GLOBAL CLIMATE CHANGE & Indian Agriculture + ORGANIC FARMING + Agri Market

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In This NEWS Bulletin ************************** 1. Ongoing GLOBAL CLIMATE CHANGE Upsets Indian Monsoon Rains And Also Agriculture Crop Production, reports FARM FRONT Column 2. ORGANIC FARMING - Amity University Plans To Bear Certification Costs For Farmers' Organic Produces OTHER AGRI MARKET NEWS - 3. Govt To Review Sugar Export Ban Order, Continue With Its Present Regulation For Sugar Release In Open Market 4. Govt Begins Purchases Of Grains On Early Arrival Of Summer Crops In The Market 5. Govt Plans Hub-and-Spoke Terminal Markets For Farm Produces 6. Govt Reviews Implementation Of Rural Employment Assurance Scheme ----------------------------- FARM FRONT Column Climate change upsets monsoon http://www.financialexpress.com/fe_full_story.php?content_id=142079 ASHOK B SHARMA Posted online: Monday, October 02, 2006 at 0000 hours IST The news of kharif (summer) crop output plummeting this year is a matter of grave concern. There is, however, no immediate concern for imports as there is sufficient food stocks in the country, with the exception of pulses and oilseeds. According to the first advance estimate of crop production released by the government, the output of rice, coarse cereals, oilseeds and cotton registered a decline. Sugarcane, which is grown largely in the irrigated areas, increased in production. Rice output fell from 78.04 million tonne (mt) in the last kharif to 76 mt. Similarly, coarse cereal production fell from 27 mt to 25 mt and oilseeds output fell

from 16.8 mt to 13 mt. What is the cause for declines in output of principal kharif crops ? In India, irrigated area comprise only of only 40% of the total cropped land— to put it otherwise, farmers in 60% of the area are dependent on rains. The 4-month Southwest Monsoon brings maximun rains to the country. Now that the SW monsoon has come to a close, it is time to review how it has performed. A gross look at the rainfall data shows that monsoon performance has been up and over the expectations of the official weather forecasting agency— India Meteorological Department (IMD). The IMD had predicted that the average cumulative rainfall over the country would be 92% of the long period average (LPA) of 89 cm, subject to a model error of +/-4%. However the matter turned out to be different. According to the data of the 4-month monsoon period till September 27, the rainfall has been 100% of the LPA or absolutely

normal. But IMD would not call it normal—in fact, it does not have any caterogisation for a normal rainfall, while it has categorisation for above normal, below normal, excess, deficient and scanty rains. The gross performance of the SW monsoon, however, does not matter much for agriculture. The devil is in the details. The monsoon behaviour has been very peculiar and unusual this year. There was heavy rains and floods in the drought-prone areas, and scanty rains and drought in flood-prone areas. This trend began from the previous year—there was continuous heavy downpour in Mumbai, while the northeastern part of the country, which normally receives heavy rains, was left dry. This year was a repeat with a greater coverage of heavy downpour in almost all drought-prone regions of the country. The drought-prone areas of Gujarat, Maharashtra and Rayalaseema and Telangana in Andhra Pradesh received good rains. Comparatively, the areas

known for recurrences of floods like Northeast, Bihar, eastern UP and Andaman & Nicobar Islands received deficient rains. Only towards the end of the season Bihar ended with normal rains. It is now two years in succession, this peculiar trend is repeated. What then is the cause for the shifting pattern in rainfall ? IMD, may or may not admit, the real culprit is the ongoing climate change. Climate change has induced variability in the Indian monsoons. The induced variation has not yet stabilised, and therefore makes future prediction uncertain. IMD has demarcated 4 broad homogenous regions - the rainfall within these regions was subjected to extreme variation. For example, the Northeast—in this region, West Bengal and Jharkhand received good rains all along the season, while other parts were dry. Similar is the extreme variation in the demarcated northwest India. The worst sufferers are farmers, whose

crops were damaged on account of unexpected floods and droughts. Global climate change in process is a reality. The Inter-governmental Panel on Climate Change has predicted an average rise in global temperatures in the range of 2-4.5 degree Celcius due to doubling of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. The US National Academy of Sciences said the last few decades of the 20th century were warmer than any comparable period in the last 400 years. NASA said 2005 was the warmest year ever. Melting of Antartica ice, Himalayan and Eurasian snow cover, and gradual rise in mean sea level testify this. Climate variability is a reality, let’s recognise it and act accordingly!-- Amity to bear certification cost for organic produces http://www.financialexpress.com/fe_full_story.php?content_id=141736 ASHOK B SHARMA Posted online : Thursday, September 28, 2006 at 0000 hours IST NEW DELHI, SEPT 27: In an effort to boost peri-urban agriculture in the country, Amity University has planned to bear the cost of certification of the organic produces so that the farmers can get easy access to global and domestic markets. Speaking to FE, Rini Sen of Amity Institute of Neem Production, Research and Studies said: “There is a growing demand for organic fruits and vegetables in urban cities. We, therefore, are encouraging farmers in the peri-urban areas to use their farm lands for production of organic fruits and vegetables. We have have large demonstration farm plots and are ready to supply farmers with suitable seeds and planting materials.” As

the certification procedures entail a huge cost, we are planning to render this service free of cost to farmers, she said and added that the university would try to obtain accreditation from any of the authorised global certifying agency for the purpose. The university also planned to encourage floriculture and cultivation of high value crops like broccoli, Chinese cabbage, asparagus, celery, parsley, baby corn, cherry and tomato in the peri-urban areas for catering to urban market and for exports. Efforts would be made to encourage recycling of urban wastes and water for use in cultivation in peri-urban areas. Thus, this would involve setting up of waste treatment plants, she said She said that Amity University would mediate and facilitate marketing of farmers' produces by big retail chains and malls in the city. The country's Capital Delhi has a population of about 14 million

and its suburbs have good prospects for peri-urban agriculture. The managing director of National Horticulture Board, JN Chamber said that farmers can avail of the back-ended credit-linked subsidy scheme of the government for horticulture crops. Krishan Bir Chaudhary, the leader of the country's largest farmers' organisation, Bharat Krishak Samaj on being asked to comment on the programme said : "Farm lands are disappearing due to rapid urbanisation. There is practically no farmlands between Delhi and its sattellite cities like Gurgaon, Faridabad, Noida and Ghaziabad. Hence there is little scope for peri-urban agriculture. Government should realise the situation and prevent sale of farmlands for non-agriculture purpose. The back-ended credit-linked subsidy scheme is of no help to farmers. It forces farmers to take credit which would pile up his debt burden. Debt burden is one of the main cause for farmers'

suicides. If the government wants to encourage horticulture, it should give subsidy directly to farmers without linking it with the credit."---Center to ensure regular sugar supply - Present release mechanism to continue, export ban to be reviewed http://www.financialexpress.com/fe_full_story.php?content_id=141596 ASHOK B SHARMA ECONOMY BUREAU Posted online : Wednesday, September 27, 2006 at 0000 hours IST NEW DELHI, SEPT 26: The mechanism regulating the periodic release of sugar in the market will not be dismantled, said Akhilesh Prasad Singh, minister of state for food and consumer affairs. The ban imposed on sugar exports is, however, likely

to be reviewed , in view of the anticipated sugar production in the ensuing sugar year Sugar production is likely to be 23 million tonne in the upcoming sugar year beginning October 1, 2006 and the current year's production stands at 19.1 million tonne, as per official estimate Inaugurating the AGM of the National Federation of Cooperative Sugar Factories Ltd here on Tuesday, Singh said the fixation of statutory minimum price (SMP) for sugarcanes would continue on an uniform basis. The sugar cooperatives had demanded that SMPs for canes grown in tropical and sub-tropical regions be fixed separately. The Commission for Agricultural Costs & Prices reviewed this suggestion three years back and rejected the proposal. However, the minister said that he would forward to the CACP the suggestions made by sugar cooperatives regarding inclusion of full

harvesting charges as fixed by state governments. The state governments fixes its own prices for canes which are higher than SMPs, he said. The sugar cooperatives had complained about the hardships being faced by the mills on account of the reduction in captive cane zone from a radius of 40 km earlier to that of 15 km as at present. To this the minister said that the government would soon take a decision on this issue. Singh also said, “We are also aware of the difficulties created due to filing of many IEMs for nearby sites which are less than 15 km from each other and the judgements of various High Courts. In view of the said developments, we are proposing to amend the Sugarcane (Control) Order, 1966 suitably to resolve the issue.” The minister noted that there has been a good realization by mills on sale of sugar this year with prices ruling high. Only 1.13% of the cane

prices remains payable to farmers amounting to a total of Rs 214.94 as reports available till June 30, 2006. He said that the demands like revision of levy sugar prices, non-lifting of levy sugar quota by government agencies in time and relaxation of mandatory jute packaging norms were under the active consideration by the government. .The demand for exempting sugar from the VAT regime would be taken up with the finance ministry -- Govt to commence early grain purchase http://www.financialexpress.com/fe_full_story.php?content_id=141755 ASHOK B SHARMA ECONOMY BUREAU Posted online : Thursday, September 28, 2006 at 0000 hours IST NEW DELHI, SEPT 27: The

government purchasing agencies have sprung into action with the early arrival of kharif (summer) crops in the market. The government-designated agencies have begun purchasing paddy in three states namely, Punjab, Haryana and Kerala from September 25, 2006. In most of the other major food grains producing states like Andhra Pradesh, Orissa, Uttar Pradesh, Uttranchal, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Rajasthan, procurement operations are slated to commence from October 1, 2006, according to an official press released issued on Wednesday. The government’s purchase of paddy in Chhattisgarh is slated to start from October 16, 2006, while in Bihar and West Bengal the procurement will be from November 1, 2006. It is estimated that 27 million tonne of rice (including paddy in terms of rice) would be procured by the government agencies during the current kharif marketing season as

against 27.9 million tonne procured during the last kharif marketing season. The Union government has made arrangements for opening more than 10,000 purchase centres by the government agencies all over the country of which over 1,000 centres would be in the states of Punjab, Chhattisgarh, Tamil Nadu and Uttar Pradesh. Over 600 centres each would be opened in Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, Orissa, West Bengal and Maharashtra. The Food Corporation of India (FCI) and state agencies have been directed to open purchase centres and make necessary arrangements to carry out procurement on minimum support price (MSP) in all areas, where paddy and coarse grains are produced in order to ensure that farmers get a remunerative price for their produce. However, farmers are free to sell their produce at higher prices if available in the open market. The procurement of

paddy will be on a minimum support price of Rs 580 for the common variety, and Rs 610 for grade ‘A’ which is higher by Rs 10 per quintal than the MSP fixed last year. In addition, during the current marketing season an incentive bonus of Rs 40 per quintal will be paid to farmers for paddy procured by the government agencies. The MSP for coarse grains has been fixed at Rs 540 per quintal for jowar, bajra, maize and ragi while the MSP for barley is Rs 550 per quintal.----------------------------- Hub-and-spoke agri markets soon http://www.financialexpress.com/fe_full_story.php?content_id=141840 ASHOK B SHARMAECONOMY BUREAU Posted online : Friday, September 29, 2006 at 0000 hours IST

NEW DELHI, SEPT 28: The government is all set to start work on terminal agricultural market complexes on the “hub and spoke”’ format within two weeks. These complexes will be professionally run, profit-oriented and viable. “They would have enough space for small producers to have a fair play. Small producers would also be encouraged to participate either at the ’hubs’ or the ’spokes’ complexes, which would be the collection centers,” said the agriculture secretary Radha Singh, while inaugurating an agri-marketing summit organised jointly by the Confederation of Indian Industries (CII) and the farm ministry here on Thursday. This would be an historic step forward in agricultural sector reforms, she said. Speaking at the two-day agri-marketing summit, where delegations from 22 states participated, the secretary stressed the need for the role to be played by private players in strengthening

linkages with the farmers. She suggested the need for partnerships funding and joint ventures, between and among the public and the private sector, in several segments of the marketing chain.“The government would take up issues relating to the lack of marketing infrastructure, ensure a level playing field for farmers by fostering competition among buyers, promote production efficiency in agriculture, provide adequate post-harvest facilities and improve credit availability,” the agriculture secretary said. She said most states have amended their agricultural marketing laws for facilitating the entry of private sector. However, this needs to be followed up quickly by rules and procedures to implement the amendments. “State governments have to announce incentives anKd procedures that the private sector is waiting for to complete the reforms process,” she said. The secretary also

stressed the importance of creating farm producers’ organisations, strengthening the existing ones and eventually assisting them to evolve into seller organisations, keeping in view the need for quality control of farm produces.- Progress of rural job scheme reviewed http://www.financialexpress.com/fe_full_story.php?content_id=141719 ASHOK B SHARMA ECONOMY BUREAU Posted online : Thursday, September 28, 2006 at 0000 hours IST NEW DELHI, SEPT 27: The first meeting of National Rural Guarantee Council held under the chairmanship of the Union rural development minister Raghuvansh Prasad Singh on Wednesday reviewed the implementation of the government’s ambitious rural

employment guarantee scheme. The council also reviewed the monitoring and redressal mechanism and suggested ways and means to promote the widest possible dissemination of information about the scheme. The council members advised the government on various aspects of implementing the National Rural Employment Guarantee Assurance (NREGA) scheme. They particularly focused on the issues like lack of awareness of wage seekers, the shortage of staff at the panchayat/block and district level, inadequate provision for administrative expenses and a weak grievances redressal procedure. The issue of wage payments to labourers and a time motion study were also raised to ensure that a normal labourer working for seven hours gets wages equal to the prescribed minimum wages. The council expressed satisfaction over the scheme’s implementation during last six months, wherein more than one crore

rural people have been provided employment. The council has particularly lauded the efforts put in by various state governments in developing an effective monitoring system. As provided under Section 10 of the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, the Union Government notified the Central Employment Guarantee Council on September 22, 2006. It comprises of representatives of the Central ministries, state governments, representatives of Panchayati Raj institutions and disadvantaged groups.---------

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