08.01.2016 Sugarcane Growers, a Happy Lot Recovery Will Be the Highest in Sugarcane Crop Raised Under Sustainable Sugarcane Init

08.01.2016

Sugarcane growers, a happy lot Recovery will be the highest in sugarcane crop raised under Sustainable Sugarcane Initiative

DESIRED IMPACT:Drip irrigation and fertigation under Sustainable Sugarcane Initiative has enhanced crop productivity at a farm in Velampalayam in Erode district.— PHOTO: M. GOVARTHAN

Sustainable Sugarcane Initiative through drip irrigation and fertigation reflecting in lesser water usage of higher productivity is gradually gaining roots in the district.

Every year, 50 to 100 farmers are initiated into SSI in each block, according to official sources.

With each clump accounting for a minimum of 10 stalks of robust girth, farmers are able to reap richer harvests.

Farmers enjoy high subsidy on loans for drip irrigation.

On the recommendation of the Agriculture Department, Nationalised banks promptly release funds to identified beneficiaries for installation of drip irrigation system. On their part, farmers invest more in additional paraphernalia such as sand filter and valves.

V. Chellakumarasamy of Velampalayam village in Modakurichi block, for instance, has availed himself of a subsidy benefit of Rs. 75,000, but has invested Rs. 1.10 lakh more for covering his 2.5 acre farm under drip irrigation and fertigation under SSI.

He planted 6,000 saplings in 1.2 metre gaps, and in the fifth month, finds the crop promising.

There are five more months to go for harvest and the crop appears full- grown already. Recovery will be the highest in the sugarcane crop raised under SSI.

As much as 65 tonnes of sugarcane could be harvested from the farm, said Kulandaivelu, Assistant Agriculture Officer, Modakurichi block.

According to the farmer, water usage has been optimised through drip fertigation since the fertilisers are taken through the tubes directly to the roots; the growth of the crop has been rapid.

Returns will be more in the coming years as the ratoon crop could be raised and harvested for for 10 consecutive years, Mr. Kulandaivelu said.

Productivity

By raising nurseries using single-budded chips, and planting young seedlings directly in wide spacing in the main field, the desired productivity could be achieved, he said.

The tillering is increased and height and girth of individual canes is also more, reflecting in much higher productivity when compared to the produce in fields under conventional cultivation method.

ASD-16 variety paddy shows good growth Farmers are provided guidance right from the time of seed selection to post-harvest stage at the Farmers’ Field School.— PHOTO: M. GOVARTHAN

Panicles are showing up in the ASD - 16 variety paddy crop raised by farmers in Uthandipalayam in Ganapathipalayam panchayat in the district through System of Rice Intensification method. And the timing was apt for Agriculture Department to initiate them into pest management practices.

The Farmers’ Field School conducted under the aegis of Agriculture Technology Management Agency (ATMA) was handy for the department to orient the farmers to the best practices. A group of farmers engaged in the fourth of the six training modules on Wednesday was, at the end, able to make out the difference between good and bad pests. They depicted the paddy plant, the sunlight, the good pests and bad pests.

Making farmers understand the utility of certain pests in eliminating bad ones so as to avoid usage of pesticides to maximum possible extent is one of the important objectives of the school, said Kulandaivelu, Assistant Director of Agriculture, Modakurichi block.

Organic farming summit gets under way Minister for Public Works V.K. Ebrahim Kunju has called for expanding facilities in the State to assess whether an item has been produced through organic farming methods.

Delivering the inaugural address at the organic farming summit at Angamaly near Kochi on Thursday, Mr. Kunju said that the State has made considerable progress in food self sufficiency. He hoped that the summit would throw up a technology best suited for the State.

The ensuing sessions had presentations on model farming practices adopted in various parts of the country. Representatives from Jammu Kashmir, Haryana, Rajasthan, Manipur, Telengana, and Karnataka attended the sessions. The farm exhibition stalls at the summit venue have generated much interest. Stalls by various district agriculture departments introduced various crops and produce to farmers.

Organically farmed vegetables, seeds, agriculture machinery, tubers found in high range areas, indigenous paddy variants of Kerala are some of the products on display. A tapioca weighing 125 kilogram cultivated by organic means by Naisy Tomy of Avoli grama panchayat is one of the highlights of the exhibition. Exhibitions by the State Horticulture Mission, Vegetable and Fruit Promotion Council, and Farm Information Bureau are also being held.

Green Revolution didn’t help farmers: agricultural varsity VC ‘Fruits of technological advancements have not reached farmers’

P.M. Salimath, Vice-Chancellor of University of Agricultural Sciences, Raichur, speaking at a workshop on Thursday. —PHOTO: SANTOSH SAGAR

P.M. Salimath, Vice-Chancellor of University of Agricultural Sciences, Raichur, has said that Green Revolution did not help farmers much, though it played a crucial role in meeting the country’s food security goals.

He was addressing a workshop titled ‘Yuvakara Nade Krishiya Kade’ here on Thursday. The two-day event was organised by the university, the Department of Agriculture and International Crops Research Institute for Semi-Arid Tropics.

“Farming sector has undergone fundamental transformations with tremendous technological advancements and innovations leading to increase in productivity. However, the fruits of these advancements did not reach farmers and transform their lives for the better. Green Revolution did play a decisive role in addressing country’s food security issues, considering the increase in country’s foodgrain production from 50 million metric tonnes in the 1940s to 240 million metric tonnes now. However, it unfortunately failed to address the deteriorating financial conditions of farmers,” Mr. Salimath said.

Chamarasa Malipatil, State president of the Karnataka Rajya Raitha Sangha, slammed successive governments for bending to the pressures of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) and for facilitating multinational corporations in the farm sector to over-exploit farmers.

“It is the WTO agreement that led to the agrarian crisis and farmers’ suicides in the country. By signing the treaty, India opened its gates for multinational corporations to exploit farmers by selling seeds, fertilizer, pesticides, machinery and other farm inputs for higher prices to them. Rising cost of cultivation caused by the escalation of input prices and falling prices of output is increasingly pushing farmers from the sector. Earlier, only those farmers from rain-fed areas used to migrate to cities in search of jobs during drought. But, now even farmers from irrigation belt are migrating in large numbers,” he said. Mr. Salimath stressed the need for addressing the deepening farm crisis and turning it into a profit- making sector to help migrated farmers.

Hanumanagwoda Belagurki, member of Agriculture Price Commission, said that corporate-driven agriculture policies and concentration on technology and research that were useless for farmers were responsible for the deepening agrarian crisis.

B.V. Patil, former Vice-Chancellor; UAS-R; T. Sheshadri, Director of Research, University of Agricultural Sciences, Bangalore; B.S. Janagowdar, Director of Research, University of Agricultural Sciences, Dharwad; T.H. Gowda, Director of Extension, University of Horticultural Sciences, Bagalkot; and M. Kiran Kumar, Joint Director, Department of Agriculture, were present.

Green Revolution didn’t help farmers: agricultural varsity VC Fruits of technological advancements have not reached farmers’ P.M. Salimath, Vice-Chancellor of University of Agricultural Sciences, Raichur, speaking at a workshop on Thursday. —PHOTO: SANTOSH SAGAR P.M. Salimath, Vice-Chancellor of University of Agricultural Sciences, Raichur, has said that Green Revolution did not help farmers much, though it played a crucial role in meeting the country’s food security goals.

Minister promises to take up farmers’ issues with Centre Sadananda Gowda interacts with ryots on their problems Union Law Minister D.V. Sadananda Gowda interacted with farmers at Nidivelagala village in Simhadripuram mandal in Kadapa district on Thursday and assured them of putting forth their problems before the Union government and striving to get their problems solved. Mr. Gowda, a former Chief Minister of Karnataka, said the objective of his visit was to enlist the problems of various strata of people and elicit their opinion on Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s rule. The Central government was extending all sorts of assistance to the Andhra Pradesh government, he said. Kadapa district was most backward among 150 districts and agriculture was the main avocation in the district, Mr. Sadananda Gowda said. Farmers of Kadapa district were giving up agriculture as it was unremunerative and migrating to Karnataka in search of work, he remarked. The Minister promised to discuss the crop insurance issue with the Chairman and Managing Director concerned and see to it that the farmers’ demand for disbursement of crop insurance was met.

The Central and State governments must strive with coordination to mitigate the hardship of agriculturists, the Minister said. He stressed the need for setting up cold storage godown in Pulivendula constituency.

Former Union Minister D. Purandeswari urged the Union Minister to take initiative to complete the pending irrigation projects in the State. She translated Mr. Gowda’s address in Telugu. Bharatiya Janata Party district president V. Sasibhushana Reddy said the Centre was striving for all-round development of the country. Bharatiya Kisan Sangh State vice-president N. Chandrasekhar Reddy wanted farmers given the freedom to sell their agriculture produce anywhere.

A farmer, Ramana Reddy, said rainfall deficiency was a fall-out of environmental pollution and sought measures to safeguard Indian culture and traditions.

Homage paid

Farmers apprised the Union Minister of their woes. The BJP leaders and people observed two-minute silence to pay homage to Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mufti Mohammed Sayeed.

BJP State vice-president K. Kapileswaraiah, Jammaladugu RDO Vinayakam, BJP leaders K. Rajamohan Reddy, A. Harinath Reddy, S. Ramachandra Reddy and N. Ramesh Reddy and farmers were present.

The Central government is extending all possible aid to the Andhra Pradesh government

Sadananda Gowda

Union Law Minister

Drop in black gram yield Farmers blame it on excess rain during north-east monsoon

A labourer salvaging black gram at Nerunjikorai near Ariyalur.— Photo: M. Srinath

Excess rain during the north-east monsoon has resulted in fall in the quality and quantity of black gram in parts of the district causing heavy loss to farmers who have been raising it as an inter-crop along with other horticultural plants.

A number of farmers on the T. Pazhuvur-Ariyalur segment, particularly those at Pudupalayam village panchayat and those in Sendurai belt say that the yield had been reduced drastically. Sekar, a farmer of Nerunjikorai near Pudupalayam says that he had raised the crop during November on 20 cents. Although he expected 100 kg, he could harvest just 10 to 15 kg. He attributed the fall in yield to incessant rain in early December. This year, in the absence of surplus production, the harvested produce was sufficient for domestic consumption and he would not be able to sell it to wholesale dealers. Many farmers were seen thrashing their produce by spreading it on the Tiruchi – Ariyalur highway.

Agriculture Department officials say that black gram was being raised in two different seasons in the district – during the Kharif and Rabi seasons. This year’s showers during the monsoon was quite an unexpected one and, black gram cultivators who had raised the crop during November were the worst-hit, he said indicating that farmers who had raised the crop a little earlier would register higher yield.

The district accounted for 2,500 hectares under pulses including black gram and the Agriculture Department encouraged black gram cultivation by special incentives of Rs.30 a kg for increasing the area and also for augmenting yield under black gram cultivation.

The official said that most farmers resorted to raising black gram cultivation as an intercrop along with cashew and other horticultural varieties.

“The crop is raised on smaller landholdings, as most farmers were inclined towards just domestic consumption,” the official said adding that the department has been motivating farmers to go in for pulses. “The sudden rise in the prices of thoor dhal has created some awareness among the farmers about the profitability of pulses and we have been cashing in on this trend to motivate the farmers to switch over to pulses as a main crop,” he said. Most farmers raised ‘Vamban 2’ or ‘Vamban 5’ variety in this district, the source told The Hindu on Wednesday. Experts suggest measures to control disease in paddy

With farmers in parts of the district complaining of incidence of rice blast, a fungal disease, a technical team comprising scientists from the TNAU’s Anbil Dharmalingam Agricultural College and Research Institute and the Agriculture Department inspected some of the paddy fields in Tiruverumbur and Manikandam taluks on Wednesday to provide advice to farmers to check the spread of diseases.

Dinakaran, professor, Plant Pathology and Head, Department of Crop Protection, along with R. Chandrasekaran, Joint Director of Agriculture, Tiruchi, G.Saravanan, Deputy Director (State projects), R. Pandiarajan, Personal Assistant to Collector (Agriculture), visited some of the fields in Kallikudi, Alathur, Keezhakurichi and Keezha Kalkandarkottai where incidence of rice blast and sheath blight diseases have been reported in the BPT-5204 variety. Incidence of sheath blight disease has been found in some parts of the Manikandam taluk, while the rice blast disease has been largely reported in Tiruverumbur taluk. They suggested various control measures including application of appropriate fungicides to check the spread of the diseases.

The Agriculture Department had already issued an advisory asking farmers to guard against incidence of rice blast disease. The prevailing weather condition after the monsoon rain could make the crop susceptible to the disease. Application of excessive doses of nitrogenous fertilizers, intermittent drizzles, cloudy weather, high relative, long dew periods, and low night temperature could make the crop susceptible to the disease.

Studies on use of banned pesticides questioned Farmer leader K. Chaudhary said that farmers in India did not use banned pesticides The Crop Care Federation of India (CCFI) and Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) have raised questions about the authenticity of two research papers published by researchers from Jawaharlal Nehru University, regarding Indian farmers using banned pesticides for crop protection.

Addressing a press conference here on Thursday, CCFI’s chairman Rajju Shroff said: “We have urged the President of India to order an inquiry into the two studies that are a part of a Ph.D. thesis work and have been published abroad. We have asked the university to share the laboratory data under the RTI, but it’s not being shared, raising doubts on the authenticity of these studies.”

The two studies on which the inquiry is being sought are: “Assessment of the concentration, distribution and health risk of organochlorine pesticide in Momordica charantia grown in Periurban region of Delhi, India” and “Health risk assessment of organochlorine pesticide exposure through dietary intake of vegetables grown in the periurban sites of Delhi, India”.

K.K. Sharma, national co-ordinator, All India Network Monitoring Pesticides Residues, ICAR, said the findings in these studies were in stark contrast to those by laboratories functioning under the ICAR and accredited by the National Accreditation Board for Testing and Calibration Laboratories.

“We (ICAR) have sent three letters to the university demanding raw data. But, the latter is still dodging,” he said. He said that the ICAR’s monitoring studies found vegetable samples carrying 2-3 per cent of pesticide residues above the maximum residue limits (MRL) while the university study claimed 100 samples exceeding the MRL.

“Such studies, published outside India, negatively affect the image of the Indian agriculture industry. It is an accepted protocol and mandatory for any laboratory to maintain all laboratory records including gas chromatography readings for challenge inspection and verification post- publication,” he said, adding that the citizens of the country had the right to seek the laboratory data.

Farmer leader Krishenbir Chaudhary said farmers in India adopted best farming practices and it was wrong to say that they used banned pesticides.

Water release from Krishnagiri reservoir today The State government has ordered the release of water from Krishnagiri reservoir for irrigation from January 8.

“Following the requests from farmers, I have ordered the release of water from Krishnagiri reservoir for irrigation from January 8 for the second crop,” Chief Minister Jayalalithaa said in a statement.

The release of water would benefit 9,012 acres, she added.

Seminar on land use planning The Kerala State Land Use Board is organising a two-day national seminar on emerging approaches in land use planning here from January 13.

The seminar will have sub themes on land use planning for natural resources management, soil health management, integrated watershed planning, modern technology initiatives and issues and challenges in land use planning.

Land use specialists, scientists in charge of research and development in research organisations and universities, environmentalists, policy makers, representatives of local bodies, NGOs, farmers and researchers are expected to participate.

Farm Fest to be held at month end The Department of Agriculture has proposed to conduct the Farm Fest 2016-cum-30{+t}{+h}Flower, Vegetable and Fruits Show for four days during last week of this month at Botanical Garden, Puducherry.

During the Farm Fest, it is proposed to conduct various competitions under nine categories- cut flowers, pot culture, floral arrangement, vegetables, fruits, medicinal plants, ornamental garden, kitchen garden and roof top garden for farmers, individuals, government, private institutions, public sector undertakings and private firms.

Those who are willing to participate can get application from the office at Additional Director of Agriculture (Horticulture) Botanical Garden.

The individual bagging the highest number of prizes would be crowned King of Flowers (Malar Raja) and Queen of Flowers (Malar Rani), said Additional Director of Agriculture, Botanical Garden. For further information- public can contact 0413-2228218/2220130.

‘Indian coffee doing well internationally’ Coffee production in the country this year could reach close to three lakh metric tonnes. Production in Karnataka, the country’s largest coffee producer, would also be better compared to the last few years, said former Coffee Board Chairman Javed Akhtar.

Speaking at the India Coffee Awards Ceremony, organised by Coffee Board on Thursday, he said that the scheme to expand Indian coffee internationally was extremely successful and Indian exporters are hugely respected. The export of this bean has also registered a marked increase, consistently touching three metric tonnes annually in the last few years, he added. Coffee Board Chairman Leena Nair said that 128 entities were actively exporting coffee in 2013-2014 to more than 100 countries with earnings close to Rs. 4,594 crore.

Andhra Pradesh is also gearing up to become a serious coffee producing State, another former Chairman G.V. Krishna Rau pointed out.

Going nuts

The higher incidence of lifestyle diseases like diabetes, heart disease, high cholesterol, osteoporosis and many types of cancer are due to our changing food habits and lifestyle issues like stress, environmental pollution and sedentary habits.

A proactive way to prevent disease and improve health and immunity is to increase vegetables, fruits and plant-based foods in our diet. A great way to replace dairy milk is by using nut milk. Cashew nuts or almonds are wonderful and can be used to make simple, quick and delicious nut milk. These are perfect in the form of smoothies and shakes, with tea or coffee, or even as vegan yoghurt.

Ingredients

1 cup cashew nuts

4 cups filtered water

Process

Soak the nuts overnight in clean water. If it is too hot, refrigerate the soaked nuts, to avoid fermentation. In the morning, drain the water and rinse them well. This rids the nuts of enzyme inhibitors, making them easy to digest and more nutritious. If using a high-powered blender, put the nuts and the measured water in the jar and process.

If using a traditional mixer-grinder, add the nuts in the jar, with a little water, grind to a fine paste, and keep adding more water slowly. The milk is ready. If you prefer, you can use cheesecloth to filter the milk (I don’t).

Store it in the fridge in a glass or steel bottle/jar. It stays fresh for five to six days. Optional

You can follow the same proportion to make almond milk, or use cashews and sesame seeds in a 3:1 ratio too.

If you like drinking the milk straight, you could add a couple of dates while making the milk.

In terms of adding different flavours, an all-time favourite is cacao powder, dates and a pinch of sea salt.

Enjoy!

New veterinary lab at Palode

According to an official release, with the establishment of the lab, the department’s laboratory complex here will become the State’s first government-run bio-safety Level-2 microbiology lab. A molecular biology lab, a cell culture lab and a residue analytical lab too are part of the complex. Chief Minister Oommen Chandy will declare open a new referral diagnostic laboratory of the Animal Husbandry Department at Palode here on January 20.

According to an official release, with the establishment of the lab, the department’s laboratory complex here will become the State’s first government-run bio-safety Level-2 microbiology lab. The referral lab will function alongside the existing Chief Diseases Investigation Office (CDIO). The lab, set up on a 5,000-sq ft plot at a cost of Rs.4 crore, is expected to end the dependency of the State on laboratories in other States for diagnosis of diseases including avian flu, leptospirosis, monkey fever and rabies.

The lab has advanced bio-metric safety measures in place.

A molecular biology lab, a cell culture lab and a residue analytical lab too are part of the complex.

A guest house for trainees and scientists reaching the CDIO too was part of the complex, which was set up by public sector unit HLL Life Care Limited.

Sugar cut in fizzy drinks can prevent 3 lakh diabetes cases: Lancet

LOWER SUGAR IN SOFT DRINKS CUTS DIABETES RISK Cutting sugar in sweetened drinks by 40 percent can prevent over three lakh obesity-related Type 2 diabetes over the next two decades, says a study published in The Lancet Diabetes and Endocrinology .

Five biogas plants nearing completion in Tamil Nadu Five biogas plants - capable of producing about 100 kg of organic manure and generating up to 100 units of electricity or two to three 14.6 kg cylinders of methane fuel gas from every tonne of biodegradable waste, using ‘Nisargruna’ technology developed by Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC), are in various stages of construction in Chennai and Tuticorin. While these units with a capacity of three tonne each were coming up in Otteri, Velangadu near Anna Nagar and Athipattu in Ambattur, a one- tonne unit and a three-tonne unit are under construction at SBI Colony and Cruzpuram in Tuticorin, senior scientist in Department of Atomic Energy’s Technical Coordination Wing J. Daniel Chellappa said.

“About 90 per cent of the work is complete in Otteri, which would be inaugurated in a month; about 70 per cent work is complete in Anna Nagar. Work at the Athipattu unit would commence soon after. The work in Tuticorin is also progressing well,” he said.

The biphasic ‘Nisargruna’ biomethanation technology developed by Mumbai-based BARC, can convert the biodegradable waste into manure and energy within 19 days while the conventional biogas plants would take about 40 days. About 200 such biogas units have been implemented across the country.

One such biogas plant was set up recently at Kurudampalayam near Coimbatore for District Rural Development Agency. “The unit is used as community kitchen. Food waste collected from the area is used to produce biogas,” he said. Another two-tonne unit functioning at Pulianthope is energising street lights in the area and a four-tonne unit is in operation at a private company located along the OMR.

Three units to come up in Chennai and two in Tuticorin

State govt to look into future trading at NCDEx

THE STATE government will soon announce a mechanism to investigate the trading of sugar at the NCDEx platform. Both chief minister Devendra Fadnavis and cooperation minister Chandrakant Patil said that while price of sugar on the platform was high, millers have been complaining of no demand – a phenomenon which needs to be investigated.

On January 2, The Indian Express had reported how both prices and volume of sugar on the NCDEx platform had seen a high over the last few days, but on ground level, the millers see no effect on demand (“Sugar prices up but mill owners feel no gain”, The Indian Express January 2).

Records from the market showed that since July 2015 the platform had seen trading of over 35 lakh tonnes of sugar priced at Rs 9,318.41 crore. Millers and growers had said that in many cases, the sugar traded on the platform was not even physically delivered. Many have also said the trade on the platform could be just speculative in nature. Swabhimani Paksha, MP, had earlier this week submitted a letter to Union Finance Minister Arun Jatiley asking for a thorough investigation in the trading on the market.

Fadnavis, who was speaking at the annual general body meeting of the Pune-based Vasantdada Sugar Institute, said the market forces that are causing volatility needs to be investigated.

“Price volatility is some thing to be taken seriously. Also, many of the traders do not result in physical lifting of the stock, which needs to looked into,” he said.

The chief minister said that although lakhs of tonnes of sugar is traded on the NCDEx platform, not even 25-30 per cent of it is delivered. This he said was a matter of grave concern and has to be investigated in full.

Meanwhile, Patil, speaking on the sidelines, said that the state government will be soon setting up a suitable committee to look into the matter. “In order to form a committee or a commission, we need to have the proper legal framework for it. The matter will be put before the state cabinet, during its next meeting and work will start on that,” he said.

Shetti, on his part, said he has been raising the issue with both the state and central government for the last six years. “I had brought the matter to the notice of Prithviraj Chavan, when he was in the Prime Minister’s Office. But due to intervention of a powerful leader who had vested interest in the matter, it was not looked into,” he said.

The Challenges

The meeting also saw former union agriculture minister Sharad Pawar talking about the challenges before the industry. Pawar, who is also the president of VSI asked millers to speed up exports in order to meet the targets set by the Central government by individual millers. While the state has a total export quota of around 14 lakh tonnes, just around 2 lakh tonnes have been exported so far. Millers have cited better domestic prices as their reason for preferring domestic markets over export.

Till date around export contracts 3.45 lakh tonnes of sugar has been signed of which 1.45 lakh tonnes has been dispatched.

Fadnavis on his part said the reluctance of millers to export can destabilise the markets again and force the government to intervene. “During informal talks, we have pointed out that in order to help the industry we might have to make it compulsory for the millers to sell their export quota in the public distribution system to keep the market stable,” he said. In case, the government mandates mills will have to sell sugar at a cost of Rs 25 per kg incurring loss.

‘Canada keen to partner with Haryana in education, IT, solar energy’

In furtherance of a high-level meeting held during the visit of a Haryana government’s delegation led by chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar in Canada in August last, a delegation of Indo-Canada Chamber of Commerce (ICCC) led by leader of Opposition in Ontario Patrick Brown called on Khattar here on Thursday.

Stating that the Canadian delegation expressed keen interest in partnering with the state government in areas of education, information technology, solar energy, green technology, agriculture and sports, an official release said Khattar, while interacting with the delegation, described his visit to Canada a great experience as there was lot of similarities in both the countries.

He informed the delegation that his government had decided to organise Happening Haryana Global Investors Summit on March 7 and 8, 2016, in Gurgaon, where entrepreneurs from across the globe would participate. Brown said Canadian entrepreneurs were keen to invest in Haryana as the state offered fertile ground for all kinds of investment and it offered a conducive environment for industry to flourish. Describing Khattar as a visionary chief minister, Brown said that currently Haryana offered promising opportunities.

Later, while talking to mediapersons, Khattar said Canadian investors had shown keen interest during meetings held in collaboration with ICCC at Canada in August last while this meeting was organised to follow up the discussion concerning investment held with the entrepreneurs.

He said renowned wrestlers, Tiger Jeet Singh and Junior Tiger Ali Jeet Singh, who were also the part of delegation, called on him to discuss various possibilities of further promotion of wrestling in the state.

The Haryana government would also further promote wrestling with their assistance in the state.

Centre to launch software to connect agri markets

Proposals from 12 States have been received, says Minister

The Centre will soon launch a software solution that helps connect agricultural markets across the country.

“The new software could break the virtual and connectivity barriers of agricultural markets and will benefit the farmers in getting fair prices,” Radha Mohan Singh, Union Minister of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, said. Addressing a gathering at Mulugu in Medak district after laying foundation stone for Shri Konda Laxman Telangana State Horticulture University, he said Karnataka could bring 50 agricultural markets on one platform.

“We have received proposals from 12 States, including Telangana, asking the Centre’s help to help their markets connected. We will give Rs. 30 lakh for each agricultural market,” he said.

Being set up as part of a promise made in the Central budget last year, the university was allocated Rs. 85 crore for building infrastructure. Of this, Rs. 47.5 crore was released. The university had sent a detailed project report (DPR) to the Centre, seeking Rs. 1,823 crore over a period of five years.

A foundation stone was also laid for the Centre of Excellence for Fruits and Telangana Forest College and Research Institute. The CoE for Fruits would have mango, pomegranate and citrus crops as priority crops.

The Forest College would offer degree, post-graduate and research programmes.

World food prices fall 1% in December: FAO

Global food prices fell in December, with all food commodities in the index falling apart from sugar and oils, the United Nations food agency said on Thursday.

The Food and Agriculture Organization's (FAO) food price index, which measures monthly changes for a basket of cereals, oilseeds, dairy products, meat and sugar, averaged 154.1 points in December versus a revised 155.6 points the month before.

December's 1 per cent drop rounded off a year in which global food prices plunged nearly 19 per cent, their fourth consecutive annual decline.

"Abundant supplies in the face of a timid world demand and an appreciating dollar are the main reason for the general weakness that dominated food prices in 2015," said FAO senior economist Abdolreza Abbassian.

Coriander prices tumble on higher supply hopes

After scaling a new high in 2015, coriander prices are headed south registering a sharp decline in both futures and spot markets. The price fall is attributed to the anticipation of new arrivals and imports.

While traders expect more volatility in prices, farmers are evaluating different options for the next season.

Volatile prices

On the National Commodity & Derivatives Exchange Ltd (NCDEX), coriander futures for January 2016 had touched a high of ₹13,185 a quintal on October 13, 2015 , which fell to a low of ₹7,135 on January 6 — falling over 45 per cent in about three months. Analysts expect prices to slide further even though there is a bit of recovery in the futures market.

For the April contract, prices rebounded by ₹223, or 2.9 per cent, to touch ₹7,905, while the January contract rose by ₹185 or 2.59 per cent to ₹7,320.

New crop pressure

“Demand has picked up in the spot market. As the arrivals of new crop are yet to start, there is some bullishness on the prices. However, this trend may not last longer as we expect fresh arrivals to start soon,” said an analyst with a Delhi-based commodity research group.

However, trade sources revealed that a large quantity of the spice is being imported in the country.

“Already around 20,000 tonnes have arrived and some more would be in transit. This, coupled with fresh arrivals, will put further pressure on the prices. We expect that downtrend will continue for some more time,” said Shailesh Shah, Director, Jabs International Pvt Ltd, one of the spice exporters.

According to industry estimates, India’s consumption is about five lakh tonnes, of which India’s production is around 4.9 lakh tonnes.

Farmers may switch over

“We are in a short supply of coriander. Last year, we saw high prices but there will be fresh arrivals from February onwards. By then, many stockists would have diluted their stock. And this downtrend may continue as sellers would be more than buyers,” said Shah. For farmers, the sharp fall in prices doesn’t seem to have worked in their favour, especially at a time when they have placed bets mainly on coriander against other crops due to weak monsoon in some of the growing regions.

“In Saurashtra, farmers have turned to coriander and cumin seed in a big way as there was weak monsoon this year. Buoyed by the attractive price that the spice fetched last year, many farmers opted for this crop. This sudden fall in prices would go against the farmers’ choice,” said Vallabhbhai Sojitra, a farmer from Keshod in Junagadh district in Gujarat, indicating that they may look at other crops.

Eventful North-East monsoon of 2015 has passed, says Met

The India Met Department has announced the retreat of an eventful 2015 North-East monsoon from Tamil Nadu, Puducherry, Kerala and parts of Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka.

The season technically ended on December 31, but the Met seems to have waited out for specific meteorological patterns to fully settle down to signal the end of the season. Bumper season

This included the shifting of the ‘inter-tropical convergence zone’ (ITCZ), the belt of convection (the process of cloud-building and precipitation) moving to the South of the Equator.

The ITCZ in turn tracks the movement of the Sun across the tropics between the northern and southern hemispheres to take the monsoon from place to place.

Currently, the monsoon is active over Australia coinciding with the summer in the southern hemisphere and will track back to the north by June to trigger year 2016 South-West monsoon for India.

Meanwhile, year 2015 delivered a bumper North-East monsoon for Tamil Nadu, Puducherry and Kerala after a rout of the preceding South-West monsoon.

Second best

Tamil Nadu received excess rain to the extent of 53 per cent above normal between October 1 and December 31 while Puducherry performed better with excess rainfall of 61 per cent.

Five districts in Tamil Nadu received excess rain above 100 per cent. These are Kancheepuram (183 per cent); Tiruvallur (149 per cent); Tirunelveli (125 per cent); Vellore (114 per cent); and Chennai (104 per cent).

An analysis of rainfall record the past 10 years shows that the year 2015 season (excess of 53 per cent) is second only to year 2005 (excess of 79 per cent).

Another notable feature about the season is the fact that the excess rainfall was delivered despite there being no cyclone or a major depression in the Bay of Bengal.

No cyclone

The two heavy rainfall events on November 15/16 and December 2 were triggered by well-marked low-pressure areas, which wind down in strength by at least two full rounds below a cyclone. The fact that these comparatively weaker systems were able to dump some of the heaviest rainfall on record is attributed to the unmistakeable push from the strong El Nino in the Pacific, say Met experts.

Meanwhile, Kerala received 27 per cent excess rainfall and Lakshadweep, 65 per cent. Ernakulam district received the maximum rainfall (excess of 75 per cent) while Kannur and Pathanamthitta shared the second place with 53 per cent each.

Thiruvananthapuram received excess rain of 51 per cent but the two northern districts of Palakkad (-14 per cent) and Wayanad (-9 per cent) ended up with a deficit.

Nilgiris tea growers crave for sunshine

As temperature levels dip amidst peaking winter, tea production has taken a drastic hit in the Nilgiris, the largest tea producing district in South India.

Night temperature has been ruling at single digits in most tea plantation pockets in the district and reports of frost-bite instances have come in.

Growth retarded

“We had a spell of frost two nights. Tea bushes in the low-lying pockets of our estate in Kotagiri have suffered frost-bite. Temperatures are declining in the nights and we fear a more severe frost-bite to occur soon,” Dinesh Raju, a small grower, told BusinessLine.

“The untimely and prolonged rains of November and December have caused retardation in the growth of tea leaves. What the bushes need for recovery is good sunshine but what is in store for them is frost-bite. Bushes which have suffered frost-bite will not reach production stage for at least two months,” he said.

Production hit

“Already, due to winter conditions, tea harvesting has been hit. Factories are receiving only about 20,000 kg of green leaf for processing per week against 50-60,000 kg normally. Consequently, factories are working for only four days a week and that too on single shifts. Our production has fallen by 60 per cent,” Ramesh Bhojarajan, President, The Nilgiris Bought Leaf Tea Manufacturers’ Association, said.

Also the local festival season and holidays have led to a shortage of workforce in the factories thus interrupting the production process.

Oilmeal exports plunge 86% on high prices

Disparity in prices and continuous high prices in the domestic market has thrown Indian oilmeals almost out of the international market.

The latest data compiled by the Solvent Extractors’ Association of India (SEA) revealed that export of soyameal has touched a record low at 61,556 tonnes in the first nine months of 2015-16 – down 86 per cent from 4,44,736 tonnes in the same period last year.

The soyameal exports had touched a peak of 20,10,788 tonnes in 2013- 14.

The sharp decline in the exports is attributed to non-competitive price of the domestic oilmeals. The export of soyameal during the month of December 2015 stood at 5,667 tonnes (1,94,012 tonnes) showing a steep fall of 97 per cent over the same period last year.

In a separate compilation by The Soyabean Processors Association of India, India’s total exports during the current oil year, (October- September 2015-16), only 18,814 tonnes has been exported as against 3,34,508 tonnes last year, showing a decrease of 94.37 per cent.

Due to higher prices, Indian soyameal remained non-competitive in the international markets.

Currently FOB/FAS Indian soyameal is quoted at $490 a tonne against Argentine origin CIF Rotterdam which is at $331.

The overall export of oilmeals during April-December 2015 is reduced to nearly half or 48 per cent compared to last year and reported at 963,442 tonnes (1,862,283 tonnes). Rapeseed meal export is also reduced to one- third of last year.

Raising serious concerns about the sustainence of the crushing industry, SEA noted that the capacity utilisation has reached to the lowest.

International Paper launches website to connect farmers

International Paper APPM Limited (IP-APPM) has launched an exclusive web portal for farmers called Rythukosam to promote farm forestry.

The portal, available in English and Telugu, will educate farmers on the best farming techniques in tree plantation, and connect them to the Centre's Digital India programme. As part of this, the company also launched Rythukosam Smart Card to enable direct transfer of monetary benefits to their bank accounts. About 300 farmers have so far been issued the smart card, a company release stated.

"We aim to acquaint farmers with the technically proven scientific methods of farming, which will help improve productivity and their economic potential. The smart card programme helps build an important bridge and ongoing relationship with the farmers and helps them gain long-term economic benefits. We expect to gradually cover all the farmers involved in Casuarina and Subabul plantations in the coming days," Rampraveen Swaminathan, president, IP-APPM said while launching the initiative on Friday at Kadiam in East Godavari.

IP-APPM, which is into pulp and paper products, had launched its farm forestry programme for clonal plantations in the 80s. The programme, which is currently country's largest, has so far planted over 1.75 billion saplings in over 252,000 hectare, the release added.

Wheat production in MP likely to dip 13% to 160 lakh tonnes

If the maximum temperature remains above normal production of wheat may be hit wheat produce for the current rabiseason is expected to dip by 13% to about 160 lakh tonnes.

"Wheat has been sown under 50 lakh hectares in the ongoing Rabi season so far, which is about 15% less than what was sown during the period last year. With maximum temperature remaining above normal, wheat production may be hit," Farmers' Welfare and AgricultureDevelopment Department Director Mohanlal Meena told PTI.

"We are not expecting wheat production to be over 160 lakh tonnes in the ongoing rabi season. In the coming days, if temperature doesn't fall and winter rainfall is not received in the wheat growing pockets of the state, this anticipated production may also dip," he added.

According to agriculture scientist Akhileshnandan Mishra, cold weather is required for better yield of wheat. But the maximum temperature has been remaining above normal this season, which is not a good sign for the crop.

He said seeing the weather pattern this year, many farmers have opted to sow gram (chana) crop, which has also resulted in a drop in acreage under wheat crop.

Mishra, former head, Indore based Indian Agriculture Research Institute (IARI) Regional Station, said the last month (December) remained warm in the state, which has hampered the sowing.

Last year too, Rabi wheat production was hit due to unfavourable weather conditions. Last time around, wheat was sown under 59 lakh hectares and the staple production was around 184 lakh tonnes.

Extend farm benefits to plantations also: Planters' body to govt

Hit by the vagaries of nature and unfavourable policies, the plantation sector has urged the government to extend 200 per cent deductions of expenditure incurred on any aspect of plant protection or labourers’ welfare.

In a pre-Budget memorandum to the government, the apex body of planters in south India, the United Planters’ Association of Southern India (UPASI), made a strong pitch for overhauling the archaic Plantations Labour Act(PLA), 1951, saying such a step is imperative to save the Rs 43,000-crore sector reeling under high doses of taxation, un-remunerative returns and commodity price fluctuation.

“Until changes are made to PLA, all expenses under this category should be given weighted deduction to the extent of 200 per cent of the expenditure. Apart from that full expenditure allowance for replanting, temporary ban on rubber imports pending disposal of safeguard duty application, exclusion of tea exports from the ambit of cess and concessional import tariff for plantation machineries,” said N Dharmaraj, president, UPASI.

South India constitutes nearly 60 per cent of India’s plantation sector, which employs 2.4 million workers directly and indirectly besides playing a significant role in supporting the rural infrastructure.

“The PLA was enacted at a time when plantations operated in extremely remote areas with no external infrastructure support. Today plantation areas are no longer rural but semi-urban. As such, the legislation has lost its relevance, is a burden on the production cost of plantations and makes Indian plantations uncompetitive internationally,” he pointed out.

UPASI drew the government’s attention to the commodity price fluctuation that hugely impacts plantation business. Currently, commodity prices are at its lowest, which make plantation producers vulnerable for price manipulation since they are at the lowest rung in the value chain.

“PLA, therefore, needs to be amended and many government schemes which are available to take care of the facilities provided under the PLA should be extended to the plantations” he said. Conceding that the recently amended bonus Act is laudable in its intention, Dharmaraj said it would severely impact the plantation business where 60 per cent of the cost is on employee remuneration.

Replanting is a regular operation in plantations to maintain the agronomic viability. Therefore, rules connecting to replanting should be amended to remove the ambiguity with regard to full expenditure allowance for replanting.

Also, subsidy for orthodox production which is an export-oriented incentive should not be included as a part of total income.

In particular, the memorandum brought into focus the domestic rubber plantation business which is 'gasping for breath under the impact of extremely un-remunerative prices'.