11.02.2016

Consortium of public institutes to focus on non-GM biotechnology

research

The government will welcome a scientific debate on GM technology,

Minister of State for Agriculture Krishna Byre Gowda has said.

Following lack of consensus on technology related to genetically modified

(GM) crops, the Karnataka government is not only trying to aggressively

push for research into non-GM biotechnology, but has also formed a

consortium of reputed public institutions to take up this research.

Announcing this at Bangalore India Bio 2016 here, Minister of State for

Agriculture Krishna Byre Gowda said the consortium comprised all the

agricultural universities, National Centre for Biological Sciences, and the

International Crops Research Institute for Semi-Arid Tropics.

The consortium would take up research through non-GM biotechnology

(marker-assisted breeding) on developing drought-resistant and higher-

yielding varieties in the crops of groundnut, pigeon pea, ragi, and jowar. The

research would be completely funded by the State government, he said.

Scientific debate on BT

The Minister made it clear that the government would welcome a scientific

debate on GM technology too so that an appropriate policy decision could be

made on the issue. He regretted that presently no debate based on scientific

evidence and rationale was being held.

“In the name of debate, a lot of shouting goes on where attempts are made to

beat the voice of reason and force the prejudiced and pre-conceived

notions,” he observed. He called upon all the stakeholders, including

scientists, farmers and biotechnology firms to agree upon the method of

scientific debate.

Company responds

Responding to the allegations of the Minister of State for Agriculture,

Monsanto spokesperson said in a release, “Mahyco has been conducting

joint monitoring efforts with CICR [Central Institute of Cotton Research],

which is the regulatory nominated agency. While the results of the CICR

study and recommendations are awaited, resistance monitoring studies

conducted internally, on certain populations of pink bollworm in Gujarat

indicate resistance to the Cry2Ab protein – a key component of Bollgard II.

This has been proliferated by improper insect resistance management

practices, absence of refuge planting and spread of illegal seeds … While

pink bollworm shows resistance, the technology continues to provide

effective control of American bollworm and spotted bollworm.”

Adding that “resistance is a natural, evolutionary process”, the statement

further said, “We continue to find that our traits are still bringing great value

to farmers in all the regions where they are used.”

Controversy as farmers asked to cut crops for Modi visit

A controversy raged on Wednesday over farmers in Sehore district of

Madhya Pradesh being allegedly ordered by government officials to cut their

standing crops to make way for a venue where Prime Minister Narendra

Modi is expected to be felicitated for his new crop insurance scheme.

The furore started even as Union Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh

was busy meeting party MPs in Delhi, asking them to spread the message

about the government’s pro-farmer measures among the public.

Sources told The Hindu that Mr.Singh had been meeting his party MPs in

batches and telling them about the initiatives taken up by the Ministry in the

farmers’ interest. The MPs are being apprised so that they can convey the

information to the party cadre and people in their constituencies.

According to sources, Mr.Modi has expressed his concern over the poor

dissemination of information among party workers and the public on the

“good work” done by his government in the agriculture sector in the past 20

months.

On Tuesday evening, Mr.Singh briefed MPs, including Hukum Singh

(Kairana, Uttar Pradesh), Satish Dubey (Valmiki Nagar, Bihar), Pashupathi

Nath Singh (Dhanbad, Jharkhand), Bharat Singh (Balia, Uttar Pradesh) and

Bhola Singh (Bulandshahr, Uttar Pradesh), about the government’s

achievements in the farming sector, during a meeting at his house.

Notably, Mr. Bharat Singh, during one of the BJP meetings, had raised the

issue of opaqueness in conveying information, pointing out that party

workers were not being kept in the loop about the initiatives of the

government.

A news agency reported that farmers in Sherpur village of the BJP-ruled

Madhya Pradesh alleged on Wednesday that they had been asked to cut their

standing crops prematurely to make way for people to reach the venue where

Mr.Modi is expected to be felicitated for his new crop insurance scheme on

February 18. The BJP has denied the allegation.

“An official yesterday (Tuesday) asked me to chop down my green blade.

This will inflict lakhs of rupees of loss on me,” alleged farmer Suresh

Parmar (45) of Sherpur village. “I am going to be left in penury,” he rued.

Mr.Parmar’s brothers Dashrath Parmar and Rajesh Parmar said the family

owned more than five acres of land on which they had sown wheat.

“We have laboured hard and were waiting to reap the crop, but the

authorities have asked us to chop it off when it is not yet ripe,” they alleged.

Denying the allegations, BJP vice-president Vinay Sahastrabuddhe said,

“Nobody’s crop has been damaged.”

Madhya Pradesh Farmers’ Welfare Minister Gourishanker Bisen had told

reporters on Tuesday that no farmer had been asked to chop his crop.

Saline-resistant rice varieties to be tested in State

Karnataka has asked the M.S. Swaminathan Research Foundation to test

their non-genetically modified rice varieties in the State. These varieties,

which have resistance to salinity — a major problem for paddy cultivation

— will be tested in the coastal region and the Krishna river basin which have

high salinity, according to Minister of State for Agriculture Krishna Byre

Gowda.

Cold storages to become functional soon

In Tiruchi, Karur, Perambalur and Ariyalur districts

Seven cold storages built under the auspices of the Tiruchi Marketing

Committee in Tiruchi, Karur, Perambalur and Ariyalur districts are set to

become functional soon.

The storages have been built with assistance from the National Bank for

Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) under its Rural

Infrastructure Development Fund. According to sources in the marketing

committee, the storages for vegetables, fruits and other agricultural produces

have been built at the Marketing Committees in Karur, Perambalur,

Ariyalur, Thuraiyur and Thuvarankurichi. The facilities at Karur,

Perambalur, Ariyalur are of 25 tonne capacity each, the ones at Thuraiyur

and Thuvarankurichi are 100 tonnes capacity each.

The storages of 25 tonne capacities have been established at an approximate

cost of about Rs.38 lakhs each. The ones with 100 tonne capacity with

grading and sorting yards have been built at a cost of Rs.1 crore each.

This apart, a cold storage for banana has been built at Integrated Market

Complex for Banana at Thiruchendurai near Tiruchi.

This was meant for farmers who come to sell their produce at the market

through weekly auctions.

The 1000 tonne cold storage has been established at a cost of about Rs.2

crore. A 50-tonne cold storage for onion has been established at Chettikulam

at a cost of about Rs.1.45 crore.

The cold storages would be handed over to farmers or farmers producers

companies.

Tenders have been called for same.

Farmers or farmers companies can run the cold storages, charging rent for

produce stored at the facilities.

Animal feed making unit on an expansion mode

Nabard likely to extend financial support

Nabard (National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development) has evinced

interest in according a financial fillip to the Amma Pannai Mahalir Kuzhu at

Vellivalasu that is involved in manufacture of animal feed.

The group with 20 members has been doing roaring business clocking

monthly production of about 50 tonnes. The group started off its venture

during November 2014, after undergoing a training program at the Animal

Feed Analytical and Quality Control Laboratory attached to Veterinary

College and Research Institute, Namakkal.

The group has obtained feedback from its customers that the milk yield of

their cows has increased by 15 per cent to 20 per cent after feeding the

animals with the feed produced by the group with the brandname

Chinnamman-periyamman. The USP of the brand is quality plus competitive

pricing.

At Rs. 15.80 a kg, the cost is about Rs. 3 rupees lesser compared to the other

brands in the market.

Quality

Regular testing of the product at the Namakkal Laboratory for validating the

right proportion of inputs: rice bran, groundnut cake, minerals mixture, black

gram husk, jaggery, bajra, maize, sorgam, palm cake, cotton seed, common

salt, red gram husk, and bengal gram husk, takes care of quality.

The group is under no compulsion to broadbase the business. Members of

milk cooperative societies in the district constitute their customer base.

In fact, the cost-economics may not work if the group employs workers for

production with an eye on expansion. The 20 members look after the nitty-

gritty of the production process by themselves and are hence able to enjoy

the cost advantage, Assistant Director of Agriculture in Modakurichi block

Kulandaivelu explained.

The Agriculture Department is well into exploring scope for listing the

animal feed venture for funding under State Innovative Scheme whereby

subsidy benefit could be offered to the group.

Technology adoption

NABARD aid for cooperative banks

The National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) will

provide an assistance of Rs.16 crore for technology adoption by district

cooperative banks in Kerala. The assistance would be used for stabilisation

of core banking solutions and adoption of technology for providing Rupay

debit/ Kisan cards which can be used in ATMs, Point of Sale (PoS)

terminals, and at e-com sites. Around 800 branches of district cooperative

banks are expected to benefit from the scheme. A press note quoting Ramesh

Tenkil, Chief General Manager, NABARD, said on Wednesday that the

grant assistance could be utilised for purchase and installation of hardware

and software for technological upgradation.

MGNREGS for farm sector

State hails Centre’s decision

The State government has hailed the decision of the Union Ministry of Rural

Development to bring agriculture and animal husbandry activities under the

purview of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee

Scheme (MGNREGS).

Agriculture Minister K.P. Mohanan has written to Union Minister for Rural

Development Nitin Gadkari expressing happiness over the government

notification, including the two sectors in the list of jobs that can be taken up

under MNREGS. A pressnote quoting him said the decision would help

Kerala overcome the shortage of farm labour and revive the dairy sector in

the State.

The State had been pressing hard for an amendment to bring agriculture and

animal husbandry activities under the purview of the MGNREGS.

Advice to farmers

Farmers could sell their samba paddy at the direct procurement centres

(DPC) which had been functioning in 21 locations in the district since

January 14, said Joint Director (Agriculture) S. Kanagaraj. In a bid to

prevent middlemen from exploiting farmers, the government had opened

DPCs even in small villages, he said.

Engineer evolves all-weather cultivation method for crops

He claims semi-automated poly greenhouse method can cut costs, improve

yield

Poly greenhouse model farm at Erumarpatti in Karur district.— PHOTO: A.

MURALITHARAN

It is unusual for the educated youths to take up agriculture as their profession

as they usually look for white collar jobs. However, a 35-year-old BE

Agricultural Engineering graduate believes that he can make a difference by

adopting modern farming technologies.

When the horticultural officials were looking for progressive farmers to set

up poly greenhouses as part of the National Horticulture Mission in Karur

district, R. Bala Saravanan of Erumapatti near Aravakurichi readily came

forward to grab the opportunity along with his sister Dhanapakkiam.

Using his own ideas, experience, educational background, and knowledge,

he has gone one step ahead by forming semi-automated poly greenhouse to

cultivate vegetables on 1,000 square metre area.

Unlike many other poly greenhouses, his farm does not require too many

workers. He controls the operations, including watering, fogging, in-house

temperature maintenance, root temperature maintenance, and so on from a

master control room. The operations have been brought under sensors so as

to make necessary changes in the settings.

The farmer has set up Reverse Osmosis water treatment plant to use pure

water for irrigation.

A water chilling plant has been set up to supply cool water to the crop.

Although the actual cultivation was slated to be started in a week, he said the

effort would be certainly fruitful.

“I am confident on achieving success, though there is a risk involved in it,”

Mr. Saravanan said.

S. Muniandi, Deputy Director, Horticulture, told The Hindu that poly

greenhouse technology would wean away farmers from seasonal and

conventional cultivation method. High-yielding vegetables such as

cucumber and capsicum could be taken up throughout the year irrespective

of summer, rainy, and winter seasons. The technology could help farmers

cultivate vegetables in a controlled weather condition and in protective

environment. It was more cost-effective than traditional methods.

K. Mani, Assistant Director, Horticulture, said the poly greenhouse had been

set up at an estimate of Rs. 9.5 lakh. Of it, the subsidy would be Rs. 4.67

lakh. The farmer had spent a few lakh more to give value addition to the

technology.

Mr. Saravanan said the in-house temperature would be maintained between

30 and 35 degrees during the day. The root temperature would be between

22 and 25 degrees. The poly greenhouse had UV protection to evenly spread

the light.

Agriculture officials interact with farmers

A team of officials from Department of Agriculture, Co-operation and

Farmers Welfare, New Delhi, carried out a field inspection of the

implementation of the National Food Security Mission (NFSM) -Pulses in

the district on Wednesday.

They also interacted with beneficiaries who had benefited from the scheme

for the past three years from 2012-13.

The internal audit team comprising Dharmendra Kumar and S.P.Sharma,

visited Poongudi and Kuruvikarankulam and held discussion with NFSM

scheme beneficiaries who had received subsidies for PVC pipes for pumping

water for irrigation, rotavators, sprinkler irrigation systems and other inputs

for cluster demonstration.

Farmers requested the officials to ensure 50 per cent subsidy for rotavators

as the subsidy is capped at Rs.35,000.

The officials inspected the redgram cluster demonstration fields and working

of sprinkler irrigation system at Kuruvikarankulam.

R.Chandrasekaran, Joint Director of Agriculture, G.Saravannan, Deputy

Director of Agriculture, and other officials accompanied the team who had

detailed interaction with farmers on achieving higher productivity in pulses.

Solar pumpsets are a boon to farmers

They come as both short-term and long-term solution in power-deficit

regions

Konatam Venkateswara Rao, a farmer from Maddulaparava in Reddigudem

mandal of Krishna district, could not cultivate any crop in his three-acre

farmland last year as he did not have water to irrigate the crop.

His fields are located far from the village and use of a diesel-run pumpset

would cost him Rs.3,000 each season, which he can ill-afford.

The farmer has found a solution in solar-powered agricultural pump set.

Each 5hp pumpset costs Rs. 4.9 lakh, but a subsidy of 89 per cent brings

down the cost to Rs. 55,000.

Instead of incurring a recurring cost of Rs. 90,000 per annum, Venkateswara

Rao has opted for the solar-powered pumpset and is a happy man today.

Solar-powered water pumping solution comes as a boon to meet irrigation

and drinking water needs of rural population, especially in power-deficit

regions.

The government is supplying these pumpsets through the New and

Renewable Energy Development Corporation of Andhra Pradesh

(NREDCAP), which has kicked off an aggressive campaign to educate the

masses and create market awareness on feasibility of the sun-tapped energy

source.

Applications

In Krishna district, the NREDCAP has received 850 applications from

farmers seeking to install solar pumpsets in their fields.

Nearly 650 of them have made payment of their share (Rs.55,000), while

450 installations have been completed so far.

“Unlike in the past when we were supplying only submersible pumpsets, the

device now has ahermetically sealed motor close-coupled to the pump body

and the whole assembly is submerged in the fluid to be pumped. We are now

giving mono block or surface-mounted pumpsets as well. These pumps are

of single stage, end suction, uni-casing type fitted with cast iron impeller,

and are specially designed for domestic water supply, hotels, apartments,

gardens, small farms, agriculture, and industrial application,” explains K.

Srinivas Rao, NREDCAP, Krishna district manager.

The mono block pumpsets are suitable for areas like Gudivada and

Challapalli, where water level is high, he says, adding that horticulturists are

embracing solar pumpsets in a big way.

With a continuous rise in thirst for water and energy, solar pumping systems

come as both a short-term and long-term solution.

The dairy farmer who banks on alternative power sources

ower failures are no longer a nightmare for B.A. Shajahan. This dairy

farmer produces alternative power from his farm that enables him to run all

the electrical equipment in his house

B.A. Shajahan, alias Shaji, is a middle-aged dairy farmer who lives at

Panambukad Island, north of the Transshipment Terminal. He owns 15

cows, supplies around 70 litres of milk everyday to hotels and houses, sells

35 litres from his ‘outlet’ at home. He still has a supply of milk that he needs

to preserve for the next day. This is where Shajahan faced a problem that led

to a very ingenious solution.

“The island where I live experiences frequent power supply failure. Since

the electricity office is located quite far off it takes hours usually to be

restored. People here have become accustomed to this. But I could not do

without regular supply of electricity or an alternative source of energy that

would help keep the milk fresh. This led me to think of electricity generated

out of the slurry from the cowsheds,” says Shajahan.

He now produces alternative power from the resources of his own farm. The

result: Shajahan is now able to generate 2,200 watts of electricity daily from

the slurry consisting of cow dung and urine. This enables him to run all the

electrical equipment in his house that include the two refrigerators to store

milk, television, five fans, two motor pumps, computer, tube lights etc. The

gas stove in his kitchen is also run by bio gas.

Dr. Sulekha S.L, Veterinary Surgeon, who co-ordinated the project, explains

how the whole system works. “The cow dung and urine is stored in a 350

litre tank. This is mixed with 250 litres of water in a collecting tank. This

mixture is mixed and pumped into a digester. Here the anaerobic digestion

(process without oxygen) happens and biogas is created. This gas is then

directed to a balloon-shaped gas collector. The outlet of this collector is

connected to a blower through pipes. The blower helps to maintain the

outflow and is connected to a generator or engine that will convert this gas

into electricity. The waste slurry obtained from biogas plant is used as

manure.

“I have put up a proposal with the Mulavukad Grama Panchayat requesting

for financial assistance to upgrade the equipment like biogas plant, generator

etc. so as to increase the power production to 5,000 watts daily. If that

happens I will be able to light up the street lights in my area,” states

Shajahan.

Viji Shajan, President, Mulavukad Grama Panchayat, is aware of the

benefits and is positive that the panchayat would help Shajahan. “The grama

panchayat council is aware of Shajahan’s achievements. We will definitely

help his endeavour within our financial constraints,” he says.

Shajahan’s inspiration came from a study tour to a dairy farm at

Thumboormoozhi. “I decided to set up a biogas plant. Initially, I installed a

2,500 litre plant. It was then that I thought of trying to pass this gas through

an engine and create electricity. That’s how I landed up creating an alternate

power generating system,” adds Shajahan.

‘Under the ATMA (Agricultural Technology Management Agency) scheme

of the State Agriculture Department, Shajahan was provided with a subsidy

of Rs. 2, 50,000 and technical knowhow to set up a full-fledged plant. “The

project, Waste to Energy, was successfully implemented by Shajahan. We

are proud of it and have submitted a proposal to State Planning Board to

expand this scheme State-wide,” says Maya S. Nair, Deputy Director, Dept.

of Agriculture. The Farm Information Bureau has also recognised his

project, while many farmers seek guidance from him.

Shajahan is assisted in his endeavour by his wife Rajitha and son Rahul, an

engineering student.

Shajahan’s initiative can be of immense help to dairy farmers and can also

be a solution to the power crisis that often acts as a spanner in the wheel for

countless farmers.

In a first, IMD to bring out summer forecast

It could be of use to power companies, service-sector industries and

planners

For the first time in its history, the India Meteorological Department — best

known for its monsoon forecasts — will issue a summer forecast for April,

May and June. Those involved say that though such a forecast may not be of

much help to farmers — who rely on IMD’s rain forecasts to make sowing

decisions and don’t plant their crops in these months — the information

would be useful to power companies, several service-sector industries and

state planners who’d like a heads-up on possible water shortages.

In mid-March, the IMD will send out a colour-coded map of India, showing

how temperatures in different regions of the country are likely to deviate

from what’s normal, during summer months. These numbers would be

updated every five days, Madhavan Rajeevan, Secretary, Ministry of Earth

Sciences (MoES) told The Hindu. The IMD reports to the MoES.

“We are now experimenting with new kinds of climate models and a lot of

people have demanded summer forecasts…we’re trying it this year but it

will take at least a year for it to work smoothly,” said Mr. Rajeevan.

Businesses that have requested summer forecasts include manufacturers of

refrigerators, air conditioners, ice cream and cold drinks, he added.

El Nino and heatwave

The IMD’s initiative comes even as India bears the brunt of one of the

longest and severest El Ninos ever experienced. Said to be responsible for

two consecutive droughts as well awry winter patterns in North India, the El

Nino — a meteorological phenomenon marked by an unusual warming of

the surface waters of the Pacific Ocean and associated with droughts — is

likely to continue for a couple of months more. While this may mean more

heatwaves, it would not affect this year’s monsoon, according to Mr.

Rajeevan.

The IMD does give warnings about imminent heatwaves and dry weather

but these are no more than five days ahead. The key factor to forecasting

weather a few months ahead is in ensuring that the computerised weather

models are consistently able to simulate the weather as it actually plays out.

“It’s useful information,” said N. Bhanumurthy, of the National Institute of

Public Finance and Policy. “Farmers are now not the only people interested

in weather forecasts.”

Last month, the IMD officially expunged the word “drought” from its

vocabulary, months after it correctly forecast one of India’s severest

monsoon deficits last year.

State govt. not cooperating with Centre: Minister

The Union government is planning to set up a fertilizer unit in the State, says

Ananth Kumar

The State government is not cooperating with the Union government in its

efforts to set up a fertilizer unit in the State, H.N. Ananth Kumar, Union

Minister for Chemical and Fertilizers, said in Bidar on Wednesday.

The UPA government did not start a single fertilizer unit in its 10-year rule,

the BJP leader told presspersons here. “But the NDA government has taken

steps to set up units in Dalcher, Ramagundam, Sindhri, Daroni and

Gorakhpur,” he added. The Union Minister was in the city to campaign for

Prakash Khandre, the BJP nominee for the Bidar Assembly bypoll.

The Union government is keen on starting a chemical fertilizer factory in the

state. “We have informed the State government that we want to start it in

north Karnataka, Bengaluru or any other place. But the government is yet to

give us assurances of land grant and other clearances,” he said. Mr. Ananth

Kumar said that the State government just blames the Union government and

does not cooperate with the Centre in developing the State.

“We have completely stopped diversion of urea by neem coating and other

methods. We have also taken steps to ensure that there is no scarcity of urea

or other chemical fertilizers,” he claimed.

Mr. Ananth Kumar said the NDA government led by Prime Minister

Narendra Modi has taken up several development works and Mr. Modi was

being hailed as a world leader by several international experts.

“Mr. Modi has given me an important portfolio of supplying fertiliser to 65

per cent of the country’s farmers. Some Congress leaders are trying to

comment on my work without understanding its importance,” he said.

Earlier, Mr. Ananth Kumar held a road show along with other leaders in the

city. MP Bhagwant Khuba, MLCs Raghunathrao Malkapure, B. G Patil and

Amarnath Patil, district BJP president Shivaraj Gandage, and others were

present.

‘State govt. anti-farmer’

The Congress government is anti-farmer, Mr. Ananth Kumar said.

Addressing a rally on the APMC yard premises, the BJP leader said that the

State government had no concrete plan for the welfare and development of

farmers.

“Forget coming up with new schemes for farmers, the Congress government

has not even been able to distribute crop loss relief to farmers already been

released by the Union government,” he said.

The Union government had released Rs. 1,540 crore to take up drought-

relief works in the State, he said and added that the money is yet to be

deposited into the bank accounts of eligible farmers.

He compared the state government to a tortoise for its pace of development.

“The only thing Mr Siddharamaiah is good at is falling asleep during

important meetings and government functions,” Mr. Ananth Kumar said.

‘Polls a referendum’

Mr. Ananth Kumar said that the ensuing zilla and taluk panchayat elections

would be a referendum on the performance of the Congress government in

the state.

Speaking to The Hindu in Kalaburagi, he said that voters, especially farmers,

would reject the Congress in the forthcoming local body polls. He came

down heavily on the State government over its handling of the drought

situation and the distribution of compensation to farmers.

Calling the statement of Chief Minister Siddaramaiah that the Union

government had only released 60 per cent of the drought relief funds as

‘irresponsible,’ Mr. Ananth Kumar said that the State government cannot

absolve itself of the responsibility of helping the farmers in distress.

The State, which claims of having a budget of Rs 1.35 lakh crore, should not

have any problem in releasing Rs. 600 crore from its coffers to provide relief

to farmers, Mr. Ananth Kumar said.

“This is nothing short of callous and negligent attitude of the State

government towards the farmers of the state who are in great distress,” he

added.

It was pathetic to see that the Deputy Commissioners, who had the onerous

responsibility of ensuing the crop compensation released by the Centre

reached the farmers, were washing their hands of by stating that the funds

released by the State government as crop compensation had been released to

the tahsildars and it was their responsibility to pay it to the farmers.

To a question, Mr. Annath Kumar gave broad indications of change in guard

in the BJP state unit and said, “Change in the leadership (at the state) is

natural…..every three years the elections are held to the select office bearers

and a new team takes over…..unlike other political parties, we

democratically elect our office bearers”.

He said after the local body elections, the core group of the party, consisting

of himself, MPs B.S. Yeddyurappa and Pralhad Joshi and former chief

minister Jagadish Shettar, would meet and chart the future course of action.

“All the decisions, including the leadership issue, would be taken up in a

united manner …. we want to strengthen the party,” he said.

The upcoming local body polls are a referendum on the performance of

the State government.

H.N. Ananth Kumar

Union Minister

Red chilli commands record price

It is attributed to slump in production and speculation over its availability

hot commodity:A farmer drying chillies at his field at Pulledigunta in Guntur

district. —FILE PHOTO

The famed red chilli is in hot demand at Asia’a largest chilli yard here with

the price of the premium ‘Teja’ variety shooting up to Rs.15,500 per quintal.

This is the highest price commanded by the product in recent years, say

trade sources. Slump in production in the State due to unfavourable weather

and crop failure in Madhya Pradesh have led to the steep hike in the price,

they say.

The prices of most varieties of chilli have shot up by Rs. 500 per quintal.

“The price of the Teja variety has shot up to Rs.12,500 per quintal.

Similarly, the per quintal prices of DD 341 and 334 varieties stood at to

Rs.13,700 and Rs. 12,700. But the demand could be artificial as drastic

slump in production in the State has led to speculation about the availability

of the produce,” said chilli merchant Kilaru Rosaiah on Wednesday.

With the season starting in the middle of January, the arrivals began to pick

up at the market yard. On Monday, the arrivals shot up to 1.20 lakh bags, the

highest in the season. On Wednesday, the arrivals reached 80,090 bags.

But trade sources said that the initial enthusiasm could wean away as

production was expected to be cut down by at least 40 per cent.

According to estimates, there could be a shortfall of 25.30 lakh bags this

season, which could be a major setback to chilli farmers.

Failure of both the southwest and northeast monsoons has wiped out any

chances of revival of the crop.

Farmers in the Palnadu region even tried to salvage the crop by digging

borewells, but the groundwater levels too dipped to an all-time low.

India is among the leading producers of chilli in the world, along with

China, Pakistan, and Bangladesh.

Andhra Pradesh accounts for more than 65 per cent of chilli production in

the country. Of the 11 lakh tonnes produced in the country, 6.7 lakh tonnes

is produced in AP alone.

Mughal Gardens to open on Friday

The Mughal Gardens at the Rashtrapati Bhavan in all its splendour.—

Photo: Shanker Chakravarty

President Pranab Mukherjee will officially declare the garden festival open

ulips in full bloom and sweet-smelling roses greet visitors at the Rashtrapati

Bhavan’s Mughal Gardens, which opened to the public on Friday.

The sprawling lawns feature spread over 15 acres boast around 70 varieties

of seasonal flowers. The annual garden festival, Udyanotsav, will begin on

Friday and continue till March 20. Visitors can come in from 9 a.m. to 4

p.m. every day, except Mondays which is when the gardens are closed for

maintenance. The last day of the festival, March 20, will be reserved for

farmers, differently-abled persons and Defence, Paramilitary and Delhi

Police personnel. Entry to the gardens is from gate number 35 near North

Avenue.

The highlights for visitors this year would be tulips, roses and primroses,

said U.D. Kukreti, officer on special duty (horticulture).

“Another interesting plant is the flower called ‘Lady’s Purse’, which

resembles women’s handbags,” Mr. Kukreti said. President Pranab

Mukherjee, who enjoys his morning walk in the Mughal Gardens, will

officially declare the festival open on Thursday.

The gardens, which are three successive terraces, have been inspired by the

Mughal gardens of Jammu and Kashmir. With water channels running along

the lawns, birds and butterflies flock to the flowerbeds that have dahlias,

carnations, roses and pansies. This time, the horticulture staff has planted

12,000 tulips that were especially flown in from Holland.

“The blooming tulips show the hard work of our gardeners. The tulips are

sent from Holland in a temperature-controlled environment. Our vans from

the Rashtrapati Bhavan pick them up from the airport and the temperature is

maintained in refrigeration units,” Mr. Kukreti said.

The tulips, which were planted in December and began to bloom in January,

are likely to wither away by February 25, according to horticulture

department officials.

Apart from the Mughal Gardens, visitors will also be able to take a peek at a

herbal garden that has 33 medicinal and aromatic plants, a bonsai garden

with about 250 plants, a cactus garden with 80 varieties and a musical

garden with 12 fountains.

This time, the horticulture staff has planted 12,000 tulips that were

especially flown in from Holland

Training in ornamental fish farming

A free training programme on ‘Ornamental fish farming’ will be held at the

Krishi Vigyan Kendra in Veterinary College and Research Institute premises

on Mohanur Road on February 15.

A press release from N.Akila, Senior Scientist and Head, said that the

programme would deal with types of ornamental fish, maintenance of the

fishes, feeding methods and also on improving the productivity.

Farmers, members of self-help groups, youth and interested persons can

participate in the training programme.

For registration visit the KVK in person or register through phone: 04286-

266345 and 266650.

Last date for registration is February 14.

Farmers’ convention in Udupi on February 14

The Udupi Zilla Krishik Sangha will organise a farmers’ convention at

Sharada Mantapa here on February 14.

Addressing presspersons here on Monday, Bantakal Ramakrishna Sharma,

president of the sangha, said that nearly 5,000 farmers from different parts of

the district were expected to participate. There would be seminars on issues

related to agriculture, horticulture and dairy farming.

The topics which would be discussed at the seminars include ‘Management

of coconut and arecanut crops’, ‘Production technology in horticulture’,

‘Marketing and value addition of agricultural products’, ‘Medicinal plants

for daily use’, ‘Importance of micronutrients for horticultural crops’,

‘Integrated farming system’, ‘Scientific cultivation of jasmine plants’,

‘Profitable cultivation of vegetables in Coastal belt’, ‘Importance of local

breed of cattle’, and ‘Use of local technology in dairy farming’.

Experts in agriculture and horticulture would participate as resource persons

in these seminars.

There would be an interaction session between farmers and heads of various

government departments such as Agriculture, Revenue, Horticulture, and

Cooperation, and Mescom in the afternoon from 2 p.m. to 3.30 p.m.

Priyanka Mary Francis, Chief Executive Officer of Dakshina Kannada Zilla

Panchayat, will preside over the interaction session.

An exhibition-cum-sale of equipment required for agriculture and

horticulture, seeds and saplings, and books on farming, would be held at the

venue.

M. Bhaskar Shetty from Uchila; Ravi Poojary from Kurkalu; Antappa from

Perampalli; Sampa S. Bangera from Hirebettu; and Ali Abba from Uchila,

farmers, would be felicitated during the inaugural function

Vidyavallabha Tirtha Swami of Kaniyur Mutt would inaugurate the

convention. Narasimha Nayak, progressive farmer from Tirthahalli, would

deliver the keynote address, Mr. Sharma said.

Kudi Srinivas Bhat, general secretary of the sangha, said that the sangha had

written to the government and Karnataka Agriculture Price Commission to

increase the minimum support price for paddy. The government should do

value addition to boiled rice as it was less polished boiled rice had more

demand in cities. The government should compensate banana farmers as its

price had crashed from Rs. 10,000 per tonne to Rs. 2,000 per tonne in the

last five months. The sangha would soon launch a struggle for getting rights

for ‘kumki’ lands to the farmers in the district, he said.

Dinesh Shetty Herga, vice-president of the sangha; Ravindra Poojary

Gujjarbettu, secretary; and Panduranga Nayak, treasurer, were present.

Nearly 5,000 farmers are expected to participate in the meeting

A lesson to learn: Bangladesh reaps the benefits while India dithers

on GM

Bangladesh’s record at promoting crop biotechnology is a marked contrast

to India’s ambivalence

Although India commercialised its first GM crop (Bt cotton) back in 2002,

its dithering approach in the last 5-6 years stands in marked contrast to the

support and favourable regulatory policies from the governments of our

immediate South Asian neighbours.

India’s crop biotech Industry has been going through a period of great

uncertainty ever since the moratorium on commercialisation of Bt Brinjal

that was imposed by then Minister of Environment and Forests in February

2010, despite the Genetic Engineering Appraisal Committee giving the go-

ahead following satisfactory bio-safety test results from large-scale field

trials.

When the current government came to power in 2014, it was hoped that the

logjam with respect to not just commercial cultivation approvals, but even

field trials, would be cleared. However, due to resistance to genetically

modified (GM) crop technology from certain quarters, this has not played

out as expected and the regulatory environment still remains uncertain.

This comes even as our neighbouring countries are going ahead with

harnessing the benefits of GM crops, which, in 2014, were planted by 18

million farmers in 181.5 million hectares — compared to a mere 1.7 million

hectares in 1996.

While the likes of Pakistan, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Philippines and Vietnam

are adopting GM technology to improve crop yields and reduce input costs,

we are still questioning its potential not on the basis of scientific evidence,

but using emotional arguments (Last week, the government deferred a

decision on allowing commercial planting of GM hybrid mustard, caving

into pressure from NGOs/activists).

Commercialising a crop biotech product is a time-consuming affair. This

extends to not just the time required in developing a new transgenic plant

event, but also subsequent bio-safety tests and field trials that take anywhere

between three to seven years. In a scenario of regulatory policy uncertainty,

nobody would want to invest both time and money in such efforts.

Today, we have a situation where hurdles are being placed even on

conducting field trials that are meant to generate data on food, feed and

environmental safety of the biotech product sought to introduced. On the one

hand, activists argue that no biotech crop should be permitted for

commercial cultivation until its safety is proven. At the same time, they also

want to block field trials that are required to generate the necessary bio-

safety data!

Although India commercialised its first GM crop (Bt cotton) back in 2002,

its dithering approach in the last 5-6 years stands in marked contrast to the

support and favourable regulatory policies from the governments of our

immediate South Asian neighbours.

Take Bangladesh, which is proactively working on leveraging GM

technology for its farmers. It is, indeed, worthwhile taking a closer look at

the country’s progress in this field in recent times:

In Bangladesh was the first country to approve the commercial planting of

Bt brinjal in late-2013, after being disallowed by India. Bt brinjal has been

harvested over two seasons, with farmers deriving better marketable yields

and incomes from its successful commercialisation under the close guidance

of the Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute.

** The country is currently undertaking confined field trials of Bt cotton to

support its thriving readymade garment and textile industry. Bangladesh is,

in fact, the world’s second largest importer and consumer of cotton. Through

Bt cotton, it now plans to boost domestic production to meet growing local

demand, while significantly reducing imports, including from India.

** Bangladesh Rice Research Institute (BRR) recently announced field trials

of the world’s first vitamin A-enriched rice, also called ‘Golden Rice’. This

comes in the wake of the same institute releasing the world’s first zinc-rich

rice variety in 2013.

** Salinity-tolerant rice is another GM trait being developed by BRRI in

collaboration with other international research partners. This again is a result

of the Bangladesh government recognising the challenges posed by saline

land, especially for a crop that supplies nearly 70 per cent of the calorie

requirement of the country’s 160 million-strong population.

** Bangladesh is also in the last phase of field trials for a late blight-resistant

potato. Late blight is a fungal disease, which is a serious concern in potatoes

that is a staple food for the country’s people and largely grown by resource-

poor farmers. The new transgenic late blight-resistant potato technology will

enable farmers to harvest higher yields and also better-quality potato. It will

also minimise use of hazardous fungicide sprays, with attendant benefits for

both the soil and the environment.

These progressive steps in our neighbouring country wouldn’t have been

achieved without support of all stakeholders — from the government and

scientists to farmers. It is ironical that Bangladesh’s farmers are today

growing Bt brinjal that was originally developed in India and couldn’t be

released here because of ideological opposition to a technology having the

potential to revolutionise agriculture.

It is time for our government, too, to strengthen its commitment towards

advancement of agriculture through science and technology. Indian farmers

have equal right to scientific solutions that would help enhance their crop

productivity, incomes and livelihoods.

Natural agriculture: The man behind ‘zero-budget spiritual farming’

Padma awardee believes there’s much to learn from ancient Indian

cultivation techniques

Subhash Palekar demonstrates the preparation of ‘Jiwamrita’ formulation. –

SUBHASH Palekar got to know that he was selected for the Padma Shri,

while watching TV at a hotel room in Kakinada last month. The 66-year-old

agriculturalist from Belora village of Amravati district in Maharashtra’s

Vidarbha region was at port city to address some 8,000 farmers at an Andhra

Pradesh government-organised programme, where he was specially

felicitated by the chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu.

Palekar is happy being conferred India’s fourth highest civilian award “not

because it was I, but a practicing farmer who got it”. Palekar is a pioneer of

‘zero-budget spiritual farming’, a technique that he claims has over 40 lakh

adherents, three-fourths of them in South India.

While a staunch critic of chemical agriculture, Palekar interestingly isn’t

supportive of the much-hyped ‘organic farming’ or the Japanese philosopher

Masanobu Fukuoka’s ‘natural farming’ either.

Organic farming, he tells The Indian Express, is based on composting and

vermicompost techniques that have originated in western countries “and

actually pollute the atmosphere, as the resultant manures are known to emit

huge quantities of greenhouse gases (methane)”. Similarly, Fukuoka

“prescribes sowing and harvesting without any intervention, whereas this

approach only leads to excessive weed growth in farms, affecting crop

yields”.

His method, on the other hand, largely draws from ancient Indian farming

techniques, at the heart of which is a formulation called ‘Jiwamrita’. The

formulation itself was a revelation that followed appraisal and practical

experience of various farming techniques for over two decades, right from

the seventies while as a student at the Shri Shivaji Agriculture College in

Amravati.

“I was doing a project in the Melghat forest area of Amravati to assess the

impact of nature on the lives of the indigenous Korku tribal community. It

was there that I realised how nature was the answer to the problems

stemming from modern-day agriculture based on chemical fertilisers and

pesticides. The question I asked myself was: how do we have such a wide

variety of trees that grow abundantly in nature without our doing anything to

help them grow?” says Palekar.

The search for answers led him to conclude that that the so-called modern

agricultural practices taught at universities were, indeed, detrimental to

farming. “The only terms that got repeatedly hammered in students’ minds

were fertilisers, hybrid seeds, insecticides, irrigation, and deep trenches. So

deeply entrenched were these concepts that they made us unable to think

beyond and practice anything other than chemical farming,” he adds.

Palekar’s decision to exit his undergraduate agriculture degree programme

midway was only logical. The following two decades were spent on finding

answers to agricultural problems based on nature’s teachings. By the year

2000, he had “standardised” his technique of farming centered around

‘Jiwamrita’.

“The farmer needs to apply to the crop a dose of Jiwamrita — a fermented

solution containing 200 litres water, 5-10 litres cow urine, 10 kg dung, 1 kg

each of gur (jaggery) and besan (gram flour), and a handful of soil from the

farm bund — for every acre. The other important thing is to spread a carpet

of harvested crop residue between crop rows, which helps to absorb

moisture from the atmosphere and also prevents emergence of weeds,”

explains Palekar.

According to him, Jiwamrita basically nurtures thousands of bacteria

essential for healthy crop growth. The urine and dung used in the

formulation, he insists, should be from indigenous cattle: “one desi cow can

nourish 30 acres”.

What are crop yields like? “You can get 5-6 quintals of cotton and 3-6

quintals of soyabean per acre in non-irrigated patches. On irrigated patches,

these can go up to 10 quintals. Besides, my method contributes to soil

health, while increasing the plant’s capacity to even tolerate inundation from

heavy rains or hailstorms,” declares Palekar.

What about production costs? “The term zero-budget farming is self-

explanatory. All you spend is on seeds and Rs 5,000 per acre for laying the

harvested residue carpet, which can be covered by the inter-crop raised on it.

So, whatever is obtained from sale of the main crop is your income and

there’s no question of farmers committing suicide,” he states.

Palekar’s writings have made him popular enough to attract hordes of

visitors to his 31-acre farm at Belora, apart from receiving lecture invitations

from across the country and even abroad. Today, he spends 25 days of the

month on tour to give ‘free’ training sessions to those willing to experiment

with his technique. Among his fans are Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J

Jayalalithaa and her Andhra Pradesh counterpart Chandrababu Naidu; the

latter sought that Palekar spend at least 10 days a month in the state and visit

all districts to promote natural farming.

He hasn’t got any such call from his home state yet, though.

Maharashtra government eyes Rs 50,000 cr for solar energy

CM set to bring modifications to reduce solar power cost to make it farmer-

friendly.

Devendra Fadnavis

Maharashtra is looking at attracting investments worth Rs 50,000 crore to

boost its solar energy project, which it will promote at the Make in India

Week.

Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis held discussions with Union Power

Minister Piyush Goyal aggressively pushing solar power. The government,

with the help of the Centre and private sectors, is set to bring modifications

to reduce solar power cost to make it farmer-friendly in rural Maharashtra.

This has been meticulously planned and would be projected during the mega

event from February 13 to 18, it is learnt.

Fadnavis said, “The state government is keen on tapping maximum

investments in solar sector which would play a crucial role in accomplishing

our goal to provide 24 x7 power to Maharashtra.”

He added, “The agrarian crisis in a state reeling under drought can be

effectively tackled only through making the farmers self reliant with water

and power. The Centre and the state are working together to attain targets

albeit with some concern related to cost and infrastructure which are being

finetuned.”

The chief minister said the state should “bring down installation cost of solar

panel to make it more affordable to farmers.”

The state government’s stress on solar power is to make the agro-sector,

specially in rural Maharashtra, economically viable for which a number of

policy measures have been taken. In the last one year, the state government

provided 1.5 lakh agriculture pumps to farmers including those in the 14

drought-prone districts.

There is a clear directive to the energy department to immediately give

connections to farmers on demand and get rid of the waiting period.

Fadnavis held a meeting to review and explore the state’s potential to

promote solar energy. The Centre’s decision to allow 100 per cent foreign

direct investment in renewable energy, especially solar power, is expected to

bring greater investments. Maharashtra is among the first states to take up

solar energy on a high scale. It has set a target to provide 5 lakh agriculture

pumps operating on solar energy.

At present, the cost for solar power works out to Rs 7 per unit. The state and

the Centre heavily subsidise solar power. Unlike thermal power, solar power

is exempted from taxes to reduce overall cost. It may be mentioned that

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has emphasised the significance of solar

energy in the Make in India Mission.

Earlier, the Centre had decided to enhance solar power capacity under the

National Solar Mission by five times to achieve the 100 gigawatt (GW)

mark by the year 2022 and the total investment is an estimated Rs 6,000

billion.

BKS steps up pressure to revise MSP for cash crops, to give memos

to Collectors

Speaking to The Indian Express, state BKS president Maganbhai Patel said

that his organisation would submit memorandum to all 33 district collectors

in one week.

To bring pressure on the central government to raise the minimum support

price for cotton, groundnut, castor and other chief agricultural crops, the

state unit of the RSS-affiliated Bhartiya Kisan Sangh (BKS) is giving

memorandum to district collectors seeking hike in MSP.

BKS which started the campaign two days ago, has submitted memorandum

in seven districts so far.

Speaking to The Indian Express, state BKS president Maganbhai Patel said

that his organisation would submit memorandum to all 33 district collectors

in one week.

Stating that both the state and central governments should take initiatives as

soon as possible to raise MSP, Patel said that farming had become

unattractive for farmers because increase in cost of input and labour.

Patel said that farmers toiled day and night and yet, they were not able to

arrange even basic necessities for their families.

“Hence, BKS wants the government to take immediate steps to revise MSP

for cash crops like cotton. groundnut and castor in Gujarat,” said Patel.

FRP: Govt may crack down on sugar mills not adhering to

80:20 formula

Senior officials of the sugar commissionerate said around 40 mills might

face action for delay in paying the

Payment trends so far show that most of the mills have adhered to the

formula, but have deferred payment. (Express Photo)

Sugar mills in the state that fail to adhere to the 80:20 formula for payment

of Fair and Remunerative Price (FRP) to farmers might face action from the

sugar commissionerate. Senior officials in commissionerate said the

government may seize and auction the sugar stock of such mills.

The start of the present sugarcane crushing season saw Chief Minister

Devendra Fadnavis chair a meeting of mill owners and growers about

payment of the FRP. While the cane-growers, led by Swabhimani Shetkari

Sangathana, had demanded the FRP in one installment, mill owners wanted

to pay in three installments. After the meeting, it was decided that for the

current season, FRP would be paid in two installment in the 80:20 formula.

Payment trends so far show that most of the mills have adhered to the

formula, but have deferred the payment. As of January 31, the total payment

due to cane growers was around Rs 9,060 crore. As per the 80:20 formula,

the payment due calculates to Rs 7,248 crore. The actual payments made by

the mills was Rs 6,064 crore – a shortfall of over Rs 1,000 crore. Three mills

in the state that have failed to adhere to the formula are from the Solapur

district.

Senior officials of the sugar commissionerate said around 40 mills might

face action for delay in paying the farmers.

The action can include seizure and auctioning of their sugar stock to recover

the amount due, under the Revenue Recovery Act of 1890.

Meanwhile, mill owners say the increase in the cess on sugar has hit them

hard, with the price of the commodity dropping by over Rs 100 in the

market. Sanjiv Babar, managing director of the Maharashtra State

Cooperative Sugar Factories Federation, said mills are finding it difficult to

sell sugar. “Prices have again come down and there is hardly any demand in

either domestic or international markets,” he said. Babar said the mills want

to pay the growers, but market forces have played a dampener.

With winter coming to an end, mills in the state have started closing. As of

Tuesday, 26 mills have closed their operations for the current season, with

Nanded division witnessing the highest -11- such closures. Eight mills have

wrapped up operations in Pune division.

The state has witnessed crushing of 547.95 lakh metric tonnes and

production of 595.22 lakh quintals of sugar this season. At present, 177 mills

(99 cooperative and 78 private) are still in operation.

Futuristic farmers: A sweet story of success

Like flies to sugar, farmers will be drawn to stevia if they stick to it like

Rajpal Singh Gandhi. (Gurminder Singh/HT)

It’s 400 times sweeter than the most common sweetener, sugar, and with

zero calories attached. Planted once, it’s crop for five years, every four

months. Growing it has been an even sweeter experience for Banga’s

income tax consultant Rajpal Singh Gandhi (56).

When stories of agrarian crisis were coming out, Gandhi was looking to get

into agriculture after 10 years of advising people on a different kind of

returns. Unlike the average farmer of Punjab, he had the money to take risk,

which allowed him to not only grow this natural sweetener in the Kandi

(sub-mountainous) area of the Shivalik foothills but also build a processing

plant with hard research. Now stevia is big income to many small farmers;

and awards, recognition and states are chasing Gandhi.

After bitter experience

The story with a happy ending had a depressing start. His 6-acre crop, 10

years of hard work, had turned out to be of no use in the absence of a

processing unit in the country. “We contacted the Indian Institute of

Technology, Mumbai, to assemble a prototype for us. Lakhs of rupees went

into it but the unit still had many shortcomings. I had to work on it for two

years, meeting scientists, engineers and innovators, but the result of our hard

work is sweet,” said Gandhi.

Initially, he started with growing kinnow over 35 acres in 2003. Lack of

marketing facilities forced him in 2008 to reduce the crop are to less than a

half. “I tried planting potato and other vegetables, even gladiolus, but the

marketing facilities remained poor and I looked to stevia, my wisest

decision,” a beaming Gandhi told HT.

Rajpal Singh Gandh’s tissue-culture laboratory at Pojewal in Nawanshahr

district. (Gurminder Singh/HT)

His stevia testing and research laboratory is certified by the Indian

department of scientific and industrial research (DSIR) and his processing

plant is built with soft loan from the department of biotechnology under the

Ministry of Science and Technology. “The ministry liked our innovative

idea and the help came easy,” he said.

The Rs 12-crore plant can process 5 tonnes of stevia leaves in a shift of 8

hours, which is equivalent to crop out of 5 acres. “We turned challenges into

opportunities and now we have the only stevia-processing unit in the

country,” says Gandhi.

A tissue-culture laboratory helps improve the plant variety. Gandhi’s

company, Green Valley Farms, sells processed stevia under a brand name.

It’s in powder forms in sachets and containers. Stevia green tea is a hit on

the market.

States chase him

Attracted by Gandhi’s story, the Gujarat government invited him last year to

the Vibrant Gujarat investment summit, where they signed a deal to grow

stevia over 2,500 acres in the Aravali and Kaparganj districts with a 100%

buy-back clause and small farmers of the area. “The invite came a fortnight

before the summit, and when the meet ended, the deal was operational.

Gujarat moves so fast,” said Gandhi, adding: “The chief secretary of the

state had one-on-one meetings with me, and all issues were taken care of in

no time.”

Planted once, stevia crop for five years, every four months.

On February 28, he is going to sign an agreement with the Uttar Pradesh

medicinal plant board in Lukhnow to grow the sweet crop over 4,000 acres,

starting with 700 acres. “Already the board grows medicinal plants over a

large area and it plans to switch to stevia. Since the logistics are simpler, I

plan to build a processing plant in UP,” said the farmer.

On knowing that Gandhi had reached an agreement with Gujarat, Punjab

chief minister Parkash Singh Badal also invited him and built stevia

promotion bureau in the state with additional chief secretary Suresh Kumar

as its head and Gandhi as one of the members. “I want to do more in Punjab,

for which things need to move faster,” said Gandhi.

In Punjab, he is helping farmers grow stevia over 25 acres in Gurdaspur,

Ludhiana, and Ferozpur districts. “It is my personal initiative. I plan to

involve farmers to grow the crop over 450 acres by this season,” he said.

Foreign tie-ups

Before coming into stevia-processing, Gandhi visited China and South

American countries Colombia and Paraguay to get know about the plant.

“Paraguay claims stevia is its native crop, so I went there to learn,” he said.

He ended up signing agreements with Canadian company Pixels Health for

as much Stevia powder as Gandhi could supply.

Last July, the Democratic Republic of Congo government took saplings

from him to grow in the central African country, and now encouraged by the

results, is willing to enter a buy-back arrangement with him.

Gandhi is only member from Punjab on the Indian Council of Food and

Agriculture, a body of experts from different fields, with “Father of Indian

Green Revolution” MS Sawaminathan as chief patron. “In September 2014,

he gave me an award, declaring that stevia growing was sweet revolution for

health as wheat and paddy were Green Revolution against hunger,” said

Gandhi.

Future crop

India consumes 2.6 crore tonnes of sugar every year, and if given a choice,

would like to shift to a healthier option — stevia, which is a zero-calorie

sweetener, a kilogram of which has sweetness of 400 kilograms of sugar,

which is also costlier. Japan’s 70% population has moved to stevia as a

sweetener. “After local issues are settled,” says Gandhi, “I would explore the

market in Japan.”

In November 2015, the Food and Safety Standards Authority of India

(FSSAI) approved stevia as a sugar substitute. “Now companies such as

Pepsi and Coca Cola are expected to use it in a big way in their already-

launched zero-calorie aerated drinks Pepsi-next and Coke-life,” says Gandhi.

Stevia facts

400 times sweeter than sugar

0 calories

Native of South America (Colombia, Brazil, Paraguay)

70% of Japan has switched to it

Approved as sugar substitute by FSSAI

Boon for farmers,environment

5 years of crop after being planted once

Harvest every 4 months

1/3rd of water requirement of wheat, paddy

Count your cash

Rs 60,000 input cost per acre (includes seeds, fertiliser, labour, logistics)

500 kg leaves per acre in each harvest (1,500 kg in three harvests a year)

Rs 100/kg market price in first year, with 10% increase every year, as sweet

content in leaves keeps increasing

Rs 1.5 lakh return per acre in first year, with 10% increase every year

Rs 90,000 net income per acre in first year, Rs 1 lakh in second, Rs 1.1 lakh

in third, up to Rs 1.5 lakh in fifth year (seeds and stems also source of

income)

Irrigation scam: Maharashtra govt sets up panel to probe 66 projects

The state government has set up yet another committee, the fifth so far, to

specifically probe 66 projects in connection with the multi-crore irrigation

scam, following court directives. The panel has not, however, been asked to

fix responsibility for any wrongdoing.

The four-member internal committee of engineers set up by the water

resources department on Wednesday will be headed by RV Panse, chief

engineer with Hydro power projects and Quality Control cell, Pune. While

probing all 189 projects cleared from 2003 to 2013, the panel will

specifically investigate the 66 projects where work had not yet started to see

whether clearances were granted in line with existing economic,

hydrological and environmental norms.

The inquiry has been set up on the interim directions of the Aurangabad

Bench of the Bombay high court in a public interest litigation filed by

Pradeep Purandare, retired associate professor from the Water and Land

Management Institute (WALMI).

The committee will specifically probe tender violations with regards to two

projects, Kikwi in Nashik and Kanchanpur in Akola, cleared when NCP

leader Ajit Pawar was water resources minister just before the 2009

Assembly polls.

The court in its December order observed that tenders for the Kikwi project,

estimated to cost Rs500 crore now, were issued more than a month before it

got sanction from the government on August 26, 2009. The tenders for the

project were handed over in four days after this on August 30.

The Kanchanpura project got government sanction on the same day that

tenders were issued for it on June 26, 2009. The work order for the project

was issued within five days but this was even before the project design was

finalised.

Pawar is facing serious allegations in the scam and water resources minister

Girish Mahajan had recently indicated action against him and his colleague

Sunil Tatkare by the month-end.

The panel will also investigate projects wherein mobilisation advances were

paid to contractors even though no work had started on the projects. The PIL

had pointed to several such projects including Wasni medium irrigation

project, where the contractor was paid Rs243 crore as advance even though

no work had started on it. The panel has also been asked to study reasons

why projects were cleared in violation of the existing laws.

The court order had pointed to 66 projects where work had not started due to

lack of environment clearances, protests of farmers, asking the government

to review them and only go ahead with those where all norms were met.

Eat barley to beat diabetes, reduce blood sugar

Scientists say that barley’s secret lies in its special mixture of dietary fibres

which help reduce your appetite and risk for cardiovascular disease.

(Shutterstock)

Here’s good news for all of you who have a family history of diabetes. A

recent study reveals that barley can rapidly improve your health by reducing

blood sugar levels and risk for diabetes.

The Lund University study found that the secret lies in the special mixture of

dietary fibres found in barley, which can also help reduce people’s appetite

and risk for cardiovascular disease.

Researcher Anne Nilsson said that it is surprising yet promising that

choosing the right blend of dietary fibres can, in a short period of time,

generate such remarkable health benefits.

The study was conducted with healthy middle-aged participants who were

asked to eat bread largely made out of barley kernels (up to 85%) for three

days at breakfast, lunch and dinner. Approximately 11-14 hours after their

final meal of the day participants were examined for risk indicators of

diabetes and cardiovascular disease.

After eating the bread made out of barley kernel, the researchers saw an

increase in gut hormones that regulate metabolism and appetite, and an

increase in a hormone that helps reduce chronic low-grade inflammation,

among the participants. In time this could help prevent the occurrence of

both cardiovascular disease and diabetes, noted Nilsson.

For maintaining a healthy blood sugar level, the researchers advise to choose

bread with as much whole grains as possible; avoid white flour; add barley

kernel grains in soups and stews; replace for example white rice with cooked

barley; eat beans and chickpeas with your meal as they too have a good

blend of dietary fibres and like barley kernels a low glycaemic index with

positive health effects. The study appears in British Journal of Nutrition.

Red chilli prices scale new highs at Guntur on crop failure

Too spicy: A woman removes stalks from chilli peppers at a farm on the

outskirts of Ahmedabad

GUNTUR, FEB 10:

Red chilli prices are shooting up at the Guntur chilli marketyard, the biggest

in the State and the country.

On Thursday, according to trade sources, the prices of all varieties shot up to

record levels led by robust demand from stockists and exporters following

reports of low output in the State.

The prices of most of the varieties shot up by ₹500 a quintal.

The price of Teja variety shot up to ₹12,500 a quintal (up Rs. 200) and that

of DD 341 to ₹13,700 and of LCA 334 variety to ₹12,700.

According to K Rosaiah, a chilli merchant, the prices have touched record

levels due to two reasons: substantial slump in production in Andhra Pradesh

and crop failure in Madhya Pradesh.

In Andhra Pradesh, due to virus attack and lack of irrigation, the crop has

slumped to 60 per cent of normal levels and the crop in Madhya Pradesh has

also failed, pushing up the prices at Guntur, he said.

In Andhra Pradesh, at a rough estimate, there may be a crop shortage of 40

lakh bags (of 40 kg each) and there may be a similar shortage in Madhya

Pradesh.

He said there was too much speculation in the market for comfort.

Ashok Jain, another trader, said he could not predict how long the uptrend

would continue, but in general prices are likely to be high.

(This article was published on February 10, 2016)

Prices of small onion to stay subdued, says farm varsity

COIMBATORE, FEBRUARY 10:

Chances of a rise in the price of the small onion is rather remote, say sources

at the Back office of Agro Marketing Intelligence and Business Promotion

Centre (AMI & BPC) in the Centre for Agricultural and Rural Development

Studies (CARDS), Tamil Nadu Agricultural University.

This inference was made after a survey of the arrivals and after analysing the

market trends in Dindigul, Tiruchi, Perambalur and Tirupur markets.

“Higher arrivals are affecting the farmgate price of the small onions in Tamil

Nadu. The State incidentally is the largest producer of small onion in India,

accounting for close to 90 per cent of the production. Bangladesh, Malaysia,

UAE and Sri Lanka are major importers of the bulb,” TNAU experts said.

The price of quality small onions (in Dindigul market) is currently hovering

around ₹25 a kg. This is expected to slip to ₹22-24 during March-April,”

CARDS sources said, advising farmers to take appropriate sowing decisions.

(This article was published on February 10, 2016)

Spot rubber closed unchanged

KOTTAYAM, FEBRUARY 10:

Spot rubber closed unchanged on Wednesday. RSS 4 was steady at ₹91 a

kg, according to traders. The grade improved to ₹91.50 (₹91) and ₹88.50

(₹88) respectively, according to the Rubber Board and the dealers.

RSS 3 (spot) firmed up marginally to ₹84.20 (₹84.06) at Bangkok. February

futures closed at ¥ 142.6 (₹84.15) on the Tokyo Commodity Exchange. Spot

rubber rates (₹ /kg): RSS-4: 91(91); RSS-5: 87 (87); Ungraded: 81 (81);

ISNR 20: 83.50 (83.50) and Latex (60% drc): 79 (79).

(This article was published on February 10, 2016)

Kerala High Court stays ban on shark fin export

KOCHI, FEBRUARY 10:

The Kerala High Court has stayed the Central government’s ban on export

of shark fins.

Justice Mohammed Mushtaq ordered the stay on Wednesday on a writ

petition by Bijumon, a Kochi-based seafood exporter. Bijumon had

contended that the ban was issued without consulting the seafood exporters

and other stakeholders and without assessing the need for such a ban.

The Director-General of Foreign Trade prohibited the export of shark fins

through a notification on February 6 last year. A Union Ministry of

Commerce and Industry notification said it had inserted a new entry in

‘Chapter 3 of Schedule 2 of ITC (HS) Classification of Export and Import

Items.’ The new entry (31 A) resulted in the ban on export of shark fins.

The ban, it was said, was aimed at checking the reckless destruction of shark

populations for securing the fins which were a valuable item in South-East

Asian countries where shark fins are used for making soups as well as

medicinal preparations.

However, Bijumon contended that the ban had nothing to do with marine

fishery conservation. He pointed out that the government had prohibited the

catch of only six of the 99 varieties of shark, but the ban on exports applied

to all varieties. At the same time, there were no curbs on the sale of shark

liver oil and other shark-based products. He also contended that the

regulation of marine product exports was the responsibility of the Marine

Products Exports Development Authority and hence the ban notification

issued by the DGFT was discriminatory.

India is the second largest catcher of sharks, after Indonesia. Around 75,000

tonnes of shark are caught each year. However, India is not a big exporter of

fins. In 2014, the government had banned shark ‘finning’, a fishing practice

whereby a shark’s fins are chopped off while it is still alive. The rest of the

body is dumped back into the sea where, unable to swim, it dies a slow death

or is eaten by other fish.

Worldwide, about 70 million sharks are estimated to be killed every year for

their fins. Shark fin is the main ingredient of ‘shark fin soup’, an expensive

delicacy eaten mainly in China. Though shark finning has been banned by

many countries, the ban has not been very effective because of the high

demand.

The Seafood Exporters Association of India had urged the Centre to lift the

ban on export of shark fins, calling it ‘illogical’ because there was no ban on

shark fishing. It had also pointed out that shark meat was widely consumed

by the coastal communities.

(This article was published on February 10, 2016)

DS Group hopes to ‘Catch’ rural consumers with spice sachets

Also sets sights on branded asafoetida

NEW DELHI, FEBRUARY 10:

To counter growing competition in the branded spices market, DS Group is

ramping up its spices business under its brand Catch. The group aims to

almost double its business in the next two years and also get aggressive in

the sachet category.

OP Khanduja, Associate Business Head at D S SpiceCo, said he hopes the

sachet strategy will help the company expand its spices business in the rural

markets as well as deepen its presence in the urban markets.

“Sachets strategy is price-led and mainly for trial generation. We believe

once consumers buy sachets they will move to bigger packs and therefore it

will drive sales of our bigger packs too.”

Growing segment

The branded spices market has been witnessing a lot of action in recent

times. While Tata Chemicals entered the spices segment in October last year

under brand Tata Sampann, Hindustan Unilever is looking to extend brand

Knorr to spices and seasonings. Also, Baba Ramdev’s Patanjali Ayurved is

trying to grab market share in the spices segment. While industry estimates

peg the total spices market to about ₹40,000 crore, only about 15-20 per

cent of this is branded spices segment.

DS SpiceCo is setting up a separate distribution channel to reach out to

about 1 lakh outlets by the end of this fiscal year to sell small packs of its

spices. The company has started with North India where it’s already selling

small packs at about 65,000 outlets.

The strategy is not only to sell blended spices in small packs, but also

straight spices such as turmeric powder, cumin powder and red chilli

powder. As of now, the company is selling 10 varieties in sachets, most of

which are priced at ₹5 for 8-15 gm packs.

“We expect our spices business to cross the ₹550-crore mark by March. We

plan to launch several new blends in the next financial year to connect with

the changing Indian food palate. We have set ourselves the ambitious target

of making Catch, a ₹1,000-crore brand in the next two years,” Khanduja

said.

This year the company has also set its eyes on growing its share in the

branded asafoetida category, which is largely dominated by regional players.

It has recently launched a marketing campaign for asafoetida featuring its

brand ambassador Vidya Balan.

“We hope Catch Hing grabs a 10 per cent market share in the branded

asafoetida market which is worth more than ₹500 crore and growing at 15

per cent on a yearly basis. We have carefully refined our strategy for this

product, by launching an innovative packaging of ₹1 a satchet for deeper

market penetration.”

(This article was published on February 10, 2016)

Post Comment

Only 65% turmeric sold at Erode

ERODE, FEBRUARY 10:

Traders procured good number of turmeric bags at Erode markets on

Wednesday. “Only local varieties arrived for sale and all the 400 bags of

new crop were purchased by the traders, as they have received little quantity

of upcountry orders,” said RKV Ravishankar, President, Erode Turmeric

Merchants Association.

He said 4,300 bags arrived for sale and 65 per cent of the stocks were sold.

Both the finger and root varieties gained ₹100-200 a quintal. At the Erode

Turmeric Merchants Association, the new finger turmeric was sold at

₹9,129-9,809 a quintal; the root variety ₹8,809-9,089.

The old finger turmeric went for ₹7,882-9,882; the root variety ₹7,559-

9,089. Of the 1,369 bags offered, 890 were sold.

(This article was published on February 10, 2016)

Post Comment

India may extend Line of Credit to African nations for agriculture

sector

Commerce Secretary Rita Teaotia said such an initiative will help support

food security in both the regions

Rita Teaotia speaking at India-Africa AgriBusiness Forum (pic courtesy:

FICCI's Twitter account)

India is keen to extend Line of Credit (LoC) to least developed African

countries for joint venture business initiatives in agriculture sector,

Commerce Secretary Rita Teaotia said on Wednesday.

While speaking at the India-Africa AgriBusiness Forum organised by the

industry body Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industries

(Ficci), she said huge opportunities exist for co-operation in agriculture

sector in both India and Africa.

"We hope to extend lines of credit to joint venture Agri-business initiatives

in Africa to deepen our engagement in the agriculture sector particularly in

LDCs (least developed countries) and thereby help to support food security

in both our regions," Teaotia said.

India currently supports LDCs in trade initiatives through 'Duty Free Tariff

Preference' scheme, which came into effect in August 2008. These give

them duty-free access to India’s markets.

Saying that India provides 98.2% of our tariff lines (products) to LDCs,

Teaotia pointed out that of the 34 LDCs in Africa, 21 countries have already

begun to avail themselves of the benefits of the scheme and 13 are yet to

become beneficiaries.

Under the scheme, importing of most products from least developed nations

to India attract lower duties. Further, Teaotia said the Department of

Commerce runs a Cotton Technical Assistance Programme for cotton

growing African nations.

"Cotton is certainly an important crop in Africa as it is in India, but in many

countries it continues to be exported as raw material without too much of

value addition. The programme is an initiative to strengthen the cotton and

textile sector in selected countries (of Africa)," she said.

She added the programme has helped in capacity building in R&D,

improving post-harvest practices and has also led to far greater movement in

the value chain and development in the textile and apparel sector.

Initially started in four countries -- Benin, Burkina Faso, Chad and Mali, it

had been extended thereafter to Malawi, Nigeria and Uganada. “As agreed in

the recent Africa Forum meet in New Delhi, it would be further expanded to

Ghana, Togo, Tanzania and Zambia over the next five-year period," she

said.

The Secretary also identified several areas for collaboration in agri business

between Indian and African countries. These include food processing,

organic farming, plant tissue culture, entrepreneurship development,

capacity building for which the Government of India is expected extend

lines of credit to African nations.

Wheat output expected to fall further

Flour millers want import duty exemption

Wheat output in India is expected to decline this year, with less sowing and

the likelihood of less yield due to adverse climate in the rabi season.

The Union agriculture ministry says sowing as of January 28 was on 29.25

million hectares, down 4.4 per cent from a year before. And, less of soil

moisture, due to less rain in the monsoon, would mean less germination of

pods. Beside, a warmer winter would affect growth of bulbs in the standing

crop.

“We estimate a sizable decline in output but there is no need to ring alarm

bells at this point, as productivity might recover with resurgence in cold,”

said Veena Sharma, executive secretary, Roller Flour Millers Federation of

India.

Even a five per cent decline in output would mean the lowest since 2009-10.

The ministry’s fourth advance estimate was of wheat output at 88.94 million

tonnes for 2014-15, down from the all-time record of 95.85 mt in 2013-14.

The government’s target for the current year is six per cent higher than the

reduced 2015 crop. Less irrigation supply in the main reservoirs had delayed

planting.

“A second straight year of decline in output will be the first one in four

decades and we might have to undertake record imports,” said Ritesh Jain,

chief investment officer, Tata Asset Management.

Stock with the Food Corporation of India is 20.3 mt, a four-year low.

Amid expectation of a price rise, flour millers have urged the government to

exempt wheat fromimport duty or lower it to the earlier level of 10 per cent

from the current 25 per cent, revised last year.

The price for delivery in March on the Chicago Board of Trade fell to $4.55

a bushel on Tuesday, the lowest level for the most active contract since June

2010. Wheat futures for delivery in the near month was traded at Rs 1,598 a

quintal on the benchmark National Commodity & Derivatives Exchange on

Wednesday.

Bodhi tree in good health, says Dehradun scientist

Gaya: A plant scientist from Forest Research Institute (FRI), Dehradun, on

Tuesday examined Bodhi tree, the sacred descendant of the peepal tree

under which Gautam Buddha attained enlightenment about 2,500 years back.

Dr N S K Harsh of FRI said the sacred tree was in good health. The tree

symbolising Buddha's enlightenment is located in the middle of the shrine

premises. The revered tree's bi-annual health check up is part of the upkeep

and treatment protocol prescribed by the FRI. The institute was entrusted

with the job of conservation and maintenance of the tree in 2008 following

reports of fungal infection. Harsh said the plant only needed application of

some micronutrients.

On sacred tree's other health hazards, including inadequate photosynthesis

process, the scientist said lighting arrangements had been regulated to ensure

enough darkness during night hours to facilitate the process of

photosynthesis.

Earlier, the plant scientists had recommended capping of number of visitors

inside the temple premises, removal of the marble slabs to ensure adequate

moisture level, aeration of the soil and water percolation and removal of

metal halide lamps and other high intensity lighting systems. The scientists

also favoured effective ban on any direct physical contact between the

visitors and the sacred tree. They also suggested the shrine management not

to remove the fallen leaves and twigs and allow them to decompose to add to

soil fertility. However, some of the recommendations like restricting the

number of visitors at a particular point of time were found infeasible.

Winter rainfall may extend till April, posing problems to farmers

India has received deficit rainfall for nine consecutive months, the driest

phase since 2009, but now as harvesting approaches, winter rainfall may

extend up to April, which is again bad news for farmers.

NEW DELHI: India has received deficit rainfall for nine consecutive

months, the driest phase since 2009, but now as harvesting approaches,

winter rainfall may extend up to April, which is again bad news for farmers.

"Models are showing March-April rains to be above normal. It is going to be

wetter," said Laxman Singh Rathore, director general, India Meteorological

Department.

He said it was early to say anything about the quantity and spread of the

rains and whether to attribute it entirely to El Nino phenomenon.

Rathore said other factors from southeasterly winds bringing moisture from

the Bay of Bengal where anti cyclones would form and the convection in

atmosphere where land warms up thereby heating the air leading to rains

could spell rains as late as April.

Some meteorologists at the weather office said the spread of winter rains

usually happened in an El Nino year. "It is usually observed that in El Nino

year such as 2015 or 2009, the winter season extended till April. It might

happen this year too," said a meteorologist, who did not wish to be named.

Indu Sharma, a former director at the Indian Institute of Wheat and Barley

Research in Karnal said that mild rains with low temperatures till the end of

March did not pose a problem to the crop, but heavy rains will hit the

standing ripe crop.

"Rains in March-April will be a huge blow to farmers. Last year, too, we lost

a lot of crop due to waterlogging in fields," said Sharma.

He said since January this year the weather has remained congenial for the

wheat crop. The weather office has forecast gradual rise in day and night

temperatures over central and west India by 2-3°C in the next two days.

In the next 24 hours, the weather office has forecast heavy snowfall at a few

places over Jammu & Kashmir and by February 11 over Himachal Pradesh

as well. From February 14, it has forecast rain at a few places over northeast,

east and south India.

Between June and September 2015, the southwest monsoon rain deficit was

14%. This was followed by a 23% deficit of the northeast monsoon from

October to December. From January 1 to February 3 of this year the deficit

was 63%. "Even as the country received deficit rain in October-December,

south India got good rains," said DS Pai, head of the long range forecast at

the India Meteorological Department.

Scope for Indian companies to invest in Africa: Agriculture Minister

Radha Mohan Singh

Government officials from various countries in Africa like Botswana,

Seychelles, Zambia are leading business delegations for this forum.

NEW DELHI: Indian companies desirous of investing in Africa could join

hands with African companies for the production of pulses and vegetable

oils, the supply of which is insufficient to meet this country's demand feels

Agriculture minister Radha Mohan Singh.

"Can we think of a dispensation that where Indian companies can consider

investing in Africa for growing pulses and edible oils, which are in short in

supply in India. Similarly, African businesses can think of engaging

mutually beneficial collaborators in India,"said the minister while addressing

the India-Africa Agribusiness Forum, organized by FICCI in partnership

with Ministry of Agriculture and Ministry of Commerce and Industry.

Mr Singh said that Indian companies could also take advantage of the

government's decision to establish food processing clusters in African

countries. "I am happy to note that recently our government has taken a

decision to set up a food processing cluster in Africa.I am also aware that

some of the Indian companies have invested in agriculture in Africa and

many are looking forward to doing so,"he said.

The minister said that the ministry was contemplating triggering a second

green revolution, which will be quintessentially different from the first one,

since it will be knowledge driven and technology focused. "Application

sensors, satellites, genetic engineering, green house cultivation, precision

irrigation, soil analysis, robotic science, increased application of organic

fertilizers and pesticides, intensive data analysis to know which crop is

suitable to each agro climatic conditions etcare the main pillars of this

revolution,"he said.

Government officials from various countries in Africa like Botswana,

Seychelles, Zambia are leading business delegations for this forum. Leading

international institutions like IFC, FAO, DFID, DRDO, ICRISAT, EXIM

Bank, CSIR and leading corporates are deliberating on the possible areas of

cooperation for food security in addition to themes such as innovative

financing models; empowering agri sector using innovation and science and

technology; and many more.

The deliberations at the business forum will help policy makers as well as

industry to identify the ways for intensifying existing partnership models

and identifying the new opportunities for deepening Indo-Africa connect in

the agri food value chain through trade, investment, innovative projects,

technology transfer and sharing best practices.

Rita Teaotia, commerce secretary said that several areas for collaboration in

agri business between Indian and African countries included food

processing, organic farming, plant tissue culture, entrepreneurship

development, capacity building for which the Government of India is

expected extend lines of credit to African nations.

Companies must explore Africa for producing pulses, oilseed:

Government

India attaches great importance to private sector participation in agriculture

and agri-business. There is an impressive presence of private sector," he

said.

NEW DELHI: In a bid to address domestic shortages, Indian companies

should consider investing in Africa for production of pulses and oilseeds,

Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh said today.

India is dependent on import of pulses and edible oils due to a huge supply-

demand gap. It imports 4-5 million tonnes (MT) of pulses and 13-14 MT of

edible oils annually.

"Can we think of a dispensation where Indian companies can consider

investing in Africa for growing pulses and oilseeds, which are in short

supply in India. Similarly, African businesses can think of engaging

mutually beneficial collaborators in India," Singh said at India-Africa

Agribusiness Forum organised by industry body Ficci.

India attaches great importance to private sector participation in agriculture

and agri-business. There is an impressive presence of private sector,

including large business groups in food processing, logistics, supply chains

including cold chains, he said.

"I am happy to note that recently our government has taken a decision to set

up a food processing cluster in Africa. I am also aware that some of the

Indian companies have invested in agriculture in Africa and many are

looking forward to doing so," he added.

His African counterparts, especially from Zambia, Botswana and Seychelles,

evinced interest to collaborate with Indian companies in various areas of

agriculture sector.

"We are willing to offer 10,000-15,000 hectare on lease for 99 years. We

have 75 million hectare of land, of which 58 per cent is areable. Of total

areable land, only 11 per cent is used, and the rest is available for

investment," Zambia Agriculture Minister Given Lubinda said.

There are challenges in Zambia but they provide opportunity for solution to

global food security, he added.

Echoing similar views, Botswana Agriculture Minister Patrick Ralotsia said:

"Currently, entire South Africa is engulfed in drought. Africa need not

reinvent the wheel. We can learn from India and address the issues of food

security."

"We need to collaborate to achieve the common objective of food security.

If we collaborate with India, we will benefit," he said.

Seeking partnership with Indian companies, Seychelles Agriculture Minister

Wallace Cosgrow said, "We count on India on all private sector investment.

Come to Seychelles to see invest opportunities in agriculture sector."

India imports pulses from African countries, like Malawi and Mozambique.

There is a huge potential to invest in Malawi, where almost 50 per cent of

pulses area remains unused due to lack of irrigation, lack of seeds and

technology and poverty.

Malawi is growing pulses in 3.5 lakh hectare, while it has 6 lakh hectare that

can be used for pulses cultivation. Investing in Africa can help India address

shortage of pulses and edible oils, a Malawi trader said.

India's pulses shortage had widened last year due to shortfall in domestic

output because of drought. The supply is expected to remain tight this year

as well due to back-to-back drought and the government is taking measures

to boost supplies through imports and creating buffer stock.

Already, the government has procured 20,000 tonnes of pulses directly from

farmers for buffer stock purpose. It has also floated two import tenders for

10,000 tonnes of tur dal.

Organic research institute to be set up in Gangtok

Agriculture minister Radha Mohan Singh has announced establishment of

National Organic Farming Research Institute (NOFRI) at Gangtok.

NEW DELHI: Agriculture minister Radha Mohan Singh has announced

establishment of National Organic Farming Research Institute ( NOFRI) at

Gangtok, Sikkim during 87th Annual General Meeting of Indian Council of

Agricultural Research.

Sikkim has recently been declared as the first organic state in the country.

The Institute will provide research and technological backstopping to

organic production system in the country in general and north eastern hill

region in particular.

The institute will undertake basic, strategic and adaptive research on

efficient, economically viable and environmentally sustainable organic

farming systems for improving productivity, resource use efficiencies and

quality of produce. Besides, it will impart vocational and advanced training

to stakeholders for promotion of organic farming in the country. Required

financial resources, manpower and infrastructure facilities will be made

available accordingly.