A national seminar and exhibition is being organized on vanilla in Bangalore on the 13th and 14th of February 2004 at J N Tata Auditorium, National Science Seminar Complex, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore. This is the first of its kind seminar being conducted on such a large scale.
Turnaround to get stronger in 2004
In the edible oils sector, the year 2003 was marked by a turnaround, having begun with the country grappling with drought and oilseeds production dipping low but there was a bumper harvest later in the kharif season and things changed for the better.
A good harvest now will ensure not only a significant increase in oilmeal exports but also for the first time in four decades, export of groundnut oil, not a mean achievement considering the fact that India is the world's largest importer of edible oils.
However, as a devastating drought hit the country in 2002, all time high imports, which for the first time crossed 50 lakh tonnes, will ensure that 2003 will be remembered more for this embarrassing record and also for the differences over the import duty regime amongst various constituents of the edible oils and oilseeds sector.
Courtesy: Business Standard, 2nd Jan '04
(Website : www.business-standard.com)
GDP surges to 8.4% in second quarter
India could not have asked for better on the last day of 2003 with economic growth shooting up to record 8.4 per cent during the second quarter of 2003-04 after years of sluggish growth, thanks to bumper agriculture production coupled with impressive performance by industry.
Not to be left behind, services sector led by trade, hotels, transport and communication chipped in significantly with over 7.0 per cent growth to push up the GDP, data for which was released by the government here today.
The combined effect of the three important components - agriculture with 4.1 per cent, manufacturing 6.8 per cent and service, led to an overall 7.0 per cent growth in the GDP during April-September 2003-04, amid predictions of further improvement in the economy.
Courtesy: The Navhind Times, 31st Dec '03
(Website : www.navhindtimes.com)
Toll-free call centre service for farmers
The Government today announced the launch of a toll-free call centre service next month for farmers to provide information on their agriculture-related queries.
"Any farmer of the country will be able to obtain any agriculture-related information required by him from the call centre. The facility will be available free of cost and would be functional, hopefully, by January 26," Agriculture Minister Rajnath Singh, said at the 44th Annual General Meeting of National Federation of Cooperative Sugar Factories.
Singh also announced the extension of the existing buffer stock regime for the country's sugar producers who complained of not receiving their entitlements.
"The Government is also committed to provide all possible help to sugar producers, and keeping in mind the concerns of the sector, has allowed buffer stocks to be operational for another year despite its expiry last week," the Minister added.
Courtesy: The Hindu, 22nd Dec '03
(Website : www.hinduonnet.com)
Bt cotton hybrids superior to conventional hybrids
India strongly backed genetically modified Bt cotton hybrids, saying farmers in Gujarat had benefited greatly from them. The Indian government had last year permitted commercial cultivation of Bt cotton.
Three Bt cotton hybrids - Mech-162 Bt, Mech-12 Bt and Mech-184 Bt were sold to farmers in Gujarat during May and June this year.
"Performance wise, all the three hybrids were found to be superior to conventional cotton hybrids grown by the farmers in the area," Science and Technology Minister Murli Manohar Joshi said in a statement in the Lok Sabha, the lower house of parliament, in response to a calling attention motion by Congress leader Madhusudan Mistry.
Courtesy: www.newkerala.com, 15th Dec '03
(Website : www.newkerala.com)
Govt has crop gene research on the cards
A committee of the Agriculture Ministry has proposed to conduct research on 12 crops to improve pest resistance and shelf-life. During a meeting of the Parliamentary consultative committee, Agriculture Minister Rajnath Singh said a network project on transgenic crops will be taken up.
The proposed research project of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) will cover maize, pigeonpea, chickpea, soyabean, cotton, tomato, brinjal, banana, papaya, potato and cassava.
''Biotechnology applications in general and transgenics in particular offer new opportunities in agriculture to increase production and productivity,'' said Singh. He added the project would focus on targeted trait improvement in each of the 12 crops such as resistance to pests, fungal diseases and viral diseases, tolerance to abiotic stresses and extended shelf life.
Courtesy: The Indian Express, 18th Dec '03
(Website : www.indianexpress.com)
Contract Farming Explored for India
India's national agriculture policy looks to private sector participation through contract farming and land leasing to accelerate technology transfer, capital flow and assured markets for crop production, especially of oilseeds, cotton and horticultural crops The NDA government has drafted a model law on agricultural marketing to provide, among other things, legal support to contract farming agreements.
Several state governments, including Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Karnataka, Punjab and Tamil Nadu, are promoting contract farming, changing laws to enable and support it, and providing companies interested in it with a variety of incentives, including lifting of land ceilings, subsidies and tax rebates. Other governments such as West Bengal are being urged to change their policy towards contract farming.
Contract farming is defined as a system for the production and supply of agricultural or horticultural products under forward contracts between producers/suppliers and buyers and a commitment of the cultivator to provide an agricultural commodity of a certain type, at a time and a price, and in the quantity required by a known and committed buyer, typically a large company.
Courtesy: www.wisconsinagconnection.com, 17th Dec '03
(Website : www.wisconsinagconnection.com)
Centre plans to cut interest rates on agriculture loans
The Centre is planning to further reduce the interest rates on agriculture loans and is formulating a new scheme to bring down the debt burden on the states, Finance Minister Jaswant Singh said on Sunday.
"The Finance Ministry is working on a scheme to further reduce the interest rates on agriculture loans and make it more accessible," Singh said inaugurating the `Maha Expo 2003' in Aurangabad.
Describing the heavy debt on states as a matter of concern, Singh said the Government is formulating a scheme to reduce the debt burden and give relief to states in a phased manner.
The Government has already announced a debt-swap programme under which the high cost debt of the states would be halved and in the case of Maharashtra, it would be reduced to around Rs 44,000 crore from the present Rs 90,000 crore.
It is also in the process of restructuring the crop insurance scheme by including risk and price insurance which would cover all crops under the insurance ambit, he said adding, a pilot scheme has been started in some districts.
Courtesy: The Economic Times, 14th Dec '03
(Website : www.economictimes.com)
NMCE to begin futures in wheat, rice by Dec
The National Multi-Commodity Exchange of India (NMCE), the country's first demutualised electronic commodity exchange, marked its first year of successful operations today by obtaining ISO 9001:2000 certification from the British Standard Institute (BSI).
The exchange is planning to roll out futures trading in wheat and rice in December. The comex till date has registered a cumulative turnover close to Rs 40,000 crore.
Starting its operations in a record time of just 11 months after it was incorporated as a public limited company, NMCE commenced futures trading in 24 commodities on 26th November, 2002 on a national scale and since then, on its path of growth, increased the number to 49, out of which 41 are agro-related commodities.
NMCE is promoted by commodity-relevant public sector undertakings such as Central Warehousing Corporation (CWC), National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India (NAFED), National Institute of Agricultural Marketing (NIAM), Gujarat Agro-Industries Corporation Ltd. (GAICL), Gujarat State Agricultural Marketing Board (GSAMB), and a leading export-import house - Neptune Overseas Ltd.
Courtesy: Business Standard, 27th Nov '03
(Website : www.business-standard.com)