17.10.2015

Rs. 400 crore to set up a buffer stock of pulses

30,000 tonnes of tur and 10,000 tonnes of urad to be procured from farmers. Sending a strong signal to hoarders and speculators, the Centre on Friday announced its decision to set up a buffer stock of pulses from this year’s kharif marketing season at an estimated cost of Rs. 400 crore from the Price Stabilisation Fund. The government authorised the National Agriculture Cooperative Marketing Federation of India (NAFED) to procure — as and when pulses harvest comes in November and December— 30,000 tonnes of tur and 10,000 tonnes of urad from farmers at prevailing market rates and sell in the open market. This will be so that the farmers are not put at a disadvantage viz-a-viz the price of imported dal. The landed cost of tur, for instance, is around Rs. 69 per kg while the minimum support price is about Rs 46.25 per kg. Relief in sight For consumers relief may come within this week from tur and urad (dhuli) sold at around Rs. 120 per kg at Kendriya Bhandar and Safal outlets.

Otherwise, tur is selling at Rs. 180 per kg and urad at Rs 150 per kg in the open market. “We want to ensure that farmers get remunerative price for dals,” Minister of State for Agriculture Sanjeev Balyan said after a meeting with top officials. He ruled out the possibility of government stocking creating a shortfall in the market and affecting prices further. The Agriculture and Consumer Affairs secretaries later attended a meeting in the Prime Minister’s Office to review the situation. Mr. Balyan said half of the imported 5000 tonnes of tur and urad that have arrived will be sold in Chennai and Andhra Pradesh who have raised a demand and the rest in Delhi and Mumbai. Most states have not sought pulses imported on government account, depending on private importers to supply the market. The government agencies have floated tenders for another 2000 tonnes of pulses. Private importers are expected to purchase 4.1 million tonnes of pulses this year against 4.58 million tonnes imported last year. There is zero duty on pulses import as India is perpetually in short supply owning to traditional neglect of pulses production. The Minister said that there was an additional shortfall of two million tonnes of pulses this year as production last year was 17.38 million tonnes as against 19.20 million tonnes in 2013-14. This year pulses output is expected to be 18.32 million tonnes as against an average total demand of 22 million tonnes. Reaping riches from Gir cattle Progressive farmer benefits from dairy farming

The Gir variety of cattle reared by a progressive farmer in Deval Gangapur, in Afzalpur taluk in Kalaburagi district

When the farming community is in deep distress with traditional farming methods proving to be their nemesis, a progressive farmer at Deval Gangapur in drought-prone Afsalpur taluk in Kalaburagi district has shown a way to reap rewards by introducing innovations in traditional farming methods. Dattatreya Kollur, who was a pioneer in introducing solar power for irrigating his farm lands a couple of years back, has now shown a way for farmers in distress to make profit from dairying. Mr. Kollur is among the few farmers in the district who have successfully reared the Gir variety of cattle, found in parts of Rajasthan and Gujarat. The Gir variety of bullocks is known for its strength to work for hours in the agriculture field without rest and the cows are known for yielding record quantity of high-quality milk, with high percentage of fat and proteins. Mr. Kollur had visited Gujarat to purchase a pair of cattle of Gir variety a couple of years back, and has 16 hea d of cattle, comprisingng a dozen cows and four bullock to work in the agriculture field. Mr. Kollur, who is also a pioneer in introducing organic farming in his horticulture farm, does not use chemical fertiliser or pesticides. The dung and urine of the cattle is processed and recycled as manure and pesticide in the horticulture farm. Only organic fodder is fed to the cattle. “This has helped in getting high yield and the fat content in the milk is one of the highest in the region,” Mr. Kollur told The Hindu . His horticulture produce, including mango, guava, banana and other fruits, fetches good prices and are sought after in Bengaluru and Mumbai markets. Traders come directly to the farm of Mr. Kollur to purchase the produce at the price quoted by him. Along with this, milk byproducts fetch him a good profit. “Only 75 per cent of the milk is drawn daily from the cows, and the remaining 25 per cent is left back in the udders for the calves… While a

portion of the milk is sold in the local market, most of it is processed to prepare shrikand, basundi and ghee,” he adds. Mr. Kollur sells the ghee, made using traditional methods, at Rs. 1,500 a kg. It is highly sought after by companies making Ayurvedic medicines. KVK popularising new strains of paddy ‘TKM-13’ and ‘Co-50’ are being promoted as alternative to deluxe Ponni variety The Krishi Vigya Kendra has taken up a special drive for popularising the ‘TKM-13’ and ‘Co-50’ paddy varieties as an alternative to the much sought-after deluxe Ponni variety this samba season. Most farmers raise the deluxe Ponni every samba season in the district. Although it is a profit-based and ensures assured returns through immediate marketability, the crop is more prone to pest attack, particularly because of increase in humidity during Margazhi. Hence, the Krishi Vigyan Kendra has taken the initiative to popularise the “TKM-13” and “Co-50” paddy varieties by setting up demonstration plots in select villages across the district. R.P. Gnanamalar, Professor and Head of the Krishi Vigyan Kendra, said the “TKM 13” variety, with a duration of 130 days, was ideally suited for “samba” season. Its average yield was 6.33 tonnes a hectare. It was free from pest attack and diseases. She has appealed to farmers to go in for the alternative crops to ensure profitability. Training for milk society heads today The Shivamogga Milk Union Ltd., a unit of the Karnataka Milk Federation, has organised a training programme for presidents and secretaries of milk producers’ cooperative societies of Bhadravati taluk on its Machenahalli unit premises on October 17 at 10.30 a.m.

The former president of Karnataka State Cooperative Apex Bank R.M. Manjunatha Gowda will inaugurate the programme. Coconut Board foresees rise in price next month The Coconut Development Board (CDB) predicts that the decrease in price of coconut oil and copra observed in recent days is expected to get reversed from the beginning of November, mainly due to a decline in production of coconut in major southern States because of poor monsoon this year. At the same time, demand for coconut oil from north Indian markets is increasing because of the festive season, says the CDB in a statement on Friday. “In Kerala, a spurt in demand for coconut is expected with the Sabarimala pilgrimage season starting by mid-November.” The statement said that export of coconut value-added products recorded an increase of 5 per cent in the first half of this fiscal compared to the corresponding period last year, which shows that more coconut is diverted for the manufacture of value-added products. At the same time, the import duty on crude edible oils was hiked from 7.5 per cent to 12.5 per cent and that of refined edible oils from 15 per cent to 20 per cent from September. That will bring down edible oil imports, which will lead to a rise in demand of domestically produced edible oils such as coconut oil, which in turn will push up the prices of the latter oils, the statement said. Also, arrival of coconut, copra and coconut oil are expected to be low from Kerala and Tamil Nadu, because of the start of northeast monsoon in full swing from next week. The CDB calls upon farmers to engage in primary processing of the produce. Coconut producer companies should concentrate on manufacture of good quality, non-adulterated branded coconut and virgin coconut oil. Further,

there is great potential for coconut milk, which ensures three to four times income from coconut. The statement says it is high time that the farmers focussed attention on value-addition to tap the new opportunities emerging and earn better price for the produce. ‘Seed Capital needs 1,500 mw’ Energy Secretary says a plan being prepared to meet demand Since land is clearly going to be precious in the future capital Amaravati, power sub-stations in the city will be indoor and most of the cabling underground. The Department of Energy has estimated that the seed capital of Andhra Pradesh will require 1,500 mw of power. A detailed plan to meet this requirement is being prepared. To minimise the carbon footprint, there will be green buildings compliant with the Energy Conservation Building Code and the norms laid down by the National Mission for Enhanced Energy Efficiency. Energy secretary Ajay Jain told media personnel on Friday that the AP Southern Power Distribution Company is contemplating underground cable network to render world-class service to consumers in the capital city. He also disclosed that Rs. 100 crore has been sanctioned for laying underground power cables to electrify all the major Krishna river ghats in Vijayawada for the Krishna Pushkaram festivities next year. Mr. Jain said tenders for underground cabling in Visakhapatnam, which is expected to cost Rs. 700 crore, would be invited by the year-end.

Bids for providing electricity to 4.50 lakh unconnected households in Andhra Pradesh under the Deendayal Upadhyaya Gram Jyoti Yojana would be called soon. An online system that would check the scale of power supply interruptions in the areas served by the Southern Power Distribution Company Limited (SPDCL) would be commissioned in a month against the backdrop of the State’s claim to supplying quality power round-the-clock. A similar system introduced in EPDCL revealed that there was an average disruption of 15 minutes a day in Visakhapatnam district and up to 25 minutes in Srikakulam district. EPDCL has the lowest aggregate technical and commercial (AT&C) loss (5.3 per cent) of power in the country. Andhra Pradesh stood first with 10.54 per cent AT&C. This is targeted to be brought down to 9 per cent by the end of 2015. Mr. Jain said gas-based power plants in the State were getting two MMSCMD of gas from the central pool.

· Ajay Jain says Rs. 100 crore has been sanctioned for laying underground power cables to electrify all the major Krishna river ghats in Vijayawada · An online system that will check the scale of power supply interruptions in the areas served by the SPDCL will be commissioned in a month

An online system that will check the scale of power supply interruptions in the areas served by the Southern Power Distribution Company Limited (SPDCL) will be commissioned in a month against the backdrop of the State’s claim to supplying quality power round-the-clock

Dal costs too high: Why the government should have its finger on the pulse crisis Only 15 per cent of the 25 million hectares area sown annually for pulses in India is irrigated, compared to 60 per cent for paddy and 90-95 per cent for wheat and sugarcane.

Punjab, Haryana and western Maharashtra farmers need to be induced to grow pulses. We have a ridiculous situation today of ‘premium’ Pusa basmati paddy trading below the minimum support price (MSP) for ‘regular’ parmal varieties, even while consumers are paying Rs 160-plus per kg for arhar/tur (pigeon-pea), Rs 125-plus for urad (black gram) and Rs 110-plus for moong (green gram) dal. For those who don’t see the connection, here are some facts. Pulses are “orphan crops”, largely cultivated in marginal lands prone to moisture stress. Only 15 per cent of the 25 million hectares area sown annually for pulses in India is irrigated, compared to 60 per cent for paddy and 90-95 per cent for wheat and sugarcane. Also, the moment farmers have access to irrigation, they tend to shift from chana to wheat or from arhar to paddy and cane. It is not surprising, therefore, that pulses cultivation is very much a gamble on the monsoon. Last year, the monsoon failed and, so, production fell to 17.20 million tonnes (mt) from 19.25 mt in 2013-14. Rainfall was deficient in the current season as well, impacting the arhar, urad and moong that farmers planted this kharif. Coming on top of the damage that unseasonal rains and hail in March did to the earlier rabi chana (chickpea) and masoor (lentil) crops, it has provided ample opportunity for speculators and traders – both domestic and international – to drive up prices.

There has been a similar firming up in landed (cost & freight) prices of Australian chana (chickpeas) from $640 to $780 a tonne.

There is an additional factor here. Unlike edible oils, wheat or sugar, pulses aren’t easily importable. India is the world’s largest producer and consumer of pulses. The annual global trade in pulses, at around 15 mt, is less than what the country produces. In 2014-15, India spent $ 2.79 billion for import of 4.58 mt. That included matar (yellow/green peas) and masoor from Canada and the US; moong and urad from Myanmar; arhar from Myanmar, Tanzania and Mozambique; and chana from Australia and Russia. Clearly, there are limits to how much a predominantly non-vegetarian world can supply to a country with a significant population that derives its protein requirements mainly from pulses. In such a situation, any domestic production shortfall would only lead to a flare up in international prices. We are actually seeing this: landed prices of imported arhar are now around $ 2,100 per tonne, as against $ 700-800 a year ago, while similarly soaring from $ 900 to $ 1,850-1,900 for urad. This, in an otherwise bearish global market for agri-commodities. How does this link up with basmati losing its premium tag? The answer is simple: India is producing too much rice, be it basmati or otherwise. Rice stocks in public warehouses, at 14.2 mt as on October 1, are way above the required minimum normative buffer of 8.25 mt at the start of the new marketing season. The same goes for wheat where inventories of 32.5 mt are nearly twice the necessary 17.5 mt. Similarly, even as crushing for the new sugar season is set to commence, mills owe growers roughly Rs 12,000 crore for the cane they had supplied in 2014-15 – courtesy, a worldwide glut of the sweetener.

What we require today is a shift in crop area from surplus rice, wheat or sugarcane to pulses and oilseeds. The urgency is even more in pulses, where the scope to import is limited, unlike in edible oils. Such an area shift should take place primarily in irrigated areas where paddy, wheat and sugarcane have become the default cropping option for farmers.

Punjab, Haryana and western Maharashtra farmers need to be induced to grow pulses. This is also the only way to raise average pulse yields, which are an abysmal 750 kg per hectare. These can easily go up to over 2 tonnes under irrigated conditions and through use of high-yielding varieties/hybrids that are also pest and disease-resistant. But for this, farmers have to be guaranteed an assured market as in the case of paddy, wheat or sugarcane. The government should, in the next few days, announce a sharp MSP increase for chana and masoor to be planted in the coming rabi season. Moreover, it must commit to procure these pulses at the announced MSP. If over 28 mt of wheat and 32 mt of rice could be bought by government agencies last year, surely it is no big deal to procure 2-3 mt of pulses. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has recently said that the government plans to create a buffer stock for pulses “preferably by imports”. It is a bad idea that will only benefit importers and farmers in Canada or Australia. Pulses are better “made in India”. A buffer stock should be built by procuring from farmers here. And if 3-4 million hectares of irrigated paddy, wheat or sugarcane area can switch to pulses, there will be enough to procure as well.

Top 5 bizarre food trends of 2015

Year 2015 is already turning out to be an adventurous and attention-grabbing year for food and drinks. The culinary industry has been hard at work to find out-of-this-world and yet, delicious new ways to satisfy our hard-to-please palate. So get ready to say hello to these new whacky food trends you’ve probably never heard of: Butter Coffee

It’s time to shove the milk and put that dollop of butter in your early morning coffee. Haven’t you heard of this yet? Butter in your coffee! Sounds gross, right? Well, it’s the latest health fad introduced by the fans of the paleo diet. But, mind you. The butter has to be unsalted and the coffee beans have to be low-toxin, not the one you get on your supermarket shelves. Chaprah

This dish is made of red-hot and small ants. The ants also carry their eggs inside them. Basically people are known to fry them up, add a little bit of spice and sweeteners and wallah! They are ready to be served as chutney with any meal. Imagine having your French fries served with this red ant chutney.

Matcha This is green tea leaves ground into a powder, which is then either whisked into drinks or made into a soufflé’. The frothy, creamy tea is a drink that’s brimming with nutrients and is sure to grab a place in the stands of coffee shops and supermarket shelves near you. Kaniwa No, they aren’t quinoa but they are almost similar. However, Kaniwa contains significantly more iron, you never have to rinse it and it’s sweeter than your average quinoa. Asian Cuisine So far, it was Italian, modern American, Mexican and Lebanese cuisines, that were enjoying their time in the culinary limelight. This year is all about new takes on Asian flavours through pho and ramen, the tastiest Asian soups. The author is a food specialist at CyberChef, a Gurgaon-based chef designed virtual marketplace for home styled meals. Fast food linked to poor bone development in kids Living in a neighbourhood dotted with fast food outlets can be linked to poorer bone development in early childhood, a new report suggests.

Living in a neighbourhood dotted with fast food outlets can be linked to poorer bone development in early childhood, a new report suggests.

Living in a neighbourhood dotted with fast food outlets can be linked to poorer bone development in early childhood, a new report suggests. The researchers also found that greater neighbourhood access to healthy specialty stores is linked to higher bone mass in young children. “These findings suggest that the exposure of mothers and children to more healthy food environments might optimize childhood bone development through its influence on the quality of the maternal diet and dietary choices during childhood,” said study co-author Cyrus Cooper from the University of Southampton in Britain. The study looked at the bone mineral density (BMD) and bone mineral content (BMC) of 1,107 children at birth and at four and/or six years of age and compared the data to the number of supermarkets, healthy specialty stores and fast food outlets within a child’s neighbourhood. After adjustments for other variables, they found that greater access to fast food outlets was associated with lower BMD and BMC in newborns. “More extensive research is needed, but if confirmed in further studies, this would imply that action to improve the food environment could have benefits for childhood bone development,” Cooper said. The results of the study provide some evidence to support the introduction of zoning policies to increase the number of healthier food retailers and to decrease the number of fast food outlets within neighbourhoods. The study appeared in the journal Osteoporosis International.

Low crop leads to increase in prices of ‘quality’ tea An unusual weather pattern marked by an abundance of rainfall in May and June in Assam and huge drop in produce in Kenya has resulted in increase of prices of quality tea across country.

Around 550 million kg of tea is produced in Assam, of which around 17% tea is of premium and quality category. Due to the truant weather in north-east, the produce of premium and quality tea fell to 10%-12% from 17% thereby spiraling prices by Rs 20 - Rs 30 in wholesale this year in comparison to same time last year. "Buyers and producers had no option but to increase prices by Rs 8 - Rs 12 per kg of tea. In fact, in certain areas where the weather remained favorable, the producers did well as the packeteers had to pay substantially higher prices for procurement of quality teas," said Paras Desai, secretary, Western India Tea Dealer's Association (WITDA). The prices are further likely to go up. In the global scenario, Kenyan crop is behind by 49 million kgs up to July and this shortfall has resulted in bullishness in prices of average Kenyan teas by Rs 40 per kg upto August compared to last year. "Best quality teas in Africa are higher by Rs 60- Rs 80 per kg," added Desai. Desai further said that exports of tea from India are likely to fall by 10%-15% following fall of 20% in sales of FMCG products globally due to slowdown. Gujarat consumers to be hit Currently quality tea is selling in the range of Rs 350- Rs 450 per kg. The price rise will hit the consumers in Gujarat and Maharashtra more. The average per capita consumption of tea in India is 650 gram while in Gujarat it is around 800 gram per capita. Annual consumption of tea in Gujarat is 80 million kg, of which 45 million- 50 million is of quality tea. If we look at the price factor of tea, cost of 3 grams of tea consumed for making one cup of tea is just 12 paise while the rest comprises price of milk,

sugar, etc. Hence a consumer buying a kilogram of best quality of brands shall be paying Rs 350 to Rs 400 per kg costing 12paise per cup for a good cup of tea only as 3 gram per tea cup is used.

5 easy ways to get healthier instantly

The world is awash in information about health, so we'll keep this short and to the point. One thing we can say for sure is that we, as a species, have not mastered health.

Despite the claims of some, we don't have all the answers. Often we see conflicting opinions from equally qualified authorities.There is so much information out there about health, yet none of it is successful for everyone. We are each unique and react differently .This leaves many of us feeling overwhelmed and frustrated. It is also clear that many people are too narrowly focused on diet as the source of health.

There is so much more to being healthy than what you eat. Yes, it is important and plays a large role in our health but it is far from everything. You can have the best diet in the world and not be healthy . Fortunately , there are some things, which are universally beneficial and healthy and don't require you to purchase or acquire anything. So, to help you to tap into the other sources of health besides food, here are five easy (and free) ways to get healthier instantly . And these sources of vibrant health are yours for the using, at any time, and in any place.

SMILE One of the easiest and most effective ways to positively change the chemistry of your body is to smile. Numerous studies show the enormous benefits of smiling and laughter. It is one of the easiest control switches we have at our disposal. And it really is that simple -just smile. Do it again and again and it will become a habit, like anything else repeated. Create the habit of smiling and you programme your brain to feel happy and healthy.

TAKE SLOW, DEEP BREATHS

Common sense shows us that oxygen is clearly more crucial to our health than food or even water. You can live for weeks without food and days without water. But you can only survive minutes without oxygen. Your lungs fill up your ribcage, but many people never breathe deeply and the extremities of their lungs go unused. Research shows that shallow breathing can have numerous detrimental health affects, such as causing air sacs to close down, stiffening of the lungs and decreased oxygen intake. This reduces the amount of oxygen which you can get into your blood. Getting oxygen to your blood is about as important as it gets for health.One slow, deep breath can significantly increase the oxygen levels and vitality of your bloodstream.Imagine what five or 10 deep breaths could do. It is of the utmost importance to your health that you understand the power of breath.

STAND UP STRAIGHT

Common sense, as well as research, tells us the importance of maintaining a good, straight posture. Standing or sitting up straight, not only has physical health benefits, but can also improve your mood and energy .In addition, research has shown that having a good posture will actually change your body chemistry within minutes. When standing up straight, you decrease cortisol (which makes you stressed and nervous) and increase testosterone (which makes you feel strong and confident). By changing your posture, you can significantly change your health and change your moods. SCAN FOR STRESS

If modern medicine can agree on anything, it is that stress is one of the great (if not the great) cause of disease, pain and discomfort. The negative effects of stress are well known. Stress is a natural and instinctual reaction and is sometimes useful. However, consistent and prolonged stress wears down your body and mind, just as stress on a car causes wear and tear. An easy way to keep stress at bay (besides taking deep breaths) is to scan your body , from head to toe and check to see where you are unnecessarily tightening the muscles. One by one, consciously relax these areas. At first this may be difficult, because you may have been subconsciously flexing a muscle for months or even years. But persistence will create the new habit of relaxation and greater health.

THINK AND FEEL GOOD

Thoughts and emotions are the source and foundation of your attitude and experience of life.Habitual thoughts not only show up on your face but also influence your body . Positive thoughts have numerous health benefits and

negative thoughts can significantly harm your health.Thought is the true foundation of your health.

The more we study our mind, the more we come to realise that we have the ability to be in charge of what goes on within us.With a bit of practice, we can learn to direct and control our minds. And when we begin to do so, we will have taken a huge leap in improving not only our health, but our enjoyment of life itself.

Recipe: Three beans sundal

Whether it is kidney beans, black eye beans or soybeans, they are rich in fibre. They boast several health benefits including lowering cholesterol, blood pressure and helps in preventing piles. Beans sundal is quite a favourite in many households in Chennai. If you've just been trying to make each type of beans sundal separately, Chef Subrata Debnath of Hyatt Regency dishes out a sundal made with all the three types of beans. Check out the recipe...

Ingredients: Boiled red kidney bean - 75 grams Boiled black eye beans - 75 grams Drained baked beans - 100 grams Grated coconut - 50 grams Tomato chopped - 50 grams Diced bell pepper red and yellow - 50 grams Coriander leaf - a sprig Green chilli - 2 Lemon juice - to taste for the seasoning Oil - 100 ml Mustard seeds - 1 tbsp Urad dal (split variety) - 5 gms Red chilli - 2 Hing - a pinch Preparation: - Wash and soak both the beans overnight or for 7-8 hours. Cook red kidney and black eye beans rajma with a little salt and water. Keep it aside. - Drain the baked beans, wash and keep aside. aside. Method: - Heat oil in a pan, add mustard seeds, when it splutters, add urad dal, red chillies, hing, green chilli and curry leaves. - Saute until dal turns golden brown. Then add the tomatoes, diced bell peppers and all three beans. Add salt if required and lemon juice. - Saute for a few seconds, add grated coconut, mix well and remove from heat. Garnish with chopped fresh coriander and sliced coconut pieces.

Centre to create 40,000 tonnes of buffer stock of pulses to combat price rise Months of a sustained price rise for pulses – a key protein source for a large number of Indians – has prompted the Centre to adopt a forward-looking approach to keep rates in check. Minister of State for Agriculture Sanjeev Balyan announced on Friday that the government will purchase 30,000 tonnes of tur and 10,000 tonnes of urad through the National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India (Nafed) to create a buffer stock. Procurement costs The pulses will be purchased from farmers at market rates. While the new urad crop arrivals are expected in November, tur will only reach the markets by mid-December to early-January. Nafed’s procurement and storage costs will be borne through the ₹500-crore Price Stabilisation Fund. “This is a first step and will benefit both farmers, who will get prevailing market rate, and consumers who will see prices being affordable since it will be controlled,” said Balyan. The average wholesale price of tur stood at ₹13,800/quintal in New Delhi on Friday, ₹2,000 higher than a month ago. Average spot price for urad was at ₹11,250 – up 39 per cent from six months ago. “We don’t expect prices to remain this high when the new crops come into the market. Generally, rates fall almost to minimum support price levels at the time of arrivals,” he added. Consumers have been paying ₹158/kg on average for tur although higher prices were reported across stores in New Delhi. Reports indicated prices having shot up to ₹190/kg in other parts of the country. New crop arrivals

The Minister blamed the price spurt on a 2 million tonnes (mt) shortfall in pulses production in 2014-15 and market manipulation by private traders. Trade sources told BusinessLine that retail prices of tur were not expected to reduce till the new crop arrives even with the government importing the pulse. It has imported about 5,000 tonnes of tur through the MMTC Ltd. so far with 2,500 tonnes each lying at the Chennai and JNPT Mumbai ports. Contracts for the purchase of a further 2,000 tonnes is likely to be finalised soon. Around 1,000 tonnes from JNPT is expected to reach New Delhi soon. “The stock at the Chennai will service Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh, the only States to have asked for stocks so far. From the stock in Mumbai, 1,000 tonnes is expected to reach Delhi and will be sold at Safal stores at ₹120-130/kg,” Balyan explained. Data sheet Overall imports for 2015-16 are pegged at 4.1 million tonnes (mt), lower than the 4.58 mt purchased in 2014-15. Domestic consumption is estimated 22 mt annually. Total domestic pulses production is estimated at 18.32 mt, with tur output likely to be lower than last year, while moong and urad production is expected to increase. Crop sowing up With 99 per cent of kharif sowing complete, area under the season’s crops is 1.3 per cent higher at 1,038.81 lakh hectares (lh) than at the same time last year, according to the latest estimates released by the Agriculture Ministry. While rice acreage has declined marginally, coverage by pulses is up about 12.5 per cent, led mainly by moong and urad sowing. Area under soyabean, the season’s main oilseed, is up nearly 6 per cent, but cotton, jute and mesta acreages continue to remain below last year’s figures.

Cotton wilts as arrivals rise

Cotton prices moved down as arrivals increased. Moreover, slow demand for cottonseed from oil mills also pressurised the price. Kapas or raw cotton was down on slow ginning demand. Gujarat Sankar-6 new cotton was traded down by ₹200 to ₹32,500-33,000 per candy of 356 kg and old cotton was quoted at ₹33,000-500. About 15,000-20,000 bales of 170 kg each arrived in Gujarat and 55,000 bales arrived in India. Cottonseed lost ₹10 to ₹455-460 per 20 kg. According to traders, cotton price may decline further this week on higher inflow. Kapas was quoted down ₹10 to ₹830-860 per 20 kg and gin delivery kapas stood at ₹880-900. Multi-pronged strategy needed to manage volatile onion prices: NITI Aayog member

The volatility in onion prices can be managed through a multi pronged strategy including creation of adequate public stocks, extension of the right technology, spread of onion-farming in other states such as UP and gathering appropriate market intelligence, said Ramesh Chand, Member, Niti Aayog. “The primary factor for triggering abnormal hike in prices is production shock generally caused by weather related events. Studies show that this situation is aggravated by further exploitation by a section of traders and middlemen through stocking and market manipulations,” Chand said in a blog post published on the web-site of Niti Aayog on Friday. In order to reduce the effect of weather shock, concentration in area under onion cultivation in six states needs to be diluted by promoting onion cultivation in other states like Uttar Pradesh. The other possibility is to popularise onion production in the kharif season, he said. These changes will require suitable varieties for new areas. While some varieties are already available, they need further improvement. “ICAR and other research organisations and private sector R&D firms have an important role to play in it. Efforts will also be needed from extension agencies of states and central government to take these technologies to farmers,” Chand added. Besides Central agencies like NAFED, state level agencies should also be involved in stock holding to hold larger volume and to have larger coverage of stabilisation. Beside physical stabilisation it will also keep check on exploitation and market manipulation by private trade, the blog post pointed out. While stabilisation through trade is another option, but Chand said that it would be costly and serve a limited purpose as India itself is a major onion exporting country. He added that public agencies like Directorate of Economics and Statistics in the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare should constantly monitor crop area, conditions and prices to know about the undercurrent and evolving market changes. “It should also develop reliable price forecast model and come up with early warning systems to enable the government to

take appropriate measures in advance like procurement, regulating export, arranging imports and putting check on hoardings,” he said. South-West monsoon may exit country through the weekend The India Met Department has said that conditions are favourable for withdrawal of the South-West monsoon from remaining parts of East and North-East India and the peninsula during the next three days. The South-West monsoon has outlived its tenure by a full 15 days now and its spirited resistance is now confined to the above-mentioned parts of the country. Wind flow trend The south-westerly winds over land and sea have to reverse to become easterly-to-north-easterly to bring the northeast monsoon over the Bay of Bengal and adjoining peninsular India. Winds have in fact turned to weak north easterlies but will be forced back to being south-westerly over the Bay thanks to the influence of latest typhoon ‘Koppu’ in the Northwest Pacific. ‘Koppu’ was located 620 km east of Manila on Friday evening (IST) and had slightly increased its speed of lateral movement compared to the morning. The typhoon will grow in intensity until the landfall happens expectedly by midnight of Saturday; it will weaken on impact but a remnant will steer towards north to Taiwan and further to Southeast China. Second typhoon A forecast by the US Joint Typhoon Warning Centre depicts ‘Koppu’ negotiating the East China Sea by Wednesday next, half way to Taiwan. This would mean that the flows over the Bay of Bengal would stay south-westerly for as long; even longer, considering that the ultimate landfalls are over Taiwan and Southeast China.

There is a second typhoon, named ‘Champi’ located even farther out into the West Pacific, which is expected to veer off course towards Japan much before it can reach anywhere near the Philippines. ‘Koppu,’ and to a lesser extent, ‘Champi’ would impact the wind flows over the Bay of Bengal, which are just about turning north-easterly as is what is seasonally expected. Rains likely These flows will be progressively forced to turn clockwise to feed the twin typhoons in the Pacific; the net-effect is that the onset of the North-East monsoon would be delayed. The flows would have to turn even more clockwise to become easterly over the Bay and the winds have to pick up the required speed to precipitate the onset of the North-East monsoon over Tamil Nadu. IMD sees the rains spreading out over the peninsula from Wednesday (October 21). But wind field projections made by it show the winds to be south-westerly around the time; which goes to mean that the rains would be in the form of typical thundershowers during the monsoon transition phase.

Maggi passes safety test Nestlé is set to resume manufacturing Maggi instant noodles in the country after three government-accredited laboratories found samples safe for human consumption. The laboratories nominated by the Bombay High Court found lead below permissible limits in all 90 samples of six variants of Maggi noodles sent for testing, Nestlé India said in a statement on Friday, adding actual sale would start “only after the newly manufactured products are also cleared by the designated three laboratories”.

The Bombay High Court had on August 13 struck down a Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) ban on Maggi noodles and ordered fresh tests. The Nestlé India stock surged 6.06 per cent on Friday to close at Rs 6,580.10 on the BSE, crossing the Rs 6,500 mark after more than two months. “We are happy that the results from these three labs specified by the Bombay High Court confirm that the samples are clear and Maggi noodles are safe. Nestlé has conducted about 3,500 tests, representing over 200 million packs, at both national and international accredited laboratories and all reports are clear,” the company said. Sources said the company was now deciding which of its plants would resume Maggi production. It has been conducting quality checks on suppliers for a while. “Nestlé executives visited our facility a few days ago to check the quality of our products. They assured us about Maggi’s comeback,” said Paras Budhiraja, director of Paras Spices, the largest supplier of spices to Nestlé. “Re-starting the manufacturing process and bringing Maggi noodles to the market is a lengthy and complex process, which requires alignment with several stakeholders, including our suppliers, distributors and retailers. Five of our eight plants have the capacity to manufacture Maggi noodles and all of these use state-of-the-art technology, follow the same stringent standards, are FSSC 22000-certified and all Nestlé India plants maintain the same high quality. Now that we have received the test results mandated by the Bombay High Court, we will evaluate where we can accelerate the process of re-starting under the current circumstances,” said a Nestlé India spokesperson. Nestlé could start manufacturing noodles immediately but bans by various state authorities will have to be addressed. “Uttarakhand, Punjab and Himachal Pradesh had banned production, storage and sale of Maggi. We have to look into the technicalities before deciding on the plant where we can start manufacturing,” said a Nestlé executive.

The company manufactures Maggi noodles in plants in Moga (Punjab), Nanjangud (Karnataka), Bicholim (Goa), Tahliwal (Himachal Pradesh) and Pantnagar (Uttarakhand). Since Nestlé brought in a new managing director, Suresh Narayanan, in August, its focus on promoting Maggi noodles has increased. Immediately after the Bombay High Court order, the company came up with ‘missyoumaggi’ teaser advertisements on YouTube, followed by a campaign on television and digital media highlighting the trust Nestlé had enjoyed in India for about 100 years. Nestlé stopped manufacturing Maggi noodles on June 5, when an order of recall was issued by the FSSAI on its production, storage, sales and export. The company had to incinerate about 30,000 tonnes of stocks at 11 cement plants across the country. After manufacturing new batches, Nestlé must have these tested at three laboratories in Mohali, Hyderabad and Jaipur, accredited with the National Accreditation Board for Testing and Calibration Laboratories, for a safety report before it can start selling Maggi noodles. Satish Srinivasan, factory manager of Nestlé’s Moga plant, had earlier told Business Standard once the go-ahead was received, it would take 14 days to make Maggi noodles available in the market. Asked about the possibility of Maggi noodles returning to the market, the Nestlé spokesperson said, “We are looking at completing the process as soon as possible.” Repeated calls and messages to FSSAI officials did not receive any response. Pulses buffer stock: Govt to get going next month Centre decides to create one of 40,000 tonnes, via direct purchase from farmers by Nafed; scheme gets Rs 200 cr for now

The government plans a buffer stock of 30,000 tonnes of tur or arhar (pigeon pea) and 10,000 tonnes of urad (black gram) by purchase from farmers at market rates. National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation (Nafed) will start purchasing next month. In the longer run, Food Corporation of India (FCI) could be got to do so for the government. The stock will be liquidated as and when the retail price of pulses rises, either through the Centre’s own retailing arms or via states. The pulses will be sold to consumers at prices lower than the market rates, at a no profit, no loss basis. India’s annual shortfall between pulses’ production and consumption is four to five million tonnes, met through import. Nafed and other agencies have been allocated Rs 200 crore from the newly created Price Stabilisation Fund (PSF) to undertake this purchase and sale operation. “From November, the new urad crop will start arriving in the market, while new tur will start coming from December. We have directed Nafed to purchase on behalf of the central government for creation of the buffer stock,” minister of state for agriculture Sanjeev Kumar Balyan told reporters after a meeting to discuss the prices of pulses. “The proposal has also been moved to allow FCI to procure pulses on behalf of the government.” In the next few days, Kendriya Bhandar and Mother Dairy’s Safal outlets would sell imported tur at Rs 120-130 a kg in Delhi, said Balyan.

The meeting was called in the backdrop of a sharp rise in the price of tur and arhar across the country, retailing at even Rs 200 a kg in some parts. Earlier this week, an inter-ministerial group headed by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley had decided to create a buffer stock of pulses, preferably through import. The Group also decided to use the PSF to boost supply and

check prices. Retail prices of tur dal have risen up to Rs 190 a kg in many parts, from Rs 85 a kg a year before. Urad prices rose to Rs 190 a kg from Rs 100 a kg in the year-ago period. Prices have risen due to less production in the 2014-15 season, with damage to the standing crop in this year’s rabi season and also drought in some parts during kharif 2015. India is expected to produce 17.4 million tonnes in 2014-15 (July to June), almost 10 per cent less than in 2013-14. Production in the 2015-16 crop year is expected to be 18.3 mt. In 2014-15, imports were 4.6 mt; in 2015-16, this is expected at 4.1 mt, mostly through private traders. The Centre recently imported around 5,000 tonnes, of which half will be delivered to Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh.

The Congress party said it criticised the Centre’s move to observe World Food Day at a time when pulses’ prices were rising sharply. “We want to ask the prime minister and ruling party if Indians have a right to food and nutrition,” party spokesperson Rita Bahuguna Joshi told reporters.