India is planning to set up a national grid to ensure the ready supply of seeds to farmers, officials said here Tuesday. The national seeds grid would be set up by "linking all seeds producing agencies at the national and state levels to ensure that seeds are available on demand by the states or farmers", the agriculture ministry said in a statement.

The grid would provide district-wise information regarding the requirement, production and distribution of seeds through a computerised network. "The grid is likely to be set up and start functioning by the end of the 10th Plan period in 2007," the statement said.

A "Seed Village Programme" is being implemented under the centrally funded Oilseeds Production Programme and the National Pulse Development Programme for the production of certified seeds of oilseeds and pulse crops.

"Under the programme, an assistance of Rs.500 per quintal is provided to seed-producing farmers," the ministry said. The government move to set up the national grid is to ensure supply of quality seeds to farmers, who are often duped into buying inferior seeds with adverse results, including suicides by farmers whose crops failed.

Courtesy: www.newkerala.com, 9^th Dec '03
(Website : www.newkerala.com)

The rest of the world believes that India's economic growth model is largely based on its booming information technology and outsourcing sector. But Jaswant Singh, India's finance minister, sees agriculture as the key to the country's economic future. Almost 800m Indians, he said, lived in the countryside. Farms account for 25 per cent of gross domestic product, while software and business process outsourcing make up about 2 per cent of GDP and employ roughly 1m people.

India's economic growth rate in 2003 is expected to exceed 7 per cent, partly because of this year's good monsoon, which ended the country's worst drought in a generation. "We need a second green revolution," said Mr Singh. The first was in the 1970s. "There are three areas of priority: to improve value addition, to increase food processing and to bring rural wastelands into productivity." Other priorities included reducing the fiscal deficits and debt burden of India's state governments.

Courtesy: Financial Times, 5^th Dec '03
(Website : http://news.ft.com)

The good news is the 46 per cent rise in India's exports of agricultural and fishery products to the 15-nation European Union (EU) between 1995 and 2002. Indian exports went up from 861 million euro to 1.3 billion euro over this period, although India's share of the EU market remained at two per cent of the EU's imports from non-EU countries.

India's share of South Asian exports to the EU was just over two-thirds of the total in 1995 (1.3 billion euro) - and again in 2002 (1.9 billion euro). The exports of all South Asian countries, including India, rose by 46 per cent between 1995 and 2002, while their share of the EU market went up from two per cent to three per cent. Chinese exporters of agricultural and fishery products saw their exports rise from 1.1 billion euro to 1.7 billion, a growth of 52 per cent between 1995 and 2002, while their share of the EU market went up from two per cent to three per cent. Indonesian and Thai exporters did less well: their exports rose by 30 per cent and 20 per cent respectively between 1995 and 2002. Indonesian exports stood at 1.4 billion euro and Thai exports at 1.3 billion euro in 2002.

Courtesy: The Financial Express, 30^th Nov '03
(Website : www.financialexpress.com)

India is working on a model legislation that would eliminate the role of middlemen in marketing farm produce and enhance the farmers' share in the price consumers pay. The government has framed legislation for states to adopt and bring about necessary changes in the marketing set-up, said P.K. Agarwal, a marketing adviser in the agriculture ministry.

"We have formulated a model law to help bring about necessary reforms in agriculture produce marketing. This would be taken up for discussion with states at a national conference on January 7," Agarwal told IANS in an interview. The drafting of the model legislation based on the recommendation of a special committee was completed last month. Under the present regulation, the wholesale markets are government regulated. The official is hopeful that within a year most states would have adopted and taken steps to implement the new legislation that would eliminate the role of middlemen in the procurement of farm produce for sale to the retailers and consumers.

Maharashtra is already in the process of bringing an ordinance for ushering in agriculture marketing reforms, said Agarwal. To hasten the process of implementation by the states, the central government is working on an incentive driven reform package to make it more attractive. The central government has earmarked Rs.1.95 billion in the 2002-07 Plan to set up better agriculture marketing infrastructure.

Courtesy: www.newkerala.com, 30^th Nov '03
(Website : www.newkerala.com)

The finance ministry on Thursday cleared the implementation of a pilot farm income insurance project, which will be implemented during this Rabi season for select crops in some 18 districts, said RCA Jain, secretary, department of agriculture and co-operation. Once established, this project will then be implemented for the next Kharif season, which will "radically change the Indian agriculture and reach all farmers across the country," Mr Jain said.

Delivering the keynote address at the one-day seminar on 'Making the Commodities Market Work - The Agricultural Perspective,' Mr Jain said while the insurance project would help improve capital formation in the country, it would also help the government to extend the minimum support prices (MSP) to almost all the states, which, at present, is restricted only to a few states.

However, the MSP scheme will only be for the purpose of deciding insurance premiums, and will be implemented through the Agricultural Insurance Corporation of India. "We are in discussion to rope even the private insurance sector in spreading this scheme," Mr Jain said.

Courtesy: The Financial Express, 21^th Nov '03
(Website : www.financialexpress.com)

The government announced a cut in interest rate on loans to the plantation sector to stimulate credit flow to the coffee plantations and said it would soon announce a separate package for the tea gardens. Commerce and industries minister Arun Jaitley said the lending rate on advances up to Rs 50 lakh for plantation farming would attract a maximum interest rate of 9 per cent while there would be a moratorium on interest payment. Currently, advances for coffee plantation farming attract interest ranging between 11-14 per cent.

Courtesy: The Telegraph, 21^th Oct '03
(Website : www.telegraphindia.com)

After several years, the country is expecting a bumper soyabean production of 6.7m tonnes this time. The figure is not only 505 higher than last year's output but also promises soyabean of best quality. Based on a field survey, the Soyabean Processors Association of India (Sopa) has estimated that the total crop for the kharif or summer season, which is to be harvested soon, would be 6.7m tonnes, as compared to the 4.3m tonnes in '02-03.

Courtesy: The Economic Times, 13^th Oct '03
(Website : www.economictimes.com)