26.11.2016
Rabi sowing improves, but not uniformly
Allowing farmers to buy seeds with old 500 notes appears to be paying off
Sowing in the ongoing rabi season has picked up slightly over the past week.
The government’s decision to allow farmers to use old 500 denomination notes
to buy seeds seems to have had some impact.
The total area under the five major crop categories till November 25 was 327.62
lakh hectares, 4.61 per cent higher than the 313.17 lakh hectares in the same
period last year.
A week earlier (ending November 18 ), the area under rabi crops was lower, at
241.73 lakh hectares, compared with 243.38 lakh hectares in the corresponding
period last year, as the government’s demonetisation drive led to a cash crunch.
“The slowdown in sowing in the week ending November 18 was a one-off thing
and cannot be linked to demonetisation as in the subsequent week sowing has
again picked up,” insisted Agriculture Secretary SK Pattanayak, in a
conversation with BusinessLine.
Although rabi sowing has picked up in the week ending November 25, the
growth is much lower than the 15.9 per cent increase in acreage pegged till
November 11.
Coarse cereals and rice are the two crops where sowing took a hit in the latest
week (November 25), while wheat, pulses and oilseeds witnessed an increase in
sowing, according to figures released by the Agriculture Ministry on Friday.
The area under wheat till November 25 increased to 127.15 lakh hectares
compared to 117.32 lakh hectares in the same period last year. Acreage in
Haryana, Bihar and Gujarat declined while Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and
Uttar Pradesh saw a rise.
Rice acreage declined to 6.82 lakh ha from 9.10 lakh ha, with Tamil Nadu hit
hardest.
At 95.09 lakh hectares, the area under pulses was higher than the 88.12 lakh
hectares in the same period last year.
Sowing of coarse cereals till November 25 declined to 34.35 lakh hectares
compared to 42.33 lakh hectares in the same period last year with Maharashtra
suffering the steepest decline.
Demonetisation: poultry sector losing ‘ 100 cr a day’
People have stopped buying chicken and eggs; even restaurants have cut orders
With 26 crore eggs and 1 crore chicks a day, India is among the top-5 poultry
players in the world. For the domestic poultry industry, which engages about 60
lakh farmers and labourers, the November-January winter period, when more
eggs and chicken are consumed, is normally a very lucrative season.
Upcountry markets consume more eggs and chicken in the winter. In an average
year, the Northern markets consume 60 per cent more eggs and chicken. But
this year, chicken retail outlets wear a deserted look with consumers spending
their money sparingly.
The industry now fears a huge drop in demand there and in other parts of the
country as the demonetisation drive has also disrupted the supply chain. “We
have estimated losses at 100 crore per day as demand dips. People have
stopped buying eggs and chicken. Even restaurants have reduced their intake,”
Subba Raju, a leader of the NECC (National Egg Coordination Committee),
told BusinessLine.
The farmgate price of an egg has fallen to 2.93 from 3.90 before November
8, the day the Central government announced the demonetisation drive.
With the cash crunch hitting all layers in the supply chain, the industry is
apprehending that working capital is drying up.
The prices of chicken fell in the range of 15-30 per kg in different southern
markets. Retail chicken outlets have reduced their order sizes, forcing the farms
to keep back birds. This puts an additional burden on the feed. Feed costs
account for one-third of the total production cost in a poultry farm.
According to Suguna Foods Managing Director GB Sundararajan,
demonetisation has resulted in a drop of 20-30 per cent in consumption,
severely impacting the management of inventory. There is no cash transaction
happening between traders and farmers due to the scarcity of new currency.
Consequent to the disruptions in supplies following the impact on the transport
sector, the prices of feed (maize and soya) have gone up. “The increase is about
100 a quintal in the last two weeks,” said one poultry farmer.
Another difficulty poultry farms foresee is the impending payments in the first
week of the month to labourers. “You don’t have cash on hand. Even if you
want to credit into their bank accounts, most of them don’t have accounts. We
are asking them to open accounts,” said Subba Raju.
The farmers, however, see a bigger danger. As inventories pile up and working
capital reserves evaporate, they see an impending crisis in the summer.
Tea output rises in Sept
Tea production in India, which dropped by a marginal 4.63 million kg (mkg) till
August, posted an increase till September thanks to higher production in both
North and South India.
“The Tea Board has now released September data, which shows an increase of
27.48 mkg in North India and a marginal gain of 1.66 mkg in the South over
September 2015, resulting in an overall increase of 29.14 mkg to total 184.60
mkg,” Rajesh Gupta, compiler of annual ‘Global Tea Digest’,
told BusinessLine.
Favourable rain in many parts helped drive this increase in production.
Consequently, India’s overall production in the first three-quarters of this year
was more than its output in the same period in 2015 although South Indian
production was lower due to a decline in output in previous months because of
prolonged dry conditions.
“Our compilation shows that India’s cumulative tea production in the nine
months rose to 901.67 mkg from 877.16 mg in January-September 2015. This
increase of 24.51 mkg marked a growth of 2.79 per cent,” Rajesh Gupta noted.
Till September, North India had produced 742.51 mkg — an increase of 43.18
mkg over 2015.
The South Indian production during this period fell by 18.67 mkg to total
159.16 mkg.
Higher prices take the sting out of pepper exports
High domestic prices, due to strong internal demand coupled with non-
availability of an exportable surplus, have made Malabar Garbled pepper
uncompetitive, leading to pepper exporters losing even their traditional overseas
markets.
“Because of the higher prices, many buyers of Indian pepper have switched
over to Indonesia and Vietnam and thus we have lost the export markets. It is
going to be a difficult job for exporters to regain the lost market from Vietnam
or Indonesia,” Kishor Shamji, a veteran exporter, told BusinessLine.
According to statistics from the Cochin Chamber, total exports in January-
August 2016 via Kochi port stood at 8,631 tonnes against 16,167 tonnes in the
same period in 2015 — a decrease of 46.61 per cent.
At the national level, total exports might have touched around 9,500 tonnes.
Presently, 90 per cent of the export is actually re-export of imported produce
after value-addition such as extraction, grinding and sterilisation, sources said.
They attributed the higher domestic pepper prices to low productivity and
higher production cost in the major growing state, Kerala, where the
productivity per hectare is around 300 kg.
The state, according to Spices Board statistics, produced 30,000 tonnes of
pepper in 2014-15 from a total area of 85,430 hectares whereas the projection
for 2015-16 was at 22,000 tonnes.
Karnataka rising
In Karnataka, planters, who are growing pepper with a more scientific approach,
are having higher yields and are increasing acreage every year, which will soon
result in Karnataka overtaking Kerala as India’s largest pepper producing State,
he said. The area under the crop in Karnataka was at 21,061 hectares in 2011-12
and has gradually risen to 32,670 ha with a production of 35,000 tonnes in
2014-15, the Board sources said.
Indian pepper output does not match the domestic requirement and export
demand.
As against an internal demand of around 50,000 tonnes, the indigenous
production in 2015-16 is estimated at 48,500 tonnes.
Moreover, cornering of huge stocks by cartels through the national exchanges,
as happened in the NCDEX recently, has pushed Indian pepper prices much
above international prices, besides making consumers pay through their noses.
According to the trade, the 2017 season is likely to be better than 2016 in
quantity and that might lower the prices prevailing in India. At the same time,
the lower prices of Vietnamese pepper will have to rise as well, they said.
Spot rubber stays steady
Spot rubber was almost unchanged on Friday. RSS 4 finished flat at 131 a kg,
according to traders. The grade closed steady at 130 and 127 respectively,
according to the Rubber Board and dealers. December futures weakened to
132.80 ( 133.28), January to 135.30 ( 135.73) on the National Multi
Commodity Exchange. RSS 3 (spot) slid to 140.36 ( 140.78) a kg at Bangkok.
December futures declined to ¥230.5 ( 139.84) on the Tokyo Commodity
Exchange.
Campco sends trial arecanut consignment to China
Campco (Central Arecanut and Cocoa Marketing and Processing Cooperative)
Ltd has exported a trial consignment of arecanut to China.
Suresh Bhandary, Managing Director of Campco, said that the consignment of
around 360 kg of arecanut was exported to China through the Chennai port on
November 24.
This followed the visit of a high-level delegation of Campco to China in June
this year to explore the possibilities of exporting arecanut.
Campco had signed a memorandum of understanding with a China-based
company — Hunan Kou Wei Wang Group Company Ltd — to process and
export tender arecanut on a trial basis.
Bhandary said that tender arecanut from the Shivamogga, Puttur and
Coimbatore regions were selected for this trial consignment. These stocks were
processed at Campco’s facility in Puttur, Dakshina Kannada district.
The co-operative will explore the possibilities of bulk supplies to China based
on the company’s suggestions and feedback on quality of the consignment.
Karnataka registers growth in area, volume of wine production
Karnataka has witnessed significant growth in wine production in the last one
decade.
Addressing presspersons in Mangaluru on Friday, T Somu, Managing Director
of the Karnataka Wine Board, said that both the area under wine grape
production as well as the volume of wine produced, have gone up significantly
after the implementation of the Karnataka Grape Processing and Wine Policy in
2007.
Growth in output
The State produced around 5 lakh litres of wine during 2005-06. The volume
went up to around 1 crore litres of wine in 2015-16.
The area under wine grape production has increased from 500 acres in 2005-06
to 2000 acres in 2015-16.
Stating that the sale of wine in Karnataka has gone up significantly over the
years, Somu said the Karnataka government recorded sales of 193 crore of
wine in 2015-16 as against 178 crore in 2014-15.
Going by the consumption trend, the state government is expecting sales income
of 210 crore in 2016-17, he said.
There is an increase of around 25 per cent in the volume of wine sold every
year. The state sold 63.08 lakh litres of wine in 2014-15 as against 51 lakh litres
in 2013-14. At present, the state has 17 wineries, 190 wine taverns and 39 wine
boutiques, he said.
Stating that the board will be organising a wine festival in Mangaluru from
November 26-28, Ravindra Shankar Mirje, Chairman of the Karnataka Wine
Board, said that it has conducted wine festivals in Belagavi, Mysuru, Madikeri
and Bengaluru till now. It will conduct festivals in Davangere, Hubballi and
Tumakuru in the coming days.
Wine fest
Yogesh HR, Deputy Director of Horticulture, Mangaluru, said that
representatives of 12 wineries from Karnataka and Maharashtra will participate
in the Mangaluru Wine Festival. More than 150 brands will be showcased
during the three-day event.
The festival will also have technical session on wine grape cultivation, he said.
Kolar: Asia’s No. 2 tomato market has no bank or ATM
It is the second-largest market for tomatoes in Asia (after Pimpalgaon, Nashik)
and the largest in South India. Yet, the APMC market in Kolar, 70 km from
Bengaluru, does not even have a bank branch or an ATM.
This has put hundreds of farmers, traders, commission agents, porters, transport
agents and even truck drivers (who ferry the produce in and out) into severe
hardship, especially after the demonetisation of 500 and 1,000 notes. Across
the country, transactions in APMCs such as Kolar were, hitherto, largely in
cash.
“The nearest ATM/bank branch is 1.5-2 km away. My workers are spending
more time at long queues in banks to withdraw money. We immediately need a
bank here. Also, there’s a need for an awareness drive among farmers on using
bank facilities,” a trader said.
Not accepting cheques
Further, farmers are still insisting on cash payments and not accepting cheques.
This has led to an increase in part-payments and deferred payments, with most
traders still making payments with the old 500 currency. “I will now have to
deposit the old currency. As a result, payments to my workers may get delayed
by a day or two,” said Muniyappa from Paduvanahalli village, who got a mere
4 a kg for his produce of 1,050 kg.
A branch of Kolar DCC Bank that operated in the APMC premises has not been
functioning for the past 8-10 months for unknown reasons, officials said.
“Considering the hardships faced by market participants, we have started the
process of getting a nationalised bank to set up an ATM and a branch here,”
said Ravi Kumar, Secretary, APMC, Kolar.
Kolar handles around 1.5 lakh tonnes of tomatoes annually. Arrivals in the past
few weeks are up due to conducive weather, while prices are down. “We have
demand but are hesitant to book orders. We are booking only if the buyer makes
payments through a bank transfer,” said a trader.
For Karnataka Agriculture Minister Krishna Byre Gowda, the lack of banking
facilities is an infrastructure issue that can be overcome sooner or later. “I am
more worried about the impact of demonetisation. Cash shortage has impacted
the traded volumes of agri-commodities across APMCs in the State by 35 per
cent and has negatively impacted prices, creating distress,” he said.
Widely distributed
Tomatoes from the Kolar APMC market are transported to Bihar, Bengal,
Odisha, Jharkhand, Punjab, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, Andhra
Pradesh and Tamil Nadu. They are also exported to Pakistan, Bangladesh and
sometimes airlifted to Dubai.
Besides creating adequate banking facilities, the government should look at
having banking correspondents at the village level so that cash can be made
available to farmers at their doorsteps, says Professor Gopal Naik of IIM
Bangalore.
Karnataka Wine Board targets Rs. 210 cr income in 2016-17
The Karnataka Wine Board is targeting an income of around Rs. 210 crore by
the sale of wine in the State, according to T Somu, Managing Director of
Karnataka Wine Board.
Addressing presspersons in Mangaluru on Friday, he said the board recorded an
income of around Rs. 193 crore from the sale of wine in the State during 2015-
16. There is an increase of around 25-30 per cent in wine sales every year, he
said.
There has been an increase in the volume of wine produced in the state after the
implementation of Karnataka Grape Processing and Wine Policy in 2007. The
state produced around 5 lakh litres of wine in 2005-06. The volume went up to 1
crore litre in 2015-16, he said.
The area under wine grape production has increased from 500 acres in 2
to 2000 acres in 2015-16. The state has 17 wineries, 190 wine taverns and 39
wine boutiques, he said.
Stating that the board will be organising a wine festival in Mangaluru from
November 26-28, Ravindra Shankar Mirje, Chairman of the Karnataka Wine
Board, said that it has conducted wine festivals in Belagavi, Mysore, Madikeri
and Bengaluru till now. It will conduct festivals in Davangere, Hubballi and
Tumakuru in the coming days.
Yogesh HR, Deputy Director of Horticulture, Mangaluru
representatives of 12 wineries from Karnataka and Maharashtra will participate
in the Mangaluru Wine Festival. More than 150 brands will be showcased
during the three-day event.
The festival will also have technical session on wine grape cultiv
Demonetisation has little impact on rabi crop planting, acreage jumps over
previous week
The area under pulses, oilseeds and wheat increased from a year earlier, while
planting of coarse cereals and rice fell. The government has set a
crop planting target of 638.09 lakh hectares.
Rabi, or winter crop, planting increased 36% over the past week, in contrast to
expectations in some quarters that the scrapping of high
notes would adversely affect sowing.
Winter crops were planted on 327.62 lakh hectares as of Friday, compared with
241.73 lakh hectares on November 18, according to data from the agriculture
ministry. The acreage planted is 4.62% higher than a year earlier, when crops
covered 313.17 lakh hectares.
The area under wine grape production has increased from 500 acres in 2
16. The state has 17 wineries, 190 wine taverns and 39
Stating that the board will be organising a wine festival in Mangaluru from
28, Ravindra Shankar Mirje, Chairman of the Karnataka Wine
Board, said that it has conducted wine festivals in Belagavi, Mysore, Madikeri
and Bengaluru till now. It will conduct festivals in Davangere, Hubballi and
Tumakuru in the coming days.
Yogesh HR, Deputy Director of Horticulture, Mangaluru
representatives of 12 wineries from Karnataka and Maharashtra will participate
in the Mangaluru Wine Festival. More than 150 brands will be showcased
day event.
The festival will also have technical session on wine grape cultiv
Demonetisation has little impact on rabi crop planting, acreage jumps over
The area under pulses, oilseeds and wheat increased from a year earlier, while
planting of coarse cereals and rice fell. The government has set a
crop planting target of 638.09 lakh hectares.
Rabi, or winter crop, planting increased 36% over the past week, in contrast to
expectations in some quarters that the scrapping of high-denomination currency
notes would adversely affect sowing.
Winter crops were planted on 327.62 lakh hectares as of Friday, compared with
241.73 lakh hectares on November 18, according to data from the agriculture
ministry. The acreage planted is 4.62% higher than a year earlier, when crops
ctares.
The area under wine grape production has increased from 500 acres in 2005-06
16. The state has 17 wineries, 190 wine taverns and 39
Stating that the board will be organising a wine festival in Mangaluru from
28, Ravindra Shankar Mirje, Chairman of the Karnataka Wine
Board, said that it has conducted wine festivals in Belagavi, Mysore, Madikeri
and Bengaluru till now. It will conduct festivals in Davangere, Hubballi and
Yogesh HR, Deputy Director of Horticulture, Mangaluru, said that
representatives of 12 wineries from Karnataka and Maharashtra will participate
in the Mangaluru Wine Festival. More than 150 brands will be showcased
The festival will also have technical session on wine grape cultivation, he said.
Demonetisation has little impact on rabi crop planting, acreage jumps over
The area under pulses, oilseeds and wheat increased from a year earlier, while
planting of coarse cereals and rice fell. The government has set a rabi season
Rabi, or winter crop, planting increased 36% over the past week, in contrast to
denomination currency
Winter crops were planted on 327.62 lakh hectares as of Friday, compared with
241.73 lakh hectares on November 18, according to data from the agriculture
ministry. The acreage planted is 4.62% higher than a year earlier, when crops
The area under pulses, oilseeds and wheat increased from a year earlier, while
planting of coarse cereals and rice fell. The government has set a rabi season
crop planting target of 638.09 lakh hectares.
Expectations that farmers would run out of cash to buy seeds and fertilisers after
the government withdrew 86% of the currency in circulation had fuelled
concerns that agricultural productivity would be adversely affected. India had a
normal monsoon in 2016 after two years of deficient rainfall, raising prospects
for a bumper harvest.
Water levels in key reservoirs were higher, improving the prospects of planting
crops after the four-month monsoon season ended in September.
India’s 91 major reservoirs held 105.2 billion cubic metres of water, or 25%
more than at the same time last year, as of Thursday, suggesting better
availability for winter crops. However, the level was 3% less than the 10-year
average, according to data on the Central Water Commission website.
The agriculture ministry said wheat had been sown or transplanted on 127.15
lakh hectares, a 60% increase over the previous week and 8.38% higher than a
year ago. Planting was marginally delayed in Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and
Gujarat.
The area under rice cultivation shrank 25.06% from the previous year to 6.82
lakh hectares. The area under pulses—gram, lentil, field pea, kulthi, urad bean,
moong bean and lathyrus
over the previous week and 7.92% from a year ago.
Planting of oilseeds, predominantly mustard and groundnut, was done on 64.21
lakh hectares, a rise of 14.33% over the previous week and 14.12% over 2015.
Planting of coarse cereals
the previous week to 34.35 lakh hectares, although it was 18.9% lower than the
previous year.
Prices crash in mandis, small farmers hold on to crops, delay sowing
A few days before PM Narendra Modi
and Rs 1,000 currency notes, marginal farmer Ajaypal Singh took a tractor full
of cauliflowers to the Nashirpur wholesale market. He
kg. A week later, it was a dramatically different situation. The price had crashed
to Rs 4 per kg. "Nobody's picking up the stuff in the mandi now. Nuksan ho
raha hai (I am suffering losses). The mandi guys are telling me that with
shortage of currency, there's little demand at the retail level," he says.
Another farmer, Virendra Dahiya, said, he had wholesaled the same vegetable
for Rs 15 per kg at the mandi before the stunning currency measure announced
on Nov 8 and has now been
moong bean and lathyrus—covered 95.09 lakh hectares, an increase of 27.55%
and 7.92% from a year ago.
Planting of oilseeds, predominantly mustard and groundnut, was done on 64.21
lakh hectares, a rise of 14.33% over the previous week and 14.12% over 2015.
Planting of coarse cereals – jowar, bajra, ragi and maize – increased 3
the previous week to 34.35 lakh hectares, although it was 18.9% lower than the
Prices crash in mandis, small farmers hold on to crops, delay sowing
Narendra Modi announced the demonetization of Rs 500
and Rs 1,000 currency notes, marginal farmer Ajaypal Singh took a tractor full
of cauliflowers to the Nashirpur wholesale market. He sold them for Rs 12 per
kg. A week later, it was a dramatically different situation. The price had crashed
to Rs 4 per kg. "Nobody's picking up the stuff in the mandi now. Nuksan ho
raha hai (I am suffering losses). The mandi guys are telling me that with
shortage of currency, there's little demand at the retail level," he says.
Another farmer, Virendra Dahiya, said, he had wholesaled the same vegetable
for Rs 15 per kg at the mandi before the stunning currency measure announced
on Nov 8 and has now been trading them for Rs 9
covered 95.09 lakh hectares, an increase of 27.55%
Planting of oilseeds, predominantly mustard and groundnut, was done on 64.21
lakh hectares, a rise of 14.33% over the previous week and 14.12% over 2015.
increased 32.2% over
the previous week to 34.35 lakh hectares, although it was 18.9% lower than the
Prices crash in mandis, small farmers hold on to crops, delay sowing
announced the demonetization of Rs 500
and Rs 1,000 currency notes, marginal farmer Ajaypal Singh took a tractor full
sold them for Rs 12 per
kg. A week later, it was a dramatically different situation. The price had crashed
to Rs 4 per kg. "Nobody's picking up the stuff in the mandi now. Nuksan ho
raha hai (I am suffering losses). The mandi guys are telling me that with
shortage of currency, there's little demand at the retail level," he says.
Another farmer, Virendra Dahiya, said, he had wholesaled the same vegetable
for Rs 15 per kg at the mandi before the stunning currency measure announced
trading them for Rs 9-10 per kg.
Those standing in the long queues before a PNB branch complain that cash
comes and vanishes with the speed of a rumour.Currency shortage seems to
have caused a ripple effect down the supply chain. And the consequence can be
seen at the bottom of the pyramid.
Ajaypal, who mainly grows vegetables over 16 bighas of land owned jointly by
four brothers, is making adjustments to beat the blowback of notebandi, the
term everyone uses to describe demonetization in these parts of rurban south-
west Delhi.
Another batch of cauliflowers would have been ready for the market in a couple
of days. But the 46-year-old Jat farmer has stopped watering the plants. "That
would delay their growth. I want to hold on for a fortnight. Maybe we will get a
better price after that," he says.
A similar tactic to beat the falling rates has been employed by Jagbir Singh, a
Jat farmer with 15 bighas of land in Asra, a village located in west UP's Hapur
district. "I will not harvest potato for 8-10 days. Let them stay where they are
till the mandi rates improve," he told TOI last week.
Once he has disposed of the cauliflowers and the radish, Ajaypal will sow
tomatoes and peas. Like many in these parts with a cash flow problem, he is
relying on the bond of traditional association that gets him seeds and fertilisers
on loan. "That's part of our dealings every year," he says. Dahiya says credit is
part of every transaction in this urban village poised on the edge of south-west
Delhi. "Yahan to kirayedaar ka bhi udhaar chalta hai (Even the tenants pay you
later,") he says.
Part of Ajaypal's land is fallow at the moment. He has just harvested jowar and
now is ready to sow wheat. He's behind schedule by about 10-15 days. "I will
plant a late variety of wheat to compensate," the farmer says.
Normally, at this time about 20 people would have been working in the field,
says the farmer. But the delay means there are only two farmhands at work on
Thursday after noon.Ajaypal pays them Rs 250 for a day's work. But he is
unable to pay them in cash right now. Overall, he owes about Rs 4,000 to his
other regulars who are now working elsewhere, he says. How much do the
shortage of money and the losses bother him? His feelings are mixed. "No 2 ke
paise ko lagaam lag rahi hai (Black money is being brought under control)," he
says.
Life is more difficult for Sharmila Devi, one of two daily wagers still working
in Ajaypal's field. These days she carries vegetables home as part of her
payment. Call it a form of barter or good old jugaad, adjustments like these keep
the wheels turning for the marginal and the marginalized in times of the scarce
rupee.
Go cashless, use apps: Prime minister to farmers, traders
Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi made out a case for using smartphone money
transfer apps even as the demonetisation drive continued to rock Parliament on
Friday . Speaking at the stonelaying ceremony of the All India Institute of
Medical Sciences(Aiims) at Bathinda in Punjab he admitted that the drive had
inconvenienced people and then asked farmers and small traders to go cashless.
"There are four times more mobile phones than the total number of families in
India," he said in the company of BJP and ally Shiromani Akali Dal leaders.
"The phone can be converted into a wallet or a bank. Without touching cash,
money can be transferred or used to purchase items.Insist that your shopkeeper
use instant mode of transfer the next time you shop." He even asked tech-savvy
students to help those new to smart phones and apps.
The Prime Minister's remarks have come at a time when Punjab - a state with
roughly 10 lakh farmers and about 25 lakh small traders and industrial workers -
is all set to hold assembly elections. "I understand the hassles faced by crores of
people due to our new currency initi ative. But I equally thank them for standing
with me in this move to weed out corruption and black money," Modi said.
"Most of you face the issues of arranging separate money for cash and cheque
demands for school admissions, buying land and paying hospital bills. Not
anymore.Which is why I need your sup port," he added and extolled the use of
apps to stall illegal transactions.
According to him, apps can thwart robbery and theft as hard cash disappears.
Admitting that there was shortage of new notes at banks, the Prime Minister
added that Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 new currency would gradually enter the market.
'Badal youngest, oldest CM of India'
Modi praised Punjab chief minister Parkash Singh Badal to be the youngest and
the eldest chief minister in independent India. Badal for the first time had
become chief minister in 1970 at the age of 43 years and now he is 89 years old.
Like telling poor to eat cake: Congress
Cong took a dig at Modi for asking people to use electronic banking . "Most of
them do not have bank accounts.It's like French Queen Marie asking poor to eat
cake when told they did not have bread to eat," said former MP Manish Tewari.
Dal prices go into free fall, farmers’ misery worsens
With financial liquidity at an all-time low, the one thing that people are cutting
down on, though at considerable inconvenience, is food. With consumers
forgoing pulses, a staple, growers are getting worried. The current season is
harvest time for urad dal, but UP farmers are facing sharply falling prices.
Soon after demonetisation, dal priced at Rs 160 per kg fell to Rs 100 per kg.
With good urad dal prices a few months ago, farmers in Bijnor had increased
the sowing area from 1,100 hectares to 9,000 hectares in the hope of increased
income. Each hectare produces 15 quintal of pulses. Now they face an uncertain
future at the beginning of the next sowing season.
Local pulse trader Shashank Agarwal said, “After demonetisation, urad dal
prices have gone down from Rs 140 to Rs 80 per kg, urad without husk from Rs
180 to Rs 130, arhar from Rs 140 to Rs 110, masoor from Rs 120 to Rs 100 and
moong from Rs 130 to Rs 100 per kg. There is a slump in the pulses market.”
“But demand has not matched the fall in prices. The sale of pulses has also gone
down by 60% because people don’t want to buy it even at low prices. People
have just stopped eating dal,” Agarwal added.
Ashok Kumar, director, research, Sardar Vallabh Bhai Patel Agriculture
University at Meerut, said, “This year the central government under its Pulse
Mission had given a lot of subsidies and incentives to widen the sowing area of
the crop in the region and had even asked universities to conduct research on the
subject. As a result, there was considerable amount of enthusiasm among
farmers for the crop, and the cultivated area had increased manifold.”
According to sources in the agriculture department, in 2015, Bijnor’s farmers
had suffered a lot owing to non-payment of sugarcane dues by mills. At the
same time, the government gave them sops to grow pulses. But all calculations
have been upset in the current market situation.
Kavita Rani, a resident of Bulandshahr, said, “Food items like pulses are bought
with small currency denominations and in small quantities. With no small notes
in the market, how can we buy items like dal? So we have stopped buying them.
The low prices won’t make a difference.”
Naveen Pradhan, a farmer in Mawana, 30 km from Meerut, said, “I had grown
urad in 1 hectare of land. We had thought that this year the crop would fetch us
better rates. But after demonetisation, the price of pulses have fallen from Rs
140 to Rs 80 per kg in our area. I will have to bear losses now. I can store my
stock for two months, as it won’t go bad, but until that time I will have no
money. How will I cultivate my land for the next crop, which is wheat?”
Pomegranate farmers count losses
The government's demonetisation drive has hit pomegranate farmers hard with
rates of the fruit declining by Rs 500-600 a crate in the past fortnight.
Besides, payment in cheques and demonetised currency by traders has added to
the woes of the farmers who are being compelled to sell a crate of pomegranate
for Rs 1,100 a crate — down from Rs 2,100 for the same quantity in the first
week of November.
"We support the government's decision to scrap notes with denominations of Rs
500 and Rs 1,000. But this has created shortage of valid currency notes.
Wholesale pomegranate rates are going down. The traders are also paying
through old currency notes. I accepted the notes thinking that I will will deposit
those in my bank accounts," said Bhausaheb Aher, a farmer from Deola,
Another farmer Ashok Pawar said, "Pomegranate prices have declined by
around Rs 500-600 a crate with a few days after demonetisation. Before
demonetisation, I had sold pomegranate at Rs 1,800 a crate in Nashik
Agriculture Produce Market Committee. Today (Friday), I sold pomegranates it
for Rs 1,200 a crate and received payment by cheque."
Pomegranate trader Ismail Shaikh said, "We send pomegranate to various parts
of the country, but our business has been badly affected by the shortage of
currency notes. The demand has also reduced."
Around 9,500 quintals of onion were auctioned at Lasalgaon on Friday. Traders
made payments to the farmers either by cheques or RTGS. The average
wholesale onion price of the new kharif onion was recorded at Rs 1,150 a
quintal. The minimum and maximum wholesale onion prices were recorded at
Rs 555 and Rs 1,478 a quintal, respectively.
Agriculture expo begins with felicitation of 26 young farmers
Kirshithon-2016, a five-day agricultural expo, began in the city at Thakkar's
Dome on Thursday with focus of youths in agriculture.
The expo — organized to make farmers acquainted with advanced farming
technology — began with felicitation of 26 successful youth farmers. Around
250 agricultural companies from seeds to farm equipment have put up their
stalls at the expo, showcasing their advanced products. The expo was
inaugurated by the local MP Harishchandra Chavan and city mayor Ashok
Murtadak
As many as 26 young farmers from across the state, who made various
experiments and research, making farming profitable, were felicitated at the
inaugural programme in a bid to encourage youths to divert to farming instead
of seeking jobs.
Speaking at the occasion, Chavan said, "New farming technology and research
showcased at the agricultural expo will help farmers increase the yield and
make farming more profitable. Nashik is known for producing grape and onions
at large. The exhibition will definitely help farmers to get acquainted with the
latest technology in the market."
Sanjay Nyaharkar, organizer of the event, said "This is the 11th edition of
agricultural expo that started in 1998. The objective is to get farmers acquainted
with latest farming technology and latest research in the agriculture. Moreover,
we are promoting youth to divert to farming. Farming is a profitable business if
it is done properly by using advanced technology and experiments by successful
farmers."
Thousands of farmers from across the state visited the agricultural expo on the
first day. Various seminars on techniques for producing pomegranates, organic
milk, onion farming, vineyards, among others are to be held during remaining
four days of the exhibition.
Pet insects that prey on crop harming pests
Whitefly.
Amritsar-based Khalsa College has come up with a bio-control laboratorythat is
ai ming to fight crop-harming pests with "crop-friendly", predatory insects. The
college has developed a "bio-control" laboratory at its agriculture department
where the `friendly pests' are developed and released on the college's 50-acre
farmland. The agriculture department experts of the college said the programme
was part of "a new thinking" to biologically control crop-harming insects and
avoid hazardous chemicals.
The use of pesticides and insecticides on a large scale has already played havoc
with farming in Punjab and new initiatives were being taken to adopt organic
and natural farming, said experts.
Khalsa College Governing Council (KCGC) secretary Rajinder Mohan Singh
Chhina, who is the brain behind the lab, said the step was part of ongoing
activities by the college's agriculture department to spread awareness about
organic farming. "College's own 50 acres has adopted organic farming, where
the use of pesticides and insecticides has been stopped," he said.
An agriculture scientist and in charge of the lab, Rajinder Pal Singh, said they
were developing insects like trichogramma brasiliensis, isotima jevenesis,
coccinellidae, syrphid, spider, carabid, dragon fly , predatory pentatomids and
abnthrocoriddbugs in the lab. "Farmers to use in the fields," he said, adding that
'friendly pests' either fed on pests or lay eggs in the body of larvae of enemy
insects, breaking their lifecycle.
Khalsa College principal Mehal Singh said apart from their own farm, the lab
was being used by students studying agriculture courses and was equipped to
provide training to farmers.
He said various sugar mills and many farmers had approached them for taking
regular service of the lab to protect their farms from the harmful insects.
Centre raps some states for slow roll out of agricultural scheme on
farm mechanisation
The need of the hour is farm mechanisation, said Agriculture Minister Radha
Mohan Singh as he expressed confidence that the laggard states would fast track
implementation of the scheme in the coming months.
The Centre on Friday pulled up some states like Bihar for slow implementation
of a scheme that promotes use of farm machineries among small and marginal
farmers. Successful implementation of the scheme on farm mechanisation by
state governments will help raise farm output and double income of farmers by
2022, Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh said.
“The government has announced many agri-schemes and one is on farm
mechanisation. The Centre has released Rs 118 crore to state governments to
implement this scheme. Some states like Madhya Pradesh, Odisha and Andhra
Pradesh are spending properly and there is good progress. However, in some
states like Bihar, there is not much progress,” Singh said at the launch of a
coffee table book on farm mechanisation here.
The need of the hour is farm mechanisation, he said and expressed confidence
that the laggard states would fast track implementation of the scheme in the
coming months.
Stating that challenges of farm mechanisation still exist in India, the Minister
said, “Most of our land holdings are small, therefore, commercial use is not
proving beneficial. But the government is promoting farm machines through the
establishment of custom hiring centres.”
The costly farm machineries such as rotavator, blow sprayer, cotton cultivator,
cutter and shredder are being made available on rent to farmers through these
custom hiring centres, he said.
Rabi sowing may drop 20% as cash crunch hits Maharashtra farmers
Maharashtra Chief Secretary Swadhin Kshatriya has issued instructions to state-
run seed distribution centres to accept scrapped currency notes of Rs 500.
Sowing in rabi season is likely to drop by at least 20 per cent in Maharashtra as
the sale of seeds and fertilisers is getting affected due to scrapping of Rs 500
and Rs 1000 banknotes, a senior agriculture department officer said on Friday.
“Sowing may drop by 20 per cent. Crops like wheat, tur and wheat are generally
sown in rabi areas, among which wheat is likely to be hit because its seeds are
largely distributed by private companies.
“The private retailers are not allowed to accept Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes that
are now scrapped. Hence, farmers are facing problems,” the officer told PTI.
While farmers can use Rs 500 notes for purchasing seeds from any state and
Central government outlets, agri universities, national or state seeds
corporations etc, private retailers and suppliers are not accepting the tender,
affecting the transactions.
Maharashtra Chief Secretary Swadhin Kshatriya has issued instructions to state-
run seed distribution centres to accept scrapped currency notes of Rs 500. “I
have issued instructions to the official concerned that the scrapped notes should
be accepted from farmers buying seeds,” he said.
Explaining the piquant situation on ground, a veteran farmer leader said that the
real problem for farmers lies in “halting of transactions” post demonetisation.
“The demand for seeds for current season is 7.72 lakh quintal in the state and
the availability in the market is as per the demand. The real problem lies in
transactions which are halted by the decision of demonetisation.
“The government-owned seed distribution centres run by Maharashtra State
Seed Corporation (Mahabeej) and National Corporation have very few centres
across the state. Most of them are located at district level. In such situation, the
farmers are forced to travel to district place to purchase the required seeds,” said
Raghunath Patil, a farmers’ leader from Sangli in western Maharashtra.