DANGEROUS SIGNALS

The rapid decline of Agricultural growth in Orissa has worried the planning commission. According to the latest estimate of planning commission the agri growth has deaccelerated to -0.86% as compared to 2008-09 (0.14%) & 2007-08 (4.71%) As a result of which the 11th 5 yr plan of achieving a 3% agri growth rate seems far fetched .The food grain production has also shown a declining trend from 81,44,000 MT in 2007-08 to 73,93,000MT in 2008-09 Out of this foodgrain production almost 90% is contributed by paddy where the per hectre yeild is just 15.29 quintal as compared to the national yeild of 21.86 quintal per hectre Apart from the problems associated with Nature,the poor irrigation facilities have accentuated the problems further.In this scenario the State Government desire to diversify the cropping pattern from purely paddy based to other crops is desirable .The recent thrust on Maize,Mustard,pulses & oil seeds like groundnut,sunflower& sesamum would bring about the much needed flexibility.In addition to this the seed replacement ratio & marketibility are also the crucial aspects of the Agri production systems which should be taken care of at the earliest . The time has also come to review & analyse the irrigation programmes & increase the public investment in this crucial sector. Similarly concerted action need to be taken in the Animal husbandry & fishries sector which is somehow not getting the desired attention which it ought to. Given the seriousness of the situation a white paper strategising the objectives,goals & time frame wont be a bad idea either.

SESAME MAGIC

Sesame is grown in many parts of the world and the major being India,Myanmar,Sudan,Ethiopia,Uganda & Nigeria In general the paler varieties of Sesame are preferred in West&Middle-east the Black varieties in Far-East Sesame seeds are basically used for breads including burger,salad dressings & sweets More importantly sesame oil is one of the oldest edible oil to be used by the human beings Asia produces 64% of worlds supply of seeds and Africa contributing the balance 31% There is a growing demand for sesame primarily because of its nutritional and medicinal value which has seen a rise in imports to the extent of 88% in the last 15 years worldwide Much of it has been due to China turning from a net exporter to one of the largest importer in addition to USA,Europe ,Korea,Japan & Middle-East. My cooperative GVCL for the first time entered into cultivation of white sesamum in 2006 in Puri district in collaboration with NABARD,has continuously enlarged the cultivation of this minor oilseed. The recent decision to go for cultivation in 3200 acres in Puri &Malkangiri district in PPP mode with Government of Odisha is a move towards a much needed diversification.More importantly this cultivation is being taken up as a third crop,when the lands are generally idle.The good thing about sesame cultivation is very low per acre expenses as compared to other crops,which results in adequate return for the farmers .On an average a farmer can earn upto minimum Rs10000/ per acre and marketability of the produce is good The oil content of sesame is generally high so local crushers can help the farmers get good return on the invested capital The current arrangement with Government of Odisha is free input distribution,training the farmers & more importantly buying the produce from the farmers at MSP . This would at a later point of time lead to commercialization with banks already showing interest for this crop Given the present circumstances this can be another attractive option for the poor farmers of the state.

ONION TEARS

The spiraling prices of onion has once again questioned the rationality of decision makers at Krushibhawan. The union Agricultural minister and the NAFED chairman are talking at cross purpose,with the former blaming it on the unseasonal rains and the latter denying it The fact of the matter is that onion has a very minimal share in our overall Agricultural production scenario.With just 10 million tonnes of production it is not considered as a major crop But the political overtones of this crop is immense. It is a fact that unseasonal rains and eratic weather conditions have created adverse situations for various crops including onion. But the Government never took people into confidence and gave a sense of misplaced optimism that everything is right. Infact the appreciatory trend has been visible since last two months But it allowed the situation to drift which gave ample time to the hoarders to have a field day The decision to ban export could have been taken a month back instead of now afterall onion export is notone of the priority area. But this sudden knee jerck reactions so very late in the day is further aggravating the already worsening situation.More importantly due to Global warming situation this indifferent pattern of behavior would be more regular in future times and our agri planners have to sit and find an effective solution not only to increase production and diversify agro products mix but also faster real time weather data,field situations and effective policy decisions accordingly.

FOOD INFLATION- A PERPETUAL WORRY

There is often the talk of Good Monsoon bringing down the prices and people expectation soar accordingly. But these kind of predictions given by the Governmental agencies & economists are finding few takers in recent times. People continue to struggle with high prices . But there is a fear that this trend would continue even in future times This can be attributed to the structural problems associated with Indian Agriculture and unavailibility of labor in the rural sector .Our production strategies have all along been skewed in favour of staples Production of diary products,meat,fruit & vegetable have lagged behind This has been further aggravated by lack of better facilities to store and transport perishable items Even in case of cereals the economic cost of procurement of Rice & Wheat has gone up by 40.2% and 35.96% respectively (TOI) In this context mention must be made of Government of Indias MSP policy By hiking the MSP regularly the Government has allowed the farmers to cultivate the MSP crops with other crops are given less importance In this context it has become a Zero sum game- one acre addition in one crop has led to the simultaneous reduction in which MSP is low So this has thwarted the much needed diversification . Apart from these structural problems,the input costs have gone up considerably in the last few years. Labour shortage for farming and low mechanization process in Indian Agriculture has further aggravated the problem The continuos hike of social net programmes like MNERAGA and state goverments scheme of cheap rice have already created a difficult situations in rural labor markets So we are witnessing a situation where investment by farmer is just not matching up with returns So falling production & the resultant spikes in the prices So the time has come to attend to these structural problems and expediate the mechanization process so that the much needed growth can be achieved It is easier said but the problems that we are in, there is no scope for soft peddling . Urgent & timely actions are the order of the day.

PROTEIN DELIGHT

There are chances of Eggs & Meat becoming more price friendly in coming months thanks to an anticipated bumper corn cultivation. According to an estimate corn production is likely to be over 20 million tonne up from last year's 17 million tonne In fact prices in futures market have already shown descending trend.Poultry industry is one of the major consumer of corn and consumes almost 60% of the total production & rest is contributed by the starch industry ,cattle feed &human consumption But the only worrying factor from the consumers point of view is the continuous rise of global corn prices due to the partial damage of crop due to bad weather conditions and increase in global demand .In that scenario if exports takes place from India in a substantial manner,then it can harden the prices in India But to many analysts this is most unlikely as availibility would be significantly more to neutralize any export led hardening But all this is more welcome from the farmers point of view as increased MSP (Rs 8800 per tonne) & profitability would lead more & more farmers to go for maize cultivation Already Maize acerage has crossed 72 lakh hectare Infact taking a cue from the national scenario the Odisha Government has taken a ambitious project of Maize cultivation in 30000 hectre Though the marketing arrangements & other micro details are still in the nascent stage,but still the attempt to diversify from paddy based cultivation to other profitable crops is most welcome Additionally it would help in the establishment of downstream projects leading to value addition which should be the utmost priority in the contemporary times

PROTEIN DELIGHT

There are chances of Eggs & Meat becoming more price friendly in coming months thanks to an anticipated bumper corn cultivation

Basmati surge

Recent damaging floods in Pakistan has revived the hopes of higher Indian basmati exports India exports around 3.2 million tonne basmati mainly to Europe and The Middle east but generally faces tough competition from Pakistan in the Price front According to a survey Pakistans Rice output is expected to decline by nearly 40% in 2010-11 Indias two important varieties Pusa &pusa 1121 are already quoting high by $30-70 But with major orders expected around october &november there is ever reason for the hardening of prices But all is not well in the basmati front with private testing laboratory in Europe pointing out high pestcide level in these exported rice And in addition to this countries like Iran and Saudi-Arabia who are the biggest importers of Indian Basmati have decided to promote their own variety and have stopped issuing licenses and also withdrawing subsidy to their importers So its the right time for the Government to take up all these problems which is supposed to affect the exports in coming months