Kerala government to deploy drones to survey landfills, dumpyards
Author: BI Bureau
New Delhi: Taking lessons from the sprawling 110-acre Brahmapuram dumpyard fire that hit Kochi in Kerala on March 2, the State Government is now planning to deploy drones to survey landfills and dump yards across the State.
The first-of-its-kind initiative aims to gauge the volume and characteristics, composition of the dumpsites. Funded by the World Bank, the drive will be conducted jointly by the Kerala State Solid Waste Management Project and Local Self-Government Department (LSGD).
Experts from the World Bank have finalised the terms and references for the surveys. Drone surveys are considered very effective as they are advanced methods that don’t require human intervention. The Government, through the surveys, wants to find the characteristics of the dumpyards, their density and what type of waste is accumulated there.
LSGD has identified around 44 dumpyards for the surveys. Of them, 40 come under municipalities and corporations, and four under panchayats.
It is believed that data from the surveys will supplement biomining efforts.
The Kerala Government is taking steps to clear the huge heaps of legacy waste from various dumpsites. Of the 44 dumpsites around 18 have been cleared with approximately 1.59 lakh tonnes of legacy waste removed.
The Union Government has allotted Rs 550 for biomining 1 tonne of legacy waste under Swachh Bharat Mission. For municipalities with population below 1 lakh, the Centre will bear 50 per cent of the cost, while the State Government and the local body concerned will cover 33 per cent and 17 per cent of the expense, respectively.
In local bodies where the population is above one lakh, the Centre and State will bear 33 per cent and 22 per cent, respectively, of the biomining cost, while the local body will cover the remaining 45 per cent. /BI/
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The exports of agricultural commodities from March to June 2020 shot up by 23.24 percent on-year to Rs 25,552.7 crores.
As the economy comes to a standstill amid the coronavirus-led lockdown, India’s agriculture sector has taken the baton of economic growth in its hands. The exports of agricultural commodities from March to June 2020 shot up by 23.24 percent on-year to Rs 25,552.7 crores, according to the Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare. The government said that self-reliant agriculture is critical for the goal of an Atmanirbhar Bharat and for this, agricultural export is extremely important as besides earning foreign exchange for the country, the exports help farmers, producers, and exporters to take advantage of the wider international market and increase their income.
The surge in exports has also resulted in increased production in the farm sector by increasing coverage area and productivity. The share of India’s agricultural exports and imports in the world agriculture trade in 2017 was 2.27 percent and 1.90 percent, respectively. Even during the difficult time of pandemic lockdown, India took care not to disturb the world food supply chain and continued to export, the government said.
Ministry of Agriculture has prepared a comprehensive action plan for the promotion of Agri trade; the twofold approach focuses on boosting Agri Export with emphasis on value addition and action plan for Import Substitution. Recently, the Agriculture sector has witnessed a series of reforms, giving more choices to the farmers to sell their produce at competitive rates.
To mention a few, the Export strategy focuses on the export promotion of fast-evolving niche markets of Wellness food/ Health-conscious food/nutraceuticals, Development of “Brand India” in campaign mode to help penetration into new foreign markets and of new products which automatically translates into higher value realization, Gulf countries have been identified as focus destination to increase the market share which is a strong market for India though presently India caters to only 10-12% share of their total imports. A product-market matrix has been made containing a list of products of strength that could be expanded in new geographies and a list of known markets which can be introduced with newer products.
At the behest of the Department of Agricultural Cooperation & Farmers’ Welfare, Ministry of Agriculture, product-specific Export Promotion Forums have been created to lead Agri exports to new heights. Each Export Promotion Forum shall be having exporters of the related commodity as its members along with official members representing concerned Ministries/Departments of the Central and State Governments. Chairman APEDA shall be the chairman of each of these forums. The forums will meet at least once every two months, to discuss recommendations on issues pertaining to the export.
The recommendations of the forum will be placed in the product committee / Authority of APEDA. The Forum will keep in close contact with the concerned organization of the Ministry of Agriculture such as MIDH, Extension, NPPO, etc., DGFT, Ministry of Civil Aviation, MoFPI, etc. to further the interest of agricultural export.
