All Time High Production of Pulses

                           (Picture source - The Hindu - Business Line - August 26, 2011)

In the article in The Hindu Business Line, G Chandrashekhar discusses the possibility of India being self-reliant in pulses.

During 2010-11, pulse production showed was 17.29 MT, an all time record.   The great success story was with regard to production of Chick Pea ( 8.25MT), Green Gram (1.8MT) and Black Gram (1.7MT).  Acreage too has shown an increase. 

It is believed that the high open market prices of pulses in the last two years encouraged growers to plant more pulses and manage inputs better.  The Agriculture Secretary is on record that after 3-4 years imports may not be required.  For the target of 20 MT more fallow land would need to be brought under cultivation and through inter-cropping.

The current actual availability is only 16 MT – the market surplus after retaining seeds for sowing plus dal milling / processing losses.  This actually means the per-capita availability is 13.5 Kg.  There is a large difference in the per capita consumption of between the top 30% and the bottom 30%.  If the pulse consumption of the poor could be increased, the protein and calorie deficiency could be brought under control. 

Research is also on to evolve genetically modified pigeon pea and chick pea varieties and should be ready for commercialisation in the next 2-3 years. 

Will we indeed achieve self sufficiency in pulse production?

Read the full article here .  For further reading

Stronger Co-operatives can boost farm output

The Hindu Business Line - August 24, 2011

Dr K C Chakrabarthy, Deputy Governor RBI, speaking at FICCI-IBI banking seminar has said that strengthening co-operatives and involving private parties can help in improving productivity of agriculture sector.

The agri sector provides employment to about 60% of our population.  The agriculture share of GDP 15 years ago, was 50% , and  has now fallen to 14%.  Therefore, he says, food processing industry and agro based industry need to be given necessary boost to improve productivity and employment opportunities.

Although agricultural credit has grown, it is from urban and metropolitan branches of banks, and therefore raises the question as to which segment the credit is flowing into.  To improve the flow of credit there is a need for systematic co-operation between Regional Rural Banks and Primary Agricultural Credit Societies.

Read the full report here

Crop Holiday on Bumper Harvest in AP

Extract from article that appeared in MINT - August 23, 2011

Thousands of farmers are opting to take a break from growing paddy for at least one season.

Rising prices of farm inputs including seeds and fertilizer, a shortage of labour which, when available is becoming increasingly expensive, and lack of procurement by government agencies that have no space to store more foodgrain are responsible for the phenomenon known as “crop holiday”.

“This time, in place of rice, we have decided to cultivate grass for our cattle,” says 63-year-old M. Hanumanth Reddy of Irukodu in Medak district of Telangana region.

“Getting farm labour here is a major problem, and mechanization is not feasible as paddy fields are small and scattered. Even if we take a risk, we are not getting minimum support prices,” Reddy says.

It costs Rs 780-800 to cultivate 1 quintal, or 100 kg, of sona masuri, a premium-grade medium-size rice variety. The minimum support price for paddy set by the government was Rs 1,080 per quintal, but farmers received only around Rs 600-700 per quintal from rice millers who procure their produce, translating into a loss of Rs 100-180 per quintal.

In Andhra Pradesh, farmers are blaming the policies of the Centre as well as the state government for the predicament they are facing.

“Over 5 mt of paddy is still lying in the hands of farmers in Andhra Pradesh with no takers,” says agriculture scientist and food policy analyst Devender Sharma. “If there is normal rainfall, there will be another good crop, only to compound the crisis.”

“The crop holiday problem cannot be seen in isolation, it is a symptom of a bigger crisis that’s going to unfold at a national level in near future,” Sharma warns. “Unless there is an assured procurement and a guarantee minimum support price, farmers will be at a losing end.”

                             ( Pic Source - Mint - August 23, 2011)
The crop holiday in East Godavari is expected to affect the livelihood of around 80,000 farm workers.

“There are serious policy lapses. The state government did not focus on building more mandis (markets) and connecting them to production areas,” says Chengal Reddy, the Head of the Federation of Farmers.

“But it’s not too late. If all the panchayat (village council) buildings can be converted into makeshift godowns, a large portion of the grain can be saved from rotting in the farmers’ hands.”
Read the total article in Mint by Viswanath Pilla here

Media Support for Farming Sector is required

We have seen how media support for Anna Hazare has given him wide coverage and therefore created a major interest in the movement. The power of the media is immense.   In his book From Green to Evergreen Revolution, M.S Swaminathan emphasises the need for media to actively participate in revitalising the agriculture movement in India.

He feels that the Green Revolution was largely due to the involvement of  the print media and All India Radio  creating an enormous enthusiasm among farm families on opportunity created by the semi-dwarf varieties of wheat and rice to increase yield and income substantially.  The reports were as a result of visits of experienced journalists to Agri Research Centres and the Agricultural Universities.   Media Reports led to widespread demand for seeds of new strains and coupled with the reigns of the Agriculture Ministry in the hands of the capable Minister C Subramaniam, it led to timely public policy decisions. 

The media also helped to convert a small government programme – High Yielding Varieties Programme into a mass movement.  

It is now 40 years since the successful Green Revolution.  The PM talks of a desire for the second revolution.  The media however has not discussed why this is not happening.  While financial markets are given wide coverage, the agriculture sector is being ignored.  

Responsible journalism can highlight the problems of the agri sector and thus bring about a change.

AP to set up APEX Co-op Bank for SHGs

Source: Business Standard - Aug 17, 2011

The Andhra Pradesh government is all set to establish Apex Cooperative Bank for women self-help groups (SHGs) to minimise the scope for microfinance operations in the state.

Though the government had initially worked on the idea of forming a non-banking financial company (NBFC) in collaboration with public sector banks, it had to opt for the cooperative format as bankers informed about certain regulatory constraints in joining the NBFC, according to a senior government official.

The state Cabinet on Tuesday approved the proposal, which is expected to be formally launched next month.

The bank will be set up with the existing mandal samakhyas (federations of SHGs at mandal level) as its lending arms, thus bringing the vast SHG network into its fold. It is also designed to extensively leverage modern technology for loan transactions in such a way that a loan is sanctioned within 48 hours, according to government officials.

There are about 950,000 SHGs in the state, federated at the village level as village organisations (VOs). These VOs, in turn, are federated at mandal(administrative unit above the village level) mahila samakhyas (MMS), representing almost 10 million women members. The MMS, which have been involved in lending to SHGs for the past two years, currently handle Rs 7,000 crore business.

The proposed bank is expected to play a major role in meeting short-term financial needs of those groups that are already servicing term loans from commercial banks. As the groups are denied fresh leverage by banks during the currency of existing loans for the 3-5 year repayment period, the poor people have no alternative but to approach MFIs and money lenders for loans at high interest rates, the officials said.

The loans extended by the proposed bank would also carry the existing ‘Pavala Vaddi’ scheme under which timely repayments attract less than 4 per cent interest while the government reimburses the remaining interest component from the public exchequer.

Major Crops - barring cotton - take a hit in AP

Source: The Hindu Business Line - August 16, 2011

While farmers in water-rich areas of Andhra Pradesh have declared crop holiday in about three lakh acres, their counterparts in other parts of the State may end up losing crop in 10 lakh acres this season due to irregular or lack of rain.

Sowings in the State were completed in 53 lakh hectares, four lakh hectares short of the area which should have been covered so far. The State grows crops on 78.11 lakh ha in the kharif season.

Worst hit among major crops categories are paddy, groundnut, all pulses, and chilli. Sunflower is facing a complete wash-out. Cotton with the area sown registering a growth of 136 per cent at 16.48 lakh hectares as against the season average of 13.51 lakh ha. The farmers, however, had to sow twice in several parts, increasing costs on seeds and labour. The other gainers include turmeric at 0.57 lakh ha (season average 0.63 lakh) and castor with 1.82 lakh ha (1.77 lakh ha).

All but one (Srikakulam) district have registered shortfall in the rainfall. Twenty-two districts recorded rainfall in the range of -6 per cent to -23 per cent, while Srikaulam managed to achieve no deviation from the average of 375 mm as on date.

While sunflower and chillies fell in the below 25 per cent (of normal area covered), paddy and sesamum were in the 26-50 per cent band with redgram, groundnut, jowar and onion in the range of 51-75 per cent.

“Farmers need not worry about losing the season. They can still go for alternative crops such as green gram and maize,” the official said. The major loser, region-wise, is coastal Andhra. The region could see sowings in 11 lakh ha against the normal as-on-date sowing area of 15 lakh ha. The region has total arable land of 24.41 lakh ha. The water-scarce Rayalaseema region too lags at 11.87 lakh ha (13.69 lakh ha) as on date. The average crop area in the region stands at 24.41 lakh ha. Telangana region, which grows crops in 35.79 lakh ha in a normal year, is better off with a sown area of 30.48 lakh ha (28.62 lakh ha). Kadapa (Rayalaseema), Prakasam and East Godavari (Andhra) are the worst hit.

Fallow Land converted to Rice Field

Source:  The Hindu Business Line - August 16, 2011
Kerala has been a food deficit State for a long time now. Rice, which was the staple grain of its population, has made a smart comeback in the State, after a long hiatus. The falling trend in rice production has been reversed. Production and productivity of rice, which have been languishing for couple of decades, have now shown signs of growth. 

But for the current year, agricultural production will almost directly depend on the extent and pattern of rainfall over the highlands, midlands and low lands of Kerala. Thankfully, the rains during the South-West monsoon have been bounteous, maybe a bit on the higher side, Dr P.V. Balachandran, Director-Extension of the Kerala Agricultural University, said.

In fact, the State received two per cent excess rainfall at 1,570 mm till August 10 against 1, 536 mm last year. Most districts received fair amount of rainfall. The rain should facilitate good agricultural production this year.

The area under rice cultivation in the State had fallen sharply from 8.7 lh (lh) in 1970-71 to 2.3 lakh h in 2007-08. Production also plunged from 13.5 lakh tonnes to 5.8 lakh tonnes in the same period. But a slow and steady recovery has been evident since 2009-10, when the area under rice had grown close to 20,000 ha and production had grown by 1.25 lakh tonnes.

Last year's production, for which no published figures are available yet, should also be higher, Dr Balachandran said. It is quite unlikely that it will be on the lower side. While there is no shift in area from cash crops to paddy, the area lying fallow has been dropping in the State. More panchayats are now declaring themselves to be fallow-free. These growth trends are expected to boost the area under paddy in the current year. Productivity of rice had grown from 2.3 to 2.5 tonnes per hectare.