16.03.2016

New organic inputs from ICAR-KVK

As part of its programme to supply quality inputs for organic farming, the Indian Council of Agricultural Research-Krishi Vigyan Kendra, Ernakulam, attached to the Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute here has released four more organic pesticides and three organic manures.

The new organic pesticides have been named ‘Nanma’, ‘Menma’, ‘Shreya’ and ‘Shakti’. They have been developed by ICAR-Central Tuber Crops Research Institute, Thiruvananthapuram, from an active ingredient extracted from tapioca leaves.

‘Nanma’ is effective as a prophylactic measure against banana pseudostem weevil, while ‘Menma’ is a post-infection injection against banana pseudostem weevil. It has to be injected into the infected areas. ‘Shreya’ is effective against mealy bugs and white flies in vegetable crops and‘Shakti’ is used to control sucking pests in vegetables, says a communication from KVK here. The new organic manures include vermicompost, enriched cowdung powder (collected from wild grazed cattle) and urine from wild grazed cows of the local variety. The ‘Desi Gomutra’ is a foliar nutrient spray that can replace the chemical fertilizer urea.

Sales counter

The newly-released products may be purchased at the CMFRI-KVK sales counter inside the CMFRI building near High Court Junction towards the Goshree Road on all working days between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m.

In addition to these newly-released products, neem cake, neem oil, panchagavya, sea fish extract (Aminoplus), manure from sea fish waste (Fishlizer), tobacco decoction kit, micronutrient mixtures for banana and vegetables, pheromone traps for fruit flies in vegetables and mangoes; neem soap, trichoderma, pseudomonas, beauveria, verticillium, vegetable seeds and fodder seeds are also available for sale.

Cotton auctioned

Cotton was auctioned for Rs. One crore at the Agricultural Producers Cooperative Society at Konganapuram near here recently.

While the DCH variety fetched a price between Rs. 5,600 and Rs. 6,400 per bag, surabhi variety fetched a price between Rs. 4.500 and Rs. 4,900 per bag. About 5,700 bags of cotton was auctioned for Rs. 1.06 crore on the occasion, society sources said.

Poor coordination results in chaotic farming

Due to lack of awareness, tribal farmers have been using chemical fertilizerin high amount with bio-manure

The state of coordination between different departments working for the upliftment of farmers is quite pathetic which is a major reason for farmers such as Kudimetha Yadav Rao from Rampur village in Tamsi mandal of Adilabad district using chemical fertilizer despite the dung he sprinkles as bio-manure in his eight acres of field every year.

This Gond tribal collects all the dung in his village every morning. He administers nine bullock-cart load of bio-manure in his field.

“I also use urea and complex fertilizer,” Yadav Rao disclosed of the paradox. “No one told me to cut down on use of chemicals because of the dung manure,” he stated wondering if that was the correct practice.

“The trend followed by the Adivasi farmer exposes the deficiencies arising out of lack of coordination between Agriculture, Animal Husbandry and Irrigation departments. Improved coordination between these will result in a clear picture emerging on the quantum of need for chemicals and where the

fertilizer need to be used,” opined C. Narsingu, retired Adilabad Agriculture Officer as he discusses the issue of coordination.

The Animal Husbandry Department needs to assess the quantum of dung manure available in the district and specific places based on its animal population. Based on the quantum of availability of dung manure, the Agriculture Department can calculate the demand for chemical fertilisers in a given area.

Since the start of Mission Kakatiya, farmers have been carrying the nutrient rich soils to be administered in their fields.

The trend is more visible in some divisions such as Nirmal and Mancherial and a survey in this regard will help the government in deducing the need for chemicals in such given areas.

“Ideally, the departments should collect and exchange such information which can help the farmers,” concurred Telangana Rashtra Samiti, farmers wing district president B. Goverdhan Reddy. “This information will also add to the benefit that can be derived from soil testing campaign launched by the government,” he added.

At the rate of 5 kg dung per day per milch animal, the cumulative production of bio manure would be nearly 25 lakh tonnes every year

Women farmers to meet at Bapatla

The National Women Farmer Convention, being held at Bapatla Agricultural College from March 17 to 19, will be one of the biggest gatherings of women leaders across the country.

The convention, aimed at highlighting the importance of women farmers in agriculture and the role of farming with regard to the rural women, will see women leaders across the country on a single platform.

The convention, being jointly organised by Mahilakisan Adhikaar Manch (MAKAAM), a group of 100 organisations of women farmers across India and the Department of Agriculture, would witness discussions on the issues affecting the livelihood of the rural women.

National Commission for Women chairperson Lalitha Kumarmangalam is the special guest at the inaugural event.

“The National Policy of Farmers (2007) envisages a rightful place for women, but this has not translated into any support to them,” Sejaldand, member, National Facilitation Team of Makaam, told reporters.

Women leaders across the country to take part in the convention

CM orders crop damage assessment

Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has asked the Divisional Commissioner to assess the damage to crops due to unseasonal hailstorm and rains in the city over the weekend.

“Have asked Div Commissioner to assess damage to crops of farmers in Delhi due to unseasonal rains (sic),” Mr Kejriwal tweeted on Monday.

Last year, the AAP government had announced a compensation of Rs. 20,000 per acre to farmers who faced losses due to crop damage. The government had then claimed it was the highest compensation for crop loss announced in the country so far.

Sources said the final decision on compensation will be taken only after the assessment report by the DC. “The government has not set any deadline for the submission of the report. It may take at least 10 days for the DC to submit it. Although the government has received several reports from area MLAs on crop loss, it will take final decision on compensation based on the DC’s assessment report,” sources said.

Hailstorm likely to hit wheat supply

Untimely rain accompanied by hailstorm have once again spoilt tonnes of grains at the New Narela Grain Market in the Capital. Besides, traders in the market, considered the largest in Asia, have said that the supply of wheat is likely to be affected as standing crops in neighbouring states have fallen flat due to the harsh weather conditions.

“A major chunk of wheat produce at the Narela market comes from states like Haryana and Punjab where the recent rain and strong winds have flattened crops which were almost ready for harvesting. As a result, supplies

will be affected, but there is going to be no major deficit as such,” said Ajay Kumar, owner of Kashi Ram Hazari Lal, a key trading company at the market.

But, more than the supplies, it is the quality of wheat that is going to be hit, he added. “Wheat crops that have been affected had witnessed grain formation, but had not matured into the ideal ‘red colour’ which is considered of good quality. Now, the supplies will mostly have the white variety of wheat,” said Mr Kumar.

Owing to lack of adequate sheds, tonnes of grains ready to be traded have been spoilt at the market itself. Rates of wheat there have been slashed by at least Rs. 100 per quintal, which means that the farmers have been worst hit as they had to sell their produce for a much cheaper cost. The Secretary, APMC of New Narela Grain Market, Umed Singh Khatri, however, maintained that the losses have not been major this time.

Activists seek nomination on consumer forum

The Federation of Consumer and Service Organisations has urged the government to enact a law to include consumer activists as members of the consumer redress fora.

A resolution to this effect was adopted at a meeting of the federation held here on Tuesday on the eve of World Consumer Day, M. Sekaran, president of the organisation, said in a release.

The meeting presented a slew of demands for the government through various resolutions. As proposed earlier, advocates should be barred from appearing in lower consumer redressal fora, another resolution demanded. The government should set up consumer helplines in every district and District Collectors and Consumer Affairs officers at the district level should scrupulously follow the order to conduct monthly, bi-monthly and quarterly meetings of consumer organisations.

District Collectors should nominate advocate members to the Electricity Consumer Grievance Redressal Forum in time. The Tamil Nadu Electricity Regulatory Commission should restore the power of District Collectors to nominate consumer members in Electricity consumer grievance redress forum.

Safety of consumer activists should be ensure and calls from them should be attended to by police priority basis.

The Central and State governments should open farmers market to reduce the gap between agriculture producers as well as end users.

The federation pleaded for the enforcement of the High Court direction on fixing fares for autorickshaws.

Bargur cattle exhibition uncertain this year

Bargur cattle rearers have lost hope for conduct of the annual exhibition this year, following the notification for elections to Tamil Nadu Assembly by the Election Commission of India

The Department of Animal Husbandry initiated exhibition of Bargur cattle two years back, and has been able to galvanise rearing of the unique breed.

The second annual exhibition conducted during the same month last year at Thurasanampalayam village attracted hundreds of rearers. The Department enhanced the prize-money last year for encouraging better participation.

No funding

This year, the Department has not received funding for the purpose even before the date for Assembly elections was announced, it is learnt.

The uncertainty in conduct of annual exhibition is a disappointment for buyers too. The cattle breed is sought after by farmers to plough fields and draw carts, and for fertigating the soil with its dung of high manure value.

The solace for rearers, however, is progress in the work on Bargur Cattle Research Station being carried out by the Tamil Nadu Veterinary and Animal Sciences University (TANUVAS)

The research station for indigenous breed cattle is coming up on a 50-acre site.

Over five years

The facility, sources said, will be established over five years at an investment of Rs. 6 crore.

The initial instalment of Rs. 1.37 crore has already been released.

The Research Station will have the mandate of increasing milk yield of the cattle through selective breeding.

Exports fall on weak demand

Exports will continue to face challenging times in 2016 and improvement is expected only from the last quarter of the year. Exports shrunk for the fifteenth consecutive month as shipments in February fell 5.7 per cent year-on-year to $20.7 billion owing to weak overseas demand, including in large markets such as the European Union.

Trade deficit narrowed to $6.5 billion, the lowest since September 2013. Decline in commodity prices and fall in imports of gold and petroleum products contributed to the narrowing of the trade deficit. Of the 30 export sectors, 16, including major ones such as engineering (11.2 per cent fall to $4.5 billion) and petroleum products (28.2 per cent fall to $1.8 billion) were in negative growth territory. Non-petroleum exports in February 2016 contracted by 2.7 per cent to $18.9 billion, according to the data released by the commerce ministry on Tuesday.

T. S. Bhasin, chairman of the engineering exports body, EEPC India, said it would be incorrect to say the crisis in the sector is over.

“The situation in the engineering exports remains worrisome with an over 11 per cent drop in February, 2016, which is on a low base of the same month in the last fiscal,” he said.

S.C. Ralhan, president of the exporters’ apex body FIEO, said going by the current trend, merchandise exports in FY’16 would be around $260 billion, a drop of about $50 billion as compared to FY’15. He said exports will continue to face challenging times in 2016 and improvement is expected only from the last quarter of 2016.

The fall of 5.66 per cent in February has been the slowest pace at which exports have fallen since the contraction began in December 2014 with a 3.77 per cent fall, according to the data. In all the intervening months, the contraction in exports has been over 10 per cent with a maximum of 24.43 per cent in November 2015.

However, the rate of decline in exports in February has been low also due to low base. In February 2015, exports had fallen by 15.02 per cent to about $22 billion.

The commerce ministry said the trend of falling exports is in tandem with other major world economies. Exports fell in the U.S. (10.35 per cent), European Union (7.62 per cent) and China (1.67 per cent) for December 2015 over the corresponding period of the previous year as per WTO statistics, it said.

Imports during February, 2016 also contracted 5.03 per cent to $27.3 billion with 21 of the 30 export sectors recording negative growth. Cumulative imports during April-February FY’16 contracted 14.7 per cent to $351.8 billion.

Oil imports in February fell 21.9 per cent to $4.76 billion while non-oil imports were 0.47 per cent lower at$22.5 billion. Gold imports in February fell 29.5 per cent to $1.39 billion in February after an 85.1 per cent increase in January to $2.91 billion and more than doubling in December 2015 to $3.8 billion owing to a decline in gold prices.

Trade deficit for April-February, FY’16 was at $113.38 billion, lower than $126.29 billion in April-February, FY’15 leading to less concerns about the Current Account Deficit (CAD).The Commerce Ministry said taking merchandise and services trade together, the overall trade deficit for April-February, FY’16 was $54 billion as compared to $64.2 billion in the same period last year, a fall of 15.79 per cent (services data pertains to April-January as January 2016 is the latest data available).

According to a Nomura report, the country’s current account deficit for this fiscal is expected to narrow to 0.7 per cent of the GDP from 1.3 per cent in the previous fiscal.

During April 2015-February 2016 this fiscal so far, exports have shrunk 16.7 per cent to $238.4 billion. Non-petroleum exports during April-February FY’16, however, fell only by nine per cent to $211.3 billion.

Imports during February, 2016 also contracted 5.03 per cent to $27.3 billion with 21 of the 30 export sectors recording negative growth. Cumulative imports during April-February FY’16 contracted 14.7 per cent to $351.8 billion.

Oil imports in February fell 21.9 per cent to $4.76 billion, while non-oil imports was lower at $22.5 billion.

The govt. said the trend of falling exports is in tandem with other major world economies

Climate change redistributes global water resources, says study

Rising temperatures worldwide are changing not only weather systems but also the distribution of water around the globe, thereby affecting the availability of potable water, a new study has found.

Researchers analysed more than 40 years of water samples archived at the Hubbard Brook Experimental Forest (HBEF) in the US and found how the sources of precipitation have changed.

Over the years, there has been a dramatic increase, especially during the winter, of the amount of water that originated far to the north, researchers said.

“In the later years, we saw more water derived from evaporation of the Arctic and the North Atlantic oceans,” said Tamir Puntsag from SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry (ESF) in New York. The study marked the first time scientists have used specific measurements to demonstrate how water sources are changing, especially in northeastern US.

“Climate change has an important relationship to the water cycle. It goes beyond temperature effects,” said Myron Mitchell, an ESF biogeochemist.

“This study shows how climate change is altering the spatial patterns and amounts of precipitation — where it comes from and where it falls.

Such effects can drastically affect the availability of potable water and also contribute to the massive flooding we have seen in recent years,” Mitchell said.

As record warmer temperatures in the Arctic cause dramatic decreases in the depth and coverage of sea ice, the Arctic vortex (often called the polar vortex) has become less stable, occasionally spilling frigid air onto the eastern US, such as occurred in October last year and February this year, when areas from New York to Miami experienced record cold, researchers said.

The findings of the study will help scientists understand changes that are likely to affect global water resources, Mitchell said. With 85 per cent of the world’s population living in the driest half of the planet and 783 million people living without access to clean water, according to the United Nations, it is vital for scientists and policymakers to understand how a changing climate affects water resources, researchers said.PTI

Channel for free movement of fishing boats ready

Fisheries Department staff offloading equipment for installation of beacons in Mandapam north sea. Engineering wing of Fisheries Department has made ready a 280-metre-long and 15-metre-wide channel in Mandapam north sea, 300 metres beyond Indian Coast Guard (ICG) station jetty, for free movement of fishing boats.

The fishing harbour sub-division, which had taken up the Rs.55-lakh project in April last year to dredge and deepen the channel by 0.6 metres for a 280-metre stretch, completed the work and began installing tripod beacons in the stretch.

The work, which should have been completed in December last year, suffered delay as the Thoothukudi-based contractor died, sources said.

Fishermen had already started navigating through the channel and the installation of beacons would help them identify the stretch in the night and in the early hours when they set out for fishing, the sources said. “We took up the work on Tuesday and the installation of beacons will be completed by the week end,” the sources added.

The channel would also be of great help to the ICG to move its vessels, the sources said, adding the fishermen and the ICG did not have to wait for high tide to move the vessels in the stretch.

The deepening project was taken up as the fishermen faced trouble in moving their vessels whenever there was a low tide in the north sea. The existing channel, which started from ICG station jetty, was deep enough for free movement of vessels only up to 300 metres from the starting point as the shallow stretch begins thereafter.

Drought country faces worst year: Waiting for a drop before dawn

A water tanker arrives at Salgara Devti village in Tuljapur, Osmanabad. (Express Photo: Amit Chakravarty)

As a postwoman, Archana Bhosale is expected to get to work in Devsinga Tul village, 380 km from Mumbai, by 10 am. But invariably, at 4 am, she is still awake, ensuring her eight plastic pots are in queue correctly, awaiting the arrival of the water tanker’s first trip of the day. “The three-phase motor works only at night sometimes, so it’s easier for tanker operators to fill up then. That means the tanker could arrive at 5 am or 6 am, and I can’t afford to miss it,” says Bhosale, also a farmer with four awards under her belt for her work with women’s self-help groups that focus on agrarian issues. Bhosale, like thousands of women across the dust bowl of central Maharashtra or Marathwada, plans her day around the tanker’s comings and goings. “And still, sometimes we sit down to eat dinner and the tanker arrives. We just drop everything and run.” In Devsinga, Belwadi, Gandora and Salgara Devti, all villages in Osmanabad district’s Tuljapur taluka, women are relieved that the district administration has announced all schools shut by March 31 — the children will help fetch water; not having to shower before school means the morning scramble for water can slow down; the older children can accompany the men to cattle camps. As afternoon temperatures creep towards 40 degree Celsius with two whole months of summer still to come, residents of the eight districts that comprise Marathwada face an acute water crisis that is threatening to spiral out of control. As many as 2,189 tankers are currently supplying water to Marathwada’s villages and also to some small towns in the region, a record high. Beed district alone has 597 tankers in operation already, with the numbers anticipated to exceed 900 tankers a day in May. In comparison, the previous high in the number of tankers in operation in Beed everyday was 582, in May 2013. Water storage in Marathwada’s reservoirs is now about 5 per cent, another record. In early-March last year, also a drought year, the region’s reservoirs had 20 per cent water.

The situation is gravest in Beed and Osmanabad districts and in Latur city. In Beed, overall water availability in the large, medium and small dams was pegged at 2.13 per cent by February end. In Latur, where the administration is trying to stanch demand for water by ordering coaching classes to shut in order to push the 1 lakh-strong migrant student population back to their home villages and home districts, protesting villagers from around the Dongargaon dam had to face a police team after they refused to let tankers draw water for the city. “The only available sources for the tankers are wells and borewells that still have some water. Every day, I count off another day until the next monsoon, because every day, the water from these sources is reducing to a slower trickle,” says Godavari Kshirsagar, 44, of Gandora village in Tuljapur. In a desperate bid to shore up water availability, the state government has acquired 4,913 such private wells and borewells, another record, from farmers or private land-owners on payment of a monthly fee. Whether this water will last through the summer depends on fortune — ground water levels in Marathwada have witnessed an alarming dip. For example, the Shirur and Ashti talukas of Beed recorded a departure from average depth at which water is available by 9.58 metres and 5.65 metres respectively. That was in January, and levels dip every day as the summer drags on. This January, of Marathwada’s 76 talukas, ground water levels in 32 talukas recorded a dip of more than 3 metres.

“We have to add bleaching powder to the water. Because the water we collect is sometimes filthy, we are down to the dredges,” says Nagnath Jadhav, 48, a tanker operator in Osmanabad. He’s filling water from a farm well in Belwadi village in Tuljapur, and will drive 24 km to Karajkheda village that he is assigned. He needs to make the trip to the water source three times a day. It’s a long journey on village roads, and he admits he sometimes doesn’t complete three rounds. In Salgara Devti village, Archana Koli, 38, has decided that all the talk of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s initiative to end open defecation is silly. “Villagers are taking money to build toilets in the house, but how do you use them without water?” she asks. Her own toilet is a pit in her backyard. The tankers never stopped in her village since last summer. They reduced in number during the monsoon months, but the village has actually had water supply via tanker right from March-April 2015 onwards. Bhosale and Koli both say they’ve stopped going to family functions on the rare occasion that these are not cancelled or curtailed — travel and celebrations always mean more water is needed. Even small towns in the region are getting water supply only through tankers. In Beed’s Dharur town, for example, with the Manjara dam having run dry, supply is via 20-odd tankers that pick up water from the Kundalika river. Kaij and Ashti towns get 10 tankers a day. “Even in the Krishi Vikas Kendras, our trial fields have run dry. There’s no water at home in Tuljapur town, where is the water for farms?” asks Anita Jinturkar, an agriculture scientist who has worked extensively on hydroponic methods, azolla for livestock feed and on encouraging women in Tuljapur to pick up allied occupations such as poultry. Farmer needs a new deal Reform of agricultural markets and land lease laws must be a priority.  What can be done to remove agrarian distress? The textbook answer is to raise farm incomes.

Agrarian distress emerged as the most disturbing problem during the 1990s. Its severity and spread witnessed a sharp increase in the post-WTO period till 2004-05. Two common indicators used to show the severity of agrarian distress are indebtedness of farm households and the number of farmers’ suicides. Some people also cite the decline in the number of cultivators in the country as a consequence of agrarian distress, which may be partly true, particularly in the disadvantaged agricultural regions.

Evidence shows that the incidence of farmer suicides in India involves multiple causes. Falling farm income is one of them. When the farmer’s income is chronically lower than his family expenditure, he borrows money from some source to meet the gap. Expenditure on social ceremonies and health expenses, which are not part of regular household expenditure, also force the farmer to borrow, particularly from non-institutional sources. The accumulated debt becomes so large that it becomes impossible to repay it from the household income. Some farmers are forced to sell a part or whole of farm land and other family assets to repay loans and to meet social expenditure. Some others undergo humiliation as loan defaulters. The loss of honour pushes many to take the extreme step of ending their life. A second cause of crisis results from a sudden income loss due to crop failure or price crash. In the absence of crop insurance or adequate relief, crop failure can have a devastating effect on farm income. Further, there is no mechanism to escape the effect of a price crash. Any loss of income of a severe nature on account of crop failure or market failure becomes a source of distress and frustration. This is more pertinent in the case of high value commercial crops. A year or two of high prices influences many farmers to direct excessive resources towards risky commercial crops. The sudden increase in supply is often met with a violent price crash. Without risk coverage, price volatility can have a killing effect on farm income.

What can be done to remove agrarian distress? The textbook answer is to raise farm incomes. This can be done in three ways. One, enable farmers to get better prices for their produce and encourage crop diversification. One acre of land under high value crops can generate more income than five acres under cereals. However, better price realisation and the success of diversification critically depend on a healthy and competitive market. Agricultural markets in India have not moved towards competition and efficiency after the 1970s. Prices of farm commodities often fall in the harvest season and skyrocket in the lean season. There are frequent cases of cartelisation in agricultural markets working against producers. Unless state governments initiate market reforms and take agriculture marketing to the next stage, farmers will continue to suffer from excessive intermediaries, low scale and segmentation. Agrarian distress can be mitigated to a large extent by an efficient and competitive agriculture market. Mechanisms like the “deficiency price payment” and price insurance for different sets of crops can protect farmers from market and price risk. The second option for augmenting farmers’ income is to scale-up the farms. Average farm-size in India is very small and shrinking. The latest available data from the agriculture census for 2010-11 shows that 47 per cent farm households operate on plots less than an acre, with an average of 2,200 sq metres of agricultural land. Further, this small piece of land is fragmented and about half of it has no access to irrigation. Obviously, many such farmers would like to shift to non-agricultural activities and many would like to increase their farm-size by leasing land from other farmers. However, present land lease laws discourage formal and transparent land lease arrangements. The landowner fears any formal lease contract will make it difficult to get the land back from the lessee while the tenant is unable to access credit and avail other benefits available to a landowner. The liberalisation of the existing land lease laws will help both marginal and sub-marginal farmers. Those who leave farming can have secured ownership and earn rent and those who stay in farming can increase the size of operational holdings and have better access to credit and other facilities. The third option is to provide alternative sources of livelihood to needy farm households. The estimates of farm income prepared by this writer show that income from agriculture alone is not enough to keep more than 50 per cent of farm households out of poverty. Any supply shock or price shock pushes such households deeper into poverty and the many marginally-above-poverty families into the poverty trap. However, many such farmers who

earn an income from non-farm sources are able to escape poverty. The landholdings of a majority of our farmers are so small that these cannot generate income for decent living. Therefore, they need to be provided alternative sources of employment and income. The most common cause for crop failure is water stress. Irrigation is the best insurance against crop failure. The area under public sources of irrigation has not expanded to reflect the huge investment in irrigation made after the Tenth Plan. The thrust on irrigation envisioned under the various components of the recently launched Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana offers hope as well as the scope for reducing water stress in agriculture. When hope runs dry Punjab has a small share of its own rivers, a farming crisis, few off-farm jobs. Solution doesn’t lie in court.  

Work on the Punjab stretch of the canal stands abandoned. Archive photo I joined the Punjab IAS in 1958. In 1960, Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru signed the World Bank-sponsored agreement with Pakistan PM Liaquat Ali Khan to divide the river waters of the old Punjab. East Punjab was allotted 15.2 million acre feet (MAF) and the Ravi, Beas and Sutlej, while West Punjab got the Chenab, Jhelum and Sindhu with about 30 MAF. In our Constitution, water as a subject, along with agriculture, education, etc, belongs to the states. Globally accepted riparian law applies in India too. The 1947 Partition was essentially that of Punjab, with large-scale massacres and a total transfer of population. Sikhs suffered the most. They left their

religious shrines and the canal colonies they had developed. Land in East Punjab was sandy and poor, and the Muslim population, mainly artisans, left very little for refugees to occupy. They struggled to make a living. Lahore was lost to us. Nehru started building Chandigarh and the Bhakra Dam to put our shattered Punjab on its feet. He would come regularly to see these “new temples” coming up. In 1955, by an administrative decision of the Centre, eight of Punjab’s 15.2 MAF were given to Rajasthan, which had no legal right to Punjab’s waters. Punjab was left with 7.2 MAF. In 1966, Punjab was trifurcated to create Haryana and a larger Himachal. Both Chandigarh and the Bhakra Dam were taken away and put under Central control. It was even argued that the Ropar and Ferozepur headworks should be taken under Central control. Punjab’s pride and self-esteem took a great knock. Water disputes started. The press portrayed Punjab as a bully. In 1976, the PM, pressured by the defence minister, divided Punjab’s seven MAF between Punjab and Haryana. Punjab, the owner of the river waters, was left with only 3.5 out of 15.2 MAF. In joint Punjab, the Yamuna was the boundary with UP, and it had a right on a share of the waters. Much later, the Yamuna was shared between Haryana, UP and Rajasthan by a sudden secret Delhi decision. Punjab was kept in the dark and ignored. The Rajasthan canal, carrying 10,000 cusecs a day, caused severe waterlogging in Ferozepur and Muktsar. Rajasthan refused to give a penny in compensation. The same waterlogging damage will happen with the Satlej Yamuna link canal (SYL), if built across northern and eastern Punjab. The SYL dispute has a bitter history. A foundation was laid by the PM in 1982 in the face of protests, and work initiated. I think some engineers and labour were shot. Political turmoil began and the work was stopped. The push and pull continues. I spoke twice on this issue in the Rajya Sabha in the last 10 days. The case is so old that I realised most of today’s MPs have no knowledge of the history, and of the wrongs done. Even my opponents came to me in the central hall and wanted briefings.

What is the situation today? I was a part of the Punjab Green Revolution starting in 1967-68, and running up to the 1980s. The new Borlaug wheat seeds, supported by chemical fertilisers and lots of water, made production jump. By the time I left Punjab in 1988, we had 12 lakh shallow tubewells built with cooperative loans. More than half of the irrigation was done by tubewells and not canals. Today, there are more than 14 lakh tubewells, and they contribute to 74 per cent of Punjab’s irrigation. People think we live off the canals. Not so. Due to heavy pumping of groundwater, of Punjab’s 144 development blocks, only 23 pump out adequate water now. The rest are all in the dark and grey areas, of serious concern. In the 1960s, our tubewells were at a depth of 100 feet or less. Today, well-to-do farmers who can afford the expense are putting submersible pumps at a depth of 300-400 feet. But this is drying out the shallow tubewells of poor farmers in a large radius. This will lead to conflict. Since about 1978-79, Punjab has been giving free electricity to farmers, big and small. By this senseless act, the state government is actually subsidising the wheat/ rice that goes into the central pool to feed the rest of India at the cost of Punjab. The Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices does not compensate the state in any way. For long years, Punjab prided itself on making the country independent of American begging. President Lyndon Johnson’s remarks to PM Indira Gandhi are well-known. In the recent past, grain production has come up in many states. I read with great sadness when Sharad Pawar, the UPA agriculture minister, said in Chandigarh, words to the effect that Punjab better look to alternative crops, as the Centre no longer needed its grain. Apart from production elsewhere, they had the newfound arrogance of the foreign exchange surplus that had been built up. They could import, having the dollars. As the development commissioner, I had sat in a meeting with the Planning Commission’s agriculture member in Chandigarh, when he chided us for wanting to grow cotton in the south, as it gave the farmer better income. He more or less directed us not to do so, but grow grain as this was Delhi’s priority.

In 1992-93, as the agriculture secretary of India, I gave an address in Punjab Agriculture University, where I said I did not agree that Punjab was a great agricultural state, as our local politicians used to tom-tom. I said “Punjab is only a grain-growing factory. Factories can have a lockout, and Punjab could be facing one”. Now that time has come, and we don’t know which way to go. We have a nominal share in our own rivers. Rajasthan really has the lion’s share of Punjab’s waters, much of which it wastes. Unlike other states, Punjab has no minerals, or heavy or other industry, due to many reasons. Our farmers’ average holding is less than two acres. Off the land, there is hardly any employment. The armed forces overlook Punjab boys. So what is the future hope for Punjab? With little knowledge, people drum the formula, “obey the court”. I have said in the Rajya Sabha that it would be dangerous to think court orders can solve the issue. We see this situation in all the southern states. In this century, water will be a growing crisis in the world and India. Think calmly and think hard. In ‘election budget’, Punjab govt focus on women, youth & farmers The budget proposes to catch the youth by providing training to one lakh of them through 200 skill-development centres, to come up in rural Punjab. IN AN election year, the Punjab budget has focused on the youth, women and farmers with Finance Minister Parminder Singh Dhindsa unfolding various schemes for the three sections, from women hostels, skill development to a pension scheme for farmers. With a view to woo women, the Finance Minister announced the Swasth Kanya Yojna at an outlay of Rs 70 crore, to provide free stationery for girl students in classes I -XII. For girls in classes VI to XII, Kanya Health Care Kits (KHCK) will be handed on a monthly basis. Women will also get loans of up to Rs 50,000 at an interest rate of 5 per cent annually instead of existing 9 per cent, to set up new business enterprises. The government has set aside Rs 5 crore for the scheme. The FM also announced the setting up of three working women hostels and has set aside Rs 10 crore for the project. He also announced special women

patrolling teams around schools, colleges and malls to ensure their safety, besides launching a mobile app, Shakti. The budget proposes to catch the youth by providing training to one lakh of them through 200 skill-development centres, to come up in rural Punjab. Around Rs 20 crore has been set aside for providing employability allowance of Rs 1,000 per month. A provision for 4,000 modern gymnasiums to be set up in towns and villages at the cost of Rs 200 crore has also been made. Interest-free education loan of up to Rs 5 lakh for youth from economic weaker sections. A start-up programme for innovative research and enterprise was announced with an outlay of Rs 100 crore. The youth would be provided financial assistance under the new scheme Startup Program for Innovation Research and Enterprise (SPIRE-Punjab). Besides getting power subsidy, the small and marginal farmers (having a landholding of less than 5 acre) would get interest-free crop loans of Rs 50,000 per crop. An interest burden of 4 per cent would be borne by state government, with a liability of Rs 200 crore. New Farmer provident fund and pension scheme has been introduced to be administered through Punjab State Cooperative Bank, under which the government would pay a matching annual contribution made by the beneficiary for 10 years. In a boost to diversification, the budget proposes to do away with VAT on raw honey, bee keeping equipment, and pig feed, currently attracting tax of 6.05 per cent. An amount of Rs 1,000 crore has been set aside for old age, widow and handicapped persons pension. The government had recently doubled the pension from Rs 250 to Rs 500. Farm debt While raising the compensation for farmer suicides from Rs 2 to Rs 3 lakh, the Finance Minister said it was saddening that as many as 66 per cent of farmers in Punjab have a debt worth Rs 35,000 crores. The number is third highest in the country after Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu. State borrowed Rs 14,633 crore to service debt Funds-starved Punjab borrowed a whopping Rs 14,533 crore, an increase of Rs 2,578 crore from last year, to keep afloat during the current fiscal year. According to the budget, of the borrowed Rs 14,533 crore, Rs 13,400 crore went towards debt servicing, while just Rs 1,133 crore (7.7 per cent) was used for other expenditure. An amount of Rs 9,764 crore was utilised for just paying interest. The borrowings excluding ways and means, are expected to rise to Rs 15,815 crore in the next fiscal.

While the state’s debt has gone up to Rs 1.38 lakh crore, it could not meet the target of revenue from its own tax revenue and VAT collections. Against a target of Rs 29,351 crore from its own taxes, the state managed to collect Rs 28,514 crore, falling short by Rs 837 crore. Similarly, the VAT collections too, the state has been found wanting by Rs 850 crore. Against a fixed target of Rs 17,850 crore, it could only make Rs 17,000 crore. Despite the grim picture the government had to do away with VAT on raw honey, bee keeping equipment, and pig feed, currently attracting tax of 6.05 per cent, to boost diversification. The saving grace has been its non-tax revenue as Punjab was able to make Rs 200 crore more than its target of Rs 3,800 crore. The state also received Rs 8008 crore on account of devolution of central taxes. Ludhiana farmer hosts ‘organic langar ‘ to mark Sikh Environment Day A well-known rose flower farmer in these parts, Jasbir's farm was visited by Prince Charles during his trip to India.

People being served black carrots juice as part of the organic langar hosted by farmer Jasbir Singh to celebrate Sikh Environment Day on Monday at his village Ghulal (Source: Express photo) . In a fitting tribute to the seventh Sikh Guru Har Rai, who was also an ardent environmentalist, a 57-year old farmer from Ludhiana hosted an ‘organic langar‘ on Monday at his farm to observe ‘Sikh Environment Day’. In a langar (community kitchen), where more than 100 people attended, the menu included food and drinks prepared completely from organically grown

vegetables, cereals and even the desserts were prepared using indigenous breed ‘Sahiwal’ cow’s milk. The langar, primarily a Sikh tradition, was also attended by Deputy Shahi Imam Usman Ludhianvi from Jama Masjid, Ludhiana. The attendees were gifted neem and flowers saplings to mark the day. Speaking to The Indian Express, Jasbir Singh Ghulal, from village Ghulal near Neelon, said that it has been almost 12 years now that he shunned wheat-paddy farming and started growing organic fruits, vegetables, rice and flowers. A well-known rose flower farmer in these parts, Jasbir’s farm was visited by Prince Charles during his trip to India. “The primary source of my income is organic farming now. I know the farmers feel insecure when they think of leaving wheat-paddy farming as organic vegetables market is yet to gather pace. But it is the best feeling when pesticide free veggies and fruits bloom in the farm. Today, I decided to host this organic langar to show that how sumptuous dishes made from organic veggies can be,” he said. The menu included dal (pulses), mix vegetables, black carrots juice and pickle, gulkand (prepared from roses) and rotis- all prepared using organically grown crops without pesticides. The dessert was ‘kheer’ prepared using Sahiwal cow milk and shakkar (organic sugar). Ravneet Singh, EcoSikh South Asia project manager said, “Organic food is necessary to revive the true spirit of langar, which is sharing healthy food with the humanity. The campaign aims to make all gurudwara kitchens preparing langar go organic. The target is 50,000 gurdwaras where nearly 50,00,000 people take food daily. It will enhance the demand for organic food, support organic farmers and improve human health.” The Sikh Environment Day campaign was started by US based organization EcoSikh in 2010, as a tribute to Guru Har Rai, the seventh Sikh Guru, who planted trees, setup a wildlife sanctuary and a herbal medicinal facility at Kiratpur Sahib.

In Bengal’s wilting tea gardens, Adivasis live on edge

Well-maintained shelter for workers at Gairkhata tea estate in North Bengal ASHOKE CHAKRABARTY The metal on the road has long worn off; tea bushes have grown seven feet high in the absence of pruning… It doesn’t need an expert to certify that Bandapani tea estate in Alipurduar district in North Bengal has been closed for years.

This is only one of many closed gardens in the region. And trade unions say that of at least 361 starvation deaths in 2015, nearly 10 per cent are from Bandapani, in the foothills of Bhutan.

But travel into the ‘Nepali line’, located at the farthest corner of the labour colony, and there is hardly any sign of stress.

Nicely done-up houses with row of cars (and a truck) parked in front… it looks like another village dominated by the prosperous hill community, .

“Some of them have businesses. Many others have earnings from sons who have migrated to other Indian cities or even out of India,” said Tilak Thapa, a para-teacher in a local primary school. His parents once worked in the garden.

Thapa lives in the New Pukka Line, located a little below the Nepali Line, which has a mixed population.

The hill communities here are visibly not as well-off as those in the Nepali Line, but they are not in misery either. Dish antennas and bikes are common, one has three cars. They may have been hit by the garden’s closure, but they get by.

Adivasis affected

But the ‘Adivasi’ quarters, in the same line, tell quite another story.

Somra Murmu (70) was piling up firewood in front of his house, which has gaping holes in place of doors and windows. He is one of the members of the tribal communities from central and Eastern India who were once resettled by the British to work as tea labourers.

The garden management defaulted on his retirement benefits. As a retiree, he is not entitled to the financial assistance offered to workers of locked-out industries by the West Bengal government.

Under the rules,, Murmu should get old-age pension of ₹1,000 a month reserved for BPL tribal communities. But the CITU Panchayat member from the area tells them that the benefits are not offered to everyone.

The alibi is a sham. But Murmu and his old neighbour, Somari Oraon, have nothing more to live on.

Oraon’s son, Temba, a casual worker in the garden, died last year. She doesn’t know what caused his death. In the absence of any assistance, she goes to the river to collect stones, but being infirm, can’t make much money from it either.

“Adivasis are the most affected by the crisis,” says Abhijit Majumder, a local trade union leader and central committee member of the CPI(M-L). They are particularly handicapped by their limited skill set, poor education and an inability to adapt to change, as compared to the hill diaspora

Majumder says he doesn’t know why Murmu or Oraon don’t get their old-age pension. But Damber Tamang, a Gorkha Janmukti Morcha Panchayat member from SB line in the closed Lankapara tea garden of Duncan Goenka group, blames it on politics.

While Sura Munda (72) of SB Line confirms receiving the pension, not many have heard of it in the Adivasi-dominated “Line No. 20” in the same garden. Suryaman Tamang (63) of “Basa Line”, represented by the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) in Bandapani, is emblematic of those who draw the benefits reserved for the tribal communities.

A former head clerk in the garden, Tamang is articulate, and his sons are employed; his life is relativelyeasy. Unlike the illiterate Murmus and Oraons, Tamang was able to work the system and secure old-age pension by virtue of his hill tribe status.

Evidently, all tribal communities are equal, but some are more equal than others…

El Nino declining slowly and steadily: Australian Met

North-West India is bracing to receive the next western disturbance and another bout of heavy rain, snow, thunderstorms and hail from Thursday onwards.

The 2015-16 El Nino, one of the most intense ever, is continuing to decline slowly and steadily, according to the latest update by the Australian Bureau of Meteorology.

The tropical Pacific Ocean has cooled further over the past fortnight. International climate models indicate that cooling in the tropical Pacific will continue, with a likely return to ‘neutral’ levels by mid-2016.

Summer status

For the rest of the year and into the summer, they favour the likelihood of the ‘neutral’ status persisting, slightly ahead of La Nina. This is the exact reverse of El Nino, and is considered good for the Indian monsoon.

During a La Nina, the equatorial and eastern basin of the Pacific cools below the critical threshold; the western stretches of the vast ocean (closer to Asia) becomes comparably warmer.

Warmth brings convection (cloud-building), storms and precipitation to this region, and when coinciding with the Indian monsoon, it brings good rains into the subcontinent as well.

But there is no clear signal as to when a La Nina, if at all, would become established in the Pacific, the Australian Met said.

It warned that accuracy of forecasts made at this time of year is lower than those at other times, and therefore some caution should be exercised.

Rain, snow to return

Back home, North-West India is bracing to receive the next western disturbance and another bout of heavy rain, snow, thunderstorms and hail from Thursday onwards.

The prevailing western disturbance, which has already triggered some disturbed weather over the region, is in the process of signing off.

The incoming system has reached the eastern parts of Iran and adjoining Afghanistan on Tuesday, an India Met Department update said.

It would now have to traverse through Afghanistan and Pakistan before it reaches North-West India by Wednesday night.

It will set off heavy rain and snow over Jammu and Kashmir on Thursday and Friday.

Thunderstorms accompanied by squall/hail are likely over Jammu division, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Punjab.

Thunderstorms in east

Meanwhile, a remnant cyclonic circulation from the previous western disturbance and parked over East Rajasthan has thrown down a trough towards South to Rayalaseema.

It cuts through West Madhya Pradesh, Vidarbha, Marathwada, and North Interior Karnataka, likely triggering thunderstorms along the way.

Preparing to exit from the country, this western disturbance is also influencing weather in the North-Eastern States where thunderstorms have been forecast on Wednesday and Thursday.

Areas likely to get affected are Assam, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram and Tripura, the India Met Department said.

Mixed trend in edible oils

Barring palmolein, other edible oils declined despite firm futures and weak rupee. On the BCE, palmolein gained ₹3, while groundnut oil and sunflower refined oil declined by ₹5 and ₹15 for 10 kg each. Soyabean and cotton oil lost ₹2 each. Liberty was quoting palmolein at ₹560, super palmolein ₹581 and soyabean refined oil ₹620. Ruchi’s rates: palmolein ₹555, soyabean refined oil ₹610, sunflower refined oil ₹730. In Saurashtra/Rajkot, groundnut oil telia tin was up at ₹1,490 (1,480) and loose (10 kg) was steady at ₹950.

Domestic tea output down 16% in January

India entered 2016 with a shortage of 16.21 mkg of black tea over 2015 as production dropped to 1191.10 million kg (mkg).

For the first time in many years, the country’s production had fallen over the previous year.

This falling trend has continues in 2016 with Tea Board’s estimate of January 2016 production showing a fall of 3.47 mkg or 16.26 per cent over January 2015.

“Production has fallen in both North and South. In the North, the decline is marginal at 0.87 mkg to dip to 3.31 mkg but in the South, the loss is sharp at 2.60 mkg to reach 14.56 mkg. Consequently, production has fallen to 17.87 mkg from 21.34 mkg, marking a decline of 16.26 per cent,” Rajesh Gupta, compiler of annual Global Tea Digest, told BusinessLine.

All tea producing districts in the country have posted a lower output compared to January 2015 due to adverse weather.

Cachar (-56%) and Dooars (-32%) are the major losing districts in North India.

In the South, Tamil Nadu lost 18 per cent and Kerala 10 per cent.

Screening of teas for Golden Leaf

The first level screening of teas for the 12th edition of the Golden Leaf India Awards (TGLIA) – Southern Tea Competition took place in Coonoor on Saturday. V Unnikrishnan, Convener, Organising Committee, TGLIA said that the response was overwhelming with 155 entries from 52 estates this year. “The event has over the years’ generated intense competition among the six tea growing regions in the South and helped showcase quality teas of various regions all over the world,” he said. A six-member panel comprising tea packeteers, exporters and brokers evaluated the teas that entered the competition. The final tasting session is scheduled to be held in Dubai. It will, as in the earlier editions, coincide with the Global Dubai Tea Forum, slated between April 5 and 7, he said.

Buffer stock of potato soon

The Union government will create a buffer stock of potato as prices are likely to increase in the coming months due to estimated fall in the output of the rabi crop, Parliament was informed today.

The buffer stock of potato would be created using the ₹900-crore Price Stablisation Fund. The objective of this fund is to control price volatility, thereby protecting interest of farmers and consumers.

The fund is being used for creating buffer stock of pulses and onions. “The government is considering creating buffer stock of potato during year 2016 keeping in view the price trend of potato,” Food Minister Ram Vilas Paswan said in a written reply to Lok Sabha.

Total rabi potato crop is estimated to fall by 11.3 per cent in 2015-16 compared to 2014-15 and “prices are likely to increase in the coming months,” he said.

Farm sector growth up 1.6% in first four years of the 12th Plan

Agriculture sector grew by an average 1.6 per cent per annum in first four years of the ongoing Five Year Plan (2012-17) as against the targeted 4 per cent annual growth due to lower production.

“The average annual growth rate of agriculture and allied sector during the first four years of the current Five Year Plan period (2012-17) has been 1.6 per cent as against the 12th Plan target of 4 per cent per annum,” Minister of State for Agriculture Mohanbhai Kundariya said in a written reply to Lok Sabha.

He attributed the low average growth rate of farm sector to “set back in the annual crop production except for 2013-14 due to deficiency in the monsoon rainfall, moisture stress and unfavourable weather, temperature conditions impacting production of kharif and rabi crops.”

Investment in terms of Gross Capital Formation (GCF) in agriculture and allied sector stood at ₹2,56,495 crore in the 2014-15 fiscal.

“Government has taken several steps for increasing investment in agriculture sector such as enhanced institutional credit to farmers, promotion of scientific warehousing infrastructure for increasing shelf life of agriculture produce, setting up of agri—tech infrastructure fund for making farming competitive and profitable, developing commercial organic farming,” the minister said.

FAO chief expects food prices to fall further as growth slows

World food prices are seen falling further this year having settled near their lowest in seven years pressured by slowing economic growth, the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organisation’s (FAO) Director-General said on Tuesday.

The FAO’s food price index, which measures monthly changes for a basket of cereals, oilseeds, dairy products, meat and sugar, has fallen in each of the last four years.

It stabilised last month near a 7-year low as rises in vegetable oil and meat offset declining cereal, sugar and dairy prices.

“The slowdown of the growth of the world economy, especially China, is putting a lot of (downward) pressure on commodities,” Graziano da Silva said during a visit to Abu Dhabi.

Exchange rates

“We expect the price to continue to fall in real terms, not necessarily nominal terms, so it will depend a lot for each country on the exchange rate,” da Silva said.

Producers in countries such as Brazil have been shielded to some extent from the overall weakness in global prices by the weakness of their local currency.

Supply side

“In the short-run this (weak food prices) will be a kind of compensation for the poorest that are buyers of food...but in the long run we would like to see prices recover again,” da Silva said.

“From experience, we see long-term trends of falling prices of commodities mean also a reduction in the supply side.”

The FAO said this month that world cereal production and demand should be balanced in the 2015/16 season with both totalling 2.52 billion tonnes, leaving ending stocks virtually unchanged from a year earlier.

PM Narendra Modi's new growth recipe: Just add water Modi's irrigation push in the Budget is aimed at scoring on the political front along with achieving growth targets

Excavators are seen parked at the construction site of the Kondhane Dam in Karjat. Photo: Reuters Like his father before him, Dattatatraya Kshirsagar, 80, has been looking forward for years to the day when a $65 million dam will be completed in his village, an hour-and-a-half drive southeast of Mumbai. The dam would supply enough water to irrigate 1,000 hectares (2,470 acres) of parched land around it, including Kshirsagar's 2.5-hectare family farm in Kondhane village.

A steady water supply, instead of reliance on seasonal monsoon rains, would allow him to switch to cash crops and reap three harvests a year, instead of one now, Kshirsagar said. Kshirsagar's family has been holding on to that dream since 1984, when the project was first proposed by the state government. "My family's income will more than double if they complete the dam," he said. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is promising to do just that in the 2016-17 Budget presented on February 29. His government has pledged nearly $13 billion on rural development, aiming to double farmer's incomes by 2022. Irrigation is a centrepiece of that promise in a country where nearly half of the arable land depends on monsoon rains. Modi's Budget has allocated a record $18 billion in the federal budget to expand irrigation and recharge aquifers — two thirds of that could come from overseas loans At stake are both Modi's political future and his growth ambitions. Most of India's 1.3 billion people live in the countryside and depend on agriculture to make a living. Late last year, rising rural distress after back-to-back droughts contributed to an embarrassing defeat of Modi's ruling Bharatiya Janata Party in a state election. Global warming is making India's summer monsoon increasingly unpredictable, scientists say. More crucial state elections are due in the coming months, including in West Bengal. India's farm sector, which accounts for around 14% of gross domestic product, contracted by 0.2% in 2014-15. It grew by 4.2% in the previous year. Sloth, corruption, no coordination Stalled projects like the Kondhane dam tell a cautionary tale for politicians making big promises. Successive federal governments have thrown billions of dollars over the years to fix the problem. But many of the projects stalled due to bureaucratic

sloth, corruption, opposition to land acquisition and lack of coordination within the government. More than 200 irrigation projects worth some $36 billion have been stuck for years. One irrigation project has languished for 40 years in eastern Uttar Pradesh, which goes to polls next year. The delay has increased the cost of the Durgawati project by eight times to Rs 800 crore ($119.15 million), a source at the Water Resources ministry said. "Every year, a large amount of funds allocated for irrigation lie unutilised and that's because of lethargy, red tape, inept administration and a lack of political will," said Ashok Gulati, an agricultural economist, who formerly advised the government on crop prices. Poor coordination between New Delhi and the states is one of the biggest challenges. Other than the ministries of farm, water resources and rural development, nearly half a dozen departments of state governments are also involved in each project, making coordination and implementation tricky and time consuming. "It's a case of too many cooks," said Devinder Sharma, an independent farm and trade policy analyst. Depleting Groundwater Only 64 million hectares of the 142 million hectares of farm area under crops in India are irrigated. Surface irrigation projects cover only 25 million hectares of that total. Nearly 60 % of the irrigation for farms now comes from ground water, mainly through electric water pumps. Subsidised electricity gives farmers an incentive to pump out more water, a key reason behind fast depleting water tables. That has lent an added urgency to speed up the surface irrigation projects. Modi's administration has decided to focus initially on 46 of the stalled surface irrigation projects. It has set a deadline to complete half of those by

March 2017 and the other half by 2020, according to the 2016/17 federal budget. The 23 projects will help bring an extra 1.3 million hectares under irrigation. The remaining 150 or so projects that are stalled — like the Kondhane dam — have no timeline yet, as the government tackles the biggest ones first. At the dam project site in Kondhane, nearly two dozen dumpers and a dozen excavators remain parked in a row, idle and covered in blue tarp with the Western Ghats mountain range in the backdrop. After the Maharashtra state government first conceived the Kondhane dam, it took 27 years to get the necessary approvals from various government departments to start excavating the site. Work started in earnest in 2011, but a year into it, the project got stuck again, in legal troubles this time, including environmental concerns about the impact of the dam. The matter is now before a court. The state's anti-corruption bureau is also investigating graft charges. The cost of the dam, meanwhile, has increased to 4.35 billion rupees from 80 million rupees when it was first conceived. Agri ministry may have to announce huge bonus for food crops Compulsion has roots in BJP manifesto, which states it will absorb 50% farm production cost if it comes to power

With the Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP)-led government at the helm, the ministry of agriculture has an uphill task this kharif and rabi season going by the election manifesto of BJP. The BJP poll manifesto had promised that its government would share 50 per cent of the cost of production incurred by the farmer in producing crops in both the seasons. According to ministry officials, hectic discussions are being held to ensure ways to present the options before the new government. “Views have been sought from the Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices (CACP) to work out ways including reworking the minimum support price (MSPs) suggested for the kharif crops”, said official sources. However, CACP and ministry officials are also of the view that increase of MSP to the extent of recovering 50 per cent of the cost may fuel inflation which contradicts the manifesto of the BJP-led government. The BJP manifesto promises to fight price rise tooth and nail. Rise in MSP by 50 per cent of the cost will have a spiralling effect on prices. Officials of the food and consumer affairs ministry are specifically concerned. Some of the options which may be presented to the new government and discussed among ministries is declaring bonus over main food crops like rice, wheat, pulses and oilseeds in some cases, rather than going for massive increase in MSP. The MSP is otherwise known as government announced procurement price that acts as a floor market price for the crops. According to officials, famers engaged in production of some of these crops may look forward to high bonus in addition to the MSP. They added this announcement may be made immediately after the government is formed as farmers are already looking forward to MSP of the Kharif season. Another long-term way is to stagger the procurement of these crops by government agencies and offer the farmers some additional subsidy in the form of interest free of concessional bank loan along with MSP to store these crops on their own till August-September. This will increase the efficiency of the food grain storage which is big

problem with the state and central government agencies like the Food Corporation of India. These agencies are laden with rabi crops and take time for getting storage empty and in the meantime, procurement of kharif crops starts. In the process there is a huge wastage of crops either way. In this way, it will be a win win for all concerned. The farmers get more money as per the promise in the manifesto, some time is given to FCI and other procurement agencies to get their storages cleared to avoid wastage of crops due to storage problem and due to sufficient stock, prices remain controlled. However this proposal is bit long term as it requires changing the conventional procurement cycle. Meanwhile, the CACP has recommended moderate increase of 1-5 per cent in minimum support prices (MSP) of agricultural commodities for ensuing Kharif season 2014-15. Even if the global prices and demand came off in 2013-14 compared to the available stock in the country, the prices have to be maintained at MSP even if market prices fell. Currently, for many items like groundnut, sunflower, tur, urad, government agencies are engaged in procurement at MSP even when the market prices of these crops are ruling below MSP. The MSP for paddy has been recommended an increase in the range of 3-5% and the final MSP going by CACP recommendation is expected to hover in the range of around 1,350-1,380 per quintal as against Rs 1,310. A statuesque has been proposed in groundnut and very minimal increase of 1-3% has been suggested for MSP of pulses and edible oil seeds. MSP for commercial crops like sunflower and cotton are expected to go up by Rs 50-100 per quintal, cotton on the lower side. Continuing with the police free trade, the price policy report has suggested for freeing trade in all commodities except for pulses and edible oil going by the domestic deficit in these items.

Agri sector grows by 1.6% in first 4 years of 12th Five Year Plan The growth fell well short of the targeted 4% due to lower production

Agriculture sector grew by an average 1.6 per cent per annum in first four years of the ongoing Five Year Plan(2012-17) as against the targeted 4 per cent annual growth due to lower production.

"The average annual growth rate of agriculture and allied sector during the first four years of the current Five Year Plan period (2012-17) has been 1.6 per cent as against the 12th plan target of 4 per cent per annum," Minister of State for Agriculture Mohanbhai Kundariya said in a written reply to Lok Sabha.

He attributed the low average growth rate of farm sector to "set back in the annual crop production except for 2013-14 due to deficiency in the monsoon rainfall, moisture stress and unfavourable weather, temperature conditions adversely impacting production of Kharif and rabi crops".

Investment in terms of Gross Capital Formation (GCF) in agriculture and allied sector stood at Rs 2,56,495 crore in 2014-15 fiscal.

"Government has taken several steps for increasing investment in agriculture sector such as enhanced institutional credit to farmers, promotion of scientific warehousing infrastructure for increasing shelf life of agriculture produce, setting up of agri-tech infrastructure fund for making farming competitive and profitable, developing commercial organic farming," the minister said.

Don't hide taxable income as farm earnings: Arun Jaitley Sharad Yadav of Janata Dal-United said reports suggest Rs 2,000 lakh cr of income is concealed as agriculture earning

Government on Tuesday indicated action could be taken against "prominent people" who are trying to conceal taxable income as agricultural earnings.

"Many prominent people are doing this. Please do not say it is political victimisation if names come out afterwards," Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said in the Rajya Sabha.

Several opposition members, including from the Janata Dal-United and Samajwadi Party, cited reports that large amounts of black money were being shown as agriculture income.

Sharad Yadav of Janata Dal-United said reports suggested that Rs 2,000 lakh crore of income has been concealed as agriculture earnings.

Jaitley said anyone abusing the provisions of the IncomeTax Act could be investigated and proceeded against.

Under the existing norms, agricultural income is exempted from income tax.

Some members alleged that the government might be thinking of starting to tax the farm incomes henceforth.

There could be a "conspiracy of taxing agriculture income" which must be opposed, said Ram Gopal Yadav of the Samajwadi Party.

Congress member Digvijay Singh said instead of "threatening", the finance minister should reveal names.

"He is misleading the house. Do not threaten us," Digvijay Singh said.

Government rules out loan waiver to sugar mills Sugar production is estimated to be 26 million tonnes for the 2015-16 season, lower than 28.1 million tonnes last year

Government Tuesday ruled out any new package or loan waiver to sugar mills although their dues to sugarcanefarmers have touched Rs 15,893 crore.

Due to surplus output in the last four years and depressed prices, the liquidity of sugar mills have been "adversely" affected leading to accumulation of cane price arrears of the farmers, Food Minister Ram Vilas Paswan said in a written reply to Lok Sabha.

As on March 5, cane price arrears to farmers reached Rs 15,893.36 crore in over past three years, he said.

Of the total, Rs 13,644 crore is for the ongoing 2015-16 season (October-September), while Rs 1,366 crore is for the 2014-15 season and Rs 882.07 crore for 2013-14 and earlier seasons, he added.

Asked if the government proposes to provide any package to improve the condition of sugar mills and ensure timely payment of cane arrears, Paswan said: "There is no new proposal under consideration of the government to provide any package/ incentive including creation of buffer stocks."

"There is no plan under consideration of the government to waive loan provided to the sugar mills," he added.

The government has extended financial assistance in the form of soft loan, incentive on raw sugar export and performance-based production subsidy scheme in order to improve the liquidity position of the sugar mills enabling them to make timely payment of sugarcane dues, he said.

The financial assistance provided by the government are utilised to facilitate liquidation of cane price arrears of farmers. This is ensured through submission of utilisation certificate of sugar mills duly verified by the state government, he added.

Sugar production is estimated to be 26 million tonnes for the 2015-16 season, lower than 28.1 million tonnes last year.

Bengaluru leads in crorepati ‘farmers’

Metro cities like Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata and Bengaluru have the maximum crorepati entities who have declared agricultural income of over Rs 1 crore in the last nine assessment years with the Income Tax department. The department is conducting a tax evasion probe in a select number of such cases after the taxman was directed in this regard recently. As per official data in this regard, accessed by PTI, between Assessment Years (AYs) 2008-09 and 2015-16, a total of 321 assessees declared agricultural wealth over Rs 1 crore in Bengaluru region followed by Delhi (275), Kolkata (239), Mumbai (212), Pune (192), Chennai (181), Hyderabad (162), Thiruvananthapuram (157)and Kochi (109). Finance minister Arun Jaitley (in pic) on Tuesday said in Parliament that many prominent people are being probed for allegedly concealing taxable income as agricultural earnings as he told the Opposition not to term it as political victimisation if their names come out. "Many prominent people" are said to be involved and are being probed, he said. "Please don't say it is political victimisation if names come out after that (probe)."

IT department assessing officers across the country, as part of a recent directive, have been asked to "verify" a select number of cases in this category under assessment years 2011-12 to 2013-14. The move came in view of a PIL filed in the Patna High Court where concerns have been raised that some of these declarants could be engaged in routing their un-accounted or illegal funds in the "garb" of farm income thereby leading to instances of money laundering. Agricultural income is exempt from Income Tax in the country. The official data in this regard said a total of 2,746 entities have declared agricultural income of above Rs 1 crore in the last nine AYs, between 2007-08 to 2015-16 and a probe has to be conducted for a block period of three AYs (2011-12 to 2013-14). Farmers march in city to demand compensation

Farmers took out a protest march in the city on Tuesday, demanding immediate compensation for crop loss due to rain and hailstorms over the last number of days. The protestors included farmers from neighbouring western UP districts. They marched from Circuit Hose to the Commissionary and claimed that the government was turning a blind eye to the agrarian crisis in the country. Students from Meerut's Chaudhary Charan Singh University were also part of the protest march. "The situation of farmers is very bad. Mills have purchased sugarcane worth thousands of crores but have not paid any money to farmers. The destructive weather patterns have returned, and the farmers are still grappling with problems faced during last year's rains. This weekend, hailstorms destroyed the wheat crop again. It is only fair that a farmer, who has not been paid for his sugarcane, must not be charged interest on loans," said Pappu Gujjar, a farmer leading the protest. "So far, the survey has begun in only a handful of districts. This means that there will be disparity in the way compensation is handed out. It is wrong that while my brothers in Meerut and Bijnor may get compensation, those in Muzaffarnagar or Ghaziabad may miss out. The state government should begin the survey in all rain-hit districts. All farmers are standing in solidarity with each other. On Tuesday, the Akhilesh Yadav government completed

four years. Yet, we did not hear a single word on the crop loss from the chief minister. I used to be a Samajwadi Party worker but I cannot work for anti-farmer parties like SP or BJP," he added saying. Vineet Chaprana, a CCSU student, said, "Many students from CCSU belong to agricultural families. We cannot remain isolated from the farmers' struggle. It affects our lives directly. That is why some students also decided to join the protest." After heavy rainfall and hailstorms across the region over the weekend, the district administration on Monday began a survey to assess the damage suffered by crops. According to an agriculture department official, an estimated 15-25% crops have been damaged, which include all types of standing crops except sugarcane. "The rainfall and hailstorms, which continued from Friday evening to Mondaymorning, have caused a lot of damage. We had been waiting for the weather to clear before starting a survey to assess the damage done to the crops but from what we have seen so far, the damage is substantial. On Monday, we started the process for the survey. Within two to three days, we will have a clear idea of the damage," said Meerut district agriculture officer Jasvir Singh. Beed farmer invents versatile crop machine

ecessity is the mother of invention, goes the old adage and Beed farmer Namdeo Radhakrushna Anerao is its perfect exponent. Anera, a resident of Pimpalner taluka, has invented a machine which can be used for various

agricultural purposes, bringing much-needed respite for several farmers reeling under drought-like situation. The 33-year-old marginal farmer, who owns two acres, was into fabrication job for the past 15 years. But as he started facing multiple problems such as labour and cost of buying bullocks, Anerao thought of inventing a machine to solve general issues ailing farmers, especially marginal land holders. Most of the farmers in his area either do not have their own bullock carts or are unable to bear the maintenance cost after incurring huge losses due to drought-like conditions prevailing in the region. The machine worth Rs 56,000 has three attachments and can be used for multi-purpose agriculture work such as weeding out grass, ploughing, sowing seeds and mixing soil with fertilisers as well as manure. "Many farmers do not have their own bullock carts. They either depend on other farmers or hire it, which is not an easy task in the current situation and also not affordable. After a struggle of over three years and several rounds of trials and errors, I managed to design the machine. I have already received 10 bookings from Beed district," Anerao said. "The machine runs on kerosene as well as diesel. It can plough around two hectares in seven litres of diesel. A farmer has to spend between Rs 50,000 and Rs 1.5 lakh for a pair of bullocks depending on their quality. They also have to spend about Rs 3,000 to Rs 4,000 per month for maintaining the bullocks in the form of fodder, medicines and even water," he said. Anerao has named the machine 'Samazdar Shrikant', which is easy to handle at a minimum cost. He has connected a gear box to the 4HP engine, which operates on fuel at a capacity of 16 HP. He has also bagged a patent for his product. "Taking the efforts put in by Anerao, his family background and his innovative thinking into account, the Chamber of Marathwada Industries and Agriculture (CMIA) has extended financial support of Rs 1 lakh to him and also assured him of further help through our innovation cell," said Ashish Garde, president of CMIA.

The CMIA established its innovation cell last year to promote innovation, research and development activities among entrepreneurs, students and other self-motivated innovators in the region. Since then, the cell has extended financial aid of Rs 1 lakh each to two innovators," said Sunil Raithatha former president of CMIA. Besides Anerao, the CMIA has helped Vilas More of Paithan taluka for inventing a safety razor. More has also applied for patent for his product. The government recently More in New Delhi for his invention. Fresh rounds of rain, hailstorm hit farmers

About 25% crop in 286 villages of Madhya Pradesh was damaged after fresh round of hailstorm and rain hit the state on Sunday and Monday. According to initial estimates, Bundelkhand districts seem to be the worst affected where crops were severely damaged in 100 villages of Damoh, Tikamgarh, Sagar and Panna. "We are monitoring the situation. The survey is still on and the field staff is collecting data. Number of affected villages and districts may go up," principal secretary agriculture Rajesh Rajora told TOI. The other affected districts include Singrauli, Satna Balaghat Betul, Chhindwara and Bhind. Ramesh Pal, a farmer from Damoh district said, "We have already faced one of the worst droughts. Now, whatever rabi crops were standing out in fields have been damaged by the bad weather." In the first round of hailstorm, a large number of villages of Chhatarpur were affected where wheat crop was majorly damaged, said Kanchedi lal, a farmer in Luvkush Nagar bordering Mahoba district of UP. A large area of crops in Sheopur, Bhind and Morena have been damaged due to unseasonal rain and hail. Mustard and wheat crops have been damaged extensively. In Lahar tehsil of Bhind, said Suresh Singh, a farmer, size of the hail was

like a big lemon. "My field had turned a white floor. Mustard crop was badly damaged." Meanwhile, in a late evening discussion in the assembly on Monday, Congress MLA from Sheopur demanded an adjournment motion to discuss the issue of farmers. "The government must come out with proper figures and the farmers be compensated adequately," he demanded. BJP minister Narottam Mishra said the government was aware of the plight of the farmers. (This story has not been edited by timesofindia.com and is auto–generated from a syndicated feed we subscribe to.) Govt to increase compensation for crop damage

Taking note of the demand of 28-member BJP, the main opposition party in the Uttarakhand assembly, to increase compensation to farmers for damage incurred to their crops due to heavy rain, chief minister Harish Rawat on Tuesday announced that the state government would increase the amount within a week. Addressing the assembly during pre-lunch hours, Rawat dubbed the BJP members' demand on revision of compensation rates as justified, adding that the rates have not been revised since 2012. "I fully agree with the main opposition BJP members on this and assure them that keeping in view the urgency of the demand, state agriculture department will issue an order revising the rates of compensations soon," said Rawat. Giving details on current rates of compensation for different crops, Rawat said that while compensation for sugarcane was paid at Rs 25,000 per quintal, wheat and paddy growers get Rs 15,000 per quintal. Rs 8,000 per quintal compensation is paid for local crops such as Mandua and pulses, including Arhar, Moong and Taur and Gaith.

"Although we are yet to take a final decision on how much the rates of compensation will be revised, we will try to provide maximum relief to cultivators in all 13 districts keeping in view the losses incurred by them owing to heavy rain," said chief secretary Shatrughana Singh. Officials in the state agriculture department said that the revision in rates of compensation will provide relief to over 15 lakh cultivators in the state. Sources in state government said that the compensation rates are expected to be doubled. State BJP leadership has welcomed the chief minister's announcement. "We really appreciate CM Rawat's gesture," said Ajay Bhatt, leader of opposition in the state Assembly.