Mandi system in India Mandis or physical, primary agricultural markets are old and ubiquitous institutions of economic life in many parts of India. Wherever they form, they are usually dense sites of economic, social and political activity, connecting and shaping the…
Making India a biotech hub Aim to develop India into a global innovation hub by 2020 and Biotechnology Industry Research Assistance Council (BIRAC) has paved the way to deliver on that mandate. BIRAC Biotechnology Industry Research Assistance Council (BIRAC) is…
Artificial Intelligence and Agriculture Artificial intelligence (AI) is silently but increasingly entering Indian agriculture and hence affecting our society at large. Even though machine learning (which is a subset of AI) has been used for classifications and prediction purposes for,…
KVIC’s Honey Mission The self-sustainability measures initiated by Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC) in wake of the Covid-19 pandemic have begun yielding results. Under Honey Mission program about L,O2,000 bee hives with bee colonies have been proposed to be…
Jal Shakti Abhiyan The government of India launched Jal Shakti Abhiyan (JSA), a time-bound campaign with a mission mode approach intended to improve water availability including groundwater conditions in the water-stressed blocks of 256 districts in India. In this regard,…
Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA): It was established by the Government of India under the Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority Act passed by the Parliament in December 1985. The Authority replaced the Processed…
Rural Non-Farm Sector The Rural Non-Farm Sector (RNFS) encompasses all non-agriculture activities: mining and quarrying, household and non-household manufacturing, processing, etc. According to different international studies on India’s labour market, between 2011 and 2015, the number of agriculture jobs fell by…
Genetically Modified Organisms Genetically modified organisms (more commonly called GMOs) are organisms or microorganisms (i.e. plants and animals) whose genetic make-up have been manipulated by artificially inserting components of another organism. This can take the form of transgenic modification, whereby the…
Need for MSP Reforms Based on the recommendations of the Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices, the Department of Agriculture and Co-operation, Government of India, declares Minimum Support Prices (MSP) for 22 crops before their sowing seasons. The idea behind…