Indian farmers can take on the multinationals
Sharad Joshi, the well known, controversial farm leader from Maharashtra, outlines a new strategy for agriculture.
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State to form agri commission
The minister for agriculture, Mr N. Raghuveera Reddy, said an Agriculture Regulatory Commission would be appointed to decide payment of bonus for various crops in the state. Speaking to newsmen here on Thursday, he said that the state government has decided to pay minimum support price and bonus for various crops. Mr Raghuveera Reddy said the Chief Minister, Y.S. Rajasekhar Reddy, and he had studied various benefits being provided to farmers in China, Israel, America and other countries. The minister said the government has decided to directly pay bonus to farmers. He said subsidy and bonus would be directly credited to the bank accounts of farmers as was being done in other countries. The minister said the government would initiate a discussion on establishment of regulatory commission in Legislative Assembly and Council. After taking into consideration suggestions given by farmers unions, Opposition parties and experts, the government would take steps to help farmers, the minister added. He said a study was also being conducted to help tenant farmers, who were facing problems. The minister said for the first time in the country loans were being directly given to tenant farmers in the state. So far, loans were given to 75,000 tenant farmers in the state, he added. Mr Raghuveera Reddy said there were more tenant farmers in Prakasam district. He said 50,000 ideal farmers would be selected and 4,500 rythu sanghams would be formed in the state. The minister said specific plans would be formulated to strengthen agriculture from village-level. Mr Raghuveera Reddy said it was shameful for Telugu Desam (TD) leader N. Chandrababu Naidu to announce that he had a great plan to help farmers. The minister said that state farmers were unhappy with the statement of Mr Naidu, who during his nine-year-old rule had detested farmers. Mr Raghuveera Reddy said the Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) leaders had resigned from their posts due to fear that they would lose their existence in Telangana. He said the Congress was ready to face by-elections in the seats vacated by the TRS leaders and the party would abide by the decision of the people.
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Drowning In Human Excreta
Sanitation for urban India means building flush toilets and linking them to sewer systems. But the price of chasing this dream is leading to an environmental catastrophe. MANOJ NADKARNI analyses our flush and forget mindset
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Major battle for minor stuff
Trilbals dependent on the jungle's gifts fight it out in Bilaspur district
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Large prawn fisheries damage the Sundarbans
The entry of large business houses into the Sundarbans is not only jeopardising the interests of local fisherfolk, but also causing major ecological damage.
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The nature of human health
It's high time that we invested wisely in a robust environment, a prerequisite for public health
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Wielding the green whip
Mexico can't sell its "dolphin unfriendly" tuna to USA. Japan faces punishment for exporting jewellery made of hawksbill sea turtle shell. Malaysia is penalised for exporting rainforest wood. All over the world, green trade wars are raging. But trade ban
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Forget oil
Create a culture that places a premium on human power
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Ecologically mindless
The flush toilet system and the sewage system, which goes with modern day personal hygiene and cleanliness, are part of the environmental problem and not the solution. Consider the huge amount of clean water that is used to carry a small quantity of human
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Whither clean fuel?
A proposal to make diesel cleaner in the US is opposed by the oil industry
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Global Sustainable Development Goals: The Unresolved Questions for Rio+20
<p><span style="font-size:12px;"><span style="font-family: verdana,geneva,sans-serif;">Preparations for the Rio+20 United Nations conference on sustainable development have begun, but the first round of
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Cloudy days for solar cooker
Subsidy amounts and sales figures may not always be indicators of commercial success. After a decade old promotion campaign, only a few Indians own solar cookers and fewer still use them. Is the design, which is incompatible to Indian conditions, t
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'Developmental aid is part of neocolonialism'
Although RAY WIJEWARDENE, 71, holds degrees in engineering and aeronautics from Cambridge, is a Doctor of Science (Honorls causa) from Sri Lanka"s technological university in Moratuwa and has received numerous awards. including the fellowsh
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Tribals sow, MNCs reap
EIGHTY per cent of the world's population depends on indigenous knowledge to meet their medicinal needs, and at least half rely on indigenous knowledge and crops for food supplies, according to a
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Lost in the deep woods
IT'S a bit less than a conspiracy, a bit more than a fetish. Five international organisations have made forest conservation their overriding priority. The gigantic United Nations bureaucracy based in
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Coming to grips with survival
Moulded plastic handles enable the farmers of the Tahirpur leprosy colony in Delhi to harvest high yields
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THE INDUSTRIAL TOWNS
LUDHIANA Ludhiana"s problem is that of plenty. This industrial town has a per capita income of Rs 30,000, almost 30 times more the per capita income of the state of Bihar which is only Rs 1,067.
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Will loan waiver address farm distress?
It will provide only short-term relief THERE arefour crore small and marginal farmers who are unable to repay their crop loans to the banks. The Rs 60,000-crore budgetary allocation for waiving their loans will now enable a farmer to go back to the same bank, apply for another loan and await either of these two outcomes: a good crop or another loan waiver. While the gesture provides farmers relief in the short term, it would be harmful for the economy, especially the farm economy, in the long run. If we take the risk versus reward incentive out of an economic activity such as agribusiness, the enterprise quotient diminishes and hinders both growth and innovation.These key attributes, along with structural reforms and investment in agri-infrastructure, are needed to raise agricultural productivity and maintain the growth trajectory of the economy. The question we need to ask ourselves is why these farmers have not been able to repay their crop loans. Can Rs 15,000-per-farmer reward help them produce a better crop in the next season? The answer sadly is No. Small farmers face two main challenges: meeting their input needs (seeds, pesticides) and dealing with the weather risks to their crops. Issuance of input coupons for purchase of quality inputs for the next season would have been more beneficial. Bad weather plays havoc with agriculture. Dealing with weather risk calls for appropriate risk management tools such as weather insurance. This requires a network of weather stations at the block level for timely collation of data, a basic requirement for weather insurance products. Establishing a network of weather stations would have required only a fraction of the Rs 60,000 crore outlay. The budget will definitely encourage the creation of rural enterprises such as nurseries and cold chain establishment. The one-time budgetary assistance of Rs 75 crore for setting up mobile soil testing facilities is also a good step. However, the provision of Rs 60,000 crore for loan waiver which can at best provide short-term relief to farmers has robbed them of possible agri-infrastructure projects such as roads, marketing and storage facilities, and irrigation which could have yielded better returns on a sustainable basis. (*Country Head, Food & Agribusiness Strategic Advisory & Research) RAKESH TIKAIT Spokesman, Bhartiya Kissan Union It will not solve the deepening agri crisis THE Union budget 2008-09 is prima facie a pro-farmer budget, with the primary emphasis on writing off the loans of small and marginal farmers. It is a good step to provide instant relief to farmers who are heavily indebted, although it covers only 40% of total farmers. However, the debt relief will not solve the deepening agrarian distress. Nevertheless, we see the announcement of debt waiver as a victory of farmers' union, activists and pro-farmer media. It was a great battle and we are grateful that the finance minister took this step despite corporate pressure. We believe that this measure alone is not enough to address the farmers' problems. It is well known that the basic problem faced by farmers is their inability to get fair price for their produce. The policy makers have said nothing on this count. Nothing has also been said about ensuring better farm gate price for agriculture commodities or making available a price stabilisation fund to help farmers increase their income. The price offered for the commodities produced by them must not only fully cover their cost of production but also ensure livelihood security. Subsidy is another area of concern. Traders and producers are currently getting all the benefits while farmers have to suffer due to scarcity of fertiliser. The budget has also not made any announcement to strengthen the extension services of the ministry of agriculture to make it more relevant for the farmers. As a result, farmers are forced to depend on agents of pesticide and seed companies for technical advice. It seems that the government has made up its mind to hand over this system to the corporate sector. In this context, we are closely watching the Indo-US knowledge agreement and the multinational companies in seed business. In conclusion, although the budget is pro-farmer, the actual need of the Indian farmer is not just the removal of debt and interest. Many other important issues need to be addressed. These include access to market, fair price for produce, timely availability of fertilisers and seeds, direct subsidy and the public sector investment in agriculture business. We hope the government will consider all this in future. And the main need is to keep corporates far from farming business. K CHAKRAVARTHY Country Head* YES BANK
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Biochemicals sweep US free of petrochemicals
Growing environmental awareness is making the Americans switch from chemicals derived from fossil fuels to those made from plant matter.
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Heavy cotton
Following suicides by cotton farmers in various parts of the country, the National Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Delhi, the National Commission on Farmers and the Centre for Science and Environment, Delhi, organised a one-day meet. Institutional, soci