"Waterproof" rice to tackle crop loss in India

"Waterproof" versions of popular varieties of rice, which can withstand 2 weeks of complete submergence, have successfully passed
tests in farmers' fields in India and Bangladesh, and can tackle the problem of major crop losses due to flooding.

The flood-tolerant versions of the "mega-varieties" of rice, which are high-yielding varieties popular with both farmers and consumers that are grown over huge areas across Asia, are effectively identical to their susceptible counterparts, but recover after severe flooding to yield well.

Several of these varieties are now close to official release by national and state seed certification agencies in India and Bangladesh, where farmers suffer major crop losses because of flooding of up to 4 million tons of rice per year. This is enough rice to feed 30 million people.

The new varieties were made possible following the identification of a single gene that is responsible for most of the submergence tolerance.

Thirteen years ago, Dr David Mackill, senior rice breeder at the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), then at the University of California (UC) at Davis, and Kenong Xu, his graduate student, pinpointed the gene in a low-yielding traditional Indian rice variety known to withstand flooding.

Xu subsequently worked as a postdoctoral fellow in the lab of Pamela Ronald, a UC Davis professor, and they isolated the specific gene, called Sub1A, and demonstrated that it confers tolerance to normally intolerant rice plants. Dr Ronald's team showed that the gene is switched on when the plants are submerged.

"Sub1A effectively makes the plant dormant during submergence, allowing it to conserve energy until the floodwaters recede," according to Dr Julia Bailey-Serres, a geneticist from UC Riverside, who is leading the work to determine exactly how Sub1A confers flood tolerance.

Typically, rice plants will extend the length of their leaves and stem in an attempt to escape submergence. The Sub1A gene is an evolutionarily new gene in rice found in only a small proportion of the rice varieties originating from eastern India and Sri Lanka.

The activation of this gene under submergence counteracts the escape strategy. "The potential for impact is huge. "In Bangladesh, for example, 20 per cent of the rice land is flood prone and the country typically suffers several major floods each year," said Dr Mackill.

"Submergence-tolerant varieties could make major inroads into Bangladesh's annual rice shortfall and substantially reduce its import needs," he added.

Agriculture growth likely to stay at 4%: Sharad Pawar

Agriculture growth is set to remain stable at around 4% said Union minister for consumer affairs, food and public distribution Sharad
Pawar on the sidelines of a conference organised by commodity markets regulator, Forward Markets Commission in Mumbai.

Mr Pawar said, “All of you know we are in the midst of a difficult period. These are uncertain times.... We have to devise means and take steps to ensure that the impact on our economy and the market is minimum.” On agricultural
productivity, he said that wheat production in India was on course, and would be robust.

“The sugarcane crushing has been put off due to late rains in Karnataka, Maharashtra and UP.” As sugarcane in UP has not been harvested, wheat sowing in the region has been postponed, but acreage under wheat was estimated to be good, he said.

When questioned whether the government was mulling an import duty on edible oil, especially crude palm oil, Mr Pawar said that the Centre would “take action” only if the prices dipped below minimum support price.

Agri sector may not create more jobs

At a time when job markets are shrinking due to the global economic crisis, the Planning Commission said that the agriculture sector
may fail to create additional employment, causing subsequent shift of the surplus labour to the manufacturing and services sectors. In order to meet the challenge, the Planning Commission has emphasised on the need to encourage labour intensive activities and development of skilled labour.

As agriculture sector is not expected to create additional employment, reduce underemployment and increase income and wages of those employed in agriculture, the shift of the surplus labour to the non-agriculture sector is expected, a Plan Panel report said.

National Sample Survey Organisation’s (NSSO) figures show that unemployment rate increased from 7.3% in 1999-2000 to 8.3% in 2004-05. The labour ministry confirmed that growth in labour supply is faster than the employment growth post-2000 period leading to increase in unemployment rates.

Subsequently, a slowdown in the manufacturing sector is likely to aggravate the unemployment problem. One of the indicators of industrial slowdown is the declining growth of indirect tax collection (-5%) last month. That manufacturing sector showed a slow rise of 0.6% in excise collection during the seven months till October. The trend is likely to continue as companies plan to cut production to prevent inventory pile up on falling demand.

The Planning Commission's suggestion on encouraging skilled labour has found endorsement in the draft National Employment Policy(NEP) prepared by the labour ministry as well. The draft NEP focuses on skilled employment in construction, retail trade, tourism and information and communication technologies (ICT).

The NEP has also suggested to continue the National Rural Employment Guarantee scheme (NREGS) to absorb labour flight and under-employment in the agricultural sector. It says that improving capabilities of local bodies and suitable changes in administrative and financial procedures will be necessary for effective implementation of the scheme.

The Planning Commission’s concern on job front stems from its apprehension about growth in the current fiscal. It has cautioned that the gross domestic product (GDP) growth rate in 2008-09 is likely to be lower than the targets, signalling further dip in employment opportunities.

Sugar cos seek hike in price

Seeing itself as the only industry that is forced to subsidise sugar prices to consumers, the mills want the ex-factory price to be
fixed at Rs 22 per kg to sustain operations.

Only in the last two months, prices have recovered to touch the Rs 18 per kg mark, South Indian Sugar Mills Association (Sisma) president Rajshree Pathy told reporters here on Monday.

Sisma members, said, from a 50% surplus in production, the last two years saw the sugar production dwindle to 30% deficit. Though prices of crops like rice, wheat and maize have gone up, it is only a hike in sugar price that creates a furore.

In spite of its minimal impact in the overall inflation basket of products, it is a much politicised issue, they added.“Unless sugar prices are maintained at a fair level, it will be impossible for the industry to pay the farmers a fair cane price,” said Ms Pathy.

Cane crushing begins on sour price note

The country’s sugar industry behemoths have finally begun crushing cane grown in 2007-08, kick starting the stalled sugar economic
cycle for the season despite many odds. Bajaj Hindusthan, the country’s largest sugar producer, began crushing sugarcane produced in 2007-08 this Sunday, just two days before the November 18 court hearing on a counter affidavit filed by the state government that will seek to defend its right to set higher procurement prices for cane.

Even at this late stage, Bajaj Hindusthan is only the third sugar mill to start cane crushing despite this being a year of cane shortages. Modi Sugar Mills and Simbhaoli Sugars started crushing a week ago. However, unlike the other two, Bajaj Hindusthan is paying farmers the prescribed state-advised price (SAP) of at least Rs 140 a quintal. Its outright higher price, in line with the prescribed SAP, is aimed at currying favour with farmers and stealing a march over rivals to secure more cane, and faster, from producers in a year of shortages.

“We are paying Rs 140 per quintal minus Rs 10 for transportation costs,” a Bajaj Hindusthan official, who asked not to be named, told ET. Its rivals Modi Sugar Mills and Simbhaoli Sugars are understood to have worked out an informal agreement with cane farmers.

If the Allahabad High Court spells out a cane price by November 18 — the industry thinks it is highly unlikely — that would be paid for the season’s produce. If not, sugar mills would pay last year’s SAP of Rs 125-130 a quintal. Only after the court ruling on the state government’s SAP for 2007-08 will the difference be settled for cane procured up to then.

Currently, the crushing exercise is on in western Uttar Pradesh, but industry officials said the same price will be paid to farmers in other parts of the state after crushing begins. Cane is cut in eastern Uttar Pradesh much later than it is cut in the western part of the state.

The rush by mills to crush 2007-08’s cane comes despite many odds, most notably the high cane SAP recently announced by the Uttar Pradesh government. The state is the country’s biggest sugarcane producer this year. Sugar mills — already weighed down by working capital woes as a result of the ongoing liquidity crisis and banks’ refusing to guarantee loans — are also dealing with poorer quality cane. Prolonged rains and court cases over cane payment for 2007-08 have delayed settling of dues by mills to farmers. That, in turn, forced the latter to cut costs on key inputs, which is now showing up in the quality of sugarcane in Uttar Pradesh, with recovery only at a poor 8%.

Farmers can breathe easy as salt-tolerant crops arrive

Faced with the enigma of rising salinity ingress on their farmlands, farmers can now look forward to transgenic crops. A central
research institute is developing “salt-tolerant” varieties of crops like groundnut, tobacco, cumin and banana that aim at revolutionizing the food-basket in 6.7 million hectares of “salinity-affected” farmland in the country, most of which is in Gujarat.

The Bhavnagar-based Central Salt and Marine Chemicals
Research Institute (CSMCRI) is in the advanced stages of developing salt-tolerant varieties of groundnut and tobacco. “Though we have successfully grown three generations of the crop in the laboratory, it will take 2-3 more years before the new variants of groundnut and tobacco are available commercially,” said Bhavanath Jha, deputy director and head of Marine Biotechnology & Ecology division at CSMCRI.

“The necessary clearance for these transgenic crops is expected to take some time. Meanwhile, we are in the preliminary stages of developing salt-tolerant variety of cumin (‘jeera’) and also planning to develop a similar variety of banana,” Mr Jha said while adding that the cultivable area has been steadily shrinking due to salinity and adversely affecting crop production.

According to the Central Soil Salinity Research Institute (CSSRI) at Karnal (Haryana), 6.7 million hectares of farmland in the country has been affected by salinity ingress. “Of the salinity-affected areas, 20% are on the coastal areas, while the rest are inland areas. States like Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra have the highest percentage of land area affected by salinity,” said Gurbachan Singh, director of the institute which has already developed salt tolerant varieties of rice, wheat and mustard (which were released by the Central Varietal Release Committee and are being grown widely in salt affected areas of Punjab, Haryana, UP, Gujarat, Maharashtra, West Bengal and many other states).

“In Gujarat, two-third of the area under groundnut cultivation in Saurashtra and Kutch regions have been affected by salinity. This is a huge loss because 90% of the total groundnut production of Gujarat (18 lakh tonne in 2007-08) is cultivated in the districts of Bhavnagar, Amreli, Junagadh, Jamnagar, Rajkot, Veraval, Porbandar and Surendranagar districts of Saurashtra peninsula,” said Mr Jha. The numbers are significant considering that Gujarat accounts for 70% of the total groundnut produced in India.

Assisted by central bodies like the department of science and technology, ICAR and CSIR, the Bhavnagar-based CSMCRI has been developing salt-tolerant groundnut “as national priority.” This institute has identified a “salt-resistant gene” from a plant called Salicornia, a small shrub that grows in saline environs of marshes, beaches and mangroves, and incorporated it into the “salt-sensitive” crops like groundnut.

“In our experiment with tobacco, we have found that the new salt-tolerant variety has a significant increase in the bio-mass, meaning that the tobacco leaves are larger than its actual size,” Mr Jha said.

Maize continues to rule steady at Rs 7,900 per tonne

Maize prices remained stable at Rs 7,900 per tonne during last week mainly on account of reports that the government is considering a
second package for the agriculture sector, including maize, according to the US Grains Council.

"There are reports that the government is considering a second package for the agriculture sector and provide a 10 per cent incentive for export of maize and soya-bean meal (SBM) from India," the US Grains Council India Representative Amit Sachdev said.

This incentive, he said, will be on free on board (FOB) prices and the export value of maize would still be higher for Indian corn even after a 10 per cent incentive, specially on bulk corn exports from the country.

Meanwhile, in the futures market maize prices slumped this week by about one per cent for December contract to Rs 8,040 per tonne. However, Godown prices of maize in Nizamabad, Davangere and Karimnagar remained flat at Rs 8,500-8,600 per tonne.

In the international markets, corn on Chicago Board of Trade (CBoT) bounced back and gained about 22 per cent to close at 141.48 dollars per tonne for December contract and added 21 per cent to the March contract, closing at 146.99 dollar per tonne.

US Department of Agriculture also released its monthly report, in which the corn production estimates remained unchanged, but the demand for corn from ethanol sector was seen lower at 7.62 million tonnes. In addition, the export projection have been decreased by 2.54 million tonnes.

Govt may bail out cotton industry

The government on Friday, for the first time, indicated that it was willing to consider a bailout package for the domestic cotton industry, which has been reeling under sharp rise in input costs, even as some farmers in Gujarat decided to form a private company on their own to purchase the commodity on behalf of Cotton Corporation of India.

"We will talk to the industry and see if we can do something... Maybe a bailout package for them," Union agriculture secretary T Nanda Kumar told PTI on the sidelines of an exhibition in Chandigarh, organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry, denying that any rollback of the MSP was being considered.

The Centre had, in September, increased significantly the minimum support prices of standard cotton (long staple) to Rs 3,000 per quintal for 2008-09 from Rs 2,030 in the previous year. The MSP of medium staple cotton has been raised to Rs 2,500 from Rs 1,800 per quintal.

The industry has protested strongly against the MSP hike, saying domestic rates will skyrocket at a time when prices in global markets are declining. So much so, that ginners across the country went on a two-day strike from Tuesday and are planning to meet the commerce minister to air their grievance.

India is projected to produce at least 320 lakh bales of cotton in the 2008-09 season.

Meanwhile, undeterred by the rigid stance of the cotton ginners a group of farmers in India's largest cotton growing province of Gujarat have decided to form a private company, under the aegis of Bharatiya Kishan Sangh (BKS), to procure cotton on behalf of Cotton Corporation of India.

The new company to be called the Maha Gujarat Agri Cotton Private Limited (MGACPL) will start with an initial corpus of Rs 10 crore and also plans to enter into processing and ginning at a later date.

The idea behind floating the company is to ensure that benefits of high MSP is available to farmers even in the remotest corner of the country.

Global wheat sowing may be down 1.6%, to rise in India

Globally, wheat sowing may drop by 1.6% to 221.7 million hectares in the 2008-09 season due to falling prices and high input costs, while planting in India, the world’s second-largest producer, is expected to rise because of good prices.
“Falling wheat prices and high input costs will affect plantings in major producing countries,” London-based International Grain Council said in its latest Grain Market Report.

The total harvested area is forecast to fall by 1.6% to 221.7 million hectares in the 2009 season, it said, adding that global wheat production estimates, however, remained at 683 million tonnes as forecast last month, higher than the 610 million tonnes in the 2008 season.

“Higher production in the European Union is being offset by further reductions in Australia, where late rains are disrupting harvesting,” the IGC said.
Meanwhile in India, wheat sowing is in full swing as farmers are happy with the current rate of government-assured Rs1,000 per quintal ($200.47 a tonne), which is the minimum support price (MSP).

The target of raising the wheat area by one million hectares this year will definitely be achieved, as more acreage is expected in the non-traditional wheat-growing states, India’s Agriculture Secretary T Nanda Kumar said Thursday. Wheat acreage last year was around 28 million hectares.

On the other hand, noting declining price trends the IGC said prices of wheat and other commodities have fallen again this month. The export price of wheat registered a net decline of $20 per tonne.

Spending on agriculture up 80 percent says Indian Government

The government has invested around Rs.250 billion this year in agriculture sector, 80 percent higher than the total agricultural
spending last year, and is also encouraging enhanced private participation in the sector, a senior official said Friday.

"This year the government's investment in agriculture is 80 percent higher if we compare it with last year. It's over Rs.25,000 crore (Rs.250 billion)," Agriculture Secretary T. Nanda Kumar, who is here to attend the Agro Tech-2008 fair, told reporters.

"Various food park schemes have been announced all over the country and we are targeting an overall growth of four percent in each segment related to agriculture here," Nanda said.

The biennial four-day agro technology and business fair, 'Agro Tech-2008', opened here Friday with the theme 'Enhancing Technology and Business in Agriculture'.

"Green revolution was a revolutionary development. Now we need to bring second green revolution, but that is not possible with traditional farming. Here private companies have to play a big role, and our farmers have to adopt new technologies and know-how," Nanda said.

Nanda admitted that cotton and rice production per hectare in India is almost half of that in China.

"Over the last few years, gradually our yield has decreased due to our failure to adopt the changing trends. Nonetheless, with the present scenario and pace of development, I am sure that we will have record production," he added.

The Agro Tech-2008 is spread over an area of 5,960 square metres with 204 stalls, and the authorities here are expecting over 15,000 farmers from states like Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Bihar, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka to visit the event.