Indian Agriculture and Agro-based Industry

ravar · Post by **ravar** » 28 Jul 2009 13:23

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/OPIN ... 826593.cms

Top Article: Food For Thought
Ambika Hiranandani, Salman Shaheen & Roland Miller McCall28 July 2009, 12:00am IST
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What do George Bernard Shaw, Percy Bysshe Shelley, Leo Tolstoy, Leonardo Da Vinci, Paul McCartney, and Pythagoras have in common? If your answer is
they're all towering figures of European culture, you're only half right. The answer is: they've all been passionate promoters of vegetarianism. While Pythagoras dealt with three straight lines, McCartney sang about the long and winding road. Indeed, the effort to promote vegetarianism has been a very long and very winding road. But with the former Beatle's initiative of meat-free Mondays, and the Belgian town of Ghent pledging to go vegetarian one day a week to do its share for the planet, the only direction that road is heading is forward.

While these laudable actions are finally grabbing headlines in the West, in India vegetarianism has quietly been a way of life for centuries. But, whereas in Europe and America vegetarianism goes hand in hand with liberalism and progressive values, the opposite seems true in India. It is almost as if meat eating is seen as an act of rebellion against 'orthodox' society, a sort of status symbol drawing on western ideals. With many Indians upwardly mobile, increase in purchasing power has seen a parallel rise in meat consumption. Unfortunately those who have turned non-vegetarian are often unaware of the direct causal relationship between what they eat and the poorest having nothing to eat. Put simply, over-consumption of meat directly contributes to world hunger.

India, where precious national parks are already under threat from illegal cattle-grazing, is the world's eighth largest producer of meat. Despite the sacred place cows occupy in Hindu culture, and despite the importance of buffaloes in agricultural work, India continues to churn out an annual 4.9 million tonnes of meat. Statistics compiled by the United Nations' Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) show that the total number of animals slaughtered for meat in India nearly doubled from 66,299,600 in 1980 to 106,239,000 in 2000. In a world increasingly facing scarcity with regard to basic human requirements, as evidenced all too clearly in last year's global food shortages, increasing meat production looks to be progressively unsustainable.

Rearing animals for human consumption is a grain-intensive process. According to Kaushik Basu, professor of economics at Cornell University, as the populations of India and China begin to consume more meat, an increasingly greater strain will be placed on grain supplies, exacerbating world hunger. It's a point also made very clearly by David Pimentel, professor of ecology at Cornell University: "If all the grain currently fed to livestock in the United States were consumed directly by people, the number of people who could be fed would be nearly 800 million."
Ksenia Glebova, a member of the Finnish Green Party turned vegetarian after volunteering in India. "The meat industry wastes huge quantities of food and water which are required to raise animals. Instead these resources could be used far more efficiently and equitably," comments Globova. Her call is supported by research from Cornell University, which reveals that for every kilogram of grain-fed beef, 100,000 litres of water are used. This finding is nothing new to animal rights organisations that believe alleviating the suffering of animals also helps alleviate human suffering.

Most crucially, as governments around the world struggle to lower their dependence on fossil fuels responsible for pumping millions of tonnes of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, we must also recognise the part played by our diet. The FAO has found that global livestock production constitutes 18 per cent of total greenhouse gas emissions. This figure is expected to more than double by 2050, precisely because of increased meat consumption in developing countries such as India.

"In terms of immediacy of action and the feasibility of bringing about reductions in a short period of time, going vegetarian clearly is the most attractive opportunity," says Rajendra Pachauri, chairman of the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.

There are various compelling ethical reasons to abandon animal slaughter. The conditions of animals in slaughterhouses are heart-wrenching. They led Bernard Shaw to highlight the key point that slaughterhouses are kept far away from human eyes because that makes meat much easier to digest. As Jane Goodall so succinctly said: "Thousands of people who say they 'love' animals sit down once or twice a day to enjoy the flesh of creatures who have been utterly deprived of everything that could make their lives worth living and who endured the awful suffering and the terror of the abattoirs."

Perhaps the next time we sit down to dinner, we should think about what we are doing. Not just to the animals, but to the planet too. It may be a long and winding road to a green future. But there's only one way to go.

Hiranandani is an environmental lawyer, Shaheen studied social & political sciences at Jesus College, Cambridge, and Miller McCall studied climate law at the Australian National University College of Law.

putnanja · Post by **putnanja** » 29 Jul 2009 01:37

Komul’s ready-to-drink milk energises army jawans

Komul (Kolar Milk Union Limited) has now a feather in its cap. The milk union, situated in this drought-hit district, has the distinction of supplying milk to Indian armed forces for the past one year.
...
...
Komul had supplied six lakh litres of milk per month, during 2008-09 on contract basis. The Army, satisfied with the quality and the service, has asked the Milk Union to supply milk for the year 2009-10 as well. Not only that, the Army has invited Komul to take part in the tender for supply of milk to various divisions of defence forces, scheduled to be held in Kolkata on August 7.
...
It should be noted that the milk supplied to the Army is of a special quality.
It can be preserved for a minimum of six months and a maximum of one year under inclement weather conditions.

The milk, contained in a tetrapack neither be refrigerated nor be boiled. It is ready-to-drink, as soon as the packet is opened.

In technical parlance, the milk is called Ultra Heat Treated milk (UHT).

Seven-layer

The milk, boiled at 137 degrees and packed in seven-layer pack, is immune to vagaries of weather. Komul, thus, by reaping the benefits of of rapid advances in science and technology has expanded the territory of its operation. It is now supplying 72 lakh litrers of milk per annum to defence forces and the quantity is likely to go up in the coming days, says chief manager, Komul (Technical), D Srinath.

...
Komul milk now has successfully crossed the borders of Karnataka and even the country as well. It is now available in Goa, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Orissa, Chhatisgarh, Mumbai and Singapore.
...

Stan_Savljevic · Post by **Stan_Savljevic** » 29 Jul 2009 05:26

Call to ban Monsanto’s herbicide
http://www.hindu.com/2009/07/29/stories ... 620500.htm

Dmurphy · Post by **Dmurphy** » 06 Aug 2009 19:40

India's 'drought-resistant rice'

A new variety of rice being tested in the fields of India's eastern Jharkhand state has the potential to change the face of Indian agriculture.
Sahbhagi dhan is drought-tolerant and can survive even if there are no rains for 12 days.

putnanja · Post by **putnanja** » 08 Aug 2009 01:28

Crop outlook dismal in AP

Crop yields may drop 20% in UP

Monsoon clouds direction of economy’s growth

Chinmayanand · Post by **Chinmayanand** » 14 Aug 2009 02:27

Modern farming has ruined our land

“Society is composed of two great classes — those who have more dinners than appetite, and those who have more appetite than dinners.” Sebastien-Roch Nicolas de Chamfort.
In his foreword to the Food and Agriculture Organisation Report 2008 Jacques Diouf, the director-general observed, ‘Hunger has increased as the world has grown richer and produced more food than ever before in the last decade’. As he was deliberating on the contradiction, despite the FAO slogan — Food for All — since ’96, various business corporations and governments of some Asian and African countries were busy acquiring millions of hectares of farmland overseas. The agencies are mobilising this scarce resource with a view to producing crops for profit as well as for ensuring future supplies of food, feed and bio fuels in their home countries. This may result not only in food insecurity in the host countries, but also economic crisis and the environmental degradation that follows factory farming.
Grain, a concerned organisation, has identified the buyers, the locations and the purpose of the purchase. Chinese agencies have struck the biggest deal, of 1.24 million hectares with the Philippines, along with 7,00,000 ha in Laos and 10,000 ha in Cameroon. South Korean agencies have acquired 6,90,000 ha in Sudan, 2,70,000 ha in Mongolia and 25,000 ha in Indonesia. Saudi Arabian agencies have bought 10,000 ha in Sudan and about the same in famine-stricken Ethiopia. They have even harvested the first crop in Ethiopia. The UAE’ land is in Pakistan (9,00,000 ha), Sudan (3,80,000 ha) and the Philippines. Indian and Japanese agencies are also in the fray. The buyers plan to grow wheat, rice, corn, oil palm, and rear livestock and poultry overseas.
Barring Japan, all the investors belong to the FAO classified ‘Low Income Food Deficit Countries’. Though the Philippines, Laos, Sudan, Mongolia, Ethiopia, Pakistan, etc belong to the same group, they have a significant proportion of population malnourished, from 16 per cent in the Philippines to 46 per cent in Ethiopia.
Agriculturally productive countries like Japan, China and South Korea, are buying massive acreage when the volume of food import in the region has been declining since 2006, implying a move towards food self-sufficiency from within. Despite global food scarcity, evident from the estimate of annual per capita cereal use at 165 kg (2008 level), five kilograms short of the FAO standard requirement, there is hardly any justification for outsourcing food production. The wealthier food-deficit countries could simply import cereal from food-surplus economies. But they are grabbing land overseas to insulate themselves from uncertainties and price and supply fluctuations in the international market.
Unrestrained land grab that brings about economic and ecological disaster needs an open scrutiny in order to initiate a worldwide debate. Doubtlessly the investors will develop physical infrastructure conducive to their production and trade. The host countries do derive short run spin-off benefits, but what about the long run?
Consider a situation where investors export the entire output to their homeland. They pay money wages to employees and have no food to sell in the host countries. The extent of employment generation depends on the labour intensity of investment. Since agricultural activities over a large area will generate substantial local employment and income, the resultant higher demand for basic goods, primarily food, may lead to severe shortages and inflation, further aggravating poverty. Local governments or traders will have to import food and other basic necessities, but it will deepen the foreign exchange crisis and increase dependence on other economies.
If the investors sell the produce locally to the extent of the wage bill they have generated, they repatriate the surplus output. Local consumption, consequent upon a rise in employment and income, will encourage further investment following a multiplier effect. Investment opportunities beyond agriculture open up. If local investors fail to take advantage, foreign direct investment will fill the vacuum.
The investors extract and repatriate the economic surplus only to strip local economies of their reinvestible fund, so essential to sustain development. This brings up images of colonialism. Impressive growth arithmetic in the host countries, as in modern India or China, may please local politicians and financial institutions alike, but the fundamentals weaken conspicuously.
Though the hosts will reach a slightly higher level of economic activity they will fall into a low growth trap. Post-colonial India and Pakistan are examples of such traps. The drain of surplus initiates development of underdevelopment in the host nations.
Besides reinvestible surplus, the hosts’ long-term food security depends upon the ecosystem left by foreign agencies. Modern commercial crops rely heavily on a high yielding seed-fertiliser-pesticide combine, packaged with mechanisation and intensive utilisation of water. Experience of the green revolution has taught the Third World that the package is ruinous for land. It erodes natural fertility and destroys local biodiversity.
Rainfall is unevenly distributed in many tropical and southern temperate zones. Round-the-year cropping and water requirement of crops compels an intensive use of underground water. As a result, the water table falls. There is also the possibility of arsenic contamination in drinking water if shallow tubewells lift water indiscriminately. Once the investing agencies quit, local communities will be left with a disaster.
The land will be degraded and traditional practices devalued, so local communities will have to follow the technological legacy left by the foreigners. Worse, whatever temporary prosperity the investment brings will lead to a higher population and greater demand for food. Food security then assumes a parochial dimension. Whose food security it is anyway!
(The writer is a Kolkata-based economist and formerly was on the faculty of Madras Institute of Development Studies.
E-mail: [email protected])

joshvajohn · Post by **joshvajohn** » 14 Aug 2009 16:36

Indian govt has to incrase the production of basic food to meet the increasing population. But Water is the basic issue. There is a claer need for setting up cnversion units of sea water into drinkable or water for agriculture in the areas where the drought is hit and where the sea is accessible.

When we talk about linking up rivers we think only south Indian states, but we need to seriousy think up linking up water within Northern states and also bring water through pipes to those areas where water is needed. This can be a investment itself. For example the droght hit Maharastara districts we need water from Ganges using pipes with a fair sharing of water with Bangladesh too.

There is a serious need for strategic thinking and management of ater resource in our country. One has to sit and calculate what is our need, how much water we have and how can we share. AT this stage we need to seriously think of stopping any water flowing into sea so that there is drinking and agri needs are met.

There is also a need for studying our agricultural production and its management.how the distribution and production meet out needs. We need much of agri management too in our country.

There is a possibility of danger of scarcity which could lead to large scale disasters if we do not sit and work it out now itself.

putnanja · Post by **putnanja** » 18 Aug 2009 05:10

A nose for Basmati’s roots - Aroma tied to non-South Asia variety but mystery lingers

The fragrance of Basmati has its roots in an ancestral form of Japonica rice and not in Indica, a distinct group widely cultivated in South Asia, a new study of rice genes has suggested.

The study by plant geneticists Susan McCouch and Michael Kovach at Cornell University in the US has shown that a variant of a rice gene called BADH2 that plays a key role in producing fragrance in rice emerged in the Japonica group, which is the ancestor of the modern-day Basmati. The study’s findings appear in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences today.
...

vera_k · Post by **vera_k** » 19 Aug 2009 07:56

India joins 'neocolonial' rush for Africa's land and labour

Indian farming companies have bought hundreds of thousands of hectares in Ethiopia, Kenya, Madagascar, Senegal and Mozambique, where they are growing rice, sugar cane, maize and lentils for their own domestic market back in India.

More than 80 Indian companies have invested an estimated £1.5 billion in buying huge plantations in Ethiopia. The largest among them is Karuturi Global, one of the world's largest producers of cut roses. It has signed deals for just under 350,000 hectares to create what it claims is the world's largest agricultural land-bank.

pankajs · Post by **pankajs** » 01 Sep 2009 10:40

India’s average farm productivity lowest in the world: U.R. Rao

Pointing out that the country’s food production had remained stagnant for a long time, he said there was a dire need to increase the productivity as the country’s food requirement was increasing sharply in tune with the population growth. The country’s average farm productivity which stood around two tonnes per hectare was the lowest in the world as the global average was about 2.6 tonnes.

joshvajohn · Post by **joshvajohn** » 11 Sep 2009 21:29

Comment: It is a shame for the prime minister, Sonia and other Congress ruling party. For more than forty years they have ruled this country and we hear the same story.
http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/ar ... yGQrt2pALw
Drought-hit Indian farmers sell wives to pay debts

By Kulsum Mustafa (AFP) – 2 days ago

LUCKNOW, India — Drought-hit farmers in northern India are resorting to selling their wives to repay debts to local loan sharks, activists say, as one of the weakest monsoons in years takes its toll.

Poverty, poor administration and a lack of education means farmers in the rugged Bundelkhand region are taking extreme steps to pull through a poor rainy season, they say.

"This has been happening for quite some time now, but people were hesitant to come out with all this," said Manoj Kumar, a social activist working with farmers in the area.

Excluded from the formal banking sector, the poverty-stricken farmers often turn to usurious private money lenders when banks refuse them loans or even accounts.

After five years of poor crop yields and steadily decreasing rainfall, the crushing weight of the high interest payments has led to a well-documented spate of suicides and increasing cases of human-trafficking.

Another social worker, Shailendra Sagar, said the situation of farmers in Bundelkhand, a region that spans the states of Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh, was "pathetic."

"They are living in debt. Selling off one's wife or daughters is the last resort," he said.

The sale price for married women is hard to ascertain and their fate after being sold is equally difficult to follow.

Local reports have suggested wives can be pawned or sold for anything between one rupee to 12,000 rupees (240 dollars).

Some women are sold under the guise of a legal marriage, complete with a formal contract, but activists believe others end up being exploited by prostitution rings.

In the last four to five years around 50 percent of the region's population has left Bundelkhand villages to find work in cities, and at least 500 farmers have committed suicide, according to various Indian media reports.

For India's 235 million farmers, a bad monsoon can spell financial disaster because of the lack of irrigation.

Low rains have ravaged India's rice, cane sugar and groundnut crops, and have disrupted the flow of water into the main reservoirs that are vital for hydropower generation and winter irrigation.

About 40 percent of India's districts have declared a drought, and the India Meteorological Department (IMD) this week said the country faced a 20-percent annual rainfall deficiency, though that figure is expected to improve with recent patchy rains.

Ranjana Kumari, director of the Centre for Social Research in New Delhi, said research had identified Bundelkhand as one of the regions most vulnerable to sex trafficking.

"This region is famous for that. Even earlier such incidents have happened, it's not the first time," she said.

Some farmers are aware that they are selling their wives to prostitution rings, Kumari added, but "they do it out of absolute desperation. They have absolutely no other alternative before them."

A government-funded scheme in which states are obliged to guarantee 100 days of paid employment per year to villagers has yet to be fully implemented in Bundelkhand.

"There are no specially dedicated schemes to develop these regions. If skill training was delivered, this whole situation would have been different in the past six decades," said Kumari.

Copyright © 2009 AFP. All rights reserved. More »

krishnan · Post by **krishnan** » 05 Oct 2009 16:41

http://sify.com/news/fullstory.php?a=jk ... _developed

Indian scientists claim to have developed a rice variety that requires no cooking, only soaking in water.

The rice variety developed at the government-run Central Rice Research Institute (CRRI) at Cuttack in Orissa is characterised by low amylase content and becomes soft on soaking in water, institute director Tapan Kumar Adhya told IANS in an interview.

Production of rice in India is extensive and last year's production figure stands at 98.5 million tonnes. The present variety, he said, can serve specific niche consumers and make rice cooking a hassle-free affair.

The new variety, named Aghanibora, tested by the institute is of 145 days duration with a yield of 4-4.5 tonnes per hectare and is at par with the currently grown rice varieties in the country, he said.

"One can get ready to eat rice after soaking it for about 45 minutes in ordinary water, and 15 minutes if soaked in lukewarm water, whereas other rice varieties need cooking," Adhya said.

The rice is a local, improved land variety of Assam under the 'Komal chawl' category and is not genetically modified rice. It is like any other rice variety grown and consumed in India.
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"However, this variety is usually prepared as parboiled rice and then it can be used for consumption after milling," the researcher said.

The initial experimentation was to test whether the rice variety could be grown in the hot and humid climate of Orissa and still retain the property of softness.

Scientists at the institute have done extensive research over the past three years and tested its nutritional properties and other biochemical parameters, he said.

"We are glad that our experiment has proved successful, and from our knowledge we believe it could be grown in the eastern states of India," he said.

"The present rice variety is an already released variety and can be taken up by the farmers with the availability of the seeds," Adhya said.

According to the institute director, the rice variety can be grown in all the eastern states of Assam, Bihar, West Bengal, Orissa and coastal Andhra Pradesh. "As such there is no technical barrier in cultivating it in any part of the country," he said.

"We do not have knowledge of any other country developing such rice variety as rice is a cereal with huge diversity.

"We do not have specific data about the average household requirement of fuel. But this variety of rice will help in saving fuel, at least for cooking of rice. Moreover, it will be a relief to housewives," he said.

Hari Seldon · Post by **Hari Seldon** » 06 Oct 2009 16:16

Read in Forbes India a month ago that a desi startup, VC funded by an Infy co-founder, has finally gotten all its tools in place to take on Monsanto in the lucrative Bt cotton seeds market.

Very promising that a desi startup, filled with former Monsantans has done this - developed skill sets and competencies throughout the value chian.

Kamal_raj · Post by **Kamal_raj** » 07 Oct 2009 01:35

^Here is the article

Forbes India: Ready to germinate

http://ibnlive.in.com/news/forbes-india ... 82-11.html

Tanaji · Post by **Tanaji** » 26 Oct 2009 15:29

Purefool now becomes an expert on GM crops

http://business.rediff.com/column/2009/ ... saster.htm

Why do I strongly suspect that the examples he is giving are cherry picking of the bases variety? How many people have died from GM corn/soya? If I am not mistaken, its impossible to avoid GM corn/soya now in the West.

ravar · Post by **ravar** » 28 Oct 2009 11:45

Purefool now becomes an expert on GM crops

http://business.rediff.com/column/2009/ ... saster.htm

Why do I strongly suspect that the examples he is giving are cherry picking of the bases variety? How many people have died from GM corn/soya? If I am not mistaken, its impossible to avoid GM corn/soya now in the West.

I am no fan of purefool who drives his own red agenda from his paymasters!

Having said that, GM crops is a very sensitive issue. Declaring GM corn/soya as safe is too early a verdict. For example, what did the scientific fraternity have to say about DDT when it was launched as a pesticide? The wonder chemical that would the one stop solution to pest management! Did anyone die the next day? No, But, the verdict was revised many years later once the negative results (the pests became resistant to DDT in the first place, followed by high incidence of malignancy in population) began to show up leading to its ultimate ban in the West! And this is the moot point, DDT is still being used indiscriminately in India and developing countries! Hope the drift is conspicous enough not to be misread!
The West unleashes a genie as per its whim and corks its back effectively when the negative results tend to show up. The SDREs continue to trade its soul with such devils of tech solutions due to lack of implementation/seriousness/chalta hai attitude etc.
Or are we completely misreading by drawing a parallel with DDT in the first place? Playing God by inserting genes and manipulating species is a different kettle of fish altogether! The GM Genie, might not get back to the bottle after all, even if cajoled and coaxed by the 'infallible' West!

Tanaji · Post by **Tanaji** » 28 Oct 2009 15:06

At the risk of being OT:

Isn't DDT a poor example in this case? There is a huge controversy if DDT is really as bad as it is made out to be. Some say the reason it was banned was so that pesticide companies wanted to introduce newer and more expensive products. DDT was cheap and effective and was hindering their efforts. Yes, DDT has its faults, but supposedly they are no worse than their alternatives.

Bing around for more details on this topic. But your point is taken... a more appropriate example is the Thalidomyde affair. My whole issue with Purefool is that he is cherry picking his examples.

ravar · Post by **ravar** » 28 Oct 2009 15:18

Absolutely; agree with you.

Hari Seldon · Post by **Hari Seldon** » 30 Oct 2009 08:01

^ oh, ok. Didn't know that.

I always thought that GM crops were more about raising yield and soaking up less resources (primarily water and fertiliser) than ordinary varieties and that pesticide thing was more of a bonus feature than a design criterion.

Good that am back in Des, in massaland, just hard to avoid GM crops for a vegetarian desi, IMO.

Jarita · Post by **Jarita** » 05 Nov 2009 03:21

RaviBg wrote:Now, indigenous cows are in great demand

...
Even though, indigenous cows give less milk, there has been a steady increase in its demand, recently. Also, demand for butter of indigenous cows is more. Rearing of indigenous cows is easy when compared to rearing of jersey cows. Indigenous cows have high immunity and they can be grazed in the woods as well. Thus, indigenous cows will continue to be farmers’ friend.
...

Because of A1/A2 milk. A2 milk produced by indin cows is nourishing and does not have the proteins that can cause Autism etc.
A1 is Holstein milk - new strain which is being promoted for higher yield but can cause damage.
The purest A2 yield in the world is the Indian Brahma cow. Shows you how precious the infrastructure of Bharatiya society and economy is

Jarita · Post by **Jarita** » 07 Nov 2009 15:46

It's not as though Indian Farmers are in a great condition that we need leeches like Walmart with their massive purchasing leverage.

How the big food conglomerates use Indian ethos to penetrate rural markets
http://www.democracynow.org/2003/11/27/ ... iva_indian

And so what if things go wrong in this one. But globalization has literally changed even that optimism of reaching incarnation in India, and farmers are committing suicide–20,000 farmers–735 suicides in one state in the last month alone. And all of this has happened after the big companies came into the seed sector in India–started to sell costly seed and started to sell expensive chemicals linked to the seed and started to sell them with very aggressive advertising. People always say, “But why do the farmers buy it?” Because Monsanto doesn’t come selling seed as Monsanto. Monsanto comes firstly, selling seed through Indian companies they have bought up, but even more importantly, they hire all our gods and divinities. So in Punjab, they have Guru Nanak posters, who is the founder of the SIkh religion with Round Up and their seeds, and when the farmer suicides started in Andhra Pradesh I wish I had a camera, I never took a camera, but there was a wall—with you know, our lord Hanuman the monkey god, and he had carried a whole mountain to save Lakshmana in the (hamaran). Well, Monsanto seeds are this life-saving miracle. And you can imagine peasants who have some association with the mythology if the advertising of the companies comes through that mythology, you are not suddenly going to have a mind switch in the peasantry and say stop believing in your mythology. You are going to still believe this is the Hanumanji bringing you the ultimate deliverance from poverty. And then they bring lovely videos, they show American farmers with big combines and rich tractors and say, you will be like that. The farmers get trapped within the season. Every year I do a public hearing, and the last public hearing I did was in February and we called, I think, about 200 families where people had committed suicide. In every family, it was the women who were left behind. Because you know, the men go into the town to play a game of cards, drink a bit of Indian liquor, have a smoke. And that’s when they’re trapped by the agents of the companies. Usually the family doesn’t even know that this seed is ten times more costly, that this chemical is a poison. They have no idea, and eventually when the men can’t pay back the debt, they drink the same poisons to end their lives

Jarita · Post by **Jarita** » 08 Nov 2009 09:21

pandyan wrote:^^^ Roundup is a herbicide. Is it used widely in India by farmers? Can you provide some more information/details? Where is it prevalent in India?

Let me do the research and get back to you. Am talking to groups who work with Farmers in Punjab and Maharashtra where they have seen this issue.
Also check out the GMO thread

chilarai · Post by **chilarai** » 21 Dec 2009 12:48

This rice doesn’t need cooking

India is conducting further trials on Aghonibora, a rice variety that can be eaten merely after soaking in water for around 40 minutes, to find how this economical and environment-friendly rice variety grown in Assam fares in other climate conditions.

Minister of State for Agriculture KV Thomas yesterday told the Rajya Sabha that parboiled form of rice variety called Aghonibora, developed by the Regional Agriculture Research Station at Titabor in Assam, had been found fit to eat by soaking in normal water for about 40 minutes without boiling or steaming.

SSridhar · Post by **SSridhar** » 05 Jan 2010 19:53

India's food security challenge

An excellent, excellent read.

SSridhar · Post by **SSridhar** » 06 Jan 2010 08:21

pandyan wrote:The only disagreement I have is the point the author is making on scouring the world for the best variety and propagating in india. There is a reason why indigenous variety thrive in the local climates; bringing new foreign varieties means increased risk because most likely they would need lot of care to protect against pests/disease as well as they bring their own share of non-native diseases and pests with them.

Pandyan, you are right. No doubt that alien plants can bring with them alien diseases. Countries like Oz and the US are quite careful about this at ports of entry. Indian ports do not check that at all. Even large swarms of pests that fly across countries can introduce new varieties of diseases unknown earlier and we have seen these swarms come into India from Pakistan (apart from swarms of terrorists !). Even imports of foodgrains bring with them all sorts of diseases and insects alien to the land. Facilities are poor at ports in India for inspection and inspectors do not do a thorough job and reject fearlessly consignments. This is very pertinent especially this year when India will have to import rice in significant quantities.

But, the Brazil experiment was different, where it scouted for best variety of pepper from India which it then adapted to their native conditions by spending enormous amount of money. Normally, one is aware of the types of plant diseases that occur in specific plants in specific areas. In securing the plant varieties, one would expect that the best seeds that have been treated (irradiated) properly for disease and insect resistance are chosen and introduced.

India has released a large number of IRRI lines of rice in India successfully (IR-8, IR-20 etc.) are famous, without any particular issues of diseases.

Increasing productivity can be done using a shotgun murugan approach: feed the plants like crazy and ensure adequate water supply.

Other option is sustainable production: . . . I do agree that there is a lot of experimentation that needs to be done to identify suitable techniques and to incorporate valuable tribal knowledge of the farmers.

The last paragraph of Mr. Lakshmanan's article is important. He talks of some experiments in TN where higher productivity have been obtained. He talks of 300 to 500% increased productivity. I know that the TN farmers have begun to adopt SRI (System of Rice Intensification) technique where the productivity is dramatically increased by *not* transplanting paddy in clusters but singly with some gap between them. Recent reports speak of high success rate of SRI techniques in rice cultivation in Chennai's suburbs where space is increasingly becoming premium. It dramatically improves productivity while reducing water consumption by a third. I think Mr. Lakshmanan is referring to this in his article above. With SRI techniques, TN farmers have got between 11 to 14 tonnes of rice per hectare where the average yield before was between 5 and 7 tonnes.

SSridhar · Post by **SSridhar** » 06 Jan 2010 09:34

Dr. MS Swaminathan for revolution in management of small farms

A revolution in small farm management is essential to revitalise the country’s agriculture sector, according to noted agriculture scientist M.S. Swaminathan.

Corporate farming would be detrimental to India. Farming was the largest private sector enterprise in the country, and any bid to take away land from the farmer would be counter-productive. But a symbiotic relationship between farmers and industry, resulting in a win-win situation for both, would be good, he said.

Group farming (farmers sharing machinery and other resources) would be good for a country like India. Farming should be socially sustainable, he said.

SSridhar · Post by **SSridhar** » 07 Jan 2010 09:11

CS envisioned a second green revolution: Kalam

“At the age of 90 C. Subramaniam said he was going to work for the second green revolution. He spoke about water management and organic farming,” Mr. Kalam said at a function organised here as part of C.S. centenary celebrations.

He had begun to innovate in his own backyard, using drip irrigation techniques and organic methods of farming. Sustainable development in rural areas was his goal and through the National Agro Foundation, his ideas were being implemented in villages in Tamil Nadu.

Mr. Kalam cautioned that the second green revolution would have to factor in a lot more issues than just increasing agricultural productivity. Issues such as soil testing, water management, selection of seeds, using latest farming equipment, storage of produce, food processing and marketing would have to be factored in, as the NAF villages were doing successfully. They were also equipping youth in rural areas with skills that would make them employable.

amol.p · Post by **amol.p** » 07 Jan 2010 10:11

India on verge of farm disaster: Swaminathan

Ms swaminathan, top farm scientist and one of the architects of India’s green revolution, has warned that the country would face a food crisis if agriculture and farmers were ignored.

“We are on the verge of a disaster. We will be in serious difficulty if food productivity is not increased and farming is neglected,” Mr Swaminathan said on the sidelines of the 97th Indian Science Congress being held here. “The future belongs to nations with grains and not guns. The current food inflation is frightening. If pulses, potatoes and onions are beyond the purchasing capacity of the majority, malnourishment will be a painful result,” he said. He urged the government to implement the recommendations of the National Commission on Farmers that were made under his chairmanship and tabled in Parliament in November 2007.

“As the recommendations are aimed at ushering in the second green revolution in the country, the government should immediately act upon them to overcome the serious crisis we are facing on the food front,” he said. Referring to the double-digit food inflation (about 20%) amid shortages and supply constraints, he said the government should introduce legislation in the budget session to amend laws governing the agriculture sector.

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/mar ... 418669.cms

Tough we bring many green revolution...till we stream line our suppy chain & distribution networks Indian will not succed in achieving food for all. wastage in grains is as high as 20% by the time it reaches actual consumer. Imgaine if we plug this 20% also we can have food for all without going for new green revolution

joshvajohn · Post by **joshvajohn** » 12 Jan 2010 02:51

The Health Hazards of GM Corn
http://www.foodconsumer.org/newsite/Saf ... 00909.html

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=94d-KVorSHM

'Allowing GM food crop in India a big disaster'

http://www.freshplaza.com/news_detail.asp?id=56596

Ramesh to popularise Bt brinjal across India

http://business.rediff.com/report/2010/ ... -india.htm

Padma awardee criticises introduction of GM crops
http://greenbio.checkbiotech.org/news/p ... n_gm_crops

Comments: I imagine the central Minister Ramesh must have been well paid by the Monsanto company to destroy India and its basic life which is natural agriculture!! He will be catercorised as one who sold India for plundering the agrilands and the whole natural life and agricultural farms in India by future generations!

Plans for British 'GM food revolution' come under fire

Hi-tech vision of food production advocated by the UK government's chief scientific adviser is unnecessary and potentially damaging, says conference of farmers, academics and environmental groups
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2 ... -dismissed

Government is 'dangerously deluded' on GM
http://www.farmersguardian.com/news/gov ... 68.article

SwamyG · Post by **SwamyG** » 12 Jan 2010 03:14

It is such a pity. Out in America, groceries are advertising locally grown produce, they have labeling even on eggs on what kind of food the hen was fed, farmer's market (in the summers) are the place to be to buy fresh produce; and sadly India is befriending a not a goody-goody company.

amol.p · Post by **amol.p** » 13 Jan 2010 17:51

Farm exports up 40% in past 3 years

The country's farm product exports in value terms have surged about 40 per cent to over Rs 80,600 crore in the past three years, with foodgrain, oilmeals and fruits and vegetables witnessing maximum demand in the overseas market.

The official data showed the country's farm exports stood at Rs 80,613.01 crore in the 2008-09 fiscal, compared with Rs 57,376.67 crore in the 2006-07 fiscal.

Tobacco shipments rose from Rs 1685.16 crore to Rs 3457.79 crore, while spices export went up from Rs 3,157.89 crore to Rs 6338.13 crore.

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/new ... 440727.cms

RayC · Post by **RayC** » 16 Jan 2010 10:27

Monsanto's GMO Corn Linked To Organ Failure, Study Reveals

In a study released by the International Journal of Biological Sciences, analyzing the effects of genetically modified foods on mammalian health, researchers found that agricultural giant Monsanto's GM corn is linked to organ damage in rats.

According to the study, which was summarized by Rady Ananda at Food Freedom, "Three varieties of Monsanto's GM corn - Mon 863, insecticide-producing Mon 810, and Roundup® herbicide-absorbing NK 603 - were approved for consumption by US, European and several other national food safety authorities."

Monsanto gathered its own crude statistical data after conducting a 90-day study, even though chronic problems can rarely be found after 90 days, and concluded that the corn was safe for consumption. The stamp of approval may have been premature, however.

In the conclusion of the IJBS study, researchers wrote:

"Effects were mostly concentrated in kidney and liver function, the two major diet detoxification organs, but in detail differed with each GM type. In addition, some effects on heart, adrenal, spleen and blood cells were also frequently noted. As there normally exists sex differences in liver and kidney metabolism, the highly statistically significant disturbances in the function of these organs, seen between male and female rats, cannot be dismissed as biologically insignificant as has been proposed by others. We therefore conclude that our data strongly suggests that these GM maize varieties induce a state of hepatorenal toxicity....These substances have never before been an integral part of the human or animal diet and therefore their health consequences for those who consume them, especially over long time periods are currently unknown."

Monsanto has immediately responded to the study, stating that the research is "based on faulty analytical methods and reasoning and do not call into question the safety findings for these products."

More at:

GM Food

I believe Jairam Ramesh is keen on GM foods. There is an uproar in WB over GM Brinjal and WB is the leader in the production of brinjals in the country.

Neshant · Post by **Neshant** » 17 Jan 2010 02:53

sometimes i wonder whether Jairam Ramesh is on the CIA payroll.

almost everything he does runs counter to the national interest.

SSridhar · Post by **SSridhar** » 03 Feb 2010 13:41

It is time to act now and do something to save agriculture

A Mechanical Engineering degree from an Indian Institute of Technology is a passport to a wide horizon of opportunities for any student. But for R. Madhavan, who passed out of IIT-Madras in 1986 and took up farming as an industrial enterprise, it was a means to redefine the role of engineers. From being considered a fitting candidate for psychiatric counselling to an inspirational figure, he has come a long way.

According to him, the disconnect between agricultural universities and farmers is vast. “Students are not being taught how to farm. They are being taught how to get a certificate. Farmer does not know why agriculture universities exist.”

Pointing out that 46 per cent of children in India suffer from malnutrition and we are worse off than Sub-Saharan Africa in child malnutrition he says the time to act is now and something urgent must be done to agriculture for the sake of future generations.

Haresh · Post by **Haresh** » 03 Feb 2010 22:28

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/agricu ... years.html

Jarita · Post by **Jarita** » 03 Feb 2010 22:57

Neshant wrote:sometimes i wonder whether Jairam Ramesh is on the CIA payroll.

almost everything he does runs counter to the national interest.

Pawar is the main guy pushing the big GM conglomerates

Pranay · Post by **Pranay** » 05 Feb 2010 04:10

It is amazing to see the low level of discussion in the Indian media re: GM foods in general and BT Brinjal in particular, my exposure being limited to televised debates on a couple of Indian news channels.

Here in the US the jury is still out regarding the cause of Colony collapse in honeybees across the country. This has devastated fruit orchards all over the country(honeybees being the main pollinators). One of the main suspects is GM Corn pollen.

Another raging debate is regarding the very sharp rise in Autism in kids here in the US. Again, GM corn is mentioned as a culprit.

I fail to understand the necessity of having BT Eggplant (Brinjal). Is India running out of Eggplants? What is the driving need to have a GM/BT version of it in the indian market anyway?

Have any long term studies been done on any side effects on humans, or for that matter the environment in which such crops would be grown?

India is witness to the near extinction of it's vulture population due to the use of Diclofenec. What would happen to the natural balance in the environment once GM/BT eggplant is introduced?

Have any such issues been satisfactorily addressed?

...or is it some fat cat politicians in cahoots with US seed companies shoving such products down the throats of unsuspecting Indians?

putnanja · Post by **putnanja** » 05 Feb 2010 04:19

US wants India to open up its agricultural market to imports. In fact, it was making a big deal of India not importing some GM modified items. Given that our media house whore themselves out to the highest bidder, there is no surprise that GM foods doesn't get the attention and debates it should

Jarita · Post by **Jarita** » 05 Feb 2010 04:27

The write up summarizes the studied impact of GM foods on health.

http://www.seedsofdeception.com/Public/ ... /index.cfm

Like the American Academy of Environmental Medicine (AAEM) earlier this year, the LIA Foundation says there is more than enough evidence of harm in GM animal feeding studies for them to "urge doctors to prescribe non-GMO diets" and for "individuals, especially those with autism, Lyme disease, and associated conditions, to avoid" GM foods.

Lab animals fed GM feed developed lesions in the stomach, damage intestines, and abnormal and proliferative cell growth in the walls of the stomach and intestines.

Mice and rats fed GM feed had profound changes in their livers. In some cases, livers were smaller and partially atrophied. Some were significantly heavier, possibly inflamed.

Thousands of sheep, buffalo, and goats in India died after grazing on Bt cotton plants after harvest. Others suffered poor health and serious reproductive problems.

SSridhar · Post by **SSridhar** » 05 Feb 2010 09:01

Tamilnadu Agri Univ. releases a water calculator gadget

An Irrigation Water Calculator to enable farmers assess the requirement of water for crops, based on the location, crop geometry and the stage of crop growth was released at the Tamil Nadu Agricultural University

Operated with re-chargeable batteries, the gadget helped in saving 30 per cent to 40 per cent of the water that was usually wasted during irrigation. The university said that this was because of the equipment’s ability to arrive at the exact quantum of water required. Energy could be saved if irrigation requirements were streamlined.

The water calculator was developed by S. Raman, water management scientist and consultant to IWMI-Tata Water Policy Programme, a press release from the university said.

. . . between 1991 and 2009, the area under drip and sprinkler methods had increased to 4.3 million hectares. Out of the 4.3 million hectares, 1.1 million was achieved between 2006 and 2009.

Nearly 75 per cent of the area under drip irrigation was in Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Gujarat and Tamil Nadu. The Tamil Nadu Government at present is giving 65 per cent subsidy for installing drip irrigation.

. . . the Union Government proposed to bring 12 million hectares under drip irrigation and five million hectares under sprinkler irrigation.

This was expected to save irrigation water of up to 58.6 billion cubic metres.