http://www.agricultureinformation.com/forums/blogs/lucky/ Online Agriculture Community en Mon, 15 Mar 2010 23:04:32 GMT vBulletin 60 http://www.agricultureinformation.com/forums/images/styles/agri2/misc/rss.jpg http://www.agricultureinformation.com/forums/blogs/lucky/ http://www.agricultureinformation.com/forums/blogs/lucky/1816-beware-low-productivity-used-excuse-grab-land-farmers.html Sat, 29 Aug 2009 00:12:51 GMT Some recent developments in India’s agri-related laws might make former finance minister P. Chidambaram’s infamous dream of seeing “only 15 per cent... Some recent developments in India’s agri-related laws might make former finance minister P. Chidambaram’s infamous dream of seeing “only 15 per cent of Indians in villages” come true much faster than anyone thought possible.

Moves are afoot to ensure large-scale displacement of farmers and agricultural workers — the most blatant move is already underway in Andhra Pradesh, under Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhar Reddy.

An experiment under the garb of “farmers cooperative” was approved by the state Cabinet recently, not very different from what his rival N. Chandrababu Naidu attempted some years ago. The arguments too are old: Small holdings lead to low productivity, low income, low investments and, this vicious cycle goes on.

This argument ignores the fact that more than 900 scientists from 110 countries have recently concluded an international process, called the International Assessment of Agricultural Knowledge, Science and Technology for Development (IAASTD), pointing out that small-holding ecological farming is the way forward. We are also familiar with the subsidies that prop up intensive, large-scale models of farming elsewhere, despite claims of efficiency. Numerous studies have confirmed the inverse relationship between the size of farms and the amount of crops they produce per unit.

A study from Turkey shows that farms less than a hectare are 20 times more productive than farms that are over 10 hectares! But why should anyone be looking at such data when the sizes of land holdings and their alleged low productivity is used as an excuse to grab land?
This is what the Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister is proposing: Get farmers to pool their land into a cooperative/society/company.

Farmers sell their land to the new entity in return for some shares, which will then take up all agricultural operations and pay dividends. Farmers can exit by selling their share to existing members and, if there are no takers, government will buy the shares at a pre-determined market price. Land cannot be obtained back.

Though many questions remain unanswered — what will happen to the farmers and how will they take part in any decision-making? What will tenant farmers and agricultural workers do? Why will land not be returned to the farmers? — the state Cabinet has decided to take up a pilot project in 50 villages by investing Rs 5,000 crore and there are moves to introduce a new legislation along these lines.

To begin with, the entire reasoning that bashes small holdings is faulty. Two, an experiment taken up by Mr Naidu some years ago along these lines (“Kuppam Project”) failed in delivering the promised benefits and had environmental repercussions.

Most importantly, this move will take away land permanently from farmers and is truly an exit mechanism.

Incidentally, it is in Andhra Pradesh that the world’s largest ecological farming project is unfolding, supported by the state’s rural development department, which is proving that farming can indeed be made viable through alternative technologies and people’s organisations.

This programme, yielding results on more than 20 lakh acres, all small and marginal holdings, has attracted great attention already. Is it by design that the state government chose to ignore such vastly successful models and set about “to make farming viable” through proven-to-have-failed models?

While this is happening in Andhra Pradesh, in neighbouring Tamil Nadu a bill was introduced in the Assembly and supposedly passed on a day when 30 bills were passed without much discussion.

This new legislation, called Tamil Nadu State Agricultural Council Act 2009, is about setting up a council that will be empowered to inspect agricultural institutions, courses of study, examinations etcetera, all to ensure that standards are conformed to.

“At present, there is no law to provide for the regulation of agricultural practice… it’s been considered necessary to regulate agricultural practice and registration of agricultural practi-tioners…” states the object of the legislation. Sounds inane enough? However, the law says that no one can render agricultural services unless his/her name is registered in the “Tamil Nadu Agricultural Practitioners Register” with a formal agricultural qualification from Tamil Nadu (outsiders can register within 90 days of their entry!).

In a country which has always had a rich tradition of farming based on an oral and experiential knowledge and in a state where paddy productivity levels are recorded to have been up to 13 tonnes per hectare (in 1807 in Coimbatore) without qualified agriculture scientists, this move is an outright rejection of the vast untapped knowledge of our farm women and men.

Worse, in the name of regulating agricultural services, this seems to be a way of controlling the farmer-to-farmer spread of ecological farming in the state, which is led by farmers themselves, their networks and other civil society groups. Tamil Nadu is also the state where the anti-genetically modified protests against Tamil Nadu Agriculture University’s unthinking capitulation to agro-MNCs like Monsanto are running at a high-pitched level. A connection between the resistance movement and this new law cannot be ruled out.

This new regulation of “agriculture services” will effectively provide more and more markets for particular kinds of technologies at the expense of farmers, as the advisories will be driven by the mindsets that prevail in the agriculture education/ research system in the country and the commercial interests of the agri-services to be set up.

This route of a “qualified” advisory system will obviously facilitate conflicting interests and help in improving exclusivity of “markets” by reducing competition, while ignoring the causes for the current agrarian crisis. While a law of this kind should regulate services provided by agricultural research and agri-business bodies to ensure accountability for their services, especially in relation to economic, environmental and social viability and sustainability of farming, it should not be used as a weapon to penalise farmers and civil society groups which are trying to promote sustainable farming.

These two initiatives in Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh are not to be seen as isolated attempts to create more markets for agri-businesses, but as an orchestrated move towards an unwritten “exit policy” for farmers.
These two moves will set a bad precedent for the rest of the country.

Given that agriculture is contributing a lower and lower share in the country’s gross domestic product, its importance in the mainstream economic development model might be diminishing for many policymakers.

However, this is a question of livelihood for millions of Indians — without ensuring access and control over basic productive resources and without moving towards sustainable production technologies, the current saga of agrarian distress, including suicides, will only increase.

Such legislations and programmes cannot be brought in without comprehensive debates and without the government clearly stating its vision for farming livelihoods and how they would be liable when things go wrong.

* Dr G.V. Ramanjaneyulu is the executive director of Centre for Sustainable Agriculture, Hyderabad, and Kavitha Kuruganti is a trustee of Kheti Virasat Mission, Punjab.

VERY GOOD ARTICLE BY THE ABOVE AUTHOR. ]]> lucky http://www.agricultureinformation.com/forums/blogs/lucky/1816-beware-low-productivity-used-excuse-grab-land-farmers.html http://www.agricultureinformation.com/forums/blogs/lucky/1787-its-shame-we-r-action-only-when-hit-problems.html Thu, 20 Aug 2009 23:42:00 GMT Lack of consistency in building up effective response mechanisms to deal with the vagaries of nature, like floods and droughts, has been the bane of... Lack of consistency in building up effective response mechanisms to deal with the vagaries of nature, like floods and droughts, has been the bane of the Indian establishment for the past six decades.

“It appears we have failed to create systems to cope up with events like floods and drought.

We get into action only when hit by the problem and forget about devising long-term strategies to deal with it.

The only way to make the Indian economy immune is to plan for the years ahead now.

Besides planning, the other limitations of Indian agriculture are lack of long-term investment in creating requisite infrastructure and the federal structure of governance.

Agriculture is a state subject and most state governments have little funds to invest in the sector, reducing the impact of Central schemes to improve the situation.

While states like Maharashtra and Gujarat have done better than others in the field of agriculture, the law and order situation in large states like UP and Bihar continues to be a bottleneck in inviting big investment.


Besides this, as India is a rain-fed economy, the challenges of drought would be there.

Our irrigation system is not developed to take care of low rains and our ability to water the fields is limited.

More small dams would have meant greater ability to handle flooding of major rivers and would have generated more hydro-power, said experts.

Against a required 80 per cent, the irrigation system in India is just about 40 per cent of the requirement.

This reflects poorly for a country where over 50 per cent of the population is involved in agriculture.

Then the alternate cropping system, which would come handy in rain deficiency years, has not been developed enough.

Comparing the strategies of the developed world in managing the natural calamities, experts said food production in Australia has been hit due to drought-like conditions for the past two years.

But since it is a food exporter and does not have to worry about feeding its population, the country has been able to withstand the pressure on its economy.

However, given the size of the country, agriculture experts said it would be wishful to think we can immunise the population against natural calamities.

Predicting a complex phenomenon like the Indian monsoon remains a challenge for the weatherman, they said.

Though there are systems in place, a 30 per cent rain deficiency, like the one being faced this year, can play havoc with the best of planning, they added.

STATE GOVT HAS TO WAKE-UP.

LUCKY. ]]> lucky http://www.agricultureinformation.com/forums/blogs/lucky/1787-its-shame-we-r-action-only-when-hit-problems.html http://www.agricultureinformation.com/forums/blogs/lucky/1753-govt-india-must-deal-drought-like-kargil-war.html Mon, 10 Aug 2009 20:55:02 GMT To describe the current situation on the agricultural front as “grave” or “serious” would be an understatement. What’s worse is that, as is usually... To describe the current situation on the agricultural front as “grave” or “serious” would be an understatement. What’s worse is that, as is usually the case in this country, it is the rural poor who are the worst sufferers in any drought. The government cannot ignore its responsibility to mitigate the condition of the worst afflicted by the speedy provision of emergency food and water supplies. There is a flicker of hope that the rains will come in good measure soon after August 15, now less than a week away; but if that does not happen the situation could turn cataclysmic in certain areas. If agricultural operations come to a standstill, then where will farmers and labourers get the money to buy food which the government says is there in plenty in the FCI’s godowns? Even today, with the government saying it has adequate stocks of 253 lakh tonnes of wheat and 323 lakh tonnes of rice, the ration shops in Mumbai, for instance, are not giving wheat, rice and sugar to ration card holders. They are being forced to buy these items in the open market. In states like Maharashtra, some parts of Andhra Pradesh and northern Karnataka, jowar is a staple food for many people, but the government has done nothing to stock it. There has been no agricultural breakthrough in pulses and oilseeds as in the case of rice and wheat, even though pulses are the only source of protein for crores of vegetarians across the country. India is one of the largest consumers of edible oils, and yet we depend on imports for three-fourths of our requirements. When the world markets come to know that India is going to import grain, the international prices shoot up, adding to domestic inflation. The government is also forced to subsidise these imports for the poor. The sheer neglect of research and development in pulses and oilseeds reflects poorly on the government, and only shows how our administration is so totally ignorant about the needs of agriculture. Much was expected of Mr Sharad Pawar, who understands the needs of farmers and could have revolutionised the pulses and oilseeds sector. It is still not too late for him and the government to remedy this, and bring about a new green revolution in pulses and oilseeds in the way Indira Gandhi had done with rice and wheat many decades ago. Without this, there will be no real food security for much of the people of India. The Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh, has taken the initiative by calling state chief secretaries to discuss, among other things, planning for the rabi season. Gram and masoor can be increased and work on this should start immediately. There have to be some special programmes and minimum support prices should be announced early to encourage farmers to take up production of rabi crops on a war footing. The government’s agricultural policy needs a thorough change. The Prime Minister and the agriculture minister would do well to reduce their dependence on bureaucrats and bring in some real experts to plan what steps to take in the next 12 months if the poor are to get food at reasonable prices. From the farmers’ standpoint, government policies today are totally lopsided: if the crops are abundant, prices go down and farmers suffer as they can’t even recover their cost of production. There needs to be a way to protect them and motivate them in the same way that the government does for industry'1
....................LUCKY. ]]> lucky http://www.agricultureinformation.com/forums/blogs/lucky/1753-govt-india-must-deal-drought-like-kargil-war.html http://www.agricultureinformation.com/forums/blogs/lucky/1681-excellent-knowledge-all-cows-gas-all-must-read.html Tue, 28 Jul 2009 21:21:08 GMT Cows from Rajastan travel on the Golden Quadrilateral highway to find water and grazing areas... Cows from Rajastan travel on the Golden Quadrilateral highway to find water and grazing areas
.................................................. ..............

Indolent cows languidly chewing their cud while befuddled motorists honk and maneuver their vehicles around them is an image as stereotypically Indian as saffron-clad holy men and the Taj Mahal. Now, however, India's ubiquitous cows — of which there are 283 million, more than anywhere else in the world — are assuming a more menacing role as they become part of the climate-change debate.

Related
Video

American Museum of Natural History's Climate-Change Exhibition
Photos

China's Cow Town
Photos

Elephants of Asia
Environment

The World's 10 Most Polluted Cities
More Related
India’s Silence on Burma Speaks Volumes
Climate Conundrum: How to Get India to Play Ball
How to Ride the Elephant

By burping, belching and excreting copious amounts of methane — a greenhouse gas that traps 20 times more heat than carbon dioxide — India's livestock of roughly 485 million (including sheep and goats) contributes more to global warming than the vehicles the animals obstruct. With new research suggesting that methane emission by Indian livestock is higher than previously estimated, scientists are furiously working at designing diets to help bovines and other ruminants eat better, stay more energetic and secrete smaller amounts of the offensive gas. (See pictures of India's largest ruminant: the Asian elephant.)

Last month, scientists at the Space Applications Centre in Ahmedabad in western India published a pan-India livestock methane-emission inventory, the first ever, which put the figure at 11.75 million metric tons per year — higher than the 9 million metric tons estimated in 1994. This amount is likely to increase as higher incomes and consumption rates put pressure on the country's dairy industry to become even more productive. (See pictures of China's cow town.)

Already the world's largest producer of milk, India will have to yank up production from the current 100 million metric tons to 180 million metric tons by 2021-22 to keep pace with growing population and expanding disposable incomes. Livestock such as cows, buffalo, goats, sheep, horses and mules are indispensable to India's rural economy — whether the animals are yoked to plow land, raised for milk and manure or harnessed to pull carts to move goods and people. The Ministry of Agriculture estimates that livestock contribute 5.3% to total GDP, up from 4.8% during 1980-81. But, says K.K. Singhal, head of dairy cattle nutrition at the National Dairy Research Institute in Karnal in northern India, "while livestock plays a crucial role in the economy, global warming is becoming a huge worry. We're trying to find indigenous solutions, because our realities are very different from the West." (See 10 things you should know about the world's cheapest car, India's Nano.)

For starters, most Indian livestock is underfed and undernourished, unlike its robust counterparts in richer countries. The typical Indian farmer is unable to buy expensive dietary supplements even for livestock of productive age, and dry milch cattle and older farm animals are invariably turned out to fend for themselves. Poor-quality feed equals poor animal health as well as higher methane production. Also, even when Western firms are willing to share technology or when Western products are available, these options are often unaffordable for the majority in India. For instance, Monensin, an antibiotic whose slow-release formula reduces methane emission by cows, proved too expensive for widespread use in India. So the emphasis for Indian scientists is on indigenous solutions. "We know we cannot count on high-quality feed and fodder," says Singhal. "No one will be able to afford it. What we have done instead is develop cheaper technologies and products." One example is urea-molasses-mineral blocks that are cheap, reduce methane emission by 20%, and also provide more nutrition, so they're easier to sell to illiterate farmers who don't know a thing about global warming but want higher milk yields.

Most dietary interventions work by checking methogens — microbes that thrive in oxygen-free environments like cows' guts, where they convert the available hydrogen and carbon (by-products of digestion) into methane, a colorless, odorless gas. "We encourage well-to-do farmers to use oilseed cakes, which provide unsaturated fatty acids that get rid of the hydrogen," Singhal says. Another solution is herbal additives. Some commonly used Indian herbs such as shikakai and reetha, which go into making soap, and many kinds of oilseeds contain saponins and tannins, substances that make for lathery, bitter meals but block hydrogen availability for methogens. Singhal says the herbs are used in small quantities and the cows don't seem to mind the taste. "Imagine how much potential they'd have in the international market," he says. (See pictures of India's biodegradable dishware.)

Several other institutions, like the National Institute of Animal Nutrition and Physiology (NIANP) in Bangalore, are also researching herbs. "We're studying the effect of tannin compounds from various easily-available sources like tea leaves. We're also studying prebiotic and probiotic feed supplements," says K.T. Sampath, director of NIANP. Other institutes, like the New Delhi–based Energy Research Institute (TERI), are working on methane-capture strategies. One long-running project has been biogas production — cow dung utilized to make biogas for use in kitchens, and even compressed biogas for use in vehicles. "Biogas plants have been very successful," says R.K. Rajeshwari, a fellow at TERI. "Farmers are able to use biogas in their kitchens, to light lamps and to even drive vehicles." Such projects, she says, have been particularly successful at gaushalas, cow shelters supported by donations from the devout and by government grants, of which there are 4,000 across India. Most gaushalas are for abandoned, dry and aged cattle, of which there are many, since killing cows is illegal in all but two states (the communist-ruled West Bengal and Kerala). "This way they are put to some use at least," says Rajeshwari. "And by replacing conventional sources of energy, they help prevent global warming."

LUCKY.
.................................................. ....
To read more with all INTERESTING details WITH photos please read the post of CRAVY,
{Bovine Beasts - 2009-07-22. 12:15:09-04 }
Thanks cravy. ]]> lucky http://www.agricultureinformation.com/forums/blogs/lucky/1681-excellent-knowledge-all-cows-gas-all-must-read.html http://www.agricultureinformation.com/forums/blogs/lucky/400-why-indian-farmers-suicideeeeeeeeee.html Fri, 05 Sep 2008 19:59:55 GMT please comment !! give ideas plezzzzzzzzzzz -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- HEADLINE... please comment !! give ideas plezzzzzzzzzzz

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

HEADLINE NEWS-SEPT 3RD 2008.

5 farmers end lives in one week


Kadapa Sept. 3: Unable to repay debts, five farmers committed suicide in Kadapa district in last one week. On August 27, three farmers of Kasinayana and Porumamilla mandals committed suicide, and on Tuesday, Ravikumar, 35, of Papireddygaripalle in Obu-lavaripalle mandal and Kondamma, 46, of Lekka-lavaripalle Timmaiahgaripalle in Mydukur mandal committed suicide.

Chenna Krishna Reddy, 45, Konda Sidda Reddy, 32, and Konda Ramadevi, 28, committed suicide on August 27 as they had in-curred losses in the cultivation of cotton and paddy. Ravikumar took the drastic step as he could not get a good yield in the cultivation of banana and papaya. He hanged himself in his farm.

Kondamma had incurred debts to the tune of Rs 10 lakh for cultivation. Rece-ntly, she repaid Rs 5 lakh by selling half her land. She committed suicide by consuming insecticide in her farm.

>>>>>>>>>>> <<<<<<<<<<<<<
RESPECTED MEMBERS:-
Please give the ideas to our farmer community in INDIA, how to come out of this GRIM situations.
What are the ways to TACKLE the farms ,so that the farmers can make good money and live happily.
every day is a SAD DAY for some of our farmer-family due to SUICIDESSSSSSSSSSSSSSS.
Can some leader-farmers (no political leaders plzzzzzz) come up here in this forum and give the ideas , how the farms will florish with double/healthy growth ,from which the farmer can servive easily and pay his dues.?????
I REQUEST , every one of us can shade some lights ,whatever they have in their mind,which can give the ideas to our farmers, how to SUSTAIN ,farm/crop/money and life.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>thank you...........
with REGREETS AND SORROWS ..................... lucky ]]> lucky http://www.agricultureinformation.com/forums/blogs/lucky/400-why-indian-farmers-suicideeeeeeeeee.html http://www.agricultureinformation.com/forums/blogs/lucky/246-indian-goat-farmers-association-igfa.html Sat, 05 Jul 2008 21:46:47 GMT Dear Friends, i would like to request you all who are already in the commercial GOAT FARMING & all others who are keen in going for it.

The friends who are already in this business,must co-operate and help the new enterpreneurs (not financially) but in ideas, experiences,technequies etc etc.

This will create the healthy atmosphere for the new ppl to adopt this business,which will ultimately help the already- established farms to be more stronger in elliminating the MIDDLEMAN, by showing the strength of the goat-farmers.

please note this will not create any competetion in the seller-market(goat farmers),but will be a BIG-BLOW to the middleman,who sucks the BLOOD of the GOAT FARMERS.

Once the association is formed,it will be in the interest & benefits of all farmers.

keep in mind................
"A LONELY SHEEP IS AN EASY PREY FOR THE WOLVES".

EVEN the wholesellers of the concerned supplies such as food and fodders will eagerly come forward to serve this " IGFA " members with comfortable fair prices as they will surely benefit selling food & fodders in bulk,no doubt every member can contact them with their own requirements /quantities ,but the price will be the one which will be setteled by the "IGFA".
In this way the association members will rule the entire concerned raw-matterial-market.

THE latest techneques of commercial goat farmings in india, is available with all the state dept of animal husbandry and they give 2 days FREE coaching class for the concerned goat farmings.

MR KIRTI ,has also given some of the imp contacts in my last blog,please feel free to brouse that blog ie; GOAT FARMINGS (a request).

BELOW is the private business enterprise dealing in the same thing,this is their contact :

{please note: i m not affieliated with them},this is the product of my search ,which may help to all my friends interested in goat farmings.

HERE i would like to request on behalf of my friends to DR Nimberkar saheb ,to please give concessions in the FEES and the prices of BREEDING-GOATS, which will ultimately give more bulk- business to M/S NIRA VALLEY PVT LTD.

“Breeders of 100% Boer Goats”
Contact :
Zia Quraishi

NIRA VALLEY GENETICS PVT LTD.


Farmers interested in buying Boer and cross breed goats.

If you wish to visit the Nivgen farm you may do so during 9.00A.M. to 12.00 Noon and 2.00 to 5.00 P.M.

GOAT FARM


Dear Friends , in order to prosper in a healthy manner,and to show the stronge FIST to the middleman ,it is better to join hands,brains & hearts with like minded peoples.

Initially it may not work,but don`t give-up ,ultimately the middleman has to GO VERY SOON, and INSHA ALLAH they will GO.
..................... thanks. LUCKY. ]]> lucky http://www.agricultureinformation.com/forums/blogs/lucky/246-indian-goat-farmers-association-igfa.html