28-12-2016

Karnataka Govt. announces support price for toor to counter drought, demonetisation

Following the crash in prices of toor in the open market, the State Cabinet has decided to procure the commodity from growers by paying a support price of ₹450 per quintal. With this, the farmers would get ₹5,500 per quintal of the pulse. Besides drought, the demonetisation of high value currencies has also adversely affected the procurement of the commodity in the market. Expected yield Briefing presspersons on the decisions taken at a Cabinet meeting presided by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah here on Tuesday, Law and Parliamentary Affairs T.B. Jayachandra said the crop was grown on 11 lakh hectares in Kalaburagi, Bidar, Raichur, and Yadgir, and around eight lakh tonnes of toor was expected. The Food Corporation of India (FCI) and the National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India Ltd. would procure the commodity from farmers. The Cabinet has also directed the State Food and Civil Supplies Department to procure the commodity at ₹5,500 per quintal. The Centre has fixed the Minimum Support Price for toor dal at ₹5,050. An additional ₹450 per quintal would cost the State exchequer ₹100 crore, Mr. Jayachandra said. Akrama-Sakrama With an eye on the next Assembly elections, the government has decided to reduce the fee for regularisation of unauthorised houses built on government lands in rural areas and small towns by up to 50 per cent.

It has already extended the December 20 deadline for submitting the applications for regularisation by one month (January 21). In rural areas, the fee for regularisation of constructions on sites of dimension 30 x 40ft has been reduced to ₹1,000 from the earlier ₹2,000. Similarly the fee for a 40 x 60ft site is ₹2,000 (earlier fixed at ₹4,000) and for 50 x 80ft has been fixed at ₹3,000(₹8,000). PLP for Erode released A potential-linked credit plan (PLP) of Rs. 9564.96 crore has been projected for Erode district during 2017-18 by NABARD (National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development). The plan reflects a 9.4 percent rise in credit flow over the current year. Releasing the plan at the district-level review meeting last week, District Collector S. Prabakar advised bankers to increase their target of medium and long-term credit for agriculture, saying there was good potential to promote horticulture, farm mechanisation, micro-irrigation systems, animal husbandry and inland fisheries. Assistant General Manager of Reserve Bank of India Saravanan said the credit-deposit ratio of all banks with a wide network of 381 branches was 98 per cent, well above the stipulated 60 percent. The credit flow potential for Rs. 3430.81 crore was projected for crop loan, Rs. 2447.70 crore for agriculture and allied sectors, Rs. 1854.40 crore for MSME, and Rs. 1831.04 crore for other priority sector. ‘Ensure enough stock of fodder and water in goshalas’ As Chitradurga district is facing severe drought, officials should maintain enough stock of fodder in goshalas to ensure that the animals get sufficient food and drinking water till the district gets rain, Deputy Commissioner Srirangaiah has said. Speaking at a meeting of district-level officers here on Tuesday, he said that officials of the Horticulture and Agriculture departments should take steps to stop transportation of fodder to other places and farmers should be given fodder kits to grow fodder on the banks of waterbodies. Owing to scanty rainfall in the last five years, tanks and lakes in the district had turned into open fields and land grabbers and farmers had encroached upon the land. The officials should take steps to clear the encroachments and fence the areas. The State government would provide financial help to clear the encroachments, Mr. Srirangaiah said.

The tahsildars should clear the encroachments on government properties such as schools, hospitals, school grounds and government buildings. If there was any problem, the tahsildars should submit a proposal to clear them, he said. The tahsildars should also identify blocks in taluks from where sand could be extracted and allot them to eligible persons as per government norms. Additional Deputy Commissioner P.N. Ravindra and Assistant Commissioner Raghavendra were present.

Coming soon, ‘Amul girl’ merchandise The adorable Amul girl could soon find her way into living rooms and kitchens, beyond the topical ads on newspapers with the dairy major mulling over launch of merchandise based on her. According to a top company official, once Amul takes a decision in the next two-three months, a range of items ranging from key rings to fridge magnets and polka dot frocks may be sold over its 8,000 Amul milk parlours across the country. “We will consider to come up with merchandise based around the Amul butter girl. We will take a final decision on this in the next two to three months,” Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation (GCMMF) Managing Director R S Sodhi said. GCMMF sells dairy products under the Amul brand. “We can bring many merchandise like key rings, cups and frocks. We can sell these merchandise through our over 8,000 milk parlours across the country,” he said. Sodhi was speaking at the book launch Amul India 3.0 here. The book was launched by eminent advertising and media personalities Santosh Desai, Indrajit Hazra, Rahul Da Cunha and Jai Arjun Singh. “We are known from the campaign. So we are happy,” Sodhi said, adding that the campaign, being run for the last 50 years, has huge credibility. “Amul girl has commented on everyone. Nobody has displayed anger. Amul girl is like daughter. We know what she is saying is correct,” Sodhi said. Amul India 3.0, the third edition, is a unique take on 50 years of India’s history, the highs and lows, through the eyes of the adorable little Amul poppet. Covering topical grounds and popular incidents from the contemporary context, this is the all new, comprehensively revised and updated edition. The

book has pieces by prominent writers, public figures and the subject of the hoardings themselves. Higher arrivals drag chana

Sluggish demand and improved arrival dragged chana prices by ₹200/quintal with chana (kanta) declining to ₹9,300-9,400, while chana (desi) ruled at ₹9,200, chana (mausmi) at ₹10,000, while chana (Kaktu) quoted at ₹9,500 a quintal respectively. Chana dal went for ₹10,800-900, chana dal (medium) at ₹11,400-500, while chana dal (bold) ruled at ₹12,400-500. Dollar chana ruled firm at ₹12,000 a quintal. Tamil Nadu keeps State Advised Price for cane flat at ₹2,850/tonne

Mills, farmers say the price is ‘unviable’ Sugarcane farmers and sugar mills have expressed disappointment over the Tamil Nadu government continuing to set a State Advised Price for sugarcane without consulting them.

Both sugar mills’ representatives and sugarcane farmers’ representatives said the government should opt for a tripartite meeting to arrive at a viable pricing based on a revenue-sharing formula. The State government announced on Tuesday that it had set a State Advised Price of ₹2,850 a tonne for sugarcane for 2016-17, taking into account the statutory Fair and Remunerative Price (FRP) of ₹2,300 a tonne set by the Centre and added ₹550 a tonne, including transport cost. Industry unhappy The price for the sugar season (October-September) is unchanged from last year. The sugar industry has expressed disappointment over this move as the price is unviable when seen in the context of low sugar prices. “Last season, the industry had agreed to pay the statutory price plus the transport cost, which worked out to about ₹2,450. The mills do not acknowledge the ‘advisory price’ announced by the State. This year they have decided to pay FRP, transport cost and an incentive of ₹125 taking the total to about ₹2,550,” said a mill representative. Palani G Periasamy, President, Southern Indian Sugar Mills Association, Tamil Nadu, which represents the private sector sugar mills in the State (it accounts for the lion’s share of sugar produced), said that with prices at about ₹3,300 a quintal, mills are barely covering the cost of production, if at all. Sales down Also, the VAT levied on sugar in Tamil Nadu makes it uncompetitive as compared with that of its neighbours, and demand has dropped. Demonetisation has also affected sales as sugar purchases are down. The only viable option is for the government to call a tripartite meeting and arrive at a pragmatic price based on a revenue sharing formula. This will help balance the interest of the farmers and mills, he said. Even the government-controlled cooperative and public sector mills have not been able to pay the SAP and owe farmers crores of rupees, he added. Hike needed A senior executive said sugar prices need to go up to ₹4,000 a quintal for the mills to pay the SAP. This ad-hoc arrangement by the State has to stop and a viable pricing formula based on sugar prices has to be set, he said.

In Maharashtra and Karnataka, cane prices are at ₹2,475 and ₹2,600 a tonne despite higher sugar yields. In Tamil Nadu, the sugar recovery percentage is lower at about 9 per cent due to the drought in recent years. Another industrialist said the State government has indicated in its statement that it will consider a tripartite meeting. This has to be done immediately. Private mills have declined to pay SAP since 2013-14. Tamil Nadu also has the lowest co-generation power tariff for electricity generated from sugarcane fibre. It is ₹4 a unit compared with ₹6.70 in Karnataka and ₹6 in UP. “A revenue sharing formula will expose why mills cannot pay the SAP,” he said. RV Giri, National President, Consortium of Indian Farmers Associations, said the State government has to call for a tripartite meeting to arrive at viable cane pricing. Tamil Nadu’s sugar output has halved to about 150 lakh tonnes in recent years. Co-operative mills are cash-strapped. MobiKwik to reach out to APMCs for easy cashless trading After powering digital payments for milk cooperative - Amul, mobile wallet player, MobiKwik is now looking to power Agricultural Produce Market Committees (APMCs) in the State to facilitate smooth cashless transactions for agri commodities trading. The co-founder, Upasana Taku informed that the 7-year-old m-wallet player has laid out plans to further penetrate the market by covering rural market through its m-wallet services at APMCs and offline stores. To make it more user-friendly, the company has launched the app in Gujarati after earlier launching it in Hindi. "We had launched Hindi last month and Gujarati is the second language addition to the app. Soon we will power digital payments for APMCs, offline stores and also educational institutions," said Taku adding that the company has already started talks with premiere B-school, Indian Institute of Management-Ahmedabad (IIM-A) for offering cashless transactions on the campus. After the November 8 announcement of demonetisation of Rs. 500 and Rs. 1000 notes, MobiKwik has seen rapid surge in the transactions through mobile wallet. "We have seen 400 per cent rise in the transactions after the announcement. And about 30-35 per cent rise in the total registered users from 3.5 crore before

to about 4.5 crore now. As per the RBI data, we are the second largest mobile wallet player in the country," said Taku. The company, which has completed three rounds of fund raising with total $80 million since 2014, looks to turn to profit from 2018 onward. "Currently, we are spending about Rs. 20 crore every month for user acquisition and penetration in the market. The revenue model is 1-2 per cent commission from the merchants. We do not charge the customers," Taku informed. After the demonetisation announcement, new merchant sign-up in the small retail segment, which includes traders - has grown from 300 per day to 6000-8000 per day now. The average ticket size in this segment is Rs. 250 daily, whereas the mid-size segment has ticket size of about Rs. 2,500 per day. Mobile wallet transactions are estimated to leapfrog from Rs. 5,500 crore in 2015-16 to Rs. 30,000 crore in 2022. From However, currently, only 20% bank customers depend on digital transaction while 75% still go the traditional banking way. Base price for potato exports scrapped

The Centre has removed the minimum export price of $360 a tonne on potato imposed in July this year as domestic price of the vegetable has crashed across States. Many farmers blame the decline in prices on the cash crunch following the government’s demonetisation drive. While farmers have had a bumper potato crop, the demand is low due to lack of cash. “Potatoes (fresh or chilled) are permitted for export without any MEP,” stated a notification from the Directorate General of Foreign Trade circulated on Tuesday. The MEP was imposed when prices of the vegetable in the wholesale market in States like UP had increased to ₹15.25/kg. Now, farmers are getting only ₹1-3 per kg. Rubber body joins hands with Tripura University for imparting skill development programmes

All India Rubber Industries Association (AIRIA) has joined hands with Tripura University for imparting programmes in Rubber Technology. The purpose of the collaboration is to facilitate rubber education, rubber skills training and research co-operation between the two organisations in rubber technology and polymer science. The collaboration is a win-win industry-academia venture. It will make available trained personnel at various levels to meet the demand for manpower and accelerate the development of the industry. At the same time, the courses would enhance the employability of students of TU by equipping them with industry/business relevant skills, said Kamal K Chowdhury, the newly elected President of AIRIA said. The MoU will also provide the university access to industrial environments for applied and problem based research activities. Tripura University has already become an affiliated partner of Rubber Skill Development Council, the Sector Skill Council for rubber in the country, for rubber education and rubber skill development training, said Prof. Anjan Kr. Ghosh, Vice Chancellor Tripura University. Rubber industry is manpower intensive and currently two million people are directly employed in the industry, a large percentage of whom are unskilled. Coconut board gets trade enquiries at Foodex Saudi

Arab business community is keen to form joint ventures with Indian companies for setting up integrated coconut-based industries in Saudi Arabia. The business offers received at the recently concluded Foodex Saudi 2016 at Jeddah is a pointer towards this when the Coconut Development Board got a series of enquiries from the trade on several value-added products such as desiccated coconut powder, virgin coconut oil, Neera honey, and coconut sugar.

A CDB official, who participated in the event, told BusinessLine that there were good trade enquiries at the board’s pavilion on the export possibility of different branded value-added coconut products. The Arab community is highly aware of the health and wellness of coconut and this could be translated into a potential business for the export of coconut products in the entire West Asia. Many of the business groups have evinced interest in the import of de-husked nuts for making value-added products. In the first eight months of the current fiscal ending November, India had exported 631.22 tonnes of fresh coconut, 758.98 tonnes of coconut oil and 905.99 tonnes of desiccated coconut to Saudi Arabia. Besides, coconut oil, activated carbon and coconut chutney powder are finding new markets in Saudi. The number would further increase with the firming up of more export orders after the trade enquiries materialises into business contracts, the official said. Through Foodex, the board has succeeded in providing a base platform to achieve a wide range of customer base in Saudi Arabia, the official added.

Foodgrain output may scale peak next year, agriculture growth at 5.5% Government has allowed commercial cultivation of Bt cotton and there is moratorium on Bt brinjal

The agriculture sector is all set to bounce back leaving two years of drought behind and may well pull off record foodgrain output of 270 million tonnes in 2016-17 on good rains, but farmers' woes may continue due to adverse impact of notes ban and low sales realisation. The farm growth is estimated to rise at over 5 per cent this fiscal, from 1.2 per cent in the previous year, on the back of record kharif foodgrain production at 135 million tonnes (mt) and likely bumper output in the ongoing rabi season, helped by good monsoon in most parts of the country. "The agriculture sector has done well during the year. We received good monsoon after facing the drought year. Kharif in general was very good and rabi sowing has been brisk. We are hopeful of bumper production this year," Agriculture Secretary Shobhana Pattanayak told PTI in an interview. Although agri-experts have raised concerns about impact of demonetisation on rabi crops and the likely effect of forecast of warm winter on wheat crop, the secretary said the government is not "downgrading" the target for 2016-17 crop year. "Our target is to achieve foodgrain production of 270 million tonnes while our last peak production was 265.04 mt in 2013-14 crop year (July-June)," he said. "Agriculture sector growth was lower last year because of drought. But from that level, we will move higher." On farm sector growth, NITI Aayog Member Ramesh Chand said: "It will be spectacular growth after facing two drought years. We are expecting a growth of 5.5 per cent this year." The growth rate of agriculture and allied sectors will be 5.3 per cent even if wheat productivity throughout the country is lower by 3 per cent due to rise in temperature, he said. Asked about adverse impact of demonetisation on farmers, Pattanayak said there is not much impact as the credit system has been strong in rural areas and farmers have become more resilient over the years. "Our farmers have witnessed very strong drought in last two years and yet they have bounced back. I don't think it has really impacted," he said. However, farmers' organisations as well as former agriculture minister Sharad Pawar have expressed deep concern about impact of demonetisation, saying farmers are unable to buy quality seeds and fertilisers for their rabi crop and are also facing problems in selling crops for want of demand.

Despite record kharif production this year and expected good crop in the rabi season, farmers' conditions continue to be grim due to lower sales realisation, with domestic and global commodity prices staying depressed. The demonetisation of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes has also affected the domestic demand of fruits and vegetables, forcing farmers to sell their produce at throwaway price. About farmers' woes, agri-economist Ashok Gulati said: "This year, production is likely to bounce back and therefore, much better than last year. However, farmers are already under debt. And prices of cotton, basmati rice and, with demonetisation, many fresh fruits and vegetables are depressed. Because of that, despite higher production levels, farmers have not gained much. 2016 began on a sticky note as the country's overall foodgrain output remained flat at 252 mt in 2015-16 crop year due to second straight year of drought. Pulse output fell to 16.5 mt resulting in high prices for most part of the year that kept the government on its toes, which took various steps to cool prices and bring relief to consumers. The measures like domestic procurement and import to boost local supplies helped ease the prices of tur and urad from about Rs 200 a kg, but chana continues to rule high. As per the official estimate, wheat output rose to 93.55 mt, from 86 mt, but FCI's procurement fell sharply and domestic prices of wheat and its products began to rise towards the end of the year. The government scrapped import duties on wheat to boost domestic supply. To provide relief to farmers hit by the cash crunch, the government has given them an additional two months to repay their crop loans due in November-December and said prompt repayment will be eligible for the extra 3 per cent interest subsidy. The government had earlier allowed farmers to buy seeds through old Rs 500 notes from central and state-owned seed companies as well as from ICAR and central varsities. It had also asked fertiliser companies to sell soil nutrient on credit basis to farmers. To check food inflation, import duties on palm oils and potatoes were reduced. Stock limit on sugar mills were also imposed to check prices although improved domestic rates helped industry clear arrears to farmers. The year also saw the successful rollout of the landmark National Food Security Act (NFSA) across the country.

Programmes like new crop insurance scheme and eNAM to link all 585 mandis on an electronic trading platform were announced to augment farmers' income. In this year's budget, the government raised agri-credit by Rs 50,000 crore to Rs 9 lakh crore for the current fiscal and levied 0.5 per cent Krishi Kalyan cess on all taxable services to fund farm initiatives. Eminent scientist M S Swaminathan hailed the new schemes, but stressed on proper implementation. He also wanted the government to pay farmers 50 per cent more than the production cost as part of the minimum support price (MSP). Expressing concern over poor implementation of agri schemes, Gulati, the former chairman of the Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices, said: "The government should focus completely on agriculture and try to implement some of the programmes properly." The year also witnessed the government fixing the maximum retail price and royalty for cotton seeds, including Bt cotton, based on its order issued at the fag end of 2015. The move was opposed by biotechnology firms while the domestic seed manufacturers were in favour of the decision. Global biotechnology major Monsanto threatened to re-evaluate its India business. It plans to introduce new products, besides entering into the legal battle against this order. However, NCP supremo Pawar recently attacked the NDA government for taking such a move, saying "Indian agriculture is being brought back to licence and control raj which is detrimental to the growth of the sector". "The government of the day should not have hostility to improve systems and technologies," he said, adding that the government is overly "cautious" on the technology front. In May, the agriculture ministry had come out with a notification to regulate the cotton seed market with provisions for compulsory legislations and capping of royalty rates at up to 10 per cent of the retail price. But it was forced to withdraw this notification amid protest from biotech companies. Genetically modified (GM) mustard, developed by the Delhi University's Centre for Genetic Manipulation of Crop Plants, was in news throughout the year as regulatory body GEAC was vetting the proposal for commercial cultivation amid strong protest from green activists as well as RSS-backed Swadeshi Jagran Manch.

Amid uncertainty over the government's likely stand on GM crop cultivation, Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) Director General Trilochan Mohapatra said: "From the research side, the transgenic crop which we have developed should be ready, irrespective of whether the government will release them for commercial cultivation or not." Five transgenic crops -- brinjal, tomatoes, banana, castor, shorgum -- are ready for large-scale field trials (BRL1), he said, and many GM crops are ready for confined trials. It will be interesting to see the government's approach in the new year towards allowing cultivation of GM crops, particularly in food crops. At present, the government has allowed commercial cultivation of Bt cotton and there is moratorium on Bt brinjal due to protest from green activists. In 2017, the ongoing legal battle involving global MNC Monsanto, the government and the domestic seed industry will be keenly watched as the outcome will shape the future of regulations for selling GM seeds. Tamil Nadu fixes fair price at Rs 2,850 a tonne for sugarcane farmers This is Rs 550 over and above the Centre's fixed price at Rs 2,300 for the 2016-17 season

The Tamil Nadu government has said it will give Rs 550 a tonne over and above the Centre's fair and remunerative price (FRP) of Rs 2,300, to sugarcane farmers for the 2016-17 season. The FRP fixed for the 2016-17 season, which starts in October and ends in September next year, is the same as last year. However, industry sources said that the mills are already running at a loss of around Rs 1,350 crore, and the additional cost will be difficult to absorb, if it is passed on to them. They attributed stagnant production for the past three years

as the as the main reason behind the loss, saying that it led to lower capacity utilisation and increase in the cost of production. After chairing a meeting in Chennai today, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister O Panneerselvam said, taking the farmers welfare into consideration, the state fixed the FRP at Rs 2,850. This includes the Centre's of Rs 2,300, and other costs such as a contribution of Rs 100 towards transportation. In effect, the state's is an additional Rs 550 over the Centre's price. Mills in neighbouring Karnataka pay Rs 2,600, while Maharashtra, which is another major producer, pays Rs 2,475 per tonne. Tamil Nadu is among the top five sugarcane producing states, with 16 sugar mills in operation. Sugar production till December 15 this year was 75,000 tonnes, up from 60,000 tonnes produced by six sugar mills a year ago. The state has 25 private mills and 18 co-operative and public sector mills. According to industry sources, many of the co-operatives have not paid the Rs 2,850 per tonne fixed by the state government last year, since it was not viable. Panneerselvam noted when these co-operatives fail to pay the FRP in spite of getting government grants, it becomes difficult for private mills to make good the payment. Sugarcane production in the state has been hovering around 1.25-1.35 millon tonne during the past three seasons. The industry in Tamil Nadu has earlier produced 2.4 million tonnes of cane in 2011. The state has the capacity to produce three million tonnes, but there is no cane available. The chief executive officer of a mill said recovery in Tamil Nadu is the lowest, at around nine per cent, compared with 10-11 per cent in Karnataka and Maharashtra, since capacity utilisation is just 40-45 per cent in the state's mills. The industry has been asking the state to follow the Karnataka and Maharashtra revenue sharing formula when it comes to fixing up of the price. Meanwhile, the chief minister ordered the formation a committee consisting of mills, farmers and government representatives, to recommend the price for sugarcane.