15.09.2016

Agro firm to infuse more funds

Lawrencedale Agro Processing, a fresh produce supply chain company, is looking at

concluding its second round of funding shortly.

According to its Chief Executive Officer Palat Vijayaraghavan the company had raised

about Rs. 10 crore in the first round and it was invested to create post harvesting and

supply chain infrastructure. “We are looking at about Rs. 20 crore now,” he said.

Lawrencedale is investing substantially to strengthen its farmer services division and

brings in expertise to the entire value chain, he said.

It works with 1,200 farmers in the Nilgiris, Erode, and Coimbatore Districts. It supports

them with inptus, support services, marketing, etc. It has signed an agreement with

Andhra Pradesh Government and plans to work with about 200 farmers in Anantapur

District. Several farmers in the district are involved in controlled cultivation and green

house crops.

The company sells the produce it procures from the farmers directly to 300 to 400

retailers and also online grocery portals on a daily basis.

Mr. Vijayaraghavan explained that the Union Government is promoting the concept of

Farmer Producer Organisations and integrated agriculture development. Private players,

these organisations and the Union Government are entering into tri-partite agreements to

help farmers, especially those into horticulture crops.

The company is also in talks with the Karnataka Government to work with farmers in that

State.

It registered an annual turnover of Rs. 30 crore and is growing, he said.

Organic fair in Sirsi

In organic fair (‘savayava mela’) will be held at Forestry College grounds at Sirsi at

11a.m. on Saturday, under

the auspices of the Department of Agriculture, the University of Agricultural Sciences,

and the Zilla Savayava Krishikara Sanghagala Okkoota. The mela will be inaugurated by

Minister for Agriculture Krishna Byre Gowda, a release said — Correspondent

Dharwad farmers seek special package

Members of the BJP Raitha Morcha and farmers from Navalgund, Kundgol, Hubballi and

Kalaghatagi have demanded a special package for farmers hit by crop loss due to adverse

weather.

They took out a protest rally here on Wednesday and staged a sit-in in front of the Deputy

Commissioner’s office, displaying their withered BT cotton and maize crops.

For the third consecutive season, Dharwad district has failed to receive good rains, and

hence, farmers have incurred heavy losses. Parts of Dharwad taluk and Kalaghatagi have

received good rainfall, but in the remaining taluks, agricultural activities have come to a

standstill. BT cotton, maize, groundnut, soya, potato and chilli crops have started to

wither. Moreover, the delay in crediting crop insurance to the farmers who incurred

losses last season has added to the woes, they said.

BJP Raitha Morcha district unit president Arvind Egangoudar said if the authorities don’t

take action immediately, the Raitha Morcha would take out a ‘Bengaluru Chalo’ rally and

protest in front of the Vidhana Soudha.

CAMPCO to commercially launch two coconut-based chocolate products

Central Arecanut and Cocoa Marketing and Processing Cooperative Ltd. (CAMPCO)

will soon commercially launch Kalpa bar chocolate and Kalpa drinking chocolate, which

are coconut-based ones, using the technology provided by the Central Plantation Crops

Research Institute (CPCRI), according to S.R. Satishchandra, president, CAMPCO.

Addressing media here on Wednesday, he said that the two chocolate products were

released at a function at the Indian Council for Agricultural Research (ICAR) at Delhi

sometime ago.

He said that CAMPCO required about 100 tonnes to 120 tonnes of kalpa (coconut) sugar

per month for manufacturing the products.

P. Chowdappa, Director, CPCRI, Kasaragod, Kerala, said that the Kasaragod-based

institute conducted a two-day conference of 62 coconut producers’ companies at the

CPCRI from September 8. It was to enlighten their representatives plenty of opportunities

available to manufacture and market value-based products of coconut, including kalpa

sugar. The CPCRI would provide technical know-how on how to manufacture those

products to the companies interested.

Mr. Satishchandra said that CAMPCO would also make a foray into purchase of pepper

from its grower members and market them.

The cooperative has conducted a survey of potential markets, sent its officers for training

with the Spices Board, Kochi, and is in the process of developing necessary marketing

infrastructure for pepper, he said.

To a question, he said that the potential market for pepper could be North India. The

cooperative would make efforts to provide an organised market to pepper, he said.

The cooperative has plans to market it through small packets and in the later stage to

market oil extracted from pepper. M. Suresh Bhandary, Managing Director said the

cooperative is eyeing a total business turnover of Rs. 200 crore from the pepper business.

“We have already received the nod from union ministry of agriculture for our proposed

foray in to pepper business,” he said adding that a pepper grading machine would be

procured in this connection.

Mr. Satishchandra said that the cooperative has entered in to a memorandum of

understanding (MoU) with Mysuru based Central Food Technological Research Institute

to carry out research on value added products of areca nut.

These two products were released

at a function at

ICAR at Delhi sometime ago

‘Rain guns’ yielding desired result, says Prathipati

Usage of ‘rain guns’ along with mass deployment of sprinklers and water tankers as a

drought mitigation measure has instilled confidence in the farming community, according

to Minister for Agriculture Prathipati Pulla Rao.

Talking to the media here on Wednesday, Mr. Rao maintained that the initiative taken by

the State government was yielding the desired result with excellent feedback from

farmers. “These measures are being well received and farmers are able to save their crops

despite drought-like conditions. The State government will be in the forefront to support

farmers and see that their crops reach the intended destination,” he remarked.

Accompanied by Minister for Environment and Forests Bojjala Gopalakrishna Reddy,

Mr. Rao flayed the statements of YSR Congress president Y.S. Jaganmohan Reddy, who

he accused of spreading false propaganda against the government. “Right from the

beginning, Mr. Jaganmohan Reddy has been making unnecessary statements which have

impacted the development of the State. The Leader of the Opposition also alleged

misappropriation in the usage of rain guns, which is completely untrue,” he alleged.

Farm mechanisation

Mr. Rao spoke on the welfare programmes initiated by the State government. He also

said the government had allocated Rs.280 crore to promote the aspect of farm

mechanisation, for this financial year. Earlier, Mr. Rao and Mr. Reddy visited RASS -

Krishi Vigyan Kendra (KVK), Regional Agricultural Research Station (RARS) -

Tirupati.

Stone laid for Horticulture varsity buildings

Agriculture Minister Pocharam Srinivas Reddy said that the Horticulture University at

Mulugu would be developed to be the best university in the State. Speaking to reporters

after laying foundation stone for the construction of new buildings at Konda Lakshman

Bapuji Horticulture University on Wednesday, Mr. Reddy said Rs. 1,831 crore would be

spent for the establishment of the university. He said that construction of administrative

buildings was being taken up at a cost of Rs. 95 crore following the Green Buildings

standards.

Lemon cold storage to come up at Puliyangudi

Collector M. Karunakaran has assured the farmers of establishing one more cold storage

facility at Puliyangudi in addition to the one at Kadayanallur.

After inaugurating the new building of Lemon Commission Agents’ Association at T.N.

Puthukkudi on Wednesday, he said the government had established a facility with a

capacity of 200 tonnes at Kadayanallur to ensure better price for growers during heavy

arrival and storing unsold lemon until the market conditions improved.

Following its success, similar facilities had been created at Paavoorchathram,

Sankarankovil, Valliyoor and Ambasamudram for storing farm produce especially fruits,

vegetables and flowers.

“Since the cold storage facilities are of great help to farmers, lemon growers of

Puliyangudi have sought one more facility in their area, known for producing quality

lemons having one of the biggest lemon markets in the country. The appeal will be

considered positively and action taken in near future. Moreover, steps will be taken for

establishing a lemon research institute through Department of Horticulture for creating

new high-yielding, disease-resistant lemon varieties,” he said.

The Collector promised the growers and traders that all buses being operated via the

lemon market would stop at this important point to would attract a few thousand people

everyday.

When the lemon growers asked the Collector to give fresh loans through the banks, he

assured them that the bankers would be instructed accordingly.

Revenue Divisional Officer, Tenkasi, Venkatesh, Joint Director of Agriculture

Kanagaraj, Deputy Director of Horticulture Perumal were present.

‘Farming area in State down by six lakh hectares in 10 years’

The farm land in Karnataka has shrunk by six lakh hectares in the past a decade,

according to T.N. Prakash Kammaradi, chairman of the Karnataka State Agriculture Price

Commission.

Addressing the media here on Tuesday, he said such lands are now being used for other

purposes. But the area under sugarcane and arecanut cultivation has gone up by 117 per

cent and 40 per cent, respectively, during the last decade. Maize cultivation has gone up

by 43 per cent.

He said that the commission has prepared a report on the shift in cropping pattern in

Karnataka in the last a decade, and it will be submitted to the State government in a few

days. Stating that it was a “trend report” on the farming sector in the State, he said it has

recorded changes in the cropping pattern of 28 agricultural crops and 23 horticultural

crops. He said that areas under finger millet and paddy have declined by 25 per cent and

11 per cent, respectively.

Referring to Dakshina Kannada, he said that the area under agriculture in the district has

come down by nine per cent (by 5,193 hectares) in the past decade. The area under paddy

has declined by eight per cent.

Mr. Kammaradi said that the area under arecanut and coconut has gone up by 9,000

hectares and 2,127 hectares, respectively, in the past decade, while the area under cashew

has gone up by 17 per cent, and that under mango down by 12 per cent.

The total area under horticultural crops has gone up by 17,306 hectares, he said.

Workshop

The commission, in association with other departments, will organise a two-day seminar

on sustainable income through integrated farming in Mangaluru in the last week of

October, Mr. Kammaradi said.

He added that integrated farming with multiple crops ensures sustainable income.

He said the proceedings of the workshop would be sent to the government with a

recommendation to introduce a scheme on integrated farming in the next State Budget,

choosing Dakshina Kannada as the pilot district.

Pilot project to sell grain online in Bidar

The government will soon start a pilot project to help farmers sell foodgrains through

online platforms like National Commodity & Derivatives Exchange Limited (NCDEX) in

two gram panchayats in Bidar district. The district administration achieved significant

success with their experiment to sell sugar seized from factories at a price higher than the

market price.

The gram panchayats in Mannalli in Bidar and Telgaon in Bhalki taluk will be registered

as sellers on online platforms. They will encourage farmers to store their produce at

village-level godowns, and sell them when they feel the price is right.

As a first step, the zilla panchayat will collect the details of types and quantities of crops

grown in each hobli, or a group of gram panchayats. Officials will also study the market

trends of the crop and its varieties, as market records have been maintained in the district.

Construction of godowns

The second step would involve the construction of godowns or storage units in each of

the 186 gram panchayats. Work on building 145 godowns, each of a 60 tonne capacity,

under Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MNREGA), is

under progress. These will be built according to international parameters with pest and

snake-resistant platforms and minimal ventilation to contain moisture variation and

fungus attacks.

They will also be provided with a computer and an internet connection.

Modern silos to store grains scientifically will be built in each of the 30 hobli

headquarters, using funds available under the Backward Regions Grant Fund. These will

have a larger capacity to store grains, compared to the village-level godowns.

Two workshops on how to sell food grains on NCDEX will be held for panchayat

Development Officers, and officers of the agriculture produce marketing committee and

agriculture department and farmers in the select gram panchayats.

Some of the grains will also be procured locally, said deputy commissioner (DC) Anurag

Tewari.

Red gram

Red gram has been sown on around 50,000 hectares in the district and the yield is

expected to cross 77,000 tonnes this year. The district administration plans to buy all the

red gram needed in Anganwadis and primary schools, locally. This will be processed in

the Dal mills in the district and supplied through the mid-day meal scheme, according to

the DC.

Around three lakh tonnes of green gram have been harvested in the district, but the

farmers do not have a fair price. Around 25,000 tonnes of black gram and around 3 lakh

tonnes of soya is expected to be grown this kharif season. If the online sales system starts

functioning properly in one month, we can provide competitive prices to all these crops,

the DC said.

Eliminating middlemen

At a meeting on Monday, deputy commissioner Anurag Tewari said the project would be

extended to the whole district if it succeeds. Pawan Kumar Malpati, zilla panchayat chief

executive officer, said the panchayats will create awareness among farmers about online

sale of farm produce. This will empower them and help escape from the clutches of

middlemen, he said.

The zilla panchayat will collect the details of the types and quantities of crops in each

hobli

Complete sowing ops by Sept. 20: Collector

Krishna district Collector Babu. A has directed the agriculture officials to ensure

completion of sowing for the kharif season by September 20.

“We have already supplied water required for irrigating the paddy fields across the

Krishna district. It is time the agriculture department to guarantee that sowing operations

will be completed by September 20,” said the Collector. According to the agriculture

department statistics, sowing operations have been completed in 2.34 lakh hectares out of

3.2 lakh hectares, which is normal acreage under paddy cultivation during the kharif

season in the district.

The agriculture and the special officers of the each mandal were told to keep vigil on the

sowing operations.

It is learnt that sowing operations have been delayed owing to lack of timely rainfall and

delay in access to irrigation water in the canals.

Sabala launches ‘millet brigade campaign’

Sabala, a member of Millet Network of India, has launched ‘millet brigade campaign’

demanding that the government include millets in PDS (public distribution system), mid-

day meal and ICDS menu. The campaign will continue up to October 16, World Food

Day.

“The objective of the campaign is to make the State government to implement the

National Food Security Act, which came into force exactly on this day in 2013, and

supply millets in addition to rice and wheat through PDS, K. Saraswati, secretary of

Sabala, told the media here on Tuesday.

Signatures

During the period of campaign, volunteers would collect one lakh signatures and post

2,000 postcards to Prime Minister, organise rallies, and conduct essay- writing and

elocution competitions for schoolchildren in at least 10 mandals in the district, she said.

Even after three years of the legislation no government, except Karnataka, in the country

has been procuring millets from farmers and supplying through public distribution

system. Further, she said that the inclusion of millets in mid-day meal and ICDS menu

would provide children and pregnant women the needed nutrients.

MSP demanded

She demanded that the government extend incentives to millet farmers, fix minimum

support price, and procure millets through FCI for distribution through PDS.

T.S.S.K. Patro, senior scientist, Agriculture Research Station here, detailed how millets

would help children grow as it have more nutrients than rice and wheat.

Inclusion of millets in mid-day meal and ICDS menu would provide children and

pregnant women the needed nutrients.

K. Saraswati

Secretary of Sabala

Pulse buffer stock to be increased to 20 lakh tonnes

The Centre on Monday approved the enhancing of buffer stock of pulses to 20 lakh

tonnes so as to stabilise the prices and encourage farmers to scale up production.

“The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs has approved the proposal of the

Department of Consumer Affairs for increasing the buffer stock to 20 lakh tonnes. It will

be built through domestic procurement and imports of 10 lakh tonnes each,” an official

statement said.

The government said the specific variety of pulses and their quantities for the buffer stock

would be decided on the price and the availability. “The release of pulses from the buffer

stock and procurement in the subsequent year will be based on the prevailing pulse

[production] scenario as well as the buffer stock position. The requisite funds for this

operation will be provided to the price stabilisation fund scheme (PSFMC) of the

department,” added the statement.

To create the buffer stock, domestic procurement would be done by the Food Corporation

of India, the National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India (NAFED)

and Small Farmers’ Agriculture-Business Consortium (SFAC) or any other agency

decided by the PSFMC at the prevailing market prices, if they are above the minimum

support prices (MSP), and at the MSP, if otherwise. “The State governments may also be

authorised to make the procurement in a manner similar to the decentralised procurement

of foodgrains,” the statement said.

Over 4 crore saplings planted in Karimnagar

The Karimnagar district administration has achieved a milestone by planting over four

crore saplings as part of Telanganaku Haritha Haram programme in the district.

Milestone

In a press note here on Monday, Collector Neetu Prasad said that they have planted

4,00,91,241 saplings and secured second place in the State in terms of the number of

saplings planted.

She said that the Forest Department planted a record 58.67 lakh saplings, Agriculture

Department planted 57.88 lakh saplings, Irrigation Department planted 13.47 lakh

saplings, Panchayat Raj planted 10.60 lakh saplings, and the Education Department

planted 5.59 lakh saplings.

Ms. Prasad said that they were undertaking geo-tagging of all saplings planted so far. All

measures would be taken for the protection of the same.

She thanked the elected representatives, officials, and others for making the plantation

programme a grand success and setting a milestone in the State.

Geo-tagging of all saplings planted being undertaken, says Collector Neetu Prasad

Work on check dams nearing completion

Work on establishing a slew of checks dams across some of the tributaries of the Cauvery

river and jungle streams in Tiruchi district is on the verge of completion.

The artificial recharge structures are being put in place at 14 spots across the district at an

estimated cost exceeding over Rs.20 crore to improve groundwater table.

The project is being executed with funds provided both by the State government and the

National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development’s Rural Infrastructure

Development Fund.

The checks dams are being established across Kothamangalam Vari in Alundur village in

Srirangam taluk; Nandiyar River in Vandalai – Gudalur village of Lalgudi taluk;

Maanodai in Melarasoor village of Lalgudi taluk; Uppar river in Devimangalam village

of Manachanallur taluk; Shanmughanadhi in Thirupattur village of Manachanallur taluk;

Vellar river in Vembanur village of Marungapuri taluk; Kannuthu Odai in Kumaravadi

village of Manapparai taluk; Mamundiyar river in Samudram village of Manapparai

taluk; Koraiyur river at Karuppur village in Manapparai taluk; Uppar Vari in K.

Periyapatty village of Manapparai taluk; Ponnaniyar river in Manapparai taluk; Ayyar

river in Thandalaiputhur village of Musiri taluk; Kattaru river in Kumbakudi village of

Tiruverambur taluk and Panguni Vaikkal at Sirumarudhur village in Lalgudi taluk.

The spots for construction of the check dams were identified by the Planning and

Designing Wing of the PWD heeding requests from the farming community and general

public, said official sources.

The check dams would essentially serve as an artificial recharge structure preventing

water from going waste during sudden downpour. It would hold water thereby

augmenting groundwater table and provide water for livestock and villagers, said an

official.

The PWD has planned to complete the work before the onset of the northeast monsoon.

Checks dam works had already been completed at nine places, while works in the

remaining spots were expected to be over by next month, said the sources.

The check dams were constructed in such way that their height was 1.2 metres from the

bed level. Water passing through jungle streams often goes waste in the event of a sudden

downpour. The whole idea is to hold water at the check dams that would improve

groundwater table, recharge wells thus benefitting the villagers as well as their livestock,

said the sources.

100 ducks on the prowl for ‘blind mosquitoes’ on Korattur lake

With residents of Ambattur complaining about the nuisance created by Chironomus

insects, 100 ducks were released into the Korattur lake in an attempt to control the

breeding of these aquatic midges, which are also known as ‘blind mosquitoes’.

On Sunday, a team of officials from various departments led by the Health Secretary J.

Radhakrishnan visited the locality.

He was accompanied by the Director of Public Health K. Kolandaisamy, the Chennai

Corporation Commissioner and officers from the Agriculture Department and the

Pollution Control Board.

Dr. Kolandaisamy said: “These midges, often found only in certain seasons, are smaller

than flies and breed in large numbers on water hyacinths. Though they are harmless and

do not carry any diseases, they disrupt the day-to-day outdoor activities of people living

alongside the lake area.”

Light traps have been placed to attract the flies to the banks.

“There are cranes and other waterbirds that feed on the midges’ larvae. But since the

birds shy away from human presence, the insects have been thriving. We have introduced

100 ducks today and another 100 would be introduced tomorrow,” Dr. Kolandaisamy

explained. To eliminate these adult insects, insecticide has been sprayed and fogging

done in three streets adjoining the lake.

As the adults live only for three to five days, continuous spraying of insecticide would be

taken up for the next few days, a release said.

Bleaching powder has been sprinkled atop the lake bund to eliminate the midges’ resting

place. Around 300 labourers have been employed to complete the work.

Farmers reap better profits in tulasi

The couple, Samiyadi and Pandiammal, are among scores of farmers of Nilakottai taluk

in Dindigul district to have switched over to cultivation of tulasi (Ocimum tenuiflorum,

holy basil).

The reasons for switchover from traditional crops are water scarcity in the region which

depends on well irrigation and shortage of farm hands. After about 18 years, they have no

regrets as their income has multiplied and tulasi farming has given hopes for value

addition. The shift has also assured economic sovereignty for many Dalit families.

The region traditionally grew millets but farmers later switched to floriculture. Even

today, marigold, jasmine, ‘kozhi kondai’ and ‘marikkozhunthu’ are grown but tulasi has

come to stay as the major crop. Tulasi found its way into Nilakottai block when M.

Karmegam was offered a bag of seeds at the Salem flower market by a trader in 1994. He

tested the seeds in a portion of his land and started reaping tulasi leaves in 1997. Today,

farmers in six panchayats of Nilakottai taluk are into tulasi cultivation and make money

by selling its leaves, seeds, flowers, seedlings and dried plants.

Harvest of tulasi leaves is made roughly twice a month and transported to markets in

Nilakottai, Madurai, Thovalai, Thoothukudi, Virudhunagar, Aruppukottai, Salem,

Coimbatore and Bengaluru.

From Coimbatore, tulasi is exported to south-east Asian countries. Samiyadi, like his

fellow farmers, gets an average yield of 200 kg per harvest.

The price of tulasi leaves oscillates between Rs. 15 and Rs. 70 per kg, with the maximum

price realised during Purattasi (September-October).

"The first harvest is made after 30 days of planting and subsequent harvests in about 25

days’ time. The first harvest yields an average of 1.5 tonnes per acre and a two-tonne

yield is achieved in subsequent harvests," says R. Ranjith, a school dropout, who is now a

progressive farmer.

The seeds of tulasi fetch Rs. 1000 per kg and dried plants, which are meant for medicinal

use, are sold at Rs. 40 per kg.

The advantages tulasi farmers enjoy in this region are many. Most of them double up as

traders and sell their produce at the flower market. Dried plants are sold to traders in

Usilampatti and Andipatti for onward use by pharmaceutical companies. The advent of

tulasi has had a positive impact on the local economy.

Cost-effective cultivation methods and involvement of a few workers for hand weeding

and harvesting have ensured that a major share of farm income circulates within the

village.

As daily plucking takes place, the need for storage facility is not there.

Madurai-based Tamil Nadu Council for Enterprise Development (TACED), which is

involved in encouraging herbal cultivation in the region, has succeeded in bringing

farmers from the flower market to herbal market. M. Jeyakumar, consultant, says that the

TACED plans to start a tulasi tea processing unit in Nilakottai taluk.

More details about herbal farming can be had from Mr. Jeyakumar, Tamil Nadu Council

for Enterprise Development, Saratha Complex, Simmakkal, Madurai 625001. e-

mail:taced1992@gmail.com. Phone: 0452 2627989, 94875 59345, 78109 35552.

It continues to rain for the second day in Kalaburagi

Intermittent rain continued to lash for the second day on Wednesday, disrupting life in

most parts of Kalaburagi district.

Most roads in Kalaburagi city received showers. Some areas in Aland taluk received

heavy rain. It started raining at 5 a.m. on Tuesday and continued till Wednesday evening,

leaving most of the areas and roads inundated with water affecting traffic movement.

According to India Meteorological Department, rainfall recorded till 8.30 a.m. on

Wednesday in the district was 44.60 mm against a normal rainfall of 4.90 mm. While

Aland recorded the highest rainfall of 68 mm, Kalaburagi recorded 62.4 mm followed

Chittapur taluk with by 49.9 mm, Sedam 41.1 mm, Chincholli 36.3 mm, Afzalpur 25.6

mm and Jewargi taluk 22.9 mm. In Aland taluk, Hodlur, Lad Mugali and Rudrawadi

villages received the highest rainfall of 106 mm. Standing crops got submerged in several

villages.

CAMPCO aims to capture rural market with Dark Tan

Aiming to capture the rural market, Central Arecanut and Cocoa Marketing and

Processing Cooperative (CAMPCO) Ltd. released a new chocolate, Dark Tan, here on

Wednesday.

P. Chowdappa, Director, Central Plantation Crops Research Institute (CPCRI),

Kasaragod, Kerala, who released the product, said that Dark Tan would not melt in room

temperature as it is made from natural cocoa powder and vegetable fat.

If cocoa butter or fat is used in manufacturing chocolate, the end product would have to

be stored in a refrigerator. If vegetable fat is used, there is no need for storing it in a

refrigerator. Hence, Dark Tan could be stored in houses in villages during summer also. It

will not melt.

He said that cocoa can be cultivated as in inter-crop in arecanut, coconut and oil palm

plantations. It did not require additional irrigation facility and also additional land to

cultivate it.

Mr. Chowdappa said that demand for cocoa based products in the country was going up

by 10 to 15 per cent every year. Hence, the need of the hour is to increase cocoa

production and productivity.

He said that about 21 lakh hectares in the country were under coconut cultivation. The

area under arecanut stood at six lakh tonnes and about two lakh hectares were under oil

palm cultivation.

Mr. Chowdappa said that in some foreign countries cocoa was cultivated as pure crop.

But in India it was an inter crop.

Hence, farmers can get income without specific investment to raise the plantation.

On the other hand, price fluctuation governed arecanut and coconut crops. The loss

suffered under arecanut and coconut can be re-couped by profits in cocoa. “India can

emerge as a global leader in cocoa production,” he said.

S.R. Satishchandra, president, CAMPCO, said that the cooperative is hopeful that the

new product would attract rural customers. M. Suresh Bhandary, Managing Director,

CAMPCO, was present.

Rains boost kharif prospects

Copious rain in the upper catchment area of Dr. K.L. Rao Sagar Multi-purpose Project

(Pulichintala) has boosted the prospects of kharif crops, albeit a bit late.

As the outflows from the project reached 4,991 cusecs by 4 p.m. on Wednesday, farmers

in the Krishna Western Delta (KWD) heaved a sigh of relief.

Out of 5.71 lakh acres cultivable area under the KWD, 4.99 lakh acres are in Guntur

district and 0.72 lakh acres in Prakasam district.

Persistent to heavy rain in the last three days in the catchment area of the project boosted

the water levels to over 47.65 metres (156.34 feet).

The dam present capacity is 21.53 tmcft.

Inflows to the dam continue to increase and, by 4 p.m., they reached 9,772 cusecs.

The balancing reservoir at Pulichintala is being designed to facilitate storing of 45.77

tmcft of water to stabilise the existing ayacut of 13.08 lakh acres in Krishna and upland

mandals of Guntur district.

Rain brings cheers to farmers

The crops had almost withered a dry spell continuing for almost entire August.

The condition of the standing crops improved with rains lashing Nizamabad district for

the two past days, while Godavari continued to rise at Bhadrachalam, putting the

Irrigation and police officials on their toes on Wednesday.

Rain brought cheers to the farming community as the condition of paddy, soyabean,

cotton, maize crops and pulses improved.

The crops had almost withered a dry spell continuing for almost entire August.

The rains infused life into these crops. In certain areas where heavy rainfall was recorded,

irrigation tanks got filled, but most of the tanks remain either empty or half-filled.

Major reservoirs like Nizamsagar and medium projects - Ramadugu, Pocharam,

Singeetham, Kalyani and Lendi received dismal inflows. Sriram Sagar Project received

no inflows during current spell of rains but has about 33 tmcf of water in storage.

However, the Koulas Nala Project is reportedly receiving considerable amount of inflow.

Jukkal mandal with 60.2 mm recorded the highest amount of rainfall followed by Varni

(51 mm), Yedapally (46.2 mm), Birkur (45 mm), Bichkunda (36.2), Pitlam (33.2 mm),

Kotagiri (32 mm) and Nizamabad (19.2).

Out of the total of 36 mandals in the district 11 have been declared rain-deficient, 20 are

normal and only five have received excess rainfall this season.

Godavari rising

With the water level in the Godavari crossing 31 feet at Bhadrachalam on Wednesday

evening, the Police, Irrigation and Fire Services Departments initiated additional

measures on the banks of the river to facilitate safe immersion of Ganesh idols. The water

level in the river is expected to rise by another one or two feet by Thursday morning.

However, it is likely to remain much below the first warning level of 43 feet, sources

added.

Ocean warming and its impact on food production

Food security of India and several other major key food producing countries are

threatened by

changing weather patterns due to warming of the oceans, according to a study.

Changes in ocean-focused atmospheric patterns have direct implications on food

production as the yield is impacted. "The consequences for society of changing weather

patterns due to the warming of the oceans are considerable," said the report titled

"Explaining ocean warming: causes, scale, effects and consequences".

The report released by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) said

they involve a mix of food

and water factors, and the evolution of various types of risk. Noting that there have

already been changes to

precipitation patterns in a number of areas of the planet resulting from large-scale

atmospheric teleconnections with

ocean warming, the report said there can be increased rainfall in some mid-latitude and

monsoon areas and decrease over various sub-tropical regions.

"Both will have impacts on the yields of crops over a range of important food producing

areas such as Australia,

North America and India," it said. The report said there were good correlations between

wheat and maize yields with the NAO (North Atlantic Oscillation) and PDO (Pacific

Decadal Oscillation), so changes in these ocean-focused atmospheric patterns have direct

implications on food production.

Similarly, increasing temperatures tend to reduce maize yields, if all other factors are

held constant, it said.

"At sea, warming temperatures will cause changes to the abundance and range of marine

species used for food, leading to implications for both the billion people who depend on

fish for their principal source of protein and the fishing and

aquaculture industries linked to this harvesting." PTI

Save water, store water

We saw how every one of us can save water by being careful at home, school and hotels.

Saving water is like putting money in the bank. We open an account and keep adding to

it. When we pay for something, we withdraw it. We must do the same with water.

Remember, when water dries up for a long time, the place turns into a desert. So we

absolutely need to store rainwater. Is there a rainwater harvesting system (RHS) in your

house? When it rains check carefully if all the fresh water that falls on your roof, balcony

and compound flows into a pit lined with stones. This water seeps into the ground and

stays below the mud. When there is no rain, we can pump this water out for use.

This is storing. Saving includes keeping our rivers and ponds clean. Rain falls on land

and flows into ponds, lakes, rivers and seas. As it goes, it carries all the harmful things

that we add to land.

It takes chemicals in the fertilizers we use for crops, oil that we spill, sewage from

defecating in the open, chemicals we use for colouring yarn. Imagine the condition of that

river water! In many places, river and lake waters look red, foamy and throw out harmful

chemical froth.

Fish caught here come coated with poisonous pesticide or engine oil. Have you seen

pictures of fish floating up dead in lakes and ponds? Of whales washed ashore because

they are sick and cannot swim? These have been poisoned. Birds that eat these fish die of

the poison. By polluting the river/pond/sea, we become killers. We also dig rivers to take

sand for building homes and offices. We damage everything we have been given by

nature, don’t we?

When we dig out sand from rivers the water flows into the holes and disappears. Yes, we

have to desilt (remove mud that collects) in rivers and lakes but we have to do this evenly

from the mud surface. Then the river will flow smoothly and stay alive.

To keep our rivers safe and clean

[1] Do not throw anything into the waterbodies.

[2] Breed ducks in our lakes and ponds. Hundreds of ducks were released into the

Korattur lake in Chennai to eat the harmful insects there.

[3] Adopt a pond near your home. Get together with family and school to clean to clean it

up. Remove water-choking hyacinth plants.

[4] complain about washing cars/trucks/buffaloes in the lake/river/pond. Oil from

vehicles kills all organisms in the water.

[5] Take part in cleaning of lakes and ponds.

TS to give fillip to farm sector

The Telangana Rashtra Samithi Government is taking all measures to give a fillip to the

agriculture sector, which was neglected by the successive governments in the integrated

Andhra Pradesh, said T. Harish Rao, Minister for Irrigation and Marketing.

Gone are the days when the farmers’ children preferred to continue their own parents’

profession of agriculture. But, we are taking all measures to ensure that the farmers’

children take up farming and reap riches by providing irrigation sources to take up at

least two crops in a year, he maintained.

Speaking after attending the swearing in ceremony of Karimnagar Agricultural Market

Committee new office-bearers on Monday, Mr. Harish Rao said that they would bring

back the past glory to the farm sector by making the young generation take up farming in

their own villages and earn more profits. Reiterating that the Government was providing

assured power supply to the farmers during the day, he said that they had avoided

problem of shortage of seeds and fertilizers. Alleging that the Congress Government had

laid foundation for the projects without water in them, he said they had completed

Sripada Yellampalli project and provide irrigation sources to 1.6 lakh acres in

Karimnagar within one week to 10 days. The completion of Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation

Project at Medigadda would transform entire Telangana particularly Karimnagar district

turning it into like another coastal district for taking up three crops in a year, he noted.

Pulichintala submerges 21 Telangana villages

Flaying the Congress for opposing the construction of Mallannasagar Project in Medak

district, he asked them as to where should the Government construct the irrigation

projects to provide water to the farmers. Alleging that TPCC president Uttam Kumar

Reddy had allowed construction of Pulichintala project with 48 tmcs capacity and that

provides water to Andhra Pradesh, he pointed out that the project had submerged 21

villages in Telangana.

Reminding people that the Mallannsagar Project would submerge only eight villages and

utilize 50 tmcs of water to provide irrigation sources to 20 lakh acres, he said the

Congress was creating hurdles for such a project as they would lose their identity. He

charged the Congress of neither supporting the statehood movement by joining JAC nor

supporting the Government for the development of the State. Minister for Finance and

Civil Supplies Etala Rajender, State Cultural Council Chairman Rasamayi Balakishan,

ZP Chairperson Tula Uma, MLA G. Kamalakar and others were also present.

Standing crops wither in rain-fed taluks of Ballari

Owing to the failure of rain between August 1 and September 10, the condition of a

variety of standing kharif crops in rain-fed areas in the district is precarious.

Protect crops from wild elephants: petition

Residents of Chennampatti village in Anthiyur Taluk approached the district

administration on Monday seeking intervention for safeguarding crops from wild

animals.

Residents of Jarathal hamlet where 250 families depend on 500 acres have been

particularly affected, M. Eashwaran who led a group of villagers to submit a petition to

District Collector S. Prabakar said.

Solar fences to deter elephant entry into agricultural fields have been damaged, and the

trenches dug up by the Forest Department have also filled up with soil due to rain.

Though the Forest Department provides compensation for crops damaged by wild

animals, there can be a permanent solution only if a concrete boundary will is erected, the

petition said, calling for immediate steps for safeguarding fields with banana, ground nut,

paddy, maize, and watermelon crops.

Maharashtra: Onion price at 5-year lowest at Lasalgaon

The onion trade in the state is in a crisis and the Lasalgoan wholesale market in the

Nashik district has recorded the lowest price in five years of the bulb in the current year.

Jaydutt Holkar, chairperson of the Lasalgaon market committee, said the Rs 4.25 per kg

modal price realised last Friday, September 10, was the lowest ever recorded price in the

past five years.

Onion prices have been subdued in the past few months with excess production and ban

on exports affecting the market. Although exports seem to have picked up after

December, prices across wholesale markets have failed to recover. In view of the

downward trend in prices, the state government had announced Rs 100 per quintal as

subsidy to onion growers who had traded at markets between July and August.

The Lasalgaon market had seen 20,595 farmers trading over 2 lakh quintals of the bulb in

the time period and the cumulative subsidy due to them would be at least Rs 3 crore.

Earlier this year, NAFED had procured at least 15,000 quintals of onion to check the

price drop. However, Holkar said at least 90 per cent of the stocked onion rotted,

resulting in a loss of Rs 15-20 crore to the government. “Instead of wasting this money, it

could have been given to the farmers to help them out,” he said.

Lasalgaon market records showed that on September 9, 2015, the modal price of the bulb

was Rs 48. 50 per kg, and the same was Rs 14 per kg on September 9, 2014. Arrivals

were less during September 2015, while the year before this witnessed similar arrivals as

at present.

This present crisis in the onion trade, Holkar said was after two continuous years of

drought which had wrecked the agrarian economy of the state. With no sign of the

subsidy amount in sight, Holkar feared more drop in the onion prices. Agriculture

Commodity researcher Deepak Chavan ruled out any immediate chance of price

escalation. “Calculations show that the country has over two months of onions in stock.

Already early kharif onions have started arriving in the markets of Karnataka so chances

of any price correction till November are slim,” he said.

The Liquid Alternative: The ultimate antidote to farmers’ debt woes –

dairying

Gujarat has a relatively low per agricultural household debt of Rs 38,100, as against the

all-India average of Rs 47,000, according to the National Sample Survey Office’s

(NSSO) data for 2012-13. Also, 79.2 per cent of the state’s average outstanding loan

amount was owed to banks, cooperatives and other formal lending institutions, whereas

the corresponding all-India figure was 59.6 per cent.

The Gujarat farmer, in other words, is not just comparatively less indebted, but also not

as reliant as his counterparts in most other states on moneylenders, shopkeepers/ traders

and other “non-institutional sources” who typically charge far higher interest rates. That

better situation can be ascribed to two four-letter words: Milk and Amul.

Again, going by NSSO data, while 11.9 per cent of an average Indian agricultural

household’s monthly income comes from “farming of animals”, it is well over 24 per

cent for Gujarat. The ratio may be a tad higher for Jharkhand and Odisha, but in their

case 94 per cent and 81 per cent of the respective average monthly receipts from this

activity was derived from “sale of live animals”. In Gujarat, by contrast, production of

milk constituted 94.6 per cent of the average receipts from farming of animals.

Milk is a ‘crop’ that is harvested and marketed daily, unlike wheat, cotton or sugarcane

that take between four months to nearly a year for farmers to be able to sell. While the

daily sale of milk may be in litres — as opposed to quintals in most ‘regular’ crops —

what it does, however, is provide liquidity which can take care of the household’s day-to-

day expenses and reduce dependence on the moneylender to that extent.

The NSSO data, in fact, shows the contribution of “farming of animals” to the average

monthly income of the bottom-five expenditure decile agricultural households in Gujarat,

at 26.6 per cent, to be higher than the 23.1 per cent share for those belonging to the top

five deciles. It only points to the inherently pro-poor character of dairying, whose

potential hasn’t really been harnessed, more in regions with high incidence of farmer

indebtedness or Maoist insurgency.

In 2015-16, the district dairy unions affiliated to Amul — the Gujarat Cooperative Milk

Marketing Federation — procured about 144 lakh litres per day (LLPD) of milk from

34.5 lakh producers, who would have covered nearly 88 per cent of Gujarat’s estimated

39.3 lakh households. Farmers received an average purchase price of Rs 640 per kg fat.

That would have translated into a rate of Rs 39.55/litre for full-cream milk containing 6

per cent fat and 9 per cent SNF (solids-not-fat) and Rs 28.58/litre for toned milk with 3

per cent fat and 8.5 per cent SNF. Taking an average of Rs 35/litre, the Amul unions

would have pumped in roughly Rs 18,400 crore or Rs 50.40 crore daily to Gujarat’s milk

producers in 2015-16.

The Amul unions currently follow a two-stage payment system. The first step involves

the unions (there are 18 of them) making payments to the primary village cooperatives

societies (18,545 in all) for the milk they deliver after collecting from farmers. These are

made through RTGS (real time gross settlement) fund transfers to the concerned society’s

account on the 11th, 21st and 31st of every month against the preceding ten days’

procurement. The village society, in turn, pays farmers directly in cash, with the

secretary/manager withdrawing money from its account as and when required.

“We want to move to a system of direct payments into farmers’ bank accounts, as

opposed to routing through the society. It will require integrating all the societies into a

common AMCS (automatic milk collection system) application software that provides

real-time information on the quantity of milk, along with fat and SNF content, poured by

each producer-member. Our target is to finish this process by March 2017, so as to

implement direct payments in the coming fiscal,” said K Rathnam, managing director of

the Kaira District Cooperative Milk Producers’ Union.

Interestingly, the Chennai-based Hatsun Agro Product Ltd, India’s largest private sector

dairy firm, claims to have already introduced a system of direct payments to its 3.1 lakh-

odd farmers who supply an average 27 LLPD of milk.

The Rs 3,444.59 crore-turnover company has installed ‘Ekomilk’ analysers at all its

8,880 purchase centres in Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Maharashtra. The

person at the centre draws a 90-ml sample of the milk brought by each farmer and places

it on the ultrasonic analyser, even as his/her producer code is entered on a keyboard. The

analyser gives the fat and SNF content within a minute’s time, after which the farmer’s

entire milk consignment is taken to a connected electronic weighing scale. At this point,

the keyboard is punched again and the analyser display screen now indicates the total

quantity poured, the rate corresponding to the fat/SNF content in the sample and the

payment to be made, besides the date and time of supply.

“The entire system is transparent, as the farmer gets to see everything and obtain a print-

out of whatever is displayed for every transaction. We transfer the money against all

these invoices once in ten days. So, if a farmer is supplying, say, 9 litres daily at an

average of Rs 26/litre, an amount of Rs 2,340 would reach his bank account on the tenth

day,” explained R G Chandramogan, managing director, Hatsun Agro.

The biggest advantage with milk, he pointed out, is that it ensures round-the-year cash

flow for the farmer without price fluctuation of the sort witnessed in tomatoes, turmeric,

cotton or coconut. And with direct payments, when real money starts coming into his

account, the farmer’s creditworthiness, too, goes up. For the bank, he then becomes a

customer to be wooed rather than a social obligation burden (think zero-balance Jan-

Dhan accounts). And access to formal bank finance also means not having to borrow at

usurious rates, be it from the sahukar or microfinance institutions.

Ultimately, there can be few better antidotes to farmers’ debt than a crop that has a ready

market in a country where people love to consume milk — and will increasingly do so

with rising incomes. A farmer selling 14-15 litres daily throughout the year from three

animals – one freshly-calved producing 10-12 litres; the second, 5-6 months pregnant

giving 3-4 litres; and the third about eight months that’s already gone dry and ready to

calve just when the previous one stops lactating — to an Amul or Hatsun is unlikely to

get drowned in debt.

From duped maids to rice farmers, Asian women lead the way in businesses to

aid society, says poll

At all the peace talks Joji Felicitas Pantoja attended in the conflict-troubled Philippines

island of Mindanao, coffee was served to put people at ease.

But Pantoja soon realised talking about peace wasn’t enough in communities unable to

address basic needs like food and health, sparking an idea to use coffee as a vehicle for

change.

Setting up “Coffee for Peace”, Pantoja worked with Mindanao farmers to revitalise an

industry long abandoned for cash crops like rubber and bananas – and her farmers’

earnings tripled.

“Peace is not just the absence of war … if we don’t address the economic aspect, it’s not

complete,” Pantoja, 56, a self-described peacebuilder, said by Skype from Mindanao.

Across Asia women like Pantoja are re-examining society’s problems through a business

lens, playing a more leading role than women in other regions in harnessing the power of

markets to tackle poverty and social ills, according to the first experts’ poll on the best

countries for social entrepreneurs.

The Thomson Reuters Foundation survey of the world’s 45 biggest economies found the

Philippines was the country where women fared best when taking into account

representation in leadership roles in social enterprises and the gender pay gap.

In fact five other spots among the top 10 ranking in the poll of nearly 900 experts in

social enterprise were in Asia – Malaysia, China, Hong Kong, Indonesia and Thailand.

Russia, Norway, and Canada rounded out the top 10, while Brazil came last and the

United States fared badly in the perception poll due to concerns women are paid less than

men.

Women interviewed across Asia described a fairer playing field and higher drive to put

compassion over valuation as the reason women are doing so well as social

entrepreneurs.

COMMUNITY FOCUS

Overall the online poll, conducted between June 9 and July 15 in partnership with

Deutsche Bank, the Global Social Entrepreneurship Network (GSEN) and UnLtd,

foundations for social entrepreneurs, found 68 percent of experts said women are well

represented in leadership in social enterprises.

A study by Deloitte in 2015 showed that women hold only 12 percent of the world’s

board seats while data from the Inter-Parliamentary Union shows women account for

about 23 percent of all national parliamentarians.

However only 48 percent of experts said women in social enterprises were paid the same

as men, with the United States particularly concerned on this issue.

“Whereas men want to be like Mark Zuckerberg, women want to do well for the

community,” said Peetachai “Neil” Dejkraisak, who founded a rice social enterprise

called Siam Organic with a female business school classmate.

“They are more compassionate and want a meaningful life … Social entrepreneurs are

inherently driven by improving people’s lives, lifting people out of poverty. Women

social entrepreneurs are better at doing this than their male counterparts.”

Neil and Pornthida “Palmmy” Wongphatharakul began work on Siam Organic as

business school students, not setting out with the aim of building a business seeking to

improve society.

“The social impact was tied into the business model – the better the business, the more

impact for the farmer,” said Palmmy.

With Thai rice farmers earning about $12 per month per acre, they decided to home in on

the U.S. market and innovations – mainly the organic purple “Jasberry” rice, high in

antioxidants – to boost farmers’ earnings and win health-conscious customers.

The company now works with 1,000 farmers and sold about 100 tonnes of its specialty

rice in 2015 to Thai and US buyers – and its farmers earn an average of $180 per month

per acre.

“My objective has always been whatever you do, you always have to help the farmers

you promised to help. When a decision comes along, you put the farmers first,” said

Palmmy, 31.

DUPED MAID TAKES LEADERSHIP ROLE

Indonesian former domestic worker Heni Sri Sundani never imagined she would become

a social entrepreneur, using education to empower children and families in Indonesian

villages.

From an impoverished farming family, in 2005 she went to Hong Kong as a maid to

support her family but discovered her recruiter kept half her salary, inspiring her to use

any spare time to study for a degree in entrepreneurial management.

She returned home six years later with a degree and started offering free classes to

children through her Smart Farmer Kids in Action movement, teaching science and also

modern farming.

As the movement grew to include over 1,000 students in eight villages, she began

charging a small fee to help cover running costs but most parents, who are farmers, could

not afford it.

So she created another community programme to help the farmers sell their products

online and introduced eco-tourism, boosting their incomes so they could pay for

schooling.

“We hope these children stay and empower others in the villages to become educated

farmers. We don’t want them to go to big cities to become exploited labourers or end up

becoming human trafficking victims,” said 29-year-old Sundani.

“People I met were amazed what a woman like me can do. More women started to join

me because a woman is not just a housewife,” she said, adding she raised money via

crowdfunding.

Malaysian Mastura Rashid realised it was not enough to give free food to the poor when

she was a volunteer handing out meals to homeless people in Kuala Lumpur as this was

not sustainable.

Maharashtra State govt plans e-com platform for trade in agri goods

The state government has started working on a project to create an e-commerce platform

for trading in agricultural goods, hoping to replicate the success of other e-commerce

players trading in both perishable (fruits and vegetables) as well as non-perishable (grains

etc).

In its initial stages, the project will target customers mostly in Pune and Mumbai.

Following its recent decision to delist fruits and vegetables from the Agricultural Produce

Market Committees (APMCs), the state government has been working on creation of

parallel and new market options for farmers. The decision has allowed farmers to sell

their produce anywhere without being bound by the rules of APMCs. Direct marketing

licences, weekly markets are private markets are the options being tried by the

government so far.

Officers working on the e-commerce project say their first task was to collate data on

farmers groups along with commodities they produce and sell. Agricultural Technology

Management Agency (ATMA), under the department of agriculture, already has such

data for each district, which will be used to create the e-platform. Once this information

is made available easily, both business to business (b2b) and business to customer (b2c)

linkages can be made.

“Farmer groups are into direct sourcing and sale of their produce. Once this information

is made available, both institutional and individual customers can contact them directly,”

said an officer working on the project.

It’s hoped that logistics involved in the process, including transport and packaging, will

also help generate jobs in both rural and semi-urban areas.

Start-ups like Big Basket have already developed such linkages and are in the business of

home delivery of both perishable and non-perishable good. Officers said the bigger data

base available to them will give them the edge.

“Moreover, the platform will allow access to wholesalers, retailers as well as individual

buyers access,” said the officer.

At present, the concept note for the project is being prepared and work will start soon.

Meanwhile, Kishore Toshniwal, director (marketing) with the state government, said that

since farmer-producer companies have lined up seeking direct marketing licences, more

than 70 such licences have been issued to them since the delisting exercise.

Other than making the process online, the government has made also it mandatory for

such licence-holders to disclose online the business they do. This, Toshniwal said, would

allow them to keep a tab on the quantum of business done by them.

US Agri Dept cuts India’s soyabean crop estimate to 6.08 mt

New Delhi, September 14:

The US Department of Agriculture has reduced its estimate for 2016-17 soyabean

production in India to 6.08 million tonnes (mt). In August, the agency had estimated

production at 7.04 mt.

Soyabean output in India is estimated to be down due to lower area and poor yields. The

yield may be hit due to excessive rainfall in July and August across major producing

regions, the department said.

USDA has raised the estimate for global oilseed output by 1 million tonnes to 544.5 mt

owing to a rise in production of soyabean, sunflower, groundnut and cottonseed.

“Lower soyabean production forecasts for Brazil, India, and Canada are more than offset

by higher production for the US, and China,” the report said.

Global oilseed stocks for 2016-17 are projected slightly higher at 82.8 mt mainly

reflecting the sharp increase in ending stocks of mustard in Canada and increased

soyabean stocks for the US.

The department also raised US oilseed production estimate by 4.1 mt to 124.3 mt due to

record production of soyabean and rise in peanut and cottonseed production.

A dream come true for the farmers of Singur

Singur, September 14:

Top Trinamool Congress leaders are rejoicing, celebrating the victory of the farmers from

a stage occupying majority of the National Highway-2 at Singur. Party activists have

gathered in tens of thousands, choking traffic on a 10-km stretch for the entire day.

The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) denied permission for the rally but

the district authorities used discretionary powers to hold it. Normally such discretionary

powers are applicable over a kilometre stretch. But, today was an exception.

This is the same spot where Mamata Banerjee – then in opposition – held demonstrations

in 2006 and 2008 against the then Left Front government alleging forcible acquisition of

997 acres farmland for Tata’s Nano factory.

The campaign was successful. Tata Motors relocated the factory to Sanand in Gujarat in

October 2008. Banerjee became Chief Minister of West Bengal in 2011, ending the 34-

year Left rule. And, on August 31, the Supreme Court vindicated her stand by ordering

return of the acquired land to farmers within 12 weeks.

Sops galore

She celebrated the occasion on Wednesday by distributing compensation cheques to 800

unwilling farmers (who denied accepting it in the past) as per the court order and handed

over the deeds to over 9,000 farmers who were affected.

They will get possession of the land after the State removes the construction – the factory

sheds – and make it cultivable.

“The entire process will be completed within 8 weeks ahead of the Court mandated time

line,” she said claiming that the movement was ‘historic’ and “will remain an example of

upholding farmers’ rights”. Singur laid the foundation of her political rise. And, to seal

the fate of the Opposition, Banerjee announced a bouquet of sops over and above the

court ordered compensation.

Announcements were made for one-time payment of Rs. 10,000 to families who lost their

lands to help them return to farming. Besides, the State government will provide them

high quality fertilisers and seeds. An institute will also be set up to train farmers. Special

facility will be made available to provide soft loans for acquiring agricultural equipment.

Advise to the Tatas

But should it choke investment in West Bengal? Banerjee didn’t answer the question but

advised the Tatas to take the episode (however bitter it is) in a ‘sporting’ manner. “Let us

take the issue (Singur) in a sporting manner.... I can give 1000 acres of land to you

(Tatas) tomorrow in Goaltore (West Midnapore) if you want to set up a car factory there.

Land is there in our possession,” she said.

“Be it a Tata or a BMW or any auto major, we can give land to anyone right now. It is

not an issue for companies looking to invest,” she added. Apart from manufacturing and

small and medium scale industries, Banerjee pitched for IT enterprises.

Nimai Deb of Gopal Nagar in Singur who once offered his land for the project and today

got the land back was elated. “Everything that she says comes true,” he

told BusinessLine .

That points a sharp rise in political equity of Didi (as Banerjee is fondly referred to), who

had just won the 2016 Assembly election by a handsome margin.

Production of kharif pulses seen surging 48% to 8.2 million tonnes

Govt also revises Rabi target upwards to 14.4 million tonnes

Bengaluru, September 13:

Higher acreage, driven by the rebound in monsoon rainfall this year, is seen lifting the

country’s pulses production by about 48 per cent in the current kharif season to around

8.22 million tonnes (mt) against 5.54 mt produced in the corresponding season last year,

according to the Agriculture Ministry.

Production of arhar or tur is seen up by around 51 per cent at 3.71 mt against 2.46 mt

produced last kharif. Output of urad is expected to be around 1.82 mt — up 31 per cent

from last season.

Similarly, the production of moong bean or green gram is expected to be higher by 43 per

cent at 1.46 mt, while the output of other pulses including horse gram is almost double at

1.20 mt (0.67 mt).

Besides good rains, the higher market price during the planting season and the increase in

support price announced by the Centre prompted farmers to increase the area under

pulses this kharif by 30 per cent to 143.95 lakh hectares as against last year’s 111.48 lakh

hectares.

The kharif pulses production estimates of the Agriculture Ministry are part of the

background note of the Rabi Campaign, which will be finalised later this week at the

National Conference on Agriculture in New Delhi.

Rabi hopes

Buoyed by the widespread monsoon rains across the country, the Centre has revised

upwards the production target for pulses in the forthcoming rabi and summer planting

season to 14.41 mt — up 7 per cent from the earlier 13.5 mt. Rabi or winter season

plantings account for close to two thirds of the pulses produced in the country.

An action plan to take advantage of the high residual soil moisture to bring an additional

1.26 million hectares under rabi and summer pulses such as gram (chana) and lentil will

be discussed at the Rabi Campaign.

“It is expected that there will be a possibility of more residual moisture for sowing of rabi

pulses. In addition to the availability of critical inputs like quality seed, bio-fertilizers and

technology, back-up by different agencies will ensure better coverage of the area under

rabi and summer pulses. In this context, the production target of rabi and summer pulses

for 2016-17 have been enhanced from 13.50 mt to 14.41 mt,” a background note for the

Rabi Campaign said.

This (revision in production targets) is even as the Centre on Monday decided to enhance

buffer stocks for pulses to around 2 million tonnes, which will be built through both

domestic procurement and imports of 10 lakh tonnes each.

As arrivals of kharif moong have commenced in Karnataka and Maharashtra and prices

rule below the support-price levels, the Centre has begun procurement through agencies

such as Nafed and FCI.

Cumulative rainfall during the South-West monsoon so far, has been 5 per cent lower

than normal at 760 mm as against the normal of 802 mm. To achieve the increased

targets, an additional area of12.6 lakh hectaresover the normal area has to be brought

under pulses during the rabi and summer seasons.

The Agriculture Ministry is targeting an additional area of 3.89 lakh hectares (lh) in

Madhya Pradesh to increase the total area under rabi pulses in the State to 44.3 lh. In

Rajasthan, an additional area of 1.58 lh is being targeted to increase rabi pulses acreage to

17.41 lh, followed by Maharashtra by 1.43 lh to 16.3 lh.

Uttar Pradesh and Karnataka are the other States where an additional area of over 1 lakh

hectares each is expected to be brought under rabi pulses (to 16.3 lh and 11.89 lh,

respectively).

The additional acreage is being targeted in rice fallows in West Bengal, Bihar, Odisha,

Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Assam, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka. Also,

production will be encouraged through inter-cropping of gram and lentil with barley,

mustard, linseed and the autumn-planted ratoon sugarcane.

Cardamom regains aroma, tops Rs. 1,000/kg again at auctions

Kochi, September 15:

Cardamom prices have shown a firmer trend since Tuesday with the auction average

crossingRs. 1,000 a kg again on good demand amid tight supply.

At Thursday’s auction by the Kerala Cardamom Processing and Marketing Company

Limited, Thekkady, a total of 23.5 tonnes of the spice arrived and the entire quantity was

traded.

The auction average price here increased to Rs.1,019.13 a kg from Rs. 928.80 last

Thursday. The maximum price stood at Rs. 1,260/kg.

In the Cardamom Processing & Marketing Co-Operative Society’s sale, arrivals stood at

33.92 tonnes and almost the entire quantity was traded.

The average price here also rose to Rs. 1,010 from Rs. 926.04 a kg the previous

Thursday.

The average price was at Rs. 1,239.

At the Tuesday morning auction by the South Indian Green Cardamom Company Ltd,

Kochi, the average price soared by around Rs. 106 a kg to Rs. 1,029.38 from Rs. 923.23

the previous Tuesday.

A bullish sentiment has surfaced following reports of a sharp fall in output of the crop

during the current season, trade sources said.

Added to this, inventories in the upcountry markets have reportedly been exhausted,

resulting in fresh buying to replenish stocks to meet the Diwali demand.

This demand has also played a part in the upward price movement, PC Punnoose,

General Manager, Cardamom Processing & Marketing Co-Operative Society,

told BusinessLine.

Bayer launches fungicide for grapes

Mumbai, September 14:

Bayer India’s Crop Science Division has launched a new fungicide, ‘Luna Experience’,

that not only fights pests but also extends the shelf life of grapes.

Table grapes are a high-profit crop for growers, but its production is quite challenging

due to plant diseases, need for sustainable use of crop protection products, food safety

issues related to residue of chemicals and dynamic international market requirements of

retail chains.

Latent infections remain in a dormant stage in the berry and start showing disease

symptoms only after harvest, thus affecting shelf life.

Luna Experience is widely used for table grapes in several countries and has seen huge

commercial success in South Africa, Italy, the US and Chile.

In India, Luna Experience is being introduced with label claims on Powdery Mildew and

Anthracnose protection for grapes. The product will be sold in pack sizes of 1 litre, 250

ml and 100 ml.

Extensive field trials of the fungicide have shown good results for fruit quality and

disease management. It was also tested by India’s National Research Centre for Grapes

and has been recommended to farmers as an effective product for Powdery Mildew

protection, said Bayer.

Peter Mueller, Head of South Asia, Bayer Crop Science Division, said the new fungicide

will fulfil the need of Indian grape farmers and help them reap high quality harvests

while minimising post-harvest losses.

It also aids exporters to maintain the health and freshness of grapes for a longer time by

protecting against latent diseases, he said.

Farmers told to explore potential of cocoa, take it as an inter-crop

MANGALURU, SEPTEMBER 14:

India can become a global leader in cocoa production provided farmers take up cocoa

cultivation as an inter-crop in coconut and arecanut plantations, according to P

Chowdappa, Director of the Kasaragod-based Central Plantation Crops Research Institute

(CPCRI).

Launching the ‘Dark Tan’ chocolate of Campco (Central Arecanut and Cocoa Marketing

and Processing Cooperative) Ltd in Mangaluru on Wednesday, he said that the

productivity and production of cocoa are coming down in some of the major cocoa-

producing nations in Africa because of pest attack and diseases.

The country has around 21 lakh hectares of land under coconut cultivation and around 6

lakh hectares under arecanut cultivation.

Tapping the potential

The demand for cocoa-based products in the country is increasing by 10-15 per cent each

year.

If the farmers take steps to tap these potentials, India can emerge as a global leader in

cocoa production in the years to come, he said, adding that cocoa as an inter-crop will

help augment the income sources of farmers also.

The data available on the website of the Kochi-based Directorate of Cashew and Cocoa

Development says that India produced 16,050 tonnes of cocoa on an area of around

78,000 hectares during 2014-15.

Speaking on the occasion, SR Satishchandra, President of Campco, said that CPCRI and

his organisations are planning to produce chocolate with coconut sugar as a main

ingredient.

Coconut sugar

Chowdappa said that there are around 60 coconut producers companies in the country.

The CPCRI had an interaction with the representatives of these producers companies on

the need to promote coconut sugar.

Campco’s plans to produce chocolate based on coconut sugar will help these coconut

grower producers’ companies.

He said that CPCRI has developed technology to extract coconut sugar, which is also

known as ‘neera’ sugar.

‘Neera’ is a sweet sap tapped from coconut tree.