02.09.2016

Tribal farmer wins genome award Cheruvayal Raman, a tribal farmer at Kammana, near Mananthavadi, has bagged the National Plant Genome Saviour Award instituted by the Protection of Plant Varieties and Farmers Right Authority, India, for his lifetime engagement in protecting genetic diversity of rice.

Mr. Raman has been conserving as many as 45 varieties of rice seeds, different species of trees, herbs, medicinal plants, and spices on his five-acre plot for the past many years.

Being a joint family member of the Kurichya tribe, agriculture is part of his culture. While many of the Kurichya joint families are abandoning cultivation of traditional rice varieties owing to various reasons, Mr. Raman and his family have been conserving the seeds as a treasure for the next generation.

He has established a network of farmers through an informal seed distribution mechanism by which the farmer transfers seeds to anybody on condition that the same amount is returned next year. “Seeds cannot be sold because it is love and care rather than a commodity,” Mr. Raman says.

He welcomes visitors, including students, farmers, and researchers, from various parts of the country to his traditional house to learn about his natural way of farming. As a conservation activist, Mr. Raman has travelled across the State to sensitise students and farmers on conservation of genetic resources.

Mr. Raman said the award was the nation’s recognition of a farmer like him and it would help him propagate the message of conservation values to others.

Mr. Raman, along with wife Geetha, received the award from Union Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh at a function in New Delhi recently.

‘Kuruvai’ farmers faced with rat menace

Rodents have been posing a problem to farmers who had taken up kuruvai’ paddy cultivation in parts of Lalgudi block. The crop has been raised on 4,874 hectares, with Lalgudi block accounting for a maximum of 3,215 hectares while Thuraiyur and other areas account for the balance 1,659 hectares.

Farmers said that the recent showers had come as a blessing for them as the crop has started registering appreciable growth. But, the showers had also brought a problem in the form of rat menace.

Realising the need for controlling rats, the Agriculture Department has planned to organise an awareness campaign among the farmers to destroy rats from the fields. Normally, the Department recommended use of zinc phosphate but it should be handled carefully and any negligence in washing hands would prove injurious to health. The Department has planned to conduct a campaign recommending the use of anti-coagulants which ensured safe disposal of rats, an official told The Hinduhere on Thursday. The use of anti-coagulants along with rice flour or some eatables would attract the rats. M. Muruganandam, a farmer of Koyyathoppe in Andanallur block said that the problem has come at a time when the crop was registering a fair growth. He had been availing the services of labourers who are skilled in catching rats.

The labourers said that they were fully aware of the movement of rats from the burrows to the fields. “We keep a close watch on the impressions of the claws of the rats,” they said.

Vegetable carving

Tamil Nadu Agricultural University Information and Training Centre is conducting a two-day training programme on fruits and vegetable carving and preparation of soups and salads. The training fee is Rs 2,000. Training certificates will be issued to all participants. Date: September 7, 8

Time: 9.30 am to 4.30 pm

Location: TNAU IT Centre, No. U-30, 10th Street, Anna Nagar.

Culinary workshop

Tamil Nadu Agricultural University Information and Training Centre is conducting a workshop on preparation of soups and salads on September 8. For time and venue details, call 044 - 2626 3484. Pink bollworm: Experts team visits villages A team of experts from the Central Integrated Pest Management Centre, Bengaluru, went to several villages, including Kottalachinta, Beeralli, in Sirguppa taluk of the district where BT cotton was cultivated, to undertake a comprehensive study about the pink bollworm attack this year.

The team’s visit was in the wake of instructions from Union Agricultural Ministry, to make a study of the pink bollworm attack on cotton crop and submit a report, according to Rajalakshmi Keshagond, who heads the team.

The team also collected information about the integrated pest management techniques adopted by the farmers, as suggested by the Department of Agriculture.

This included cultivating a couple of rows of non-BT cotton on the border, using traps and lures, spraying of pesticide to destroy the pest among other things in the event of an attack.

Others

The other members of the team of experts included Asha, Vanita, Prabhavati, from Bengaluru. Bheemanna, scientist from University of Agriculture Science, Raichur, Shivanagouda Patil, Deputy Director, Basavanneppa, Project Coordinator, Agriculture Research Station Sirguppa and other officials were present.

Pact on research on salt-tolerant rice As part of an effort to develop a rice variety that is tolerant to salt water, an agreement was signed between M. S. Swaminathan Research Foundation (MSSRF) and the University of Tasmania (UTAS) here on Thursday.

The Australia-India Strategic Research Fund (AISRF) project, awarded to UTAS and MSSRF through a competitive bidding process, will explore the use of a halophytic, wild rice relative (Porteresia coarctata or also called Oryza coarctata) that occurs as a mangrove associate in the inter-tidal mangrove swamps along the coasts of India and Bangladesh.

The three-year project will be supported by the Australia-India Strategic Research Fund (AISRF) during which time, scientists would conduct research on salt-tolerant rice varieties identified from wild species using biotechnology approaches in India and in Australia. The value of the research project is about one million USD. Sergey Shabala, School of Land and Food, UTAS, said developing a salt-tolerant rice variety was imperative for food security. By 2050, the world’s population is estimated to grow to 9.3 billion and to feed such a large number, there has to be an increase of 38 per cent in food production, he said adding that switching to saline agriculture was inevitable.

“Salinity is a quiet crisis with 950 million hectares of arable land globally affected by it,” he added.

Holger Meinke, Director, School of Land and Food, University of Tasmania, Hobart, who signed the agreement on behalf of UTAS, said “We need to produce as much food in the next 50 years as we did in the entire 10,000-year history of agriculture. This is the reason why we need these kinds of projects.”

V. Selvam, Executive Director MSSRF, the Indian signatory to the project, spoke about the foundation’s work on mangroves and saline-tolerant plants. The Integrated Mangrove Fishing Farming System developed by MSSRF has been recognized as a ‘Blue Solution’ by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, he pointed out.

Ajay Parida, principal investigator for the Indian side of the project, Lana Shabala, from UTAS and Gayathri Venkataraman and Sivaprakash Ramalingam of MSSRF, who shared the techniques that would be employed towards achieving this process, also spoke.

City’s high-yielding tomato variety catches Tamil Nadu’s attention

Bengaluru’s elite and high-yielding tomato variety ‘Arka Rakshak’, which recently got its researchers a national award, has now caught the attention of Tamil Nadu.

The neighbouring State on Thursday sent a team of 30 horticultural and agricultural officials for live crop demonstration of the famed tomato variety on a nine-acre farm in Hennagara village of Anekal taluk by Karnataka’s progressive farmer M. Babu. The field day was organised by the Indian Institute of Horticultural Research (IIHR), whose researchers have developed the hybrid.

‘Arka Rakshak’ is being sought after by farmers in different States and a few foreign countries owing to its high-yielding potential, wherein farmers have collected 19 kg a plant. Another attraction is its resistance to diseases such as leaf curl virus, bacterial wilt and early blight, which helps reduce cost of cultivation by 10 to 15 per cent in terms of savings towards cost of fungicides and pesticides, according to scientists. The third advantage is long shelf-life which makes it ideal for long distance transportation.

G. Alagumalai, Assistant director of Horticulture and Tamil Nadu State Horticulture Officers’ Association president, and co-ordinator of the field visit of officials from Tamil Nadu, told The Hinduthat officials would study various aspects of ‘Arka Rakshak’ to know if it would suit the climatic conditions of Tamil Nadu. Another official from Tamil Nadu said they would prefer taking up its cultivation on small tracts of land in different parts of the State on an experimental basis.

However, the officials’ team was concerned over taste preferences as ‘Arka Rakshak’ is said to be a tad bit sweet, while culinary preparations in Tamil Nadu favour sour tomatoes.

A.T. Sadashiva, principal scientist and Head of the Division of Vegetable Crops of IIHR, who led the team that developed ‘Arka Rakshak’, explained various aspects of the crop to the Tamil Nadu team.

Agri expo to open tomorrow VIT University’s Centre for Sustainable Rural Development and Research Studies is organising a two-day Agri Expo – ‘Uzhavar Kalanjiam-2016’ – on September 3 and 4.

The university’s chancellor G. Viswanathan, in a press release said, the expo would have more than 100 stalls that would be set up by organisations involved in horticulture, mushroom cultivation, dairying, bee-keeping, poultry development, drip irrigation, sericulture and food processing, according to a press release.

This is the second year that the expo is being organised by the university. It was organised last year to encourage agriculture in Vellore and Tiruvannamalai districts, and included seminars conducted by agricultural scientists and researchers. As part of the expo, a memorandum of understanding would be signed with a scientist from the Philippines for a new technology – irrigation using hydraulic pump instead of electricity.

On Sunday, the “Thondai Mandala Uzhavar Urpathiyalar Niruvanam’, an organisation for marketing the agricultural produce of farmers in the ‘Thondai Mandalam” region comprising the northern districts of the State would be inaugurated, the release said.

This farmer reaped Rs. 1 cr. Progressive farmer M. Babu of Hennagara village in Anekal taluk is a man of many titles. He is not just a local political functionary, but is on the board of directors of the National Horticulture Board. But, he has another achievement to his credit. Mr. Babu earned Rs. 1 crore growing the high-yielding tomato hybrid ‘Arka Rakshak’ on five acres of land last year.

Mr. Babu, who has been growing various hybrids of tomato over the last 20 years, started cultivating ‘Arka Rakshak’ in the last three years. He says he earned a profit of Rs. 1 crore last year when the price touched Rs. 45 to 50 a kg, by exporting the produce to Pakistan and Bangladesh.

Enthused by the success, he has now increased the extent of the crop to 10 acres. But though the yield is good, the prices have dipped to less than Rs. 5 a kg. The floods in the northern and eastern part of the country have come in the way of exporting the produce by road, Mr. Babu says. However, he is still confident of getting a profit of Rs. 10 lakh.

“Many farmers visit my farm every day to learn about Arka Rakshak,” he said.

Training programme A free one-day training programme on ‘Bellary onion and small onion cultivation techniques’ will be held on the Krishi Vigyan Kendra in Veterinary College and Research Institute premises on September 6.

A press release from N. Akila, Senior Scientist and Head, KVK, said that the training will focus on the types of small onion, hybrid varieties, preparing the land for planting the crop, drip irrigation methods to be adopted, fertilizer and weed management and also storing the onions safely after cultivation.

Farmers, members of self-help groups, youth and interested persons can participate in the training programme. Those interested should register themselves for participating in the training before September 5. For registration, visit the KVK in person or register through phone: 04286- 266345 and 266650, the press release added.

Agriculture experts expecting bumper paddy crop due to heavy rain this year

A heavy rainfall this year has benefited the kharif crops and agriculture experts are expecting a bumper paddy crop, which will be a boon for the crisis-ridden farmer community. As per the data assessed by Hindustan Times, 241 mm rain was witnessed in 2015, while this year, 312 mm rain has been recorded so far, which is 71 mm more than that of the previous year. It has increased the humidity level and brought down the temperature. Such a climate condition is considered good for the crops, especially paddy, said officials of the agriculture department. A good rainfall has not only met the irrigation needs of basmati and other paddy verities, but also neutralised the harmful pests. In the current season, the area under paddy is 1,80,000 hectares in Amritsar district. As basmati-growers had to bear losses during the last season due to less price and the absence of the minimum support price (MSP), the area under basmati verities (PUSA 1509 and PUSA 1121) has decreased as compared to the previous year. While basmati verities have been sown on 1,10,000 hectares this year, non-basmati verities cover about 70,000 hectares. If the rain factor is put aside, eventhen a better yield is expected as the area under non- basmati paddy verities, which bear more yield than basmati, has increased. Good rainfall will further held increase the yield. Apart from this, it would save one spray, said agriculture experts. Chief agriculture officer Dr Balwinder Singh Chhina said normally the paddy crop is attacked by leaf folder, a pest which eats leaves in case low rainfall is recorded. Due to good rainfall in recent days, the incidence of leaf folder has decreased. Besides, the crop is also free from any other disease, he said. Chhina, however, advised the growers to be conscious in spraying pesticides and shun over-dos. “The farmers should spray only when the number of pests increases. A few pests do not damage the crop, but, still some farmers spray costly chemicals, adding to their cost. They should avoid such sprays,” he added. Agriculture development officer (ADO) Gurdeep Singh said the department conducted workshops, training camps and kisan melas time to time to make farmers aware about various farming techniques, including measurement of economic threshold level (ETO), which tells them about a number of pests, which attack the crop. He said the farmers should have knowledge of this technique to prevent unnecessary sprays.

Farm equipment market moving into high gear on agri mechanisation, rentals

Indian agriculture is a confusing paradox. On the one hand, it is the largest contributor to workforce and employment and, on the other, lags way behind competition on GDP contribution.

With nearly 137 million hectares under crops, India competes with large agricultural economies like China. Yet, with a languishing productivity rate, it is yet to come close to production levels of smaller countries like Japan. The world’s largest tractor manufacturing company by volume is Indian but mechanisation levels are alarmingly low. Mechanisation alone has the potential to change these paradoxes as it will lead to higher productivity and economic contribution. Yet, it has been inaccessible to farmers for long largely due to economic reasons. With small land ownership and constant fragmentation, small and marginal farmers find it almost impossible to own a tractor.

On the other hand, tractor ownership is high among larger farm owners. Nearly 85 per cent of small farmers depend heavily on the 15 per cent pool of large farmers and tractor owners for mechanisation.

A large informal hiring practice does exist but comes with its own set of problems including lack of quality standards, caste discrimination and land size. These, in turn, are compelling second generation farmers to migrate to cities for jobs. Census 2011 data shows that land under cultivation has gone down from 141 to 137 million hectares. With the Centre’s focus on doubling farmers’ income, mechanisation will be a key growth lever. Setting up custom hiring centres for farm equipment rentals along with incentives such as subsidies on capital investments has helped the cause.

With growing participation by private players, this business is on the verge of seeing a massive digital revolution.

Private entrepreneurs/companies and larger farmers are now eyeing farm equipment rentals as a large business opportunity . Dedicated rental centres, offering high-end equipment on hourly rentals to farmers along with trained, professional drivers and mechanics, will solve mechanisation needs of small farmers. Farmers can just walk into these centres and book high-end equipment .

Farm equipment have moved on from merely being a product and this has enormous implications for farmers as they are no longer dependent on someone for mechanisation.

Arvind Subramanian to submit report on incentivising pulses output next week

Chief economic advisor Arvind Subramanian, who was asked to explore means to ramp up pulses productionfollowing spurt in the prices of the commodity in the country, will submit his report to the government in a week.

"About a month and half back, the government had asked me to write a report on incentivising pulses productionthrough MSP (minimum support price) and related policies in the wake of rise in prices. I am currently preparing thereport and hope to have some preliminary things to reportback to the government next week", Subramanian said.

He was here to address the "Economic Survey Outreach" programme organised by the Xavier Institute of Management, Bhubaneswar (XIMB) and Odisha Television Ltd. Subramanian said that his report will mainly look at "what should be the level of MSP, how should we set it, what kind of procurement we need and what are the implications of this on other crops."

A couple of months back, the prices of pulses had spurted in the market with rate of tur dal reaching Rs 170 to 200 per tonne in June, 2016.

The government had attributed the price rise to shortfall in domestic production due to adverse weather conditions and increase in demand because of rise in population and per capita income and change in food habits.

Asked if speculation, cartelization, black-marketing/hoarding also put pressure on prices, Subramanian said: "I think that, production is at the heart of the issues, because production came down so sharply and there was scarcity other things happened. The root cause was scarcity. That's why we should boost the production of pulses."

Ironically, the chief economic advisor will be submitting his report when pulses prices are expected to soften over the next few months on back of increase in acreage of pulses cultivation which is the highest in last five years.

Sowing of pulses has seen a jump of 35 per cent to 13.6 million hectares by August 3rd week, in the ongoing kharif season on good rains and higher market price, said an official statement.

If weather remains good, pulses production this year could reach 20 mn tonnes, which would be highest ever, helping in cutting down imports of the commodity to a considerable extent.

India, Russia discuss falling agri exports

The government is taking up with Russia the slump over recent years in India's agricultural exports.

At a recent meeting with representatives of Russia's phytosanitary (quality monitoring) body, Rosselkhoznadzor, the government sought an expansion in the permissible number of commodities and exporters.

Delhi is primarily looking to enhance export of dairy products, buffalo meat, groundnut, fish and sea food. "Russia has accepted Indian Veterinary Service proposals for inclusion into the protocol on dairy product import from India," said a senior government official.

With a meeting scheduled this month of the Russia-India Intergover-nmental Commission on trade and economic, scientific, technical and cultural cooperation, both governments are likely to allow creation of a sub-group on agricultural products. This would allow regular discussion on cooperation between the Russian and Indian bodies on veterinary science and phytosanitary standards. Data from the Agricultural & Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (Apeda) showed India's overall agri export declined 25 per cent in value terms to $146.7 mn in 2015-16 from the $195.4 mn in 2013- 14. In volume terms, too, shipments fell by 25 per cent in these two years, from 214,198 tonnes in FY14 to 160,230 tonnes in FY16. A note from Rosselkhoznadzor official Vasily Lavrovsky says India had yet to approve the standard form of the veterinary certificate for heat-treated dairy products. "Absence of a harmonised certificate might become an impediment for Indian dairy product import (into Russia)...two Indian plants interested in import of dairy products to the Russian market were included in (our) Register," he added.

As for export of buffalo meat, three of four producing units were subject to restrictions due to foot and mouth disease (FMD) outbreak in the areas where these were situated. India was requested to consider including three more buffalo meat producing plants.

Delhi also wanted an increase in Russian import of fish and seafood. Both parties have agreed on a visit of Indian specialists there or to send their specialists here, for training on safety assessment in these products.

In fact: Why restrictions on stockholding and export of pulses must go

Last week, Union Commerce Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced a 5% subsidy on onion exports in the form of transferable duty credit scrips that can be used to pay customs, excise or service tax. On top of it, the Maharashtra government extended a Rs 100 per quintal grant to all farmers who had sold the bulb in the state’s mandis from July 1 to August 31. Compare this to the situation a year ago when onion shipments were subject to a minimum export price (MEP) restriction of $ 700 per tonne. The Centre had even before that, in July 2014, brought onions under the Essential Commodities Act (ECA) for the first time in almost a decade, empowering states to impose stock holding limits and take action against “hoarders”. The U-turn — from practically banning to incentivising exports and from invoking legislative provisions of a bygone era to giving sops — has been forced by a collapse in onion prices, with average modal rates at Maharashtra’s Lasalgaon market currently at Rs 600-620 per quintal, after scaling a high of Rs 5,700 last year on August 22. But such a volte face hasn’t been limited to onions. Potatoes were brought under the ECA in July 2014, alongside the imposition of an MEP of $ 450 per tonne. That was when prices of the tuber in Agra were Rs 1,500-1,600 per quintal, and crossing Rs 2,200 by early November. The MEP was removed on February 20, 2015, but prices had already fallen by then to Rs 550 on the back of a bumper crop, and plunged further to Rs 300/quintal in April. This led to farmers planting less the following season and prices climbing again from around June this year. On July 26, the MEP was back — at an even lower level of $ 360 per tonne, or Rs 24/kg. Since exports are not allowed below this rate, farmers and traders have to, then, sell mostly in the domestic market. There is a clear pattern in all this. Any price increase in farm produce is immediately followed by government action, invariably violating every rule of free trade. In the meantime, farmers themselves respond to higher prices by ramping up production, as they did for potatoes in 2014-15 and for onions in 2015-16. Prices crash as a result, yet the restrictions remain; by the time they go, it’s too late for farmers. The alacrity in imposing controls, and the lack of urgency in withdrawing them, is a reflection of the larger political economy, where the voices of urban consumers carry far more weight than that of rural producers. We are now probably heading for a similar situation in pulses. 2015-16 saw their prices hitting record highs and the government going all out with measures unprecedented even by 1970s standards. Apart from the usual banning of exports and allowing imports at zero duty, stock limits for ordinary traders under ECA were made applicable to even dal millers, importers and large retailers, whose regular operations require maintenance of sufficient inventories. If this weren’t enough, enforcement agencies, including the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence and the Intelligence Bureau, were made a part of “coordinated action” against any supposed hoarding, black-marketing or cartelisation. But as before, high prices prompted farmers to sow 13.94 million hectares area this time under kharif pulses, a jump of over 34% compared to last year. The effects of it — and government action — are already visible. Moong (green gram) is now selling in markets such as Gulbarga and Gadag in Karnataka and Kota and Ajmer in Rajasthan at Rs 4,000- 4,600 per quintal. This is lower than not only the levels of Rs 5,500-6,000 of two months earlier, but also the Centre’s minimum support price (MSP) of Rs 5,225 per quintal for 2016-17. That it is happening when harvesting has just started in Karnataka and the big crop from Rajasthan is still to arrive in the mandis only shows how much the sentiment has turned. No less dramatic is the scene in arhar (pigeon-pea), which two months ago was trading at Rs 8,600 per quintal in Gulbarga and is quoting today at about Rs 5,600. That may be above the MSP of Rs 5,050/quintal, but this is a crop harvested only from December. Last year, arhar prices began at Rs 5,000/quintal in January and rose to Rs 7,000 by end- June, before doubling to Rs 14,000-15,000 in mid-October just when the Assembly elections in Bihar were on. Farmers who have planted this time expecting a repeat of rising prices are likely to face disappointment — 2016-17 may well do to pulses what 2015-16 did to onions and 2014-15 to potatoes. There are three things the Narendra Modi government must immediately do, if the mistakes that were made in onions and potatoes are to be avoided. First, all stockholding limits and export restrictions on pulses should be lifted right away. With a bumper crop in the offing, farmers can do with more buyers for their produce. That will not happen if there is no freedom to trade, and even normal stocking can be construed as hoarding. Second, it is time to put a stop to imports, at least on government account. State agencies have so far contracted some 1.8 lakh tonnes of imported pulses, whose value would have already suffered considerable erosion with falling prices. Third, procurement operations should kick off, especially in moong and urad where arrivals will peak in a month from now. If farmers aren’t going to get even the promised MSPs, they will refrain from planting pulses. A repeat of potatoes, the precursor to a fresh round of inflation, is something the country simply cannot afford in pulses. But beyond the immediate, there is a need to reflect on the entire approach of subjecting agriculture to rules that do not apply to other industries. Today, we have a regime of MEP and free imports in farm produce, as opposed to MIP (minimum import price) for steel products and anti-dumping duties on everything from caustic soda and purified terephthalic acid to vitrified tiles. The resort to such differential treatment — in the name of “supply management measures” — may have only increased with the formal adoption of an inflation targeting policy based on the consumer price index, in which food items have a combined 45.86% weight.

Indian wheat supplies tight, traders expect cheaper imports to boost global prices

Wheat traders and industry representatives in India expect the country to step up international purchases significantly over the coming months, providing a potential boost to global prices languishing near 10-year lows. Production in the last two years has fallen well below the peak of 2014/15, reducing stocks to the lowest level in nearly a decade and pushing domestic prices close to record highs. Some traders expect them to climb still further this year. India has already bought about 600,000 tonnes of wheat in 2016, the most in nine years, but traders expect the government to reduce or even abolish the 25 percent import tariff to make imports cheaper and ease a domestic supply squeeze. “The supply situation is getting very serious,” said Veena Sharma, secretary of the Roller Flour Millers Federation of India, the country’s main wheat industry body. “A review of the import policy may be a viable and rational option to bridge the gap between demand and supply in the domestic market. There is hardly any wheat available in the open market; production is much lower than the number the government is citing.” Ramped up imports by the world’s second biggest wheat producing and consuming nation could help support global prices, which have fallen this week amid a projected rise in world stocks to a record 252.8 million tonnes. India rarely enters the global market beyond buying a few hundred thousands tonnes annually. The last time it bought more was in 2006, when surprise purchases of close to 7 million tonnes, combined with production problems elsewhere, helped fuel a near 50 percent rally in global prices. The Food Ministry declined official comment, but a senior government source said there was no cause for panic. “Although we’re keeping an eye on the situation, we don’t see any shortage at the moment. At the same time, we’ll encourage the private trade and flour millers to import as much as they can,” said the source, who declined to be named because he was not authorised to speak to the press. “In terms of various options available to us, we can always abolish or lower the import tax. Please remember that there’s no need to worry, as the world has plenty of wheat.” PRICE SPREAD WIDENS Trade and industry experts said India was likely to import large volumes. “In my view, India will have to import at least 4 million tonnes of wheat. A broad estimate suggests our imports will hover around 5 or 6 million tonnes,” said Tejinder Narang, a veteran New-Delhi industry expert. In a sign of tightening availability, authorities last month reduced the allocation of wheat each flour mill can buy from the government’s open market sales scheme to 500 tonnes from 5,000. It was subsequently raised to 2,000 tonnes, following a protest from millers. Domestic prices are strong and trading near record highs set in June. The spread between Indian and global benchmark U.S. prices has widened to an all-time peak. India’s farm ministry in August pegged 2015/16 wheat output at 93.50 million tonnes, up from 86.53 million tonnes a year ago, but most traders estimate production at about 84 million tonnes. India’s state wheat reserves, which on Aug. 1 stood at 26.9 million tonnes, are falling rapidly, and traders estimate a drawdown of 2.5-3 million tonnes a month up from the usual 1.5-2 million tonnes. “It will be difficult to maintain buffer stock levels,” said a trader based in southern India. “The talk among traders is India will be left with (stocks of) 5-6 million tonnes by April.” India’s minimum buffer wheat requirement, set in 2010/11, is 7.5 million tonnes on April 1, ahead of the arrival of the new crop. Wheat consumption is estimated to rise to 93.1 million tonnes in 2016/17, up around 11 million tonnes on 2010/11 levels, US Department of Agriculture data show. Although traders said increased Indian purchases were unlikely to spark a price rally on the scale of that in 2006, with global stocks so plentiful, they could prove a boon to exporters such as Australia. Australia, the world’s fourth largest exporter, is on track to produce a near-record crop of 28 million tonnes, and so far overseas sales have been disappointing. “India likes Australian wheat … If the tax gets removed, Australian wheat exports will go into India in reasonable volumes,” said James Foulsham, Wheat Trading Manager at CBH Group, Australia’s largest grain exporter.

Punjab Agricultural University imparts training in mushroom cultivation

LUDHIANA: A five-day vocational training programme on "Mushroom Cultivation and Processing" was conducted by Punjab Agricultural University's Krishi Vigyan Kendra, Sangrur. As many as 23 trainees attended the training programme.

While inaugurating the programme, Mandeep Singh, associate director (training), dwelt on the scope and economics of mushroom cultivation. Earlier, he welcomed the trainees from different villages of Sangrur district.