26.11.2016 Rabi sowing improves, but not...

26.11.2016

Rabi sowing improves, but not uniformly

Allowing farmers to buy seeds with old 500 notes appears to be paying off

Sowing in the ongoing rabi season has picked up slightly over the past week.

The government’s decision to allow farmers to use old 500 denomination notes

to buy seeds seems to have had some impact.

The total area under the five major crop categories till November 25 was 327.62

lakh hectares, 4.61 per cent higher than the 313.17 lakh hectares in the same

period last year.

A week earlier (ending November 18 ), the area under rabi crops was lower, at

241.73 lakh hectares, compared with 243.38 lakh hectares in the corresponding

period last year, as the government’s demonetisation drive led to a cash crunch.

“The slowdown in sowing in the week ending November 18 was a one-off thing

and cannot be linked to demonetisation as in the subsequent week sowing has

again picked up,” insisted Agriculture Secretary SK Pattanayak, in a

conversation with BusinessLine.

Although rabi sowing has picked up in the week ending November 25, the

growth is much lower than the 15.9 per cent increase in acreage pegged till

November 11.

Coarse cereals and rice are the two crops where sowing took a hit in the latest

week (November 25), while wheat, pulses and oilseeds witnessed an increase in

sowing, according to figures released by the Agriculture Ministry on Friday.

The area under wheat till November 25 increased to 127.15 lakh hectares

compared to 117.32 lakh hectares in the same period last year. Acreage in

Haryana, Bihar and Gujarat declined while Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and

Uttar Pradesh saw a rise.

Rice acreage declined to 6.82 lakh ha from 9.10 lakh ha, with Tamil Nadu hit

hardest.

At 95.09 lakh hectares, the area under pulses was higher than the 88.12 lakh

hectares in the same period last year.

Sowing of coarse cereals till November 25 declined to 34.35 lakh hectares

compared to 42.33 lakh hectares in the same period last year with Maharashtra

suffering the steepest decline.

Demonetisation: poultry sector losing ‘ 100 cr a day’

People have stopped buying chicken and eggs; even restaurants have cut orders

With 26 crore eggs and 1 crore chicks a day, India is among the top-5 poultry

players in the world. For the domestic poultry industry, which engages about 60

lakh farmers and labourers, the November-January winter period, when more

eggs and chicken are consumed, is normally a very lucrative season.

Upcountry markets consume more eggs and chicken in the winter. In an average

year, the Northern markets consume 60 per cent more eggs and chicken. But

this year, chicken retail outlets wear a deserted look with consumers spending

their money sparingly.

The industry now fears a huge drop in demand there and in other parts of the

country as the demonetisation drive has also disrupted the supply chain. “We

have estimated losses at 100 crore per day as demand dips. People have

stopped buying eggs and chicken. Even restaurants have reduced their intake,”

Subba Raju, a leader of the NECC (National Egg Coordination Committee),

told BusinessLine.

The farmgate price of an egg has fallen to 2.93 from 3.90 before November

8, the day the Central government announced the demonetisation drive.

With the cash crunch hitting all layers in the supply chain, the industry is

apprehending that working capital is drying up.

The prices of chicken fell in the range of 15-30 per kg in different southern

markets. Retail chicken outlets have reduced their order sizes, forcing the farms

to keep back birds. This puts an additional burden on the feed. Feed costs

account for one-third of the total production cost in a poultry farm.

According to Suguna Foods Managing Director GB Sundararajan,

demonetisation has resulted in a drop of 20-30 per cent in consumption,

severely impacting the management of inventory. There is no cash transaction

happening between traders and farmers due to the scarcity of new currency.

Consequent to the disruptions in supplies following the impact on the transport

sector, the prices of feed (maize and soya) have gone up. “The increase is about

100 a quintal in the last two weeks,” said one poultry farmer.

Another difficulty poultry farms foresee is the impending payments in the first

week of the month to labourers. “You don’t have cash on hand. Even if you

want to credit into their bank accounts, most of them don’t have accounts. We

are asking them to open accounts,” said Subba Raju.

The farmers, however, see a bigger danger. As inventories pile up and working

capital reserves evaporate, they see an impending crisis in the summer.

Tea output rises in Sept

Tea production in India, which dropped by a marginal 4.63 million kg (mkg) till

August, posted an increase till September thanks to higher production in both

North and South India.

“The Tea Board has now released September data, which shows an increase of

27.48 mkg in North India and a marginal gain of 1.66 mkg in the South over

September 2015, resulting in an overall increase of 29.14 mkg to total 184.60

mkg,” Rajesh Gupta, compiler of annual ‘Global Tea Digest’,

told BusinessLine.

Favourable rain in many parts helped drive this increase in production.

Consequently, India’s overall production in the first three-quarters of this year

was more than its output in the same period in 2015 although South Indian

production was lower due to a decline in output in previous months because of

prolonged dry conditions.

“Our compilation shows that India’s cumulative tea production in the nine

months rose to 901.67 mkg from 877.16 mg in January-September 2015. This

increase of 24.51 mkg marked a growth of 2.79 per cent,” Rajesh Gupta noted.

Till September, North India had produced 742.51 mkg — an increase of 43.18

mkg over 2015.

The South Indian production during this period fell by 18.67 mkg to total

159.16 mkg.

Higher prices take the sting out of pepper exports

High domestic prices, due to strong internal demand coupled with non-

availability of an exportable surplus, have made Malabar Garbled pepper

uncompetitive, leading to pepper exporters losing even their traditional overseas

markets.

“Because of the higher prices, many buyers of Indian pepper have switched

over to Indonesia and Vietnam and thus we have lost the export markets. It is

going to be a difficult job for exporters to regain the lost market from Vietnam

or Indonesia,” Kishor Shamji, a veteran exporter, told BusinessLine.

According to statistics from the Cochin Chamber, total exports in January-

August 2016 via Kochi port stood at 8,631 tonnes against 16,167 tonnes in the

same period in 2015 — a decrease of 46.61 per cent.

At the national level, total exports might have touched around 9,500 tonnes.

Presently, 90 per cent of the export is actually re-export of imported produce

after value-addition such as extraction, grinding and sterilisation, sources said.

They attributed the higher domestic pepper prices to low productivity and

higher production cost in the major growing state, Kerala, where the

productivity per hectare is around 300 kg.

The state, according to Spices Board statistics, produced 30,000 tonnes of

pepper in 2014-15 from a total area of 85,430 hectares whereas the projection

for 2015-16 was at 22,000 tonnes.

Karnataka rising

In Karnataka, planters, who are growing pepper with a more scientific approach,

are having higher yields and are increasing acreage every year, which will soon

result in Karnataka overtaking Kerala as India’s largest pepper producing State,

he said. The area under the crop in Karnataka was at 21,061 hectares in 2011-12

and has gradually risen to 32,670 ha with a production of 35,000 tonnes in

2014-15, the Board sources said.

Indian pepper output does not match the domestic requirement and export

demand.

As against an internal demand of around 50,000 tonnes, the indigenous

production in 2015-16 is estimated at 48,500 tonnes.

Moreover, cornering of huge stocks by cartels through the national exchanges,

as happened in the NCDEX recently, has pushed Indian pepper prices much

above international prices, besides making consumers pay through their noses.

According to the trade, the 2017 season is likely to be better than 2016 in

quantity and that might lower the prices prevailing in India. At the same time,

the lower prices of Vietnamese pepper will have to rise as well, they said.

Spot rubber stays steady

Spot rubber was almost unchanged on Friday. RSS 4 finished flat at 131 a kg,

according to traders. The grade closed steady at 130 and 127 respectively,

according to the Rubber Board and dealers. December futures weakened to

132.80 ( 133.28), January to 135.30 ( 135.73) on the National Multi

Commodity Exchange. RSS 3 (spot) slid to 140.36 ( 140.78) a kg at Bangkok.

December futures declined to ¥230.5 ( 139.84) on the Tokyo Commodity

Exchange.

Campco sends trial arecanut consignment to China

Campco (Central Arecanut and Cocoa Marketing and Processing Cooperative)

Ltd has exported a trial consignment of arecanut to China.

Suresh Bhandary, Managing Director of Campco, said that the consignment of

around 360 kg of arecanut was exported to China through the Chennai port on

November 24.

This followed the visit of a high-level delegation of Campco to China in June

this year to explore the possibilities of exporting arecanut.

Campco had signed a memorandum of understanding with a China-based

company — Hunan Kou Wei Wang Group Company Ltd — to process and

export tender arecanut on a trial basis.

Bhandary said that tender arecanut from the Shivamogga, Puttur and

Coimbatore regions were selected for this trial consignment. These stocks were

processed at Campco’s facility in Puttur, Dakshina Kannada district.

The co-operative will explore the possibilities of bulk supplies to China based

on the company’s suggestions and feedback on quality of the consignment.

Karnataka registers growth in area, volume of wine production

Karnataka has witnessed significant growth in wine production in the last one

decade.

Addressing presspersons in Mangaluru on Friday, T Somu, Managing Director

of the Karnataka Wine Board, said that both the area under wine grape

production as well as the volume of wine produced, have gone up significantly

after the implementation of the Karnataka Grape Processing and Wine Policy in

2007.

Growth in output

The State produced around 5 lakh litres of wine during 2005-06. The volume

went up to around 1 crore litres of wine in 2015-16.

The area under wine grape production has increased from 500 acres in 2005-06

to 2000 acres in 2015-16.

Stating that the sale of wine in Karnataka has gone up significantly over the

years, Somu said the Karnataka government recorded sales of 193 crore of

wine in 2015-16 as against 178 crore in 2014-15.

Going by the consumption trend, the state government is expecting sales income

of 210 crore in 2016-17, he said.

There is an increase of around 25 per cent in the volume of wine sold every

year. The state sold 63.08 lakh litres of wine in 2014-15 as against 51 lakh litres

in 2013-14. At present, the state has 17 wineries, 190 wine taverns and 39 wine

boutiques, he said.

Stating that the board will be organising a wine festival in Mangaluru from

November 26-28, Ravindra Shankar Mirje, Chairman of the Karnataka Wine

Board, said that it has conducted wine festivals in Belagavi, Mysuru, Madikeri

and Bengaluru till now. It will conduct festivals in Davangere, Hubballi and

Tumakuru in the coming days.

Wine fest

Yogesh HR, Deputy Director of Horticulture, Mangaluru, said that

representatives of 12 wineries from Karnataka and Maharashtra will participate

in the Mangaluru Wine Festival. More than 150 brands will be showcased

during the three-day event.

The festival will also have technical session on wine grape cultivation, he said.

Kolar: Asia’s No. 2 tomato market has no bank or ATM

It is the second-largest market for tomatoes in Asia (after Pimpalgaon, Nashik)

and the largest in South India. Yet, the APMC market in Kolar, 70 km from

Bengaluru, does not even have a bank branch or an ATM.

This has put hundreds of farmers, traders, commission agents, porters, transport

agents and even truck drivers (who ferry the produce in and out) into severe

hardship, especially after the demonetisation of 500 and 1,000 notes. Across

the country, transactions in APMCs such as Kolar were, hitherto, largely in

cash.

“The nearest ATM/bank branch is 1.5-2 km away. My workers are spending

more time at long queues in banks to withdraw money. We immediately need a

bank here. Also, there’s a need for an awareness drive among farmers on using

bank facilities,” a trader said.

Not accepting cheques

Further, farmers are still insisting on cash payments and not accepting cheques.

This has led to an increase in part-payments and deferred payments, with most

traders still making payments with the old 500 currency. “I will now have to

deposit the old currency. As a result, payments to my workers may get delayed

by a day or two,” said Muniyappa from Paduvanahalli village, who got a mere

4 a kg for his produce of 1,050 kg.

A branch of Kolar DCC Bank that operated in the APMC premises has not been

functioning for the past 8-10 months for unknown reasons, officials said.

“Considering the hardships faced by market participants, we have started the

process of getting a nationalised bank to set up an ATM and a branch here,”

said Ravi Kumar, Secretary, APMC, Kolar.

Kolar handles around 1.5 lakh tonnes of tomatoes annually. Arrivals in the past

few weeks are up due to conducive weather, while prices are down. “We have

demand but are hesitant to book orders. We are booking only if the buyer makes

payments through a bank transfer,” said a trader.

For Karnataka Agriculture Minister Krishna Byre Gowda, the lack of banking

facilities is an infrastructure issue that can be overcome sooner or later. “I am

more worried about the impact of demonetisation. Cash shortage has impacted

the traded volumes of agri-commodities across APMCs in the State by 35 per

cent and has negatively impacted prices, creating distress,” he said.

Widely distributed

Tomatoes from the Kolar APMC market are transported to Bihar, Bengal,

Odisha, Jharkhand, Punjab, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, Andhra

Pradesh and Tamil Nadu. They are also exported to Pakistan, Bangladesh and

sometimes airlifted to Dubai.

Besides creating adequate banking facilities, the government should look at

having banking correspondents at the village level so that cash can be made

available to farmers at their doorsteps, says Professor Gopal Naik of IIM

Bangalore.

Karnataka Wine Board targets Rs. 210 cr income in 2016-17

The Karnataka Wine Board is targeting an income of around Rs. 210 crore by

the sale of wine in the State, according to T Somu, Managing Director of

Karnataka Wine Board.

Addressing presspersons in Mangaluru on Friday, he said the board recorded an

income of around Rs. 193 crore from the sale of wine in the State during 2015-

16. There is an increase of around 25-30 per cent in wine sales every year, he

said.

There has been an increase in the volume of wine produced in the state after the

implementation of Karnataka Grape Processing and Wine Policy in 2007. The

state produced around 5 lakh litres of wine in 2005-06. The volume went up to 1

crore litre in 2015-16, he said.

The area under wine grape production has increased from 500 acres in 2

to 2000 acres in 2015-16. The state has 17 wineries, 190 wine taverns and 39

wine boutiques, he said.


November 26-28, Ravindra Shankar Mirje, Chairman of the Karnataka Wine

Board, said that it has conducted wine festivals in Belagavi, Mysore, Madikeri



Yogesh HR, Deputy Director of Horticulture, Mangaluru



during the three-day event.

The festival will also have technical session on wine grape cultiv

Demonetisation has little impact on rabi crop planting, acreage jumps over

previous week

The area under pulses, oilseeds and wheat increased from a year earlier, while

planting of coarse cereals and rice fell. The government has set a

crop planting target of 638.09 lakh hectares.

Rabi, or winter crop, planting increased 36% over the past week, in contrast to

expectations in some quarters that the scrapping of high

notes would adversely affect sowing.

Winter crops were planted on 327.62 lakh hectares as of Friday, compared with

241.73 lakh hectares on November 18, according to data from the agriculture

ministry. The acreage planted is 4.62% higher than a year earlier, when crops

covered 313.17 lakh hectares.

The area under wine grape production has increased from 500 acres in 2

16. The state has 17 wineries, 190 wine taverns and 39


28, Ravindra Shankar Mirje, Chairman of the Karnataka Wine




Yogesh HR, Deputy Director of Horticulture, Mangaluru



day event.

The festival will also have technical session on wine grape cultiv



planting of coarse cereals and rice fell. The government has set a



expectations in some quarters that the scrapping of high-denomination currency

notes would adversely affect sowing.




ctares.

The area under wine grape production has increased from 500 acres in 2005-06

16. The state has 17 wineries, 190 wine taverns and 39


28, Ravindra Shankar Mirje, Chairman of the Karnataka Wine



Yogesh HR, Deputy Director of Horticulture, Mangaluru, said that



The festival will also have technical session on wine grape cultivation, he said.



planting of coarse cereals and rice fell. The government has set a rabi season


denomination currency





planting of coarse cereals and rice fell. The government has set a rabi season


Expectations that farmers would run out of cash to buy seeds and fertilisers after

the government withdrew 86% of the currency in circulation had fuelled

concerns that agricultural productivity would be adversely affected. India had a

normal monsoon in 2016 after two years of deficient rainfall, raising prospects

for a bumper harvest.

Water levels in key reservoirs were higher, improving the prospects of planting

crops after the four-month monsoon season ended in September.

India’s 91 major reservoirs held 105.2 billion cubic metres of water, or 25%

more than at the same time last year, as of Thursday, suggesting better

availability for winter crops. However, the level was 3% less than the 10-year

average, according to data on the Central Water Commission website.

The agriculture ministry said wheat had been sown or transplanted on 127.15

lakh hectares, a 60% increase over the previous week and 8.38% higher than a

year ago. Planting was marginally delayed in Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and

Gujarat.

The area under rice cultivation shrank 25.06% from the previous year to 6.82

lakh hectares. The area under pulses—gram, lentil, field pea, kulthi, urad bean,

moong bean and lathyrus

over the previous week and 7.92% from a year ago.

Planting of oilseeds, predominantly mustard and groundnut, was done on 64.21

lakh hectares, a rise of 14.33% over the previous week and 14.12% over 2015.

Planting of coarse cereals

the previous week to 34.35 lakh hectares, although it was 18.9% lower than the

previous year.

Prices crash in mandis, small farmers hold on to crops, delay sowing

A few days before PM Narendra Modi

and Rs 1,000 currency notes, marginal farmer Ajaypal Singh took a tractor full

of cauliflowers to the Nashirpur wholesale market. He

kg. A week later, it was a dramatically different situation. The price had crashed

to Rs 4 per kg. "Nobody's picking up the stuff in the mandi now. Nuksan ho

raha hai (I am suffering losses). The mandi guys are telling me that with

shortage of currency, there's little demand at the retail level," he says.

Another farmer, Virendra Dahiya, said, he had wholesaled the same vegetable

for Rs 15 per kg at the mandi before the stunning currency measure announced

on Nov 8 and has now been

moong bean and lathyrus—covered 95.09 lakh hectares, an increase of 27.55%

and 7.92% from a year ago.



Planting of coarse cereals – jowar, bajra, ragi and maize – increased 3



Narendra Modi announced the demonetization of Rs 500


of cauliflowers to the Nashirpur wholesale market. He sold them for Rs 12 per







on Nov 8 and has now been trading them for Rs 9

covered 95.09 lakh hectares, an increase of 27.55%



increased 32.2% over



announced the demonetization of Rs 500


sold them for Rs 12 per







trading them for Rs 9-10 per kg.

Those standing in the long queues before a PNB branch complain that cash

comes and vanishes with the speed of a rumour.Currency shortage seems to

have caused a ripple effect down the supply chain. And the consequence can be

seen at the bottom of the pyramid.

Ajaypal, who mainly grows vegetables over 16 bighas of land owned jointly by

four brothers, is making adjustments to beat the blowback of notebandi, the

term everyone uses to describe demonetization in these parts of rurban south-

west Delhi.

Another batch of cauliflowers would have been ready for the market in a couple

of days. But the 46-year-old Jat farmer has stopped watering the plants. "That

would delay their growth. I want to hold on for a fortnight. Maybe we will get a

better price after that," he says.

A similar tactic to beat the falling rates has been employed by Jagbir Singh, a

Jat farmer with 15 bighas of land in Asra, a village located in west UP's Hapur

district. "I will not harvest potato for 8-10 days. Let them stay where they are

till the mandi rates improve," he told TOI last week.

Once he has disposed of the cauliflowers and the radish, Ajaypal will sow

tomatoes and peas. Like many in these parts with a cash flow problem, he is

relying on the bond of traditional association that gets him seeds and fertilisers

on loan. "That's part of our dealings every year," he says. Dahiya says credit is

part of every transaction in this urban village poised on the edge of south-west

Delhi. "Yahan to kirayedaar ka bhi udhaar chalta hai (Even the tenants pay you

later,") he says.

Part of Ajaypal's land is fallow at the moment. He has just harvested jowar and

now is ready to sow wheat. He's behind schedule by about 10-15 days. "I will

plant a late variety of wheat to compensate," the farmer says.

Normally, at this time about 20 people would have been working in the field,

says the farmer. But the delay means there are only two farmhands at work on

Thursday after noon.Ajaypal pays them Rs 250 for a day's work. But he is

unable to pay them in cash right now. Overall, he owes about Rs 4,000 to his

other regulars who are now working elsewhere, he says. How much do the

shortage of money and the losses bother him? His feelings are mixed. "No 2 ke

paise ko lagaam lag rahi hai (Black money is being brought under control)," he

says.

Life is more difficult for Sharmila Devi, one of two daily wagers still working

in Ajaypal's field. These days she carries vegetables home as part of her

payment. Call it a form of barter or good old jugaad, adjustments like these keep

the wheels turning for the marginal and the marginalized in times of the scarce

rupee.

Go cashless, use apps: Prime minister to farmers, traders

Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi made out a case for using smartphone money

transfer apps even as the demonetisation drive continued to rock Parliament on

Friday . Speaking at the stonelaying ceremony of the All India Institute of

Medical Sciences(Aiims) at Bathinda in Punjab he admitted that the drive had

inconvenienced people and then asked farmers and small traders to go cashless.

"There are four times more mobile phones than the total number of families in

India," he said in the company of BJP and ally Shiromani Akali Dal leaders.

"The phone can be converted into a wallet or a bank. Without touching cash,

money can be transferred or used to purchase items.Insist that your shopkeeper

use instant mode of transfer the next time you shop." He even asked tech-savvy

students to help those new to smart phones and apps.

The Prime Minister's remarks have come at a time when Punjab - a state with

roughly 10 lakh farmers and about 25 lakh small traders and industrial workers -

is all set to hold assembly elections. "I understand the hassles faced by crores of

people due to our new currency initi ative. But I equally thank them for standing

with me in this move to weed out corruption and black money," Modi said.

"Most of you face the issues of arranging separate money for cash and cheque

demands for school admissions, buying land and paying hospital bills. Not

anymore.Which is why I need your sup port," he added and extolled the use of

apps to stall illegal transactions.

According to him, apps can thwart robbery and theft as hard cash disappears.

Admitting that there was shortage of new notes at banks, the Prime Minister

added that Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 new currency would gradually enter the market.

'Badal youngest, oldest CM of India'

Modi praised Punjab chief minister Parkash Singh Badal to be the youngest and

the eldest chief minister in independent India. Badal for the first time had

become chief minister in 1970 at the age of 43 years and now he is 89 years old.

Like telling poor to eat cake: Congress

Cong took a dig at Modi for asking people to use electronic banking . "Most of

them do not have bank accounts.It's like French Queen Marie asking poor to eat

cake when told they did not have bread to eat," said former MP Manish Tewari.

Dal prices go into free fall, farmers’ misery worsens

With financial liquidity at an all-time low, the one thing that people are cutting

down on, though at considerable inconvenience, is food. With consumers

forgoing pulses, a staple, growers are getting worried. The current season is

harvest time for urad dal, but UP farmers are facing sharply falling prices.

Soon after demonetisation, dal priced at Rs 160 per kg fell to Rs 100 per kg.

With good urad dal prices a few months ago, farmers in Bijnor had increased

the sowing area from 1,100 hectares to 9,000 hectares in the hope of increased

income. Each hectare produces 15 quintal of pulses. Now they face an uncertain

future at the beginning of the next sowing season.

Local pulse trader Shashank Agarwal said, “After demonetisation, urad dal

prices have gone down from Rs 140 to Rs 80 per kg, urad without husk from Rs

180 to Rs 130, arhar from Rs 140 to Rs 110, masoor from Rs 120 to Rs 100 and

moong from Rs 130 to Rs 100 per kg. There is a slump in the pulses market.”

“But demand has not matched the fall in prices. The sale of pulses has also gone

down by 60% because people don’t want to buy it even at low prices. People

have just stopped eating dal,” Agarwal added.

Ashok Kumar, director, research, Sardar Vallabh Bhai Patel Agriculture

University at Meerut, said, “This year the central government under its Pulse

Mission had given a lot of subsidies and incentives to widen the sowing area of

the crop in the region and had even asked universities to conduct research on the

subject. As a result, there was considerable amount of enthusiasm among

farmers for the crop, and the cultivated area had increased manifold.”

According to sources in the agriculture department, in 2015, Bijnor’s farmers

had suffered a lot owing to non-payment of sugarcane dues by mills. At the

same time, the government gave them sops to grow pulses. But all calculations

have been upset in the current market situation.

Kavita Rani, a resident of Bulandshahr, said, “Food items like pulses are bought

with small currency denominations and in small quantities. With no small notes

in the market, how can we buy items like dal? So we have stopped buying them.

The low prices won’t make a difference.”

Naveen Pradhan, a farmer in Mawana, 30 km from Meerut, said, “I had grown

urad in 1 hectare of land. We had thought that this year the crop would fetch us

better rates. But after demonetisation, the price of pulses have fallen from Rs

140 to Rs 80 per kg in our area. I will have to bear losses now. I can store my

stock for two months, as it won’t go bad, but until that time I will have no

money. How will I cultivate my land for the next crop, which is wheat?”

Pomegranate farmers count losses

The government's demonetisation drive has hit pomegranate farmers hard with

rates of the fruit declining by Rs 500-600 a crate in the past fortnight.

Besides, payment in cheques and demonetised currency by traders has added to

the woes of the farmers who are being compelled to sell a crate of pomegranate

for Rs 1,100 a crate — down from Rs 2,100 for the same quantity in the first

week of November.

"We support the government's decision to scrap notes with denominations of Rs

500 and Rs 1,000. But this has created shortage of valid currency notes.

Wholesale pomegranate rates are going down. The traders are also paying

through old currency notes. I accepted the notes thinking that I will will deposit

those in my bank accounts," said Bhausaheb Aher, a farmer from Deola,

Another farmer Ashok Pawar said, "Pomegranate prices have declined by

around Rs 500-600 a crate with a few days after demonetisation. Before

demonetisation, I had sold pomegranate at Rs 1,800 a crate in Nashik

Agriculture Produce Market Committee. Today (Friday), I sold pomegranates it

for Rs 1,200 a crate and received payment by cheque."

Pomegranate trader Ismail Shaikh said, "We send pomegranate to various parts

of the country, but our business has been badly affected by the shortage of

currency notes. The demand has also reduced."

Around 9,500 quintals of onion were auctioned at Lasalgaon on Friday. Traders

made payments to the farmers either by cheques or RTGS. The average

wholesale onion price of the new kharif onion was recorded at Rs 1,150 a

quintal. The minimum and maximum wholesale onion prices were recorded at

Rs 555 and Rs 1,478 a quintal, respectively.

Agriculture expo begins with felicitation of 26 young farmers

Kirshithon-2016, a five-day agricultural expo, began in the city at Thakkar's

Dome on Thursday with focus of youths in agriculture.

The expo — organized to make farmers acquainted with advanced farming

technology — began with felicitation of 26 successful youth farmers. Around

250 agricultural companies from seeds to farm equipment have put up their

stalls at the expo, showcasing their advanced products. The expo was

inaugurated by the local MP Harishchandra Chavan and city mayor Ashok

Murtadak

As many as 26 young farmers from across the state, who made various

experiments and research, making farming profitable, were felicitated at the

inaugural programme in a bid to encourage youths to divert to farming instead

of seeking jobs.

Speaking at the occasion, Chavan said, "New farming technology and research

showcased at the agricultural expo will help farmers increase the yield and

make farming more profitable. Nashik is known for producing grape and onions

at large. The exhibition will definitely help farmers to get acquainted with the

latest technology in the market."

Sanjay Nyaharkar, organizer of the event, said "This is the 11th edition of

agricultural expo that started in 1998. The objective is to get farmers acquainted

with latest farming technology and latest research in the agriculture. Moreover,

we are promoting youth to divert to farming. Farming is a profitable business if

it is done properly by using advanced technology and experiments by successful

farmers."

Thousands of farmers from across the state visited the agricultural expo on the

first day. Various seminars on techniques for producing pomegranates, organic

milk, onion farming, vineyards, among others are to be held during remaining

four days of the exhibition.

Pet insects that prey on crop harming pests

Whitefly.

Amritsar-based Khalsa College has come up with a bio-control laboratorythat is

ai ming to fight crop-harming pests with "crop-friendly", predatory insects. The

college has developed a "bio-control" laboratory at its agriculture department

where the `friendly pests' are developed and released on the college's 50-acre

farmland. The agriculture department experts of the college said the programme

was part of "a new thinking" to biologically control crop-harming insects and

avoid hazardous chemicals.

The use of pesticides and insecticides on a large scale has already played havoc

with farming in Punjab and new initiatives were being taken to adopt organic

and natural farming, said experts.

Khalsa College Governing Council (KCGC) secretary Rajinder Mohan Singh

Chhina, who is the brain behind the lab, said the step was part of ongoing

activities by the college's agriculture department to spread awareness about

organic farming. "College's own 50 acres has adopted organic farming, where

the use of pesticides and insecticides has been stopped," he said.

An agriculture scientist and in charge of the lab, Rajinder Pal Singh, said they

were developing insects like trichogramma brasiliensis, isotima jevenesis,

coccinellidae, syrphid, spider, carabid, dragon fly , predatory pentatomids and

abnthrocoriddbugs in the lab. "Farmers to use in the fields," he said, adding that

'friendly pests' either fed on pests or lay eggs in the body of larvae of enemy

insects, breaking their lifecycle.

Khalsa College principal Mehal Singh said apart from their own farm, the lab

was being used by students studying agriculture courses and was equipped to

provide training to farmers.

He said various sugar mills and many farmers had approached them for taking

regular service of the lab to protect their farms from the harmful insects.

Centre raps some states for slow roll out of agricultural scheme on

farm mechanisation

The need of the hour is farm mechanisation, said Agriculture Minister Radha

Mohan Singh as he expressed confidence that the laggard states would fast track

implementation of the scheme in the coming months.

The Centre on Friday pulled up some states like Bihar for slow implementation

of a scheme that promotes use of farm machineries among small and marginal

farmers. Successful implementation of the scheme on farm mechanisation by

state governments will help raise farm output and double income of farmers by

2022, Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh said.

“The government has announced many agri-schemes and one is on farm

mechanisation. The Centre has released Rs 118 crore to state governments to

implement this scheme. Some states like Madhya Pradesh, Odisha and Andhra

Pradesh are spending properly and there is good progress. However, in some

states like Bihar, there is not much progress,” Singh said at the launch of a

coffee table book on farm mechanisation here.

The need of the hour is farm mechanisation, he said and expressed confidence

that the laggard states would fast track implementation of the scheme in the

coming months.

Stating that challenges of farm mechanisation still exist in India, the Minister

said, “Most of our land holdings are small, therefore, commercial use is not

proving beneficial. But the government is promoting farm machines through the

establishment of custom hiring centres.”

The costly farm machineries such as rotavator, blow sprayer, cotton cultivator,

cutter and shredder are being made available on rent to farmers through these

custom hiring centres, he said.

Rabi sowing may drop 20% as cash crunch hits Maharashtra farmers

Maharashtra Chief Secretary Swadhin Kshatriya has issued instructions to state-

run seed distribution centres to accept scrapped currency notes of Rs 500.

Sowing in rabi season is likely to drop by at least 20 per cent in Maharashtra as

the sale of seeds and fertilisers is getting affected due to scrapping of Rs 500

and Rs 1000 banknotes, a senior agriculture department officer said on Friday.

“Sowing may drop by 20 per cent. Crops like wheat, tur and wheat are generally

sown in rabi areas, among which wheat is likely to be hit because its seeds are

largely distributed by private companies.

“The private retailers are not allowed to accept Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes that

are now scrapped. Hence, farmers are facing problems,” the officer told PTI.

While farmers can use Rs 500 notes for purchasing seeds from any state and

Central government outlets, agri universities, national or state seeds

corporations etc, private retailers and suppliers are not accepting the tender,

affecting the transactions.

Maharashtra Chief Secretary Swadhin Kshatriya has issued instructions to state-

run seed distribution centres to accept scrapped currency notes of Rs 500. “I

have issued instructions to the official concerned that the scrapped notes should

be accepted from farmers buying seeds,” he said.

Explaining the piquant situation on ground, a veteran farmer leader said that the

real problem for farmers lies in “halting of transactions” post demonetisation.

“The demand for seeds for current season is 7.72 lakh quintal in the state and

the availability in the market is as per the demand. The real problem lies in

transactions which are halted by the decision of demonetisation.

“The government-owned seed distribution centres run by Maharashtra State

Seed Corporation (Mahabeej) and National Corporation have very few centres

across the state. Most of them are located at district level. In such situation, the

farmers are forced to travel to district place to purchase the required seeds,” said

Raghunath Patil, a farmers’ leader from Sangli in western Maharashtra.

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