the farmers.
"Farmers or anyone can ask the department for any information. They can inform the department if the doctor is not working properly. Any information about our gau mata can be shared. They can ask on WhatsApp also. This helpline war room was my goal. I also dream of a goshala in each district," he said.
The call centre will also address cases of animal cruelty, Mr Basavarajendra said. "This call centre also addresses animal welfare. Issues of animal cruelty can also be addressed at this call centre so it is open to everybody- urban and rural. Anybody can call 24x7 and lodge their complaint regarding animal welfare," he said. There was a helpline earlier, but this has been scaled-up considerably. For the first time, the war room will have people on duty to take calls through the night also. The helpline number is +91 82771 00200.
Date: Jun 10, 2021 & Source: https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/tech/technology/karnatakas-new-app-to-help-farmers-sell-produce-directly-to-retail-chains/articleshow/83393673.cms
A new mobile app will soon launch in Karnataka to help farmers sell their food to retailers like as BigBasket, Reliance Fresh, Nature’s Basket, and Ninjacart. The e- Sahamathi app in assistance with nationwide informatics center (NIC), developed by the e-governance division, created to let the farmers present their consent to retailers to reach out to them to secure a deal of his/her procedure. “That is an open API. A retailer can entry particulars akin to a farmer’s identify, his crop, landholding, location and so forth., on a real-time foundation of solely these farmers who’ve consented,” extra chief secretary (e-governance) Rajeev Chawla told ET. “We’ve not spoken to any retailer, however we are going to give large publicity about this technology-enabled function. All stakeholders could make use of this. The federal government’s position ends there,” he stated. “We spend about ₹100 crore yearly to assemble crop survey information of farmlands unfold over 25 million plots,” Chawla stated. “We have a community of about 30,000 paid surveyors who add this information, with the image of crops, on a realtime foundation.” A huge database with information on seven million farmers in Karnataka, including their names, landholdings, location, and type of crop or crops farmed was built by his organization.
The information could be shared on getting permission from farmers with major merchants, who are in need to buy farm products directly from farms and the federal government has the authority to do it.
Karnataka’s agricultural produce market committee (APMC) regulations were altered last year to allow farmers to sell their products to merchants and food processing industries outside of controlled mandis. According to an analyst, the creation of e-Sahamathi is the natural next step after APMC’s monopoly over agricultural products was broken. According to the analyst who asked not to be identified, if the app is successful, it would lead to greater value discovery for agricultural produce, resulting in higher revenues and lower debts in rural regions. Farmers may update information about their crops and the region on the crop survey app, according to Shakeel Ahmed, project head of the state e-governance division’s Farmer Registration & Unified Beneficiary Data System (FRUITS). According to them, the software can also aid enterprises selling seeds, fertilizers, insecticides, and bank loans in supplying their products or services to willing farmers. It will allow customers to find producers who are most equipped to meet their needs.
Date: Jul 12, 2021 & Source: https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/economy/agriculture/new-farm-laws-to-boost-competition-farmers-can-sell-produce-to-corporates-chief-economic-advisor-k-subramanian/articleshow/84342586.cms
Subramanian said the insistence on selling goods only at Agricultural Produce Marketing Committee (APMC) markets dented farmers' realisations because the buyer who acted as an intermediary had an upper hand in the trade due to factors like it being a perishable commodity or the costs involved in coming to the market again. New farm laws will ultimately help farmers get better returns as the legislations provide for competition by allowing them to sell their produce to even corporates like Reliance NSE 2.46 % and ITC NSE -0.43 % for good prices, Chief Economic Advisor K Subramanian said on Monday. The farm laws were cleared by Parliament last year but the Supreme Court, in January 2021, their implementation amid protests by farmers. The farm laws is a step towards improving the incomes of small and marginal farmers, Subramanian said. Critics of the laws have been questioning the manner in which the bills were passed and alleged that the reform will help big businesses by corporatising farm activities.
Subramanian said the insistence on selling goods only at Agricultural Produce Marketing Committee (APMC) markets dented farmers' realisations because the buyer who acted as an intermediary had an upper hand in the trade due to factors like it being a perishable commodity or the costs involved in coming to the marketagain. "The farm bill provides for competition so that the small and marginal farmer can go to the intermediary and say if you are not going to provide a good price, I can go and sell it to someone else. That someone else could be ITC, Reliance or Farm Fresh," he added. Speaking at an event to celebrate the foundation event of Nabard, he said these entities will compete for farmers' produce, which will ensure that a farmer, especially a small and marginal farmer, will get the adequate value of the produce. The presence of the APMC Acts, which the farm laws seek to do away with, can be traced back to the needs of 13th-century conqueror Alauddin Khilji to feed his big army, Subramanian said, adding that a farmer gets only up to 15 per cent of the value of a commodity with the intermediary making the most. Subramanian, an academic-turned-policy advisor, added that competition has always helped the final consumers and producers, pointing to sectors like banking, mutual funds, telecom and airports as success stories. He also said the rich farmers do not face the same troubles as small and marginal farmers when it comes to selling goods because of their ability to invest in storage infrastructure apart from being better networked.
Apart from the APMC laws, the farm reforms also do away with the provisions of the Essential Commodities Act, which do not distinguish between legitimate storage and hoarding of an agri commodity, he added. Subramanian said the provisions were being used for perverse outcomes, which is visible through the fact that there were over 80,000 raids with only under 2 per cent of them being prosecuted, and its core motive of stabilising prices was not achieved at all. "The small and marginal farmer has been losing out and his state has not improved significantly despite over 75 years of independence," he said, claiming that the laws along with the agricultural infrastructure fund will be of help.
Date: August 25, 2021 & source: https://kannada.oneindia.com/
The price of 1 quintal heap on Tuesday reached Rs 47,700. Those who do business without a bill have bought up to Rs 49,000. The arecanut of the upland mainland is now popular in the plains. Due to the view of low cost and high profit, nowadays, nut farms are seen. Thousands of hectares of paddy fields are being converted to acorns each year. The price of acorns has increased but the price has not decreased. Many factors are advantageous to this.
Reason 1: Northeastern Borders The central government has blocked borders because of the conflict in the Northeastern borders. So there is a poor nut coming from Indonesia and Malaysia. Some nut companies depend on such a nut. Farmers are now buying direct from the borders as they are blocked. This has led to price increases.

Events

World Tea & Coffee Expo 2021, 2nd to 4th Dec ’21 at Mahatma Mandir Convention and Exhibition Centre, Gandhinagar

Foodtech Kolkata 2021, 19th to 21st Nov ’21 at Science city, Kolkatta

FarmTech Asia 2021, 19th to 22nd Nov, College Of Agriculture Indore

Agri Asia 2021, 9th to 11th Dec ’21 at Mahatma Mandir Convention and Exhibition Centre, Gandhinagar

KISAN Fair, 15th th to 19th Dec ’21 at Agriculture College Ground, Pune, Maharashtra

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Market Intelligence

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Trading platform

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Horticulture

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Vegetables cultivation

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Value Addition

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Crop cluster

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