08.03.2016

Commodity prices

Chilli prices have more than doubled in the last year. In Chennai, chillies are sold at ₹54 per kg, up 108 per cent from ₹26 a kg a year ago. Production disruption due to poor rains, low inventories and increased export demand have taken prices sharply higher.

Here are the prices of various commodities in Chennai.

Price scale is given as Rs./kg

Commodity Quantity Now Year ago

Rice 1 kg 30 32

Wheat 1 kg 33 30

Atta 1 kg 30 36

Gram Dal 1 kg 71 55

Tur Dal 1 kg 140 96

Urad Dal 1 kg 150 94

Moong Dal 1 kg 105 106

Masoor Dal 1 kg 83 76

Sugar 1 kg 37 32

Milk 1 ltr 37 37

Ground Nut Oil 1 ltr 125 109

Sun flower Oil 1 ltr 93 87

Commodity Quantity Now Year ago

Gur (Jaggery) 1 kg 50 46

Tea 1 kg 220 220

Salt 1 kg 18 17

Lime 1 kg 80 70

Apple 1 kg 140 160

Papaya 1 kg 30 30

Pineapple 1 kg 40 40

Pomegranate 1 kg 120 140

Sapota 1 kg 40 40

Banana 1 kg 30 30

Bitter Gourd 1 kg 40 20

Brinjal 1 kg 32 24

Cabbage 1 kg 20 18

Cauli Flower 1 kg 50 40

Garlic 1 kg 180 120

Ginger 1 kg 60 60

Chilly 1 kg 54 26

Onion 1 kg 13 22

Potato 1 kg 24 20

Tomato 1 kg 12 10

*Source: Ministry of Consumer Affairs, National Horticulture Board

No grounds to declare drought in State

Revenue Department responds to Cabinet’s suggestion

There are no grounds for the declaration of a drought in Kerala, the Revenue Department has told the Chief Minister’s Office.

Responding to a directive issued by the Cabinet to examine a request from the Kollam District Collector to declare a drought in the municipality and surrounding panchayats, the Revenue Secretary reported that conditions in the State did not warrant such a declaration. The report was based on an assessment under the manual for drought management issued by the Union Ministry of Agriculture.

According to the manual, drought declaration has to be based on at least three of four key indices and some other factors.

The key indices, including rainfall deficiency, area under sowing, Normalised Difference Vegetation Index (decline in green cover), and moisture adequacy are recommended as the standard monitoring tools applied in combination for drought declaration.

Revenue officials said the rainfall in Kerala from March to December 2015 was within the normal range. The State received 2,600 mm of rains against an expected rainfall of 2,900 mm.

Citing a report prepared by the Agriculture Department, they said the situation did not indicate drought conditions.

There was no crop failure and irrigation and crop seed availability were satisfactory.

The groundwater data and reservoir storage levels also did not indicate a departure from the long term average. Analysis of satellite imagery did not reveal crop wilting or decline in green cover either, they said.

The Cabinet meeting last week had decided to address the water scarcity in parts of the State by providing water in tankers and completing the repair and maintenance on distribution schemes.

The Revenue Secretary has directed District Collectors to convene a meeting immediately to assess the drinking water situation and take remedial measures.

Officials said the demand for declaration of drought was mostly triggered by powerful lobbies involved in supply of water in tanker lorries and extension of distribution pipelines.

South African youth trained to be future agri-preneurs

The South African students who completed a four-month agricultural training programme in ICRISAT at Patancheru in Medak district. “Today’s youth aren’t aware of all the potential there is are in agriculture. It is not just limited to farming in the fields, there are a host of opportunities like agribusiness, where youth can get involved,” said Lilly Thato Mabonela, one of the South African students.

Ms. Mabonela is among the first group of six South African youths to have successfully completed a four-month agricultural training programme at the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT).

The initiative, with support from the South African government, is an effort to give youth from the region more opportunities in the agricultural sector.

Ms. Mabonela hopes to empower and engage more youth in her country in agricultural ventures that she plans to set up after she returns to South Africa. She wants the government and other organisations to do more to attract youth towards agriculture, like conduct awareness workshops in schools and colleges and offer free education to the disadvantaged youth of India and Africa.

The training programme, with funding from the Dr. Sam Motsuenyane Rural Development Foundation and support of the South African government through its human resource initiative, was coordinated by the Learning Systems Unit (LSU) of ICRISAT. “In his recent nation address, the President of South Africa affirmed agriculture as a priority sector to drive economic growth and job creation in South Africa. The training programme for the youth is in line with the National Development Plan of South Africa known as NDP Vision 2030,” said South African Minister Counsellor for Agricultural Affairs Mkhululi Mankazana, while presenting the certificates to the youths.

Dr. Peter Carberry, ICRISAT’s deputy director general for research, said that there was a need for more human resources, particularly youth in agricultural research and development, to work towards a food and nutritional secure world.

Soon, beat the heat with coconut lassi

Here is good news for fussy vegetarians! The Coconut Development Board, in association with the Central Food Technological Research Institute, Mysuru, has developed a new beverage from coconut — coconut lassi.

The tender coconut beverage is prepared by mixing tender coconut endosperm with tender coconut water along with permissible additives and sweeteners completed with thermal treatment.

The product has a shelf life of six months at ambient temperature and the Board described the product as a “refreshing drink retaining all the natural flavour and nutrients of tender coconut water”. It is the ideal drink to quench one’s thirst during summer season, says a statement issued by the Coconut Development Board here.

The Coconut Board has sponsored research programmes on developing cheese and yogurt from coconut milk.

Coconut Development Board officials had said that ice-cream from coconut milk was already well-established in several markets, especially in the United States.

Dairy-free curd

Dairy-free curd was developed from coconut milk by a farmer in Chemberi in Kannur district and its commercial production was expected soon.

Making curd from coconut milk involved fermenting and coagulating coconut milk by increasing the quantity of lauric acid in the milk by adding acid extract from honey as a catalyst.

The technology for tender coconut beverage or coconut lassi is available with the Board under the Union Ministry of Agriculture.

Coconut Board sponsors research on developing cheese and yoghurt from coconut milk.

Drought hits footfall of devotees

The four-day jatara that commenced at Yedupayala witnessed a low pilgrim turnout

Like all other sectors, prevailing drought conditions adversely impacted the pilgrimage in the district. The four-day jatara that was commenced at this pilgrim village witnessed a low turnout on Monday than what was expected. As the usual morning rush was missing, officials were expecting that the pilgrim rush may surge in the evening. “It cost me about Rs. 300 to come here and offer prayers along with my family members. It was a considerable amount for any low income family,” said Yadagiri, a farmer who visited the temple on the first day.

“The drought has adversely impacting the rush to the jatara and the turnout was low. It costs a minimum of Rs. 500 for a family of three to come and visit the temple, including offerings to the Goddess. In addition, lack of flowing water at Yedupayala and commencement of examination season were also the reasons for the low turnout,” said an official supervising the arrangements.

The lack of flowing water at Yedupayala and commencement of examination season were also the reasons for the low turnout.– PHOTOs: Mohd Arif The offerings at Yedupayala was commenced in the wee hours with Panchamrutham for the Goddess, with the temple being opened for devotees. Endowments Minister A. Indrakaran Reddy, Irrigation Minister T. Harish Rao and Deputy Speaker M. Padma Devender Reddy offered ‘pattu vastralu’ for the Goddess. They came from Hyderabad in a helicopter, and after darshan at Yedupayala visited Kethaki Sangameswara temple and offered pattu vastrams before leaving back for Hyderabad. Superintendent of Police B. Sumathi and legislator Chinta Prabhakar were also present.

In a unique effort, the Forest Department officials put up a stall in the jatara and offered different varieties of saplings as ‘vana prasadam for Rs. 5 each. Many people showed interest in visiting the stall.

Meanwhile, Mr. Harish Rao said that the government was committed to develop Ghanapur anicut at a cost of Rs. 93.5 crore. About Rs. 43.5 crore would be spent to increase the height of the anicut, while Rs. 50 crore would be spent for construction of canals. Speaking to the media, he said that the government was committed for the development of temples and as part of that Rs. 1 crore was sanctioned for Yedupayala last year followed by Rs. 1.5

crore this year. The amount would be spent for the construction of Yagashala and choultries, he said.

Price crash leaves Korai grass farmers high and dry

Grass raised on acre fetches Rs. 11,000 as against average price of Rs. 25,000

Farm workers bundling korai grass on a field at Ayyampalayam near Tiruchi.— PHOTO: A. MURALITHARAN Steep fall in the price of Korai grass, main raw material for making mats, has caused concern among farmers in Tiruchi and Karur districts.

The grass is cultivated on large tracts of land along the banks of the Cauvery. It is mainly grown in areas such as Musiri, Mohanur, Paramathi, Vangal, Kuppuchipalaym, Velur, Pandamangalam, Nangavaram, Melanangavaram, Pettavaithalai, Thottiam, and neighbouring villages.

With harvesting of the grass under way over the past few days, a large number of middlemen and brokers have arrived Musiri and other areas for buying grass, which will in turn be sent for the mat production units in Musiri, Vaniyampadi, and Salem. The grass is sent to a few north Indian states as well.

However, the prices offered by the middlemen have brought down the spirit of farmers.

As per the current market condition, grass raised on an acre fetches a meagre price of Rs.11,000 as against the average price of Rs. 25,000.

There were instances in which the farmers were offered up to Rs. 30,000 an acre a few years ago.

“The current price is inadequate to meet the overheads on raising korai grass. We suffer heavy loss. We do not have alternative options except selling it to middlemen,” says R. Selvam (45) of Ayyampalayam near Musiri.

Farmers complain that it is the middlemen, who fix prices for korai grass. The farmers have been kept in the dark as they do not know the actual price in the market.

They said that the middlemen and brokers fix prices at the fields as per the wish of them. They were the real beneficiaries in the cultivation of korai.

Steps to save cashew industry sought

Concern over introduction of import duty on raw cashew

N.K. Premachandran, MP, has called upon the Union government to mitigate the anxiety in the cashew sector over the new duty imposed on import of raw cashew.

In a statement here on Monday, Mr. Premachandran said that the Union government should take steps to protect the cashew industry of the country.

He said that a big fall in the production of raw cashew in the country had led to a corresponding increase in the import of the commodity. This opened avenues for hawala and black money operators, he said. This operation was pushing up the raw nut prices in the country and it led to medium and small scale processors being unable to purchase raw cashew.

Factories remain shut

The situation had led to many cashew factories remaining closed, resulting in hundreds of women losing their livelihood. The raw cashew issue was creating problems both for processors and workers, Mr. Premachandran said. The government should ensure availability of raw cashew at affordable prices. Simultaneous steps should be taken to augment the production of raw cashew in the country.

Meeting called off

Meanwhile, a meeting called by Mr. Premachandran at the Government Guest House here on Sunday with representatives of the cashew processors

and board members of the Cashew Export Promotion Council of India (CEPCI) had to be called off following a showdown between processors and the CEPCI members.

The meeting was called to find ways to solve the import duty imbroglio so that the outcome could be presented before the Union Ministry of Commerce. The immediate cause of the showdown was an alleged police complaint lodged by a CEPCI director board member against the president of the cashew processors association.

Cashew processors from across the country have announced a march to the CEPCI office here on Tuesday to register their protest against the import duty. Their contention was that it was at the behest of the CEPCI that the duty was imposed. Processors from Maharashtra, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Tamil Nadu apart from Kerala will be taking part in the march.

An app to help fisherfolk

The app meets the holistic shore-to-shore needs of the fishing community —Photo: M. Karunakaran M. S. Swaminathan Research Foundation (MSSRF), Chennai, recently upgraded a ‘fisher-friend’ mobile application programme that would meet the holistic shore-to-shore needs of the fishing community.

The foundation had, in partnership with Qualcomm, a mobile-technologies company, developed the fisher-friend mobile application as part of a post-tsunami rehabilitation strategy in 2007.

It was developed on Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA), a technology platform, to pass on critical information about wave height, wind speed, and direction.

“Post-tsunami, the fishermen were afraid to venture out into the sea. Even the fishing ground got shifted. If they are able to reach the fishing ground, they were unable to get any fish,” Nancy J. Anabel, director, Information, Education, and Communication, MSSRF, said.

“This critical factor drove the team in the foundation to develop the application in partnership with Qualcomm, Tata Teleservices, and Astute, a technology developer company, to pass critical information about potential fishing zones and market rates,” she added.

Release of water from Mettur Dam stepped up

The release of water from Mettur Dan for solving the drinking water problem in the delta districts was increased to 1,500 cusecs from Sunday night.

About 1,000 cusecs of water was released from Mettur Dam for the last few days for drinking water purpose. The 1,500 cusecs water is being released into River Cauvery through Bhavani Kattalai Barrage No. 3, Public Works Department sources said.

The water level in the dam stood at 60.96 feet on Monday evening against its full level of 120 feet. The storage level stood at 25.407 tmc. The inflow into the dam was 139 cusecs, PWD sources added.

Shallot prices fall in Dindigul

Rise in production, huge arrivals from other districts lead to a glut

With a huge arrival of shallots (small onion) from major onion production centres in Dindigul and nearby districts, the wholesale onion market in Dindigul, one of the biggest markets in the State, has witnessed a sharp fall in the prices.

The drop of a little over 50 per cent in prices of shallots in a month baffled both farmers and traders. The prices of shallots that hovered around Rs. 18 per kg last month came down suddenly to Rs. 8 in Dindigul on Monday.

Regular arrivals from Theni, Andipatti, Dharapuram and Udumalpet were good.

Shallots heaped at Dindigul wholesale market on Monday.— PHOTO: G. Karthikeyan With sufficient rainfall at the right time, the yield was high in major shallot production centres in the district now, said onion traders in the whole sale market.

The market received 4,500 bags of shallots on Monday, of which the arrival from domestic production centres, especially Iyyalur, Eriyode and Gujiliamparai, was around 2,800 bags.

Increase in production and arrivals from neighbouring districts caused a glut in the wholesale market. Exports too did not pick up much in the last one week owing to fresh arrivals of shallots. Exporters preferred matured, completely dry shallots. The shelf life of fresh onions was very short when compared to matured onions, traders added. The farmers were deeply worried over the sudden slump in shallot prices as the existing sale price would not even meet their plucking and transport costs.

The traders opined that shallot prices would fall further in the months to come as harvesting would be completed in major production centres in the neighbouring districts.

Normally, the wholesale market receives onion in large quantities from Nilakottai, Sengurichi, Gujiliamparai in Dindigul district, and Thuraiyur, Udumalpet and Namakkal, some of the major onion production centres in the State, and from Mysore in Karnataka.

Rise in production, huge arrivals from other districts lead to a glut

Over 2,000 cashew nut units down shutters

Over 2,000 cashew nut processing units across the State, including 535 in Kanyakumari district, downed shutters for two days from Monday, demanding withdrawal of 9.36 per cent duty imposed on import of raw cashew in the Union budget.

M.P. Jayachandran, general secretary, Cashew Factory Owners’ Development Association of Tamil Nadu, told The Hindu that though the government was giving back 5 per cent of import duty while exporting the processed nuts, the factory owners could not bear the brunt as the industry was already in doldrums due to shortage of raw materials and not getting remunerative prices for the processed nuts.

In a memorandum faxed to Union Minister of State for Commerce and Industry Nirmala Seetharaman, the association said that “the import duty has been levied on import of raw cashew nut when the industry is facing trouble due to exorbitant cost of raw materials in the international market, coupled with domestic processing cost, which has affected the industry as a whole”.

The industry, which provided employment to over two lakh women, was resorting either to shutdown or restricting processing and production to one or two days a week. This had had a cascading effect on the livelihood of families depending on the industry. The budget announcement and subsequent notification, dated March 1, enhancing the import duty to 9.36 per cent, were unacceptable, the association said.

It feared that if the notification was brought into force, the cost of raw nut would go up by at least Rs. 10 per kg.

The hike in import duty on raw cashew would paralyse the industry and this would be in conflict with the present policy of the government to promote small scale industries, Mr. Jayachandran said.

He said that the industry was wholly dependent on import of raw cashew from Nigeria, Tanzania, Mozambique, Ivory Coast and Ghana and the condition to export one kg of processed nut for every four kg of raw cashew was not feasible, he said.

“Withdraw 9.36

per cent duty imposed on

import of raw cashew”

Vaccination drive to counter anthrax threat

Teams have been formed to vaccinate sheep, goats and cattle in the village. So far 2000 animals have been vaccinated. 37 sheep die due to anthrax, department vaccinates cattle in eight villages in Vellore

After laboratory tests confirmed that the death of 37 sheep in Nemili block was due to anthrax, the Department of Animal Husbandry, Vellore has started to vaccinate sheep, goats and cattle against anthrax in eight villages. Officials said the disease spread has been contained now.

On March 4, the officials of the department received information that 37 sheep had died in two days in Keezh Venkatapuram in Nemili block.

Blood samples were drawn and sent for testing to the Central Research Laboratory, Ranipet and District Referral Laboratory, Vellore, a senior official said.

Tests confirmed Anthrax

Tests confirmed that the sheep had died of anthrax. He further added that the sheep owners did not seek any medical assistance on seeing the symptoms in the animals.

“First, one or two sheep had died, and we were not informed. The owners resorted to self-medication. It is said that they had used contaminated needles. This had resulted in the spread of the disease among the sheep, and subsequently death. We suspect an outbreak of anthrax and have taken up preventive measures,” he said.

Following this, the department formed four teams, each consisting of eight persons to vaccinate sheep, goats and cattle in the village and surrounding areas.

“We started to administer anthrax vaccine to sheep, goats and cattle in eight villages, covering a radius of 8 km from Keezh Venkatapuram on Friday. The vaccines were supplied from the Institute of Veterinary Preventive Medicine, Ranipet. So far, we have covered 2,000 animals, and will vaccinate the remaining in three days,” he said.

Once vaccinated, it will take two to three days for the animals to develop immunity, he added.

Symptoms

The symptoms of anthrax include high fever and loss of appetite. “There will be sudden death of animals. There will be bleeding from the rectum and vagina,” he said. In such cases of animal deaths, the officials have advised villagers not to try to remove the skin of animals. “The animals should be buried. Persons rearing sheep, goats and cattle should pay close attention. We have taken up cleaning works in the villages and spread bleaching powder,” he said.

The officials allayed apprehensions of anthrax spread to human as the disease has been contained well.

Monsanto patent under cloud as Bt cotton prone to pink bollworm Keshav Raj Kranthi, said that he had been consulted by the Union Agriculture Ministry on whether the pink bollworm had developed resistance to Bt cotton grown in India — to which he had given an affirmative reply. THE Central Institute for Cotton Research (CICR) has confirmed that Bt cotton incorporating Monsanto’s proprietary Bollgard-II technology has developed susceptibility to pink bollworm insect pests. This reported susceptibility is what has also apparently led the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion to serve notice to Mahyco Monsanto Biotech India Ltd (MMB) — the licensing arm of the US life sciences giant — calling upon it to explain why the patent for the technology should not be revoked.

Keshav Raj Kranthi, director of the Nagpur-based institute under the Indian Council of Agricultural Research, said that he had been consulted by the Union Agriculture Ministry specifically on whether the pink bollworm (Pectinophora gossypiella) had developed resistance to Bt cotton grown in India — to which he had given an affirmative reply.

Bollgard-II technology, which involves introduction of Cry1Ac and Cry2Ab genes from Bacillus thuringiensis, a soil bacterium, into cotton plants, is claimed to confer resistance against three insect pests: American bollworm (Helicoverpa armigera), pink bollworm and spotted bollworm (Earias vittella).

According to Kranthi, CICR’s surveys had pointed to the damage to the cotton crop from pink bollworm attacks as “particularly severe” in Gujarat last year, with an estimated 9 per cent yield loss. Though the infestation of the pest was noticed in a few pockets of Gujarat in 2014, it was found to have spread to wider areas in 2015.

Section 64 of the Indian Patent Act 1970 provides for revocation of patents, including on grounds that “the invention, so far as claimed in any claim of the complete specification, is not useful”. It is not clear, however, whether

such provisions can be extended to the diminished efficacy, if any, of an invention.

Monsanto had originally introduced the Bollgard technology based on a single Cry1Ac gene. The first pink bollworm attack was reported in 2009 on Bt cotton incorporating this single gene technology, while being localised to a single district in Gujarat.

Subsequently, MMB pushed the second-generation Bollgard-II technology based on two genes, which was patented in India in 2009 and also claimed to offer better protection against all the three bollworms. By 2012, the original Bollgard technology had been replaced completely by Bollgard-II Bt hybrids.

What explains this rapid development of pink bollworm resistance to Bollgard-II technology in India? Kranthi attributed this to factors “that are unique to India”. One of the reasons is that Bollgard-II technology has been incorporated in long-duration hybrids of 7-9 months, providing “constant food in the form of tender seeds in green bolls for proliferation of the worm in multiple cycles”. In other countries, the crop duration is shorter at 5-6 months.

To stop cow slaughter, cattle sale banned in Madhya Pradesh town The ban has been put in place, it was informed Monday.

Cattle sale has been banned in MP town. Taking their campaign against cow slaughter a step further, anti-cow slaughter activists in Tal town of Ratlam district observed a total bandh on

Sunday demanding a ban on trade of cows and cattle in the weekly haat to stop the animals from allegedly ending up in slaughter houses.

The ban has been put in place, it was informed Monday.

The activists, most of them belonging to the Bajrang Dal and the VHP, also protested against the district administration and the police for apparently burying the carcasses of 28 cattle, found dead inside a truck in a nearby village late on Friday, in a hurry.

Despite their campaign and repeated warnings, the police were doing little to stop illegal transport of cows, the activists said. They cited the death of the cows in the Rajasthan-registered truck as proof that cattle is being transported out of Madhya Pradesh despite the tight anti-cow slaughter law.

Tal is about 65 km from Ratlam city.

Sohan Vishwakarma, VHP leader and in-charge of gauraksha campaign, said: “We have been warning the police about illegal transport of cows for a year now. But they (the police) are, at most times, hand in glove with those engaged in transport and slaughter — they let cows cross the border.’’

He claimed that people who buy from the weekly haat are traders, not farmers.

Mills in Maharashtra face double whammy: Drought, mandatory export quota Millers say export prices are less than domestic prices, which are heading north.  

Maharashtra has been assigned the highest export quota of 14 lakh metric tonnes. (Arul Horizon)

The central government’s decision last year to impose a compulsory export quota for mills would have a double whammy effect on them, say millers.

Apart from a loss of approximately Rs 400 per quintal of sugar exported that they could incur, mills in Maharashtra would also fail to benefit from a rise in sugar prices in the domestic market in the months to come.

In order to sustain the price of sugar in the domestic market, the Centre had taken a decision to fix an export quota for mills across the country, based on the last three years’ average production. Maharashtra was assigned the highest such quota of 14 lakh metric tonnes, followed by mills in Uttar Pradesh and other states.

Since Uttar Pradesh is a landlocked state where millers have to bear huge costs to transport their export consignment through ports in Mumbai and elsewhere, mills there were allowed a trade-off for sake of equalisation. As per this, UP mills could buy sugar equal to their export quota at existing domestic market prices from millers in Maharashtra, who in turn would export the same volume along with their own fixed quota.

As international sugar prices have been lower than the domestic prices, it results in a loss of Rs 200-400 per quintal for exporting millers. But the bigger question, especially for millers in Marathwada and Solapur, is that due to the drought, production has been less this season as compared to last three years.

The matter was raised before the chief minister last week by the millers, especially from the Solapur and Marathwada regions, who are expecting a decision from the government to lower their export quotas.

Till the end of February this year, around 12 lakh tonnes of sugar has been exported out of the country, of which mills in Maharashtra have exported close to 6 lakh tonnes. Around

3 lakh tonnes of the exported sugar was from their own quota while the rest was a result of the trade-off with mills in UP.

However, industry insiders from Kolhapur pointed out how this scheme would affect millers in the state, both in the short and long term. “The 2016-17 crushing season for Maharashtra is supposed to be bleak with a reduction in cane area. As the mills from Maharashtra are exporting both their own as well as the trade-off quota for UP mills, they would not be able to encash on the domestic market where prices are expected to rise well,” said a

prominent miller from Kolhapur. Data from the NCDEX index shows prices of sugar in July are expected to be above Rs 3,400 per quinital with October prices promising to touch Rs 3,500 per quintal.

The recent report on sugar production prepared by the India Sugar Mills Association (ISMA) shows that barring Maharashtra, all other states have registered slight increase in their sugar production figures. As of February 29, Maharashtra produced 70.40 lakh tonnes of sugar while last year on the same day, ie February 28, 2015, the state had produced 74.74 lakh tonnes of sugar.

Uttar Pradesh has seen production of 53.65 lakh tonnes of sugar till the end of February while last year, it had produced 49.59 lakh tonnes of sugar till February-end. While the cane outlook for Maharashtra for the season 2016-17 is bleak, the same for Uttar Pradesh is good, with the state expecting a good crop.

B B Thombare, president of the Western India Sugar Mills Association (WISMA), said millers had been assured by the chief minister that they would be allowed to export based on the present day’s quota only. “Export would help in keeping the domestic prices up,” he said.

However, the official notification about the reduction of the export quota is yet to be issued.

Irrigation plan soon for all districts in Maharashtra In the wake of a drought situation that has led to an agrarian crisis in Maharashtra, the state government has started preparing a district irrigation plan (DIP) for all districts. The exercise will help the government ascertain the minimum water requirement for each farm land and accordingly make plans for the scientific management of water. Drought has become a permanent feature in the agrarian sector of the state in the past few years. According to a rough estimation, nearly 25 lakh farmers have lost their crops partly or entirely this financial year. Poor rainfall — 59.4% of the annual average — has resulted in crop loss on 53.10 lakh hectares comprising 15,747 villages from 21 districts, which account for nearly 35% of the state’s total area.

To overcome the situation, the state needs a permanent solution that can be made once the requirement of agricultural land is determined right from block level to district level. “DIP will give minimum requirement of water of each farm land, based on which plans will be made to make water available to them,” said Dinesh Kumar Jain, additional chief secretary (agriculture and marketing).

Maharashtra has spent Rs21,421.8 crore on drought mitigation in the past four years. It includes the amount received from the Centre. (HT file photo) The DIP includes — area wise and crop wise irrigation status, production and productivity of major crops and status of ground water availability. It also will have village-level details that will be consolidated into a block-level plan, which will evolve into a DIP that can be used to fine-tune the existing irrigation system, an officer from the agriculture department said. Vijay Jawambhia, an agriculture expert from Vidarbha, welcomed the move. He, however, stressed on the need for restrictions over lifting of water. “Things are not going to work if the government does not restrict lifting of water to hold ground water going down further,” Jawambhia told HT.

Consortium of seed firms unfazed by Monsanto’s exit warning

Have alternative to BG-II, says the group

A consortium of Indian seed industry says it is not losing sleep over Monsanto’s threat to exit the country. It says it has a viable alternative to Mosanto’s Bollgard-II and argues that it is effective against the dreaded pink bollworm.

It claims Cry1EC, a gene developed by the Lucknow-based, National Botanical Research Institute (NBRI), can tackle the pest that has just developed resistance to Monsanto’s second generation BGII. Swarna Bharat Biotechnics, the consortium, is in the process of dusting a 15-year-old agreement signed with the NBRI, a lab under the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research, to revive the licence. It is a joint venture firm floated by seven Hyderabad-based seed firms in the early 2000s to equip themselves with technology to improve seeds and got the licence.

“We could not put it to use because of the exclusive agreement with Mahyco Monsanto Biotech soon after we had the NBRI licence. Now that Monsanto’s second generation technology proved to be ineffective, we are planning to revive our plan shelved,” M Prabhakara Rao, Chairman and Managing Director of Nuziveedu Seeds, told BusinessLine.

It, however, will take two years before it can reach the hands of farmers for commercial use. The proposal for trials must be vetted by the GEAC (Genetic Engineering Approval Committee under the Union Ministry of Environment) and several State governments. “Since it is a gene developed

by a government institute, we expect speedier permissions from the regulator,” he said. The National Seed Association of India (NSAI) had alleged that Monsanto had resorted to monopolistic practices, barring them from using other technologies. It made it easier for the bollworm to develop resistance. Had it allowed multiple technologies to thrive, the country would have delayed the resistance by the pink bollworm.

Now that there is no patent on BG-I, the constituents of Swarna Bharat Biotechnics hope that they could club the two genes to provide the two genes.

Monsanto has threatened to review its position in India after a Union government panel recommended reduction of royalty for BGII to ₹49 from about ₹90 in some States. It said the move would discourage innovation.

Water shortage clouds summer sowing in Gujarat

Summer sowing has taken off in Gujarat, but on a sluggish note, owing to water scarcity in the growing regions of Saurashtra, Kutch and northern Gujarat.

State government data revealed that guargum sowing has declined by over 88 per cent, while sesamum area is down by over 87 per cent for the period ending February, as against the same period last year.

State agriculture department data showed total sowing area fell by more than half from 2,46,700 hectares last year to 1,12,800 hectares as on February 29. The area under guargum cultivation stood at 300 hectares, as against 2,500 hectares during the same period last year.

Similarly, area under sesamum was reported at 2,700 hectares, as against 20,400 hectares. “Sowing could not be taken up at major growing regions of Saurashtra and northern Gujarat due to severe water shortage. Normally, summer sowing begins by late February. But this year’s sowing status is very disappointing. This will hamper the production of some of the key summer crops like sesamum, pulses and cereals,” said a senior official from Agriculture department.

According to sowing data, moong sowing has declined by over 62 per cent at about 5,100 hectares as against 13,600 hectares reported last year. The three-year average area for moon is over 43,700 hectares.

Considering the three-year average of overall summer sowing in the state, the area has declined by close to 90 per cent as against 11,07,000 hectares.

Clove imports more than double in 5 years as domestic output falls steadily

Lower production due to prices being non-remunerative

Imports of cloves into the country more than doubled in five years, following a continuous decline in domestic production of the spice.

In 2010-11, imports were at 7,000 tonnes valued at ₹153.37 crore, against 14,950 tonnes valued at ₹771.13 crore in 2014-15, according to Spices Board sources.

Farmers in Idukki district of Kerala, where it was widely cultivated until about two decades ago, have cut down the trees as the prices turned out to be non-remunerative and shifted to other crops. Besides, it requires more labour for harvesting and that was scarce in the State.

Vagaries of weather were also pointed out as another reason for giving up cloves cultivation, PA Thomas, a former cloves grower in Idukki, told BusinessLine.

During 2013-14, the production from 912 hectares of plantations in Kerala stood at 68 tonnes. Another major area of its cultivation in the country is Kanyakumari district’s Nagarkoil region where from 869 hectares 816

tonnes were produced in 2013-14. Heavy incessant rains during the last North-East monsoon season in Tamil Nadu, have affected the crop and as a result the current crop is less by 30 per cent, S Subramaniam, a grower in Nagarkoil, said.

According to him, the market there is steady at ₹800 a kg. But, buyers are not forthcoming as everybody is busy with closing their annual accounts because of the financial year ending, he said. In Kumily, Kerala, the price is ruling at the same level, market sources said. In the upcountry markets, imported material is sold at prices ranging between ₹500 and ₹650 a kg, depending upon the quality.

India is a net importer of this commodity, with an annual demand ranging between 15,000 and 20,000 tonnes, trade sources claimed. Imports are made from Sri Lanka, Madagascar, Comoros, Zanzibar and Indonesia, they added.

The coming Indonesian crop is estimated at around 60,000 tonnes and is expected to hit markets next month, they said. Colombo crop is very low, while the crop in Madagascar, Comoros and Zanzibar are good. Current international prices are in the range of $7,500-9,000 a tonne.

Thunderstorms over north & east to gather strength

These conditions are attributed to the presence of a western disturbance system; a wave of lower pressure that periodically travels to the East across North India, bringing varyingly wet weather to the region

The prevailing thunderstorm regime over northern India is expected to hold sway during the weekend and beyond while picking up strength along hilly areas.

During the 24 hours ending Monday morning, thundershowers have been reported from the entire region extending from Jammu and Kashmir in the extreme North to the North-Eastern States.

Among the areas witnessing disturbed weather during this period are Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh, Delhi and Madhya Pradesh.

Thundershowers broke out also over eastern Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Odisha, Vidarbha, and West Bengal in the East, as well as Sikkim, Assam and Tripura in the North-East.

This is attributed to the presence of a western disturbance system; a wave of lower pressure that periodically travels to the East across North India, bringing varyingly wet weather to the region.

This western disturbance had enough amplitude to give birth to two weather-setting cyclonic circulations, one each over Punjab and neighbourhood and North-West Madhya Pradesh.

Rain, snow forecast The entourage is forecast to keep travelling eastward, accompanied by the disturbed weather into East India and parts of adjoining Central India as well.

Meanwhile, India Met Department has joined international weather agencies in the watch-out for a follow-up western disturbance with even better amplitude during the weekend.

It will start influencing weather along the western Himalayan region from Thursday, and extend it further to the plains of North-West India from the next day.

Rain or snow is very likely at most places over the western Himalayan region, while rain or thundershowers will lash many places over the adjoining plains of North-West India.

The rain or thundershowers could spill over to a few places over Central India and East India, the Met said. In its forecast for the week ending March 15, the US National Centres for Environmental Prediction saw normal to excess showers for western Rajasthan, eastern Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, eastern Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, southern Gujarat and adjoining Mumbai.

According to other international agencies, the rain wave will wallop into Pakistan before entering Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Punjab and North Rajasthan from Thursday to Sunday.

The only areas not benefiting from what looks like an expansive footprint of rain/thundershowers are most of Tamil Nadu, Coastal Andhra Pradesh and Coastal Odisha during March 7 to 15.

These areas are forecast to remain dry during the week that follows (March 15 to 23). But neighbouring Kerala, along with Maharashtra and Vidarbha, may come under occasional spells.

Exports of coconut products on the rise

Despite India’s merchandise exports showing negative growth, export of coconut and coconut products registered an 8.73-per-cent increase during April-January 2015-16.

The cumulative value of exports, other than coir and coir products, was ₹1,188.27 crore against ₹1,092.90 crore during the corresponding period of 2014-15. The efforts of the Coconut Development Board in promoting entrepreneurs to take up export of coconut and coconut products has also started yielding results, with the RCMC (Registration Cum Membership Certificate) issued to exporters crossing 2,000.

Activated carbon, virgin coconut oil, coconut oil, dry coconut, desiccated coconut, copra, coconut shell charcoal, etc, are the major coconut products exported in the first 10 months.

Activated carbon accounts for 45 per cent of export earnings, with the figure touching 51,644.61 tonnes valued at ₹531.78 crore. Around 32 per cent of activated carbon finds its markets to the European Union, followed by the US.

Export of virgin coconut oil also registered an astonishing growth of 340 per cent during the first half of 2015-16. Around 69 per cent of virgin coconut oil exported to the US and the figure was 6,575.98 tonnes.

Fresh coconut exports during the first ten months of 2015-16 were 31,191.73 tonnes with GCC countries leading the show. Coconut shell products are also gaining popularity in international markets.

Budget package on agriculture not enough FM has also left largely unattended the long-overdue fertiliser subsidy reforms

Many measures in the Union Budget for 2016-17 that put in place an elaborate package for agriculture and farmers' welfare are on the right lines. However, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley seems to have missed the opportunity to also simultaneously roll out certain much-needed reforms in areas like agricultural credit, farm subsidies and technology transfer. The underlying theme of the agricultural package - to enhance farmers' income - is sensible, given the steady erosion of profitability of farming and the consequent widespread rural distress. The measures mooted for this purpose range from enhancing agriculture's resilience to drought to ensuring more efficient and transparent marketing of farm produce through electronic platforms. The government also proposes to improve the efficiency of input use, especially that of water and fertiliser, by encouraging their need-based application as guided by the soil health records. Besides, it seeks to enable farmers to hedge their risks through the new highly subsidised universal crop insurance scheme. More importantly, the Budget promises to strengthen the supplementary sources of farmers' income by encouraging livestock rearing and generating more employment in rural areas. In fact, the measures like encouraging investment in cold storage as well as in the food processing industry are also aimed indirectly at boosting farmers' income. So also is the move to allow 100 per cent foreign direct investment in the retail trade of locally produced food products, though the effectiveness of this measure in the absence of foreign direct investment in retail is in doubt.

However, though the flow of subsidised institutional credit to the farm sector is proposed to be raised to Rs 9 lakh crore in 2016-17, no attempt has been made to target it more precisely. The finance minister could not be unaware of the observations made by the Reserve Bank of India's committee on financial inclusion in its recent report that agricultural production was not commensurate with the volume of credit being inducted into this sector. A sizable part of the money, obviously, doesn't reach where it should. More significantly, the committee pointed out that most funds were doled out as short-term crop loans, leaving largely unmet the need for long-term investment in productivity-boosting measures. Such flaws need to be corrected to make agricultural credit more productive. Moreover, the Budget has left largely unattended the long-overdue fertiliser subsidy reforms, although a pilot programme is to be run on direct subsidy payment to farmers. The more urgent need to reduce urea subsidy by decontrolling it and bringing it under the nutrient-based subsidy regime has been overlooked. Also disregarded is the need to substantially increase the funding for technology generation and its transfer to farmers to reduce their production costs and increase crop productivity. Another critical aspect that required revamping is the system of providing remunerative prices for farm produce. As pointed out in the paper brought out by the NITI Aayog's task force on agriculture, the present minimum support price (MSP)-based mechanism has failed to benefit the producer of most crops other than wheat and rice. It has suggested replacing this system with a novel "price deficiency payment mechanism" to ensure reasonable returns to all farmers and for all major crops. This system merits a fair trial.

Farmers see Modi's budget as all promise, no delivery Govt doubled spending on agriculture and farmers' welfare to $5.3 billion so their incomes would double by 2022

Farmer Ram Pal Singh voted for Narendra Modi's promise of "better days" in India's 2014 general election, but he won't be backing the prime minister again even after last week's budget promised more aid to the countryside.

Growing discontent in rural India, home to two-thirds of the country's 1.3 billion people, bodes ill for Modi as he tries to bounce back from a heavy defeat in a state election last year in Bihar and build a support base to keep power in the 2019 general election.

In an eyecatching announcement, the budget doubled spending on agriculture and farmers' welfare to $5.3 billion in support of his promise that their incomes would double by 2022.

Yet critics say most of the extra spending is in fact an accounting entry that shifts the cost of an interestsubsidy to the agriculture budget that was previously borne by the finance ministry.

A farmer in his land Representational image

"We have received nothing from the government. We don't even recover our costs," said Singh, whose 21-acre (8.5-hectare) plot is big by Indian standards.

Two failed monsoons, and sudden unseasonal rains, have caused widespread crop damage across northern India. Debt-laden farmers like Singh say low state purchase prices and a lack of compensation for crop losses are worsening their plight.

Singh lost $4,500 over the past two years because of severe damage to his wheat and sugarcane crops in the Ghaziabad district of Uttar Pradesh, 30 miles (50 km) east of New Delhi. It has left him with debts of more $10,000, and despair has driven him to think of selling his land.

"We have so much land but we still struggle to survive ... there is only sadness in farming," said Singh, 60, who does not want his grandchildren to work in the fields.

Last month, farmers went on the rampage in neighbouring Haryana state to protest a lack of economic opportunity. Thirty people died and saboteurs cut metropolitan Delhi's main water supply.

"The budget may give you an illusion the government has tried to address the problems faced by farmers," said independent food and trade policy analyst Devinder Sharma. He called instead for a package of "immediate assistance" to stop a spate of suicides by farmers from spreading.

RURAL DISTRESS

Modi last year promised higher compensation for crop losses, but more than a dozen farmers interviewed by Reuters on a field trip said they had received no relief. Many have taken out more loans or sold cattle to tide themselves over.

All but one said they will not support Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in next year's poll in Uttar Pradesh, India's most populous state, home to 200 million people.

In 2014, the party swept Uttar Pradesh, winning 71 of 80 seats to claim the strongest parliamentary mandate in three decades. The budget play seemed designed to improve its standing in rural areas, traditionally a weak spot for the BJP.

"For the first time the agriculture sector has figured prominently in budget, and for the first time we've seen such a sharp rise in allocation for farmers' welfare," Farm Minister Radha Mohan Singh told a news conference.

But Jai Kisan Andolan, a peasants' rights movement, and 35 farming unions counter that the budget offered them no debt relief, and failed to hike either government farm purchase prices or crop-loss compensation rates."Most of what the budget speech projects as big favours to the farming community is actually 'business as usual' with a sleight of hand," the groups said in a statement after the budget.

In addition, the main effort to expand irrigation - adding just 2 percent of net cultivated area of 141 million hectares - is seen as piecemeal. And a new crop insurance scheme is expected to get off to a slow start.

"The government does not have a firm plan to address the rural crisis. They will have to pay a big political price for this," said Satish Misra, a political analyst at the Observer Research Foundation in New Delhi.

Helpline for farmers on farm land issues

Nagpur: Farmers from the district can get problems related to 7/12 document or ownership of their agricultural land redressed on a phone call. Collector Sachin Kurve has launched toll free numbers for all 13 tehsils of the district and urged farmers to use the facility. Kurve in a press release stated that tehsil office will send SMS to complainants and apprise them of the status. "Owner of an agricultural land should lodge complaint with toll free number of his/her respective tehsil. Complainant has to furnish his/her mobile number," he said. Farmers residing in villages have to travel to tehsil places for mutation of 7/12 or copy of 7/12 and other issues related to the ownership of land. Tehsil office had no records related to complaints. Now the process will become easy and complaints and their status will kept on record for monitoring the result of the initiative. Earlier, Kurve had opened counters of city survey office at Setu Kendra and started getting mutations done within prescribed time. He had also launched a special application in which industrialists or builders/developers can get non-agriculture (NA) certificate in easy manner. He was also the first in the district to implement the Right To Services Act. TOLLFREE NUMBERS Nagpur Rural — 1800-233-3736, Hingna — 1800-233-3740, Kamptee — 1800-233-3743, Saoner — 1800-233-3726, Kalmeshwar — 1800-233-3742, Narkhed — 1800-233-3730, Katol — 1800-233-3727, Umred — 1800-233-3732, Kuhi — 1800-233-3734, Bhivapur — 1800-233-3731, Ramtek — 1800-233-3741, Parsheoni — 1800-233-3733 and Mouda — 1800-233-3729

Farmers see free market as means to protect interests

ne: Farmers' organizations from various parts of the state on Sunday demanded freeing up the sale of farm products from the ambit of the Agriculture Produce Marketing Act (APMC) to ensure a free market for products and to keep a check on artificial price rise and inflation. The demand was raised at a meeting held here to discuss issues regarding prices of farm produces and other farmers' issues. The meeting was led by farmers' leader Raghunath Patil who said that farm products should be kept out of regulation to protect the interests of both farmers and buyers. The government should initiate urgent steps to ensure a regulation-free market, he said, adding that farmers would intensify their agitation otherwise. The organisations have decided to stage protests during the upcoming session of the state assembly to draw the state government's attention towards their demands. Patil said that their demand for free market has also been backed by city residents. About 20,000 citizens in Pune have signed a letter that has appealed to the government to deregulate essential farm products, including vegetables and fruits. The letter will be submitted to chief minister Devendra Fadnavis in the next few days, he said. He alleged that middlemen at various levels were responsible for the escalation of commodities. A farmer earns only 25% of the price quoted by a retailer in domestic markets. The remaining 75% is shared by middlemen present at various levels, including market committees. This chain leads to unnatural inflation and also hampers profitability of the producers, he said. Patil and the other farmers also questioned the requirement of various types of cess or fees that farmers have to pay at marketing committees. Exotic veggies yield healthy gains for farmers

thinda: Even though broccoli for main course and lettuce for salad is uncommon in Punjab, two farmers in Muktsar district are growing these exotic vegetables and getting rich dividends.

They market their produce through outlets in Muktsar town and Doda village, situated on Muktsar-Bathinda road. Shamsher Singh, 54, of Chak Madrassa village, on the Muktsar-Lakhewali road, grows black carrot and has trees of pomegranate, date palm and chikoo (sapota) at Bhuj in Gujarat. Ramandeep Singh of Doda village, 25, grows coloured bell pepper and Taiwanese melons. Shamsher cultivates vegetables in over 6.5 acres of the 15-acre land he owns at Chak Madrassa. He has dedicated four kanals (2,000 sq yards) each for broccoli and lettuce. "Earlier, these vegetables were brought from Delhi but for the past two years, I have started cultivating these and supplying them to a restaurant in Muktsar and a few others in Bathinda. Two months ago, I opened my own outlet, 'Kisan Hut' in Muktsar where many people, including senior officers of the district, reach to buy these vegetables," said Shamsher. He said he set up a polyhouse in his fields to cultivate vegetables and uses drip irrigation to produce organic vegetables. "Health conscious people prefer these vegetables and the concept is catching up in the area," Shamsher said. Ramandeep, whose village is about 32km away from Shamsher's, was always keen on growing exotic vegetables. A BSc, agriculture degree from Punjab Agricultural University (PAU) and MBA in international business honed his entrepreneurial skills further. He undertook a research project, "Polyhouse, an economic analysis," from the National Institute of Post Harvest Technology (NIPHT), Pune and used nine out of his 50 acres to grow exotic vegetables. "I grow vegetables using the low tunnel technique in the polyhouse. Vegetables are grown in furrows covered in a plastic sheet that is like a tunnel. I am growing 'Bobby' and 'Muskan' varieties of Taiwanese melons which are red, yellow and light green from inside and taste very good. Though initial investment needed to adopt this concept is much more than that required in traditional farming, gains are also handsome," said Ramandeep.

Untimely rain threatens wheat crop

Barnala: With untimely rain and heavy wind lashing Barnala on Sunday, farmers are worried about loss to the wheat crop. There has been extensive damage to the crop in a few areas. Heavy rain on Saturday evening heightened apprehensions. This comes close on the heels of pest attack that damaged vast swathes of cotton crop, leading to heavy losses and a string of farmer suicides. "We are worried about untimely rains and winds lashing the area. The wheat crop is in the stage of maturity. Rain and wind coming at this time could cause loss to the crop. We pray the rain gods restrain themselves and save farmers from future loss", said Krishan Singh, a farmer from Tapa village. "After the heavy losses we suffered because of damage to cotton crop,we are not in a position to incur any more losses," said another farmer, Mukhtiar Singh. The crop in some area of the village has flattened and high velocity winds may inflict further damage, said a farmer from Bir Talaab village, Mohinder Singh. An official from the agriculture department said, "Not much rain has lashed the area at present but if this continues, there may be losses." Untimely rain hits winter-sown crops, delay harvest

A farmer rests as his family members harvest a wheat crop in a field at Mannana village in Punjab on April 22 MUMBAI: Hail and heavy rain have damaged

winter-sown crops such as wheat, rapeseed and chickpea in India's main producing areas and delayed harvesting by nearly two weeks, government and industry officials said on Monday. The untimely rain and hail over the past week could reduce the yield of the crops as they ripen and force the govt to raise imports of edible oils, pulses and wheat. The rainfall could also trim the earning of millions of farmers already hit the previous two years by the first back-to-back drought in nearly three decades. "In two weeks I could have harvested wheat, but last week's downpour has flattened my crop," says Namdev Patil, a farmer from Maharashtra. Further delays could also be on the way as the weather department has forecast more rainfall in northern India over the next 24 hours. "We are assessing crop damage due to last few days' rainfall and hailstorms in some places," said a senior official at Maharashtra state's agriculture department. The wheat crop was hit in Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh. Chickpea, the main pulse crop, was damaged in Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan. Rapeseed was hurt in top-producing Rajasthan state. "If rapeseed and chickpea production goes down, then we don't have a choice but to increase imports," said Chowda Reddy, assistant vice-president at Inditrade Derivatives and Commodities. India is the world's largest importer of edible oils and pulses.

Untimely rains hit India's winter-sown crops, delay harvest

The wheat crop was hit in Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh.

Further delays could also be on the way as the weather department has forecast more rainfall in northern India over the next 24 hours. Mumbai: Hail and heavy rain have damaged winter-sown crops such as wheat, rapeseed and chickpea in India's main producing areas and delayed harvesting by nearly two weeks, government and industry officials said on Monday.

The untimely rain and hail over the past week could reduce the yield of the crops as they ripen and force the government to raise imports of edible oils, pulses and wheat.

The rainfall could also trim the earning of millions of farmers already hit the previous two years by the first back-to-back drought in nearly three decades.

"In two weeks I could have harvested wheat, but last week's downpour has flattened my crop," says Namdev Patil, a farmer from Maharashtra.

Further delays could also be on the way as the weather department has forecast more rainfall in northern India over the next 24 hours.

"We are assessing crop damage due to last few days' rainfall and hailstorms in some places," said a senior official at Maharashtra state's agriculture department.

The wheat crop was hit in Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh.

Chickpea, the main pulse crop, was damaged in Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan. Rapeseed was hurt in top-producing Rajasthan state.

"If rapeseed and chickpea production goes down, then we don't have a choice but to increase imports," said Chowda Reddy, assistant vice-president at Inditrade Derivatives and Commodities.

India is the world's largest importer of edible oils and pulses.

While rain, hailstorm affect wheat growers, it may also benefit farmers by raising temperatures

The weather office had earlier issued warnings to farmers, particularly in Maharashtra, advising them to use hail nets and mechanical support. NEW DELHI: Rain and hailstorm in the past couple of days have hit some farmers growing wheat, mustard and fruits and vegetables in parts of western, central and northern India, but the unseasonal showers should also benefit many farmers as temperatures had soared well above normal. Farmers still face the risk of heavy rainfall next week, when a rainbearing

system of clouds called a western disturbance is forecasted to bring showers in northern India. Farmers are worried as the monsoon had failed for two consecutive years and the intervening rabi harvest was severely damaged by heavy showers and hailstorms this time last year. The weather office had earlier issued warnings to farmers, particularly in Maharashtra, advising them to use hail nets and mechanical support to protect vegetables and young fruit plants. It also warned farmers that oranges, sweet lime, pomegranate and papaya fruits may fall from trees due to hail and squally wind. KK Singh, head agro meteorologist at the India Meteorological Department, said only in a few pockets crops were flattened or waterlogged. He said farmers should now watch for rains from March 12-19, which will cover most parts of the north, northwest and central India. "The rains in the past few days was very beneficial for the wheat crop in north and northwest India as temperature which was 4-5 degree above normal came down. At some isolated places where crop was harvested and threshing not done, the hailstorms might have damaged crop," Singh said. Untimely rains hit winter-sown crops, delay harvest

The rainfall could also trim the earning of millions of farmers already hit the previous two years by the first back-to-back drought in nearly three decades. MUMBAI: Hail and heavy rain have damaged winter-sown crops such as wheat, rapeseed and chickpea in India's main producing areas and delayed harvesting by nearly two weeks, government and industry officials said on Monday.

The untimely rain and hail over the past week could reduce the yield of the crops as they ripen and force the south Asian country to raise imports of edible oils, pulses and wheat. The rainfall could also trim the earning of millions of farmers already hit the previous two years by the first back-to-back drought in nearly three decades. "In two weeks I could have harvested wheat, but last week's downpour has flattened my crop," says Namdev Patil, a farmer from Maharashtra state. Further delays could also be on the way as the weather department has forecast more rainfall in northern India over the next 24 hours. "We are assessing crop damage due to last few days' rainfall and hailstorms in some places," said a senior official at Maharashtra state's agriculture department. The wheat crop was hit in the central state of Madhya Pradesh, the western state of Maharashtra and the northern states of Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh. Chickpea, the main pulse crop, was damaged in Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh and the northern state of Rajasthan. Rapeseed was hurt in top-producing Rajasthan state. "If rapeseed and chickpea production goes down, then we don't have a choice but to increase imports," said Chowda Reddy, assistant vice-president at Inditrade Derivatives and Commodities. India is the world's largest importer of edible oils and pulses. Government contracts 8,500 tonne pulse imports, shipments on the way It also said pulse procurement for buffer stock has touched 51,000 tonnes, surpassing the target set for this kharif season. NEW DELHI: The Centre today said it has already contracted import of 8,500 tonnes of pulses and the shipments are on the way.

It also said pulse procurement for buffer stock has touched 51,000 tonnes, surpassing the target set for this kharif season.

"Prices and availability of essential commodities were reviewed today. The meeting was informed that the import of 8,500 tonnes of dal ordered is already on the way," an official statement read. The meeting, chaired by Consumer Affairs Secretary C Viswanath, also reviewed the buffer stock of pulses and tomato production situation, among others. Senior officials of consumer affairs, agriculture and commerce ministries, FCI, MMTC and NAFED were present. It was informed at the meeting that the government agencies have procured 51,000 tonnes of kharif pulses for the buffer stock as against the target of 50,000 tonnes. "Now, they have been asked to start procurement of masoor, gram dal and other rabi pulses," the statement said. For creating pulse buffer stock, the government has set a procurement target of 50,000 tonnes from kharif season and 1,00,000 tonnes from rabi season of the 2015-16 crop year. Pulse procurement is being undertaken by state-owned Food Corporation of India (FCI), agri-cooperative Nafed and the Small Farmers' Agriculture-Business Consortium (SFAC). The representative of the agriculture ministry said the area under oilseed

production in 2015-16 rose 2.1 per cent and mustard output is expected to be higher by 6 lakh tonnes. The meeting also reviewed production of tomato in the country and its price trends. Tomato output is also expected to increase by 11.6 per cent in 2015-16. Efforts are being made to increase its cultivation in non-traditional areas by using advanced hybrid varieties, it added. The government is importing pulses and creating buffer stock to ensure there is adequate supply in the domestic market and prices are in check. Pulse prices are continuing to remain firm for the second straight year due to production concerns. Pulse output in 2015-16 crop year (July-June) is expected to be 17.33 million tonnes as against the demand of 22-23 million tonnes. The gap is being met through imports. India's oilmeals exports down 74% in February: Solvent Extractors Association

The overall export of oilmeals during the April-February period of this fiscal fell 52 per cent to 10.92 lakh tonnes, against 22.56 lakh tonnes in the previous year. NEW DELHI: Oilmeals exports fell by 74 per cent to 53,866 tonnes last month due to a sharp fall in soyabean and rapeseed meal shipments, industry body SEA said today.

The country had shipped 2,08,436 tonnes of oilmeals, used as animal feed, in the same period last year. The overall export of oilmeals during the April-February period of this fiscal fell 52 per cent to 10.92 lakh tonnes, against 22.56 lakh tonnes in the previous year, Solvent Extractors Association (SEA) said in a statement. "The export of soyabean meal is at a historical low... Soyabean crushing is very much reduced due to continuous disparity and high price of domestic market affecting overall domestic availability of both oils and meals. The capacity utilisation is at the lowest," Mumbai-based SEA said. The industry is passing through a very "tough and rough time" and many plants have been closed down or operating at very low capacity due to disparity in crushing and export, it said. Currently, Indian soyabean meal is quoted at USD 480 per tonne on Freight on Board (FOB) against Argentina origin soyabean meal at USD 321 per tonne. "Indian soyabean meal is totally outpriced by about USD 160 per tonne in international market," the industry body said. As per the SEA data, soyabean exports declined to 1,127 tonnes in February this year, from 64,514 tonnes in the year-ago period. Similarly, rapeseed meal exports dropped to 9,803 tonnes from 62,545 tonnes, while that of ricebran extraction declined to 2,000 tonnes from 29,820 tonnes in the said period. Export of castorseed meal also declined to 40,440 tonnes in February this year from 51,494 tonnes in the year-ago period, the data showed. India exports oilmeals to countries including South Korea, Vietnam, Thailand, Taiwan, Indonesia, Oman and Myanmar.

Government to procure one lakh tonnes pulses

The government agencies will procure one lakh tonnes of pulses ,including masoor and gram in the coming days. NEW DELHI: The government agencies will procure one lakh tonnes of pulses ,including masoor and gram in the coming days. Already the agencies have procured 51,000 tonnes of kharif pulses for the buffer stock against the target of 50,000 tonnes said a press statement released by the Consumer Affairs department. "We will start procurement of masoor, gram dal and other rabi pulses. The total target of procurement for the said pulses is one lakh tonnes," said the press statement. Reviewing a meeting on price and availability of essential commodities,C Viswanath, secretary of department of consumer affairs was informed that import of 8,500 tonnes pulses order was on the way. Officials from the Agriculture ministry informed that area under production of oilseeds during 2015-16 has increased 2.1% and mustard production is expected to be higher by 6 lakh tonnes over the previous year. The meeting also reviewed production of tomato in the country and its price trends. Tomato production is also expected to be higher by 11.6% during

2015-16. Efforts are being made to increase its cultivation in non-traditional areas by using advanced hybrid varieties said the press statement. Nepal turns to bamboo to rebuild after earthquake

(Representative image) Earthquake engineering expert David Trujillo said interest in building with bamboo in quake-prone regions had grown since a 1999 quake in his native Colombia. LONDON: Nepal is turning to bamboo, nicknamed "vegetable steel", as it rebuilds homes and schools after last year's devastating earthquakes which left hundreds of thousands homeless. "Bamboo is a great material. The biggest enemy (in a quake) is weight so bamboo is perfect because it is light, flexible and very strong," said Nepalese architect Nripal Adhikary. "It can be as strong as steel, but it's much more ecological because it doesn't need energy to produce. People call it 'vegetable steel'." Twin earthquakes in April and May 2015 killed almost 9,000 people and destroyed nearly a million buildings in the Himalayan nation. Donors have pledged $4.1 billion for reconstruction, but rebuilding has been delayed by a political crisis. Adhikary, speaking by phone from Kathmandu, said the government had recently approved the use of bamboo to rebuild schools and was expected to approve its use for reconstructing homes.

Bamboo is ideal for rebuilding in Nepal's mountainous terrain because it grows widely and is easier to transport than heavier materials, said Adhikary, Nepal's national coordinator for the International Network for Bamboo and Rattan (INBAR). Building with bamboo is also about 50 percent cheaper than with other materials. Technological advances have improved its durability, he added, while new systems for joining bamboo lengths mean it can be used to build larger span structures than in the past. INBAR is working with Nepal's government and other organisations on a $800,000 pilot project using bamboo to build 150 homes and 10 schools which they hope other agencies will replicate. Government ministers, aid agencies and building experts attended a workshop in Kathmandu last week to discuss bamboo use in reconstruction programmes. Nepal is home to 54 bamboo species with coverage estimated at 63,000 hectares. Experts say its sustainable use will also help boost local employment and economies. Earthquake engineering expert David Trujillo said interest in building with bamboo in quake-prone regions had grown since a 1999 quake in his native Colombia. While many newer masonry buildings collapsed, the older bamboo buildings withstood the tremor. Afterwards there was a big effort to rebuild with bamboo. Trujillo, who worked on the reconstruction effort in Colombia, said bamboo was a very sustainable material which grew extremely fast, reaching 25 to 30 metres in only six months. It can be harvested three to five years later compared to a tree which might need 30 to 50 years, said Trujillo, now a lecturer at Britain's Coventry University.

1.75% rural families derive major income from livestock: NSSO

As per the survey, among all the land used for animal farming, the major use was made for dairy (53.8 per cent during Jul-Dec'12 and 69.7 per cent during Jan-Jun'13). NEW DELHI: Less than 2 per cent of the rural households earn major portion of their income from self employment in livestock farming, says a government survey. "Around 1.75 per cent of the total rural households derived the major income from self-employment in livestock farming, which comprises around 2.7 million rural households, owning around 0.489 hectare of land per household," according to NSSO survey conducted in January-December 2013. As per the survey, among all the land used for animal farming, the major use was made for dairy (53.8 per cent during Jul-Dec'12 and 69.7 per cent during Jan-Jun'13). The lowest share was for piggery, which is less than 1 per cent of the total area under animal farming, during both the seasons. The survey showed that around 0.75 per cent of the total ST households, 1.50 per cent of the total SC households, 2.17 per cent of the total OBC households, and 1.67 per cent of the total households belonging to others reported the major income from self-employment in livestock farming.

As much as 3.67 per cent of the households owning large holdings (more than 10 hectares) were found to have derived major income from self-employment in livestock farming, which is the highest among all ownership land holding class. The least (0.70 per cent) was recorded for the households owning small holdings (1 to 2 hectares). The percentage of households reporting animal farming was found to be the highest in the marginal category of operational holdings, registering more than 73 per cent of household operational holdings in both the periods. The land area used for livestock farming (i.e. land used for only farming of animal/fishery and both crop production and farming of animal/fishery) is less than 5 per cent of the total area under different types of land uses. It said that the bovine population during 2012-13 was 204.5 million, out of which 135.6 million were cattle and 68.8 million were buffalo. During 2012-13, sheep and goat (ovine) population were found to be 99 million. The number of ovine per 100 households was 63.4. It further said that 5.8 million pigs were estimated during 2012-13, accounting for 3.7 per 100 households. During 2012-13, 254.7 million poultry was estimated, which was found to be 163.1 per 100 households. This report is based on the information on livestock ownership of the households collected during the Land and Livestock Holdings Survey (LHS) conducted in the 70th round of NSS during January 2013 to December 2013. The Survey was conducted only in the rural areas of the country, and covered 4,529 FSUs (sample villages).