25th March 2021, Cold Storage, FPOs, green movement, farmers protest, Corona

25 March 2021

• Ethanol blended Petrol to meet demand

  Indian government has allowed the use of surplus grains particularly rice, and damaged grains for producing ethanol which when mixed with petrol can be used as biofuel. Government has taken initiatives to increase production of grains for biofuel, setting up refineries and research on new technologies for production of biofuels.

• Government aid for "cold storage"

  Cold storage is required for perishable items, mostly horticulture products. Government does not own Cold Storage facilities but is willing to financially assist setting up of these. Government is subsidizing  the setting up cost of these Cold Storages by 50% in hilly areas and 35% in general areas. Similar benefits are also available for modernization of existing Cold Storage units. These Cold storage should have capacity of 5000 MT and up to 10000 MT, to be eligible for these subsidies.

• FPOs encouraged across India

  FPOs help in modernization of rural agriculture. The FPOs are expected to link rural products to urban and overseas market. They provide tools and machinery which the farmers can share and methods and new techniques which the farmers can adapt to modernize their operations. Farmers will learn to work in a group and manage their communities better. Hence the creation of more FPOs is being welcomed by the rural community and encouraged by the government. Entrepreneur community is being encouraged to start FPOs and huge financial aids are being provided by the government.

• Paddy farmers in Eastern India encouraged to diversify

  Paddy farmers across eastern India are being encouraged to diversify their produce under its go green schemes. One product farms loose productivity due to lack of minerals in the soil which can be avoided by multicropping or crop rotation with wheat, oilseeds, pulses and other cereals. The farmers are guided and trained in all aspects of modern farming.

• Delhi and India see rise in Corona infections

  Delhi has seen increase daily in infection cases last week and India for the first time has reported more than 50,000 new cases in a day. Suspected mutated versions of Corona can cancel out all the efforts made by governments and scientists in controlling the loss of life caused by this virus. The vaccination campaign has been going smoothly with over 5 Crore and counting vaccinated in India.

• Agitated farmers may enter Delhi again

  The agitated farmers protesting for almost four months have not been able to bring the government to bargaining table through their block highways campaign, which has succeeded in causing traffic issues for commuters. The farmers are thus planning to enter Delhi to protest, so as to make Government take notice of their movement.

• Suez Canal blocked by an immobile ship

  A large ship has blocked the two way navigation of ships across the Suez Canal.  A 400 meter long ship carrying hazardous cargo has lost its navigational capacity due to high winds and dust storms. As it is not able to move, and covers almost entire width of the canal where the ship is at the moment, no ships can move across the canal and are parked before and after the jammed vessel.

• Organic is the way to go for EU

  European Union is making every effort to make the European farming go totally green with  Organic. They expect 25 percent of the total farming area to be under organic by year 2030. This will help in controlling all types of pollution and provide chemicals free food. Additionally Organic food is cheaper to produce than Inorganic food.