Paddy, sugarcane, cotton growers: KBP urges government to announce new support prices

Kisan Board Pakistan (KBP) has urged the government to immediately announce new support price for paddy, sugarcane and cotton growers with upward revision in line with increase in the input prices, withdrawal of agricultural income tax and exempting agricultural inputs from the sales tax.

These demands were raised by the KBP leaders in protest demonstrations arranged by its members throughout the country on the call of KBP Central President Sardar Zafar Ahmad Khan to observe November 17, as protest day. KBP leaders also urged the government to declare flood affected areas as calamity hit. According to the information reached here, KBP members staged sit-in and protests at all the district headquarters in all the four provinces to condemn the anti-farmer policies of the government.

They were carrying banners and placards inscribed with their demands such as withdrawal of agricultural income tax, revising upward cotton, sugarcane and paddy prices and exempting agricultural inputs from GST. KBP Lahore President Mian Rasheed Minhala, Vice President Chaudhry Bashir Warraich, General Secretary Sardar Irfan Ullah Padhana and others said that flood had badly damaged the growers and they do not even have sufficient funds to buy inputs for wheat crop. They said area of 260,000 acres under paddy sowing was damaged during the last flood. They said that now paddy was being sold at the lower rates of Rs 1400 per maund while input cost is around Rs 1500 per maund. They urged the government to fix paddy prices at Rs 3000 per maund to eliminate the unrest found among the growers.

Meanwhile growers from Kasur, Sheikhupura and Gujranwala staged protests and submit their charter of demand to DCOs concerned. Similarly a big rally was taken out in Hafizabad, Sialkot, Khushab, Mianwali, Bhakkar and other areas of Punjab and other provinces. According to Secretary Information KBP Haji Muhammad Ramzan growers also held a press conference in Sahiwal and they demanded withdrawal of agricultural income tax and GST on agri inputs. KBP Central President Sardar Zafar Ahmad Khan has urged the government to consult all representative organisations of growers to resolve problems of the farmers.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2014

India in talks with Egypt for wheat exports-trade minister

NEW DELHI, March 20 (Reuters) - India is in talks with Egypt to export wheat, India's trade minister, Anand Sharma, said on Wednesday.

"We are in talks but have not arrived at specifications like the volume of exports and other such details," Sharma told reporters after his meeting with Egyptian President Mohamed Mursi who is visiting India.

India has been offering wheat from government warehouses to cut down surplus stocks and reduce the risk of wastage through damage by pests or weather.

The wheat harvest will gather momentum in April and farmers are expected to produce 92.3 million tonnes, the sixth straight year of output surpassing domestic demand of about 76 million tonnes.

Sharma also said the state run Cotton Corporation Of India (CCI) would offload stocks in the open market.

"That will happen," he said.

(Reporting by Mayank Bhardwaj; Editing by Jo Winterbottom)

Potassium Is The Elixir Of Life For Cotton In The Drought Conditions

Written by Zahoor Ahmad*, Dr. Ejaz Ahmad Waraich, Muhammad Irfan Department of Crop Physiology University of Agriculture Faisalabad Pakistan

Cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.), occupies a prominent position in the agriculture of Pakistan being the raw material for the textile industry, as well as the main source of locally produced cottonseed oil providing 60% oil of domestic needs. It accounts for 7.3% of the value added in agriculture and about 1.6% to GDP. In 2009 the cotton production was 14.5 percent less than the target of 14.11 million bales mainly due to the shortage of irrigation water, less use of fertilizer and attack of Cotton Leaf Curl Virus and mealy bug. Water stress is one of the major limitations to crop production in arid and semi-arid regions of the world. The reduced precipitation together with the higher evapotranspiration in these areas is expected to subject natural and agricultural vegetation to a greater risk of more severe and prolonged water stress. Even a temporary drought can cause substantial loss in crop yield. At the whole plant level the effect of stress is usually perceived as a decrease in photosynthesis and growth and is associated with alteration in carbon and nitrogen metabolism. The relative part of stomatal limitation of photosynthesis depends on the severity of water deficit. In Pakistan, more than 5.0 million ha of the total cropped area is rain fed, which is about 22% of the total cultivable land and drought is a major limiting factor for crop productivity in these areas. Water scarcity is also very common under irrigated conditions and crops face temporary water stress of varying degrees during the season. Worldwide agriculture has the biggest demand for water use and during 2000 total agriculture share of water use was 70%, as compared to 10% for domestic consumption and 20% for industry.

Potassium (K) is one of sixteen essential nutrients required for plant growth and reproduction. It isclassified as a macronutrient, as are nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P). The chemical symbol forpotassium is "K." It is taken up by plants in its ionic form (K+). The word potassium translates from the Latin or German word, Kalium. The term "potash" comes from the colonial practice of burningwood in large pots and using the ashes as fertilizer and making soap, gunpowder and glass."Potash" is defined as K2O and is used to express the content of various fertilizer materialscontaining potassium, such as muriate of potash (KCl), sulfate of potash (K2SO4), double sulfate ofpotash and magnesium (K2SO4. 2MgSO4), and nitrate of potash (KNO3).

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Few experiences from friends on drip irrigation US

1.

Where at in NE Texas. I have 194 acres of drip. My first drip was installed in 2004 on corners surrounding a half mile pivot. Are your old wells turbines with drip oil, Cost of a system is anywhere from 800 to 1000 dollars per acre. You can apply for equip money at your FSA office and they will do a cost share on 40 acres. At least in my county. 

Rule of thumb for cotton is you want at least 3 gallons per acre per minute. Corn may be higher. We install our drip tape at about 12" deep(level ground) every 80 inches. We are on 40 inch rows. I have heard of some systems being put in every 40 inches for corn. Drip has its problems just like any other irrigation systems. Rodents can be a big problems. Gophers love to go down and bite the drip tape. You also have to watch your water quality. We try to acidize our system every year and we have to watch for calcium buildup. There are some new products out that can assist you in keeping the emitters clean. 

The heart of the system is the filter station and controller. There are a couple of types of filters. The first filter is usually a hydrocyclone which spins the water to settle out the sand or sediments. Then you can either use a disc filter or a sand media filter. Both work but you need to select the filter for your water. The filter flushes automatically by time or a pressure differential. You also have flush the systems periodically through the flush valves on the far end of the fields. 

There are a lot of different drip tapes out there. I use Eurodrip but I think there are other brands that are just as good. 

Finally, it is very important that you have a good design. You want all zones to be the same sizes. 

Also, you will want to install the drip using RTK GPS. If you have a record of where you put the tape it is easier to keep the rows in the right place. My first 120 acres did not use GPS and it is a royal pain in the ass to keep your rows right. 

Drip is more efficient than pivots and you can raise excellent crops with them. It is not really all that diffent form pivots. You will have breakdowns, leaks, stopped up tapes etc.

2.

Scott Boles is one of the best in the business and isn’t that far from you either. He’s like me dyslexic and very good with problems or making thing happen. I use Netafim drip tape, Morrill filters and injection equipment and Senninger pressure regulators. I use regulators for rolling terrain and even water distribution. There’s a lot of line cleaning junk out there today but what I find works best is chlorine. I have a hydrochloric acid injector to maintain 5.5 pH on the water at all times it also inject fertilizer with the system too. Maintaining the 5.5 pH keeps from locking up the NPK in the soils. I also make the chlorine very active and will basically nuke everything. If I want to get real mean with it drop the pH down to 3.0 and it gets violent. 

Varmint control is an issue and will cause problems but there are several different insecticides that can be injected that make their live miserable. Regent SC is one of the better ones that I can think of. This can be used in a non-crop use. 

We're putting down drip tap here under the plastic. When we do corn or beans we plant double row on the top of the bed with 1 drip tape down the middle of them using our Monosem planter.

3.

I installed my first drip in 2000. I know guys who have had it in as long as 15 years. there is no need to deep rip. When the water moves up(at least down here in my sandy land) the water moves up. Compaction has not been a problem. Biggest problem is drift which is the crop row moving from away from where it should be. 

60 inch spacing would probably be the way you would want to go. Good square fields with straight runs are the least expensive. 60 inch spacing will be a little more expensive than 80 inch spacing because it takes more tape. 

Be careful about what you put in the drip tape. I have seen some problems that can occur when you put the wrong chemical in your drip tape. Some chemicals can have a reaction with some soils(rare but it can happen). Also, I have seen a man stop up his drip tape when injecting fertilizer and infuric acid. The chemicals formed a jell that stopped up the drip emitters. 

There are chemicals that can work but let someone else make that mistake so you won't. Afterall, you invest a great deal of money and you don't want it messed up by injecting the wrong thing. 

If you are running turbines with drip oil, you may want to take a look at that. I know some that had some problems with the drip oil in the drip irrigation system. They began using a synthetic or something different and solved the problem.

Agricultural scenario 2012-13

By Dr Aamer Irshad

LAST year, the agricultural sector achieved a growth rate of 3.1 per cent against the target of 3.4 per cent.

Low production of wheat and some minor crops was the main cause of missed targets despite better harvests of some major

crops like cotton, sugarcane and maize along with satisfactory performance by the livestock sector.

Bad weather and floods predominantly remained the major causes of lower agricultural output.

In the same year, GDP growth was recorded at 3.7 per cent , lower than actual target of 4.2 per cent but above the revised target of 3.6 per cent and also the three per cent in 2010-11.

The positive correlation of agricultural GDP with the overall GDP suggests that agriculture is a significant factor in determining the economy’s performance. Keeping in view the thrust of growth of agriculture sector, a target of 4.1 per cent was fixed for this

year.

The targeted growth was based on the expected contributions by the major crops ( four per cent ), minor crops (4.5 )), livestock (4.2), fisheries (two) and forestry (two per cent).

The projections for major crops were based on the output of 25.5 million tonnes wheat, 6.9 million tonnes rice, 59 million tonnes sugarcane, 14.5 million bales of cotton, and 4.3 million tonnes of maize. The assumption was based largely on the level of production already achieved along with the performance over the last three years. Minor crops such as gram, onion and sunflower remained extraordinarily low because of unfavourable weather conditions last year. It was expected that performance of minor crops will revive and contribute positively towards the overall agricultural GDP.

For the crop sector, key contributing factors, including weather conditions, have remained comparatively better. Agriculture credit disbursement is increasing along with availability and use of fertiliser and improved seed. Plant protection measures and farm mechanisation are improving.

The underlying assumptions for the livestock sector, whose contribution in agricultural GDP (55 per cent) is more than the crop sector, are that its performance has been very steady being less prone to vagaries of weather.

The sector has achieved growth of about four per cent for the last many years. The poultry sector also witnessed sustained high growth rates well above six per cent annually.

A big push in growth rate of livestock is, however, not possible due to peculiar nature of the activities and gestation period required for an activity to become productive. The resilience of the livestock supports growth even in worst natural calamities.

Target for fisheries and forestry growth has been fixed at two per cent. The share of both is negligible in agricultural GDP and hence to the overall economy.

In Kharif (or summer) season, major crops like cotton, rice and sugarcane are grown. Wheat is only the major crop of Rabi or winter season.

The Kharif season is already over. Provisional production data available from Suparco indicate that about 13.9 million cotton bales of standard weight (170 Kg) will be produced this year. The production of sugarcane and rice can be anticipated at 68.5 and 7.2 million tonnes respectively.

If the production of minor crops is assumed normal and the livestock sector follows the fixed growth pattern i.e. around 4.1 per cent per year, wheat remains the only decisive factor to determine the actual agricultural GDP for 2012-13.

With the available data of cotton, rice, sugarcane and anticipated achievement of livestock sector, the performance of agricultural GDP may be viewed in two scenarios depending upon the production of wheat crop in ensuing season. In one instance, if wheat harvest meets the target of 25.5 million tonnes, the agricultural GDP will record a growth rate of 4.6 per cent.

However, if it misses the target by one million tones, the agricultural GDP will comfortably surpass the target figure of four per cent.

Wheat productivity largely depends on weather conditions along with the availability of critical inputs in the coming Rabi season. Weather is single most important factor in wheat production. Pre-Rabi rains provide moisture for timely sowing in rain-fed wheat growing areas which contribute to around 15 per cent towards overall production.

Likewise rains during the growth period of wheat especially in December, February and March are very significant. Intensity and duration of frost, fog and temperature in the later part of the wheat plant life are very decisive. Because of the non filling of Mangla reservoir up to the level of last year i.e. 1210 feet, comparatively less irrigation water will become available for wheat crop but it may not affect the overall productivity, being strongly linked with other factors of production. The factors under human control such as timely sowing with certified seed, balanced fertiliser use, and good crop husbandry will also have significant impact on wheat production.

Presently, the agricultural outlook appears positive. Policy and overall sector environment suggests a healthy growth in agriculture sector. Due to strong vertical and horizontal linkages of agriculture with the country’s economy, a high level of economic activity is expected. Most importantly, food security will be ensured for the ongoing as well as for the year to come.

Heavy dependence of overall GDP on agriculture also suggests a better overall economic performance .

The writer is Chief, food and agriculture, Planning Commission

Original Article Here

Agriculture input prices witness 80 to 100 percent increase

The prices of different agricultural inputs have registered an increase of 70 percent to 100 percent during the last five years as compared to 40 percent to 45 percent increase in agriculture produce prices, said Hasan Ali Chaniho, director of Farmers Associates Pakistan and former agriculture minister of Sindh, while speaking at a function arranged by the Agricultural Journalists Association at the Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

“There is an urgent need to bring down agriculture input costs as high prices discourage the use of fertilisers, pesticides and quality seeds in required quantities, thus negatively impacting per acre yield,” he said.

“Bringing down prices would help increase per acre yield, which would lead towards strengthening the national economy and enhancing GDP, increasing growers’ incomes and poverty eradication from the rural areas.”

Chaniho discussed the various factors impeding agricultural growth in Pakistan, including the mushroom growth of seed companies leading to provision of impure and poor quality of different seeds. Farmers could get the same crop’s seed from Rs100 per kg to 1,000 per kg, while there is no guarantee of quality. He called for regulating the seed sector.

“BT cotton has replaced rice and sugarcane in Thatta, Badin and Tando Muhammad Adam. However, issues of various pest attacks, including armyworm last year and pink bollworm this year are still being faced,” he said.

“Such attacks pose a grave threat to crops that could be avoided by ensuring the availability of certified BT cotton seed.” The most important input in the agriculture sector was water, he added, but in Pakistan the provinces situated at the tail of the water network were raising the issue of shortage, while those in the upper riparian zone were complaining about water wastage into the sea, he added. However, he said, there was a dire need for judicious use of water. A significant amount of water could be saved from canals to farm gates and in fields. About 50 percent of river water actually reaches the farm gate through the network of canals and we lose 10 percent to 15 percent water in the field due to seepage and obsolete irrigation practices, he observed.

Original Article Here

Foreign investors in Australian farms, rash or prescient?

CANBERRA/SYDNEY: For all the willing buyers seeking tracts of Australian farm land, local investors are not among them. They wonder what all the fuss is about.

Years of weak and volatile returns and some of the harshest weather on earth suggest a wave of foreign interest in Australia’s farms and agricultural assets is on a fool’s errand.

“Overseas investors are too dumb to realise that they are not going to make money out of Australia agriculture,” said David Leyonhjelm, an Australia-based agriculture consultant at Baron Strategic Services. He may have a point.

Australian farms’ return on capital has seldom exceeded more than 2 percent in a year on average during the past decade, excluding changes in land values, according to government research bureau ABARES. That is less than half the return on stocks and less than a third compared with bonds, figures from Russell Investments suggest.

Although farm returns are volatile anyway - owing to the vagaries of the weather - the unpredictability of Australian earnings is much greater than in the United States.

In the past 30 years, Australia’s net farm income has experienced annual drops of more than 40 percent on five occasions compared to just once in the United States, data from ABARES and the US Department of Agriculture shows.

Including capital appreciation, Australian farm returns have been outstripped by Africa and Brazil. Australian farm debt has risen some 8 percent a year since 2001, almost double the pace of US farm debt.

Even when it comes to the weather, Australia seems worse off.

It has the lowest and most variable rainfall patterns of any inhabited continent, due largely to the El Nino-Southern Oscillation climate pattern that periodically bakes much of the country in hot, dry weather and intersperses it with flooding rains.

“In recent history, Australia has seen more volatility in agricultural farm output than other major agricultural producers,” said Michael Creed, agribusiness economist at National Australia Bank. “In the past 20 years alone, we’ve had a drought that lasted a decade and when the drought broke, it broke in massive way.”

Despite the weak and volatile returns, the explosion of the middle classes in Asia is attracting more offshore investors looking beyond immediate returns to an expected long-term surge in demand for high-quality food.

The UN Food and Agriculture Organisation says the world needs to boost food output by 70 percent by 2050 to meet demand, a sobering statistic for highly populated countries such as China, where a major tenet of the Communist Party is guaranteeing food security for its 1.3 billion people.

Chinese investors have been involved in a number of high-profile farm deals, including the purchase of the country’s biggest cotton farm, the 1,000 sq km (390 sq miles) Cubbie Station.

Chinese entities are also in the running for a large dairy operation in Tasmania and a big irrigation project in Western Australia.

US firm Archer Daniels Midland last month made a $2.8 billion bid for Australia’s last major independent grain handling company, GrainCorp, spurring a 40 percent jump in its share price.

Australia lacks comprehensive data on foreign ownership but the government says the vast majority of farms are locally owned and that has not changed much over the past 30 years. But spurred by a number of high-profile foreign deals, the issue has become politically sensitive as the sector struggles to attract much-needed investment at home.

Despite local scepticism at the prospects for Australia’s farming sector, the increase in offshore interest comes at a time when returns have seldom been better and adds to other evidence suggesting the foreign investment may not be mistimed after all.

Helped by generous rains and strong global prices, Australian farmers may have enjoyed the best year in decades in 2011-12.

“For the first time in more than 30 years, all states and all industries are expected to record positive farm business profits and rates of return,” ABARES said in its 2011-12 annual crop and livestock farm performance report.

Average farm cash income jumped to A$117,3000 in 2010-11 from just A$59,470 the previous year, it said. This year is forecast to remain a strong A$116,000 - almost 40 percent above its real, long-term average.

GrainCorp, the target of Archer Daniels, last week posted a record profit of A$205 million, boosted by a bumper crop. It said the takeover bid failed to reflect the promise of the business.

Some analysts say a global rush for agricultural land is just beginning, driven by increasing concerns over long-term food and water security. With the availability of suitable farmland shrinking and productivity gains slowing when populations are growing and diets changing, supply/demand dynamics are likely to be favourable over the next 40 years, an ANZ report says.

Another study, by real estate company Savills, identifies Australia as having some of the lowest land costs for wheat production in the world and highlights the appreciation in farmland values since 2002.

Shandong Ruyi Group, which bought Cubbie Station, is taking the long view, company adviser Ian Smith said.

“They are not dictated by the short term and they also have a proud track record of maximising the assets over the longer term,” he said.

Underscoring the gap between the short and the long view, Laguna Bay Pastoral Co, an agricultural investment fund advised by US commodities trader Jim Rogers, was forced to seek investors offshore because of a lack of interest in Australia.

“We were presented to most local funds. Most Australian local pension funds don’t have agriculture assets allocation,” Laguna founder Tim McGavin told Reuters.

“We have been forced to market to overseas just because the general lack of understanding and interest in agriculture.”

Laguna secured its main seed funding from US-based Global Endowment Management, and now aims to buy and privatise PrimeAg Australia Ltd, an investor in rural property and water assets.

Australia’s vast pension funds industry, sitting on $1.4 trillion and looking for long-term diversified assets, has largely shied away from the sector. Even The Future Fund, Australia’s $80 billion sovereign wealth fund, has no direct exposure to the country’s agricultural sector.

Still, Pauline Vamos, the chief executive of the Association of Superannuation Funds of Australia, said interest in farm assets is picking up after some ill-conceived and poorly managed project had put off local investors.

“You’ve had cotton farms built in the middle of the desert, you’ve had timber plantations built miles from any infrastructure - these schemes were never going to make any money,” she said. reuters

Original Article Here

Cotton crop situation satisfactory

Minister for Agriculture Punjab said that cotton crop has been grown on 5.8 million acres and the current cotton crop situation is satisfactory. He was addressing a press conference after chairing a meeting of Cotton Crop Management Group (CCMG) at Circuit House Multan. He said that purpose of CCMG meeting is to view cotton crop situation and control CLCV and other insects of cotton crops to get the target of 10.5 million cotton bales. He constituted a technical committee of experts to prepare crop management practices for cotton growers to avoid crop damage from recent rains. Director Cotton Punjab Dr. Abid Mehmood, will be convener of the committee. The committee will survey cotton growing areas and prepare a comprehensive report and its recommendation will be useful for farmers to get maximum cotton production, says a press release. 

Minister for Agriculture Malik Ahmad Ali Aulakh directed the officials of agriculture extension and research to visit cotton districts and provide guidance to farmers to protect cotton crop because of heavy rains.

Original article here

Advice to cotton growers

The Punjab Agriculture Department has advised growers to bury sticks after picking cotton as it will kill American bollworm and army worm.

Agriculture experts told APP on Friday that farmers should start picking cotton when the dew completely dries and 50 percent of cotton boll is open.

Farmers should avoid picking cotton from half-open cotton bolls and follow the right direction of picking which is from down to upward. Phutti should be placed in sunlight on cotton cloth and properly cleaned of twigs and leavit.

Phutti should not be stored in polypropylene sacks, they said, adding that cotton sacks were suitable for storing it. Neat and clean cotton will not only fetch foreign exchange but also improve the financial condition of farmers, they added. 

Original Article Here

Americans help Pak scientists, farmers combat cotton disease

Five American scientists traveled to Pakistan to help Pakistani scientists and farmers combat cotton disease, which has infected cotton throughout Pakistan’s cotton belt and can substantially reduce yields and farmers incomes. American and Pakistani scientists, in coordination with Pakistan’s Ministry of Textile and Industry and the International Center for Agricultural Research in Dry Areas (ICARDA), organized a workshop on “Enhancing Cotton Germplasm, improving Resistance to Cotton Leaf Curl Virus (CLCV) Disease supporting Cotton (BMPs) for small farmers and Capacity Building of Pakistani Cotton Reserachers” at National Agricultural Research Centre (NARC), Park Road, Chak shahzad, Islamabad on 3rd and 4th September to develop solutions to the Cotton Leaf Curl Virus (CLCV) problem in Pakistan. 

This workshop was part of the US government sponsored Cotton Productivity Enhancement Program. In his remarks, Todd Drennan, US Agriculture Counselor said “Agriculture touches so many lives in Pakistan and is a vital part of Pakistan’s economy. The United States wants to help enhance the productivity of Pakistan’s agricultural sector, especially small farmers. This cooperation between US and Pakistani scientists on cotton is an example of that commitment”.The workshop completes a ten days by the American technical team. The team met Pakistani cotton scientists to discuss the results of research on CLCV. 

The team also visited cotton breeding trails in Faisalabad and Multan. As a result of these trails, which are funded by the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) the team reported good news that some new varieties of cotton are showing preliminary signal of resistance to CLCV.Small farmers are especially vulnerable to the economic impacts caused by this disease. Because of this, the US Department of Agriculture has designed the cotton disease research project to help Pakistani farmers. 

American agricultural scientists continually visit Pakistan to collaborate on research to combat disease affecting Pakistan’s principal crops, especially cotton and wheat. APP adds from Multan: Over 1.7 million bales of cotton have reached ginneries across Pakistan by Sept 1, says a fortnightly report issued by the Pakistan Cotton Ginners Association (PCGA) here on Monday.According to the first fortnightly PCGA report, cotton arrival was recorded at 1,731,245 bales and 1,557,114 bales were ginned. Arrivals from Punjab was recorded at 967,654 bales and in Sindh, it stood at 763,591 bales till Sept 1.The report said that exporters had bought 2,000 bales of cotton including 800 bales from Punjab and 1200 from Sindh. Textile millers have bought 1,507,767 bales so far and the total sold-out stock stood at 1,509,767 bales. The stock of unsold bales was recorded at 221,476, the report added. 

Original Article Here

Agriculture sector roundup: UR Associates

UR Associates has come out with its report on agri sector. According to the research firm, Rashtriya Chemicals and Fertilisers (RCF) will invest Rs 40 billion in next three years to ramp up its urea capacity at Thal plant near Mumbai. The selection process for lumpsum turnkey contractors (LSTK) for main plants has been completed. The project cost is expected to be Rs 40 billion and will be completed in 36 months period from the zero date.

Pulses sowing picking up

For the first time during this monsoon season, the rainfall was 6% above normal for the week August 23rd-29th. The strong rainfall has improved the deficiency situation further and has brought down the overall deficiency for the monsoon season to 12% below normal. Hence, the rainfall deficiency has come down from 19% at the beginning of the month to 12% at the month end. The deficiency in the Northwest region is the highest at 15% followed by East & NorthEast India (14%), South Peninsula (13%) and Central India (10%)

The pulses sowing has picked up quite significantly during the last one week with the gap between normal pulses acreage and pulses acreage this season coming down to 0.36 million hectares compared to 1.11 million hectares at the beginning of the week.

While rice, sugarcane and cotton are ahead in terms of acreage, coarse cereals are still lagging behind by 2.89 million hectares compared to normal sowing.

RCF to invest Rs 40 billion to ramp up urea capacity

Rashtriya Chemicals and Fertilisers (RCF) will invest Rs 40 billion in next three years to ramp up its urea capacity at Thal plant near Mumbai. In a communique to the BSE, RCF said: "The Company has plans to expand the capacity of urea at Thal by setting up one single stream ammonia plant of capacity 2,200 TPD (tonnes per day) and one single stream urea plant of capacity 3,850 TPD at the existing site." "The selection process for lumpsum turnkey contractors (LSTK) for main plants has been completed. The project cost is expected to be Rs 40 billion and will be completed in 36 months period from the zero date," it said.

Maharashtra to begin 2012-13 sugarcane crushing season from November 1

Top sugar producer Maharashtra will begin its sugarcane crushing season from November 1. The state government was thinking to advance the crushing season by a month as a measure to make more cane available for crushing, which is being diverted every day for use as fodder in drought areas in the state.

Contingency plan to Tackle Drought like Situation

Ministry of Agriculture has prepared Contingency plans for 353 districts across the country for implementing location specific interventions to sustain agriculture production. Subsidy on seeds has been enhanced to partially recompense the farmers for the expenditure in re-sowing and/or purchasing drought tolerant variety of seeds. In view of deficient rainfall, states such as Punjab, Haryana, and Uttar Pradesh have been allocated with additional power from Central Pool. In so far as fertilizer prices are concerned, Urea is provided at a fixed Maximum Retail Price (MRP) of Rs. 5310 per metric ton since 01.04.2010. Nutrient Based Subsidy (NBS) Policy is being implemented on Phosphatic and Potassic (P&K) fertilizers under which a fixed subsidy is provided based on its nutrient content. MRP is fixed by fertilizer companies. The prices of P&K fertilizers have increased mainly due to increase in international prices of fertilizers and due to depreciation of Indian rupee. However, Government provides subsidy to the extent of 50% to 67% of the delivered cost on these fertilizers.

Deepak fertilisers not to develop $350 mn plant in Australia

Indian fertilisers and petrochem firm DFPCL has abandoned plan to build a $350 million plant at Port Bonython, South Australian Mining minister Tom Koutsantonis has said. Deepak Fertilisers and Petrochemicals Corporation Ltd has informed the state government of its intention not to go ahead with a proposed technical ammonium nitrate plant near Whyalla, said Koutsantonis, who also holds the Manufacturing, Innovation and Trade portfolio.

Dhanuka Agritech launches new products

Dhanuka Agritech Limited, a provider of crop protection solution, has launched three agrochemical products in Tamil Nadu. According to Abhishek Dhanuka, Director South Zone, one of the new products is an insecticide that can tackle sucking insects in cotton, vegetable, fruits, cashew and tea. The other, Fluid, is to fight larval insecticide in major crops, while the third one, Fuzi Super, is a herbicide for paddy. The Rs 6.5 billion company has tied up with global firms such as Dupont, Syngenta and Dow Agro Sciences to introduce international proven products in the Indian market, according to R.G. Agarwal, Group Chairman.

Disclaimer: The views and investment tips expressed by investment experts/broking houses/rating agencies on moneycontrol.com are their own, and not that of the website or its management. Moneycontrol.com advises users to check with certified experts before taking any investment decisions.

Original Article  Here

Agriculture: ‘More research needed on cotton crop’

The potential of the cotton crop should be improved to help the economy, Islamia University Bahawalpur (IUB) Vice-Chancellor Muhammad Mukhtar said on Friday.

He was speaking to MPA Haji Zulfiqar Ali, a former provincial minister for livestock, Mumtaz Khan and Malik Habibullah Bhutta during thier visit to the Cotton Breeding Farm at the IUB.

He said more research was needed in cotton production and the IUB’s research programme was a step in this direction.

The IUB Cotton Breeding Project director said new varieties of cotton, MM-58 and IUB-222, were being tested. “Our research shows they can handle climatic conditions and virus effectively and blossom 70 days after plantation.

Published in The Express Tribune,

PCCB approves cotton area, production targets

Punjab Cotton Control Board has approved area and production targets of cotton in Punjab for 2012-13. At a meeting here on Tuesday, PCCB approved targets for cotton area 6.2 million acres, production of 10.5 million bales and average yield of cotton per acre 23.17 munds for 2012-13. Punjab Agriculture Secretary Mushtaq Ahmad, Agriculture (Extension) DG Dr Anjum Ali, Dr. Noor Ul Islam Agriculture (Research) DG Dr Noor-ul-Islam, Agricultural Information Director Rafique Akhtar, Cotton Commissioner Dr Khalid Abdullah and other members attended the meeting.Dr Anjum Ali told the meeting that cotton had been sown on an area of 5.926m acres which was 5.34pc less as compared to the last year’s area of cotton 6.261m acres. He further told that according to crop reporting services production of cotton for last year was 11.129 million bales (170 kg bale), while PCGA reported 12.132 million bales in Punjab. It was also told that for bringing 6.2 million acres of area under cotton crop, the seed requirement was calculated as 62,000 tons for Punjab and PSC has been directed to take all necessary measures in providing certified cotton seed of approved varieties to farmers well in time in the coming cotton season. PCCB reviewed and recommended revised cotton ginning/ licence fees to increase from existing Rs4,000 to Rs6,000 and Rs5,000 to Rs7,500 for four and five sawgin machine unites respectively. Secretary Agriculture Muhammad Mushtaq Ahmad has directed Agriculture (Ext.) DG to take steps in implementation of Punjab Cotton Control Ordinance 1966 and make sure cotton bale weight of 170 kg. Board also recommended to constitute a committee to review terms and conditions for new cotton ginning, pressing and cotton oil seed factories and present its recommendations in the next meeting for approval from the PCCB.

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Too early to predict impact of delayed monsoon on sowing: Sharad Pawar

NEW DELHI: Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar today said that there has been a delay in monsoon rains, but it is too early to predict impact on kharif sowing.

"Yes, monsoon has been delayed. But it would be too early to say its impact on sowing," Pawar told PTI while replying to a question whether sowing of kharif crops has been hit due to delay in monsoon.

He noted that monsoon was delayed in June in 2008, but rains picked up in July-August. "It happened in 2008. June had gone dry but July and August received substantial rains".

Asked whether delay in monsoon is a cause of worry, Pawar said: "I will be able to say in the last week of this month".

The minister said that farmers have started preparing fields for paddy sowing in some parts of the country.

Besides paddy, other major kharif crops are pulses, oilseeds and cotton.

South-west monsoon, the lifeline of Indian agriculture, had reached Kerala on June 5, four days later than the normal date of June 1. It further advanced mainly along the west coast and over north eastern states on June 6. The country received 32 per cent less rainfall during the first week of June.

Monsoon rains are crucial for agriculture as only 40 per cent of the cultivable area is under irrigation. The farm sector contributes about only 15 per cent to the country's Gross Domestic Product (GDP), but it employs about 60 per cent of India's population.

On the back of good monsoon in 2010 and 2011, the country harvested a record foodgrains production of 245 million tonnes and 252.56 million tonnes, respectively.

Out of 36 meteorological subdivisions, the rainfall has been excess over 4, normal over 5, deficient over 6, scanty over 20 and no rain over 1 subdivisions. North eastern states have received excess rainfall during the period, as per the data compiled by the India Meteorological Department (IMD).

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In agriculture, livestock grows 4%, outpaces crops

By Farooq Tirmizi

KARACHI: Of the four major crops in Pakistan, the two that saw increases in both yields and overall production levels were also the ones the government does not subsidise or support in any way: rice and cotton. The two subsidised ones – wheat and sugarcane – did rather badly.

According to the Economic Survey of Pakistan2012 – released on Thursday – agriculture grew at 3.1% during fiscal year 2012, compared to 2.4% in the previous year. The fastest growing subset within agriculture was the livestock sector, which grew at 4% this past year. Major crops – the big four mentioned above – grew at an overall rate of 3.1% this year, compared to declining by 0.2% last year. Minor crops (everything else) actually declined by 1.3% in 2012, compared to growth of 2.7% last year.

(All growth rates in the Economic Survey are real growth rates, meaning they have already been adjusted for the effects of inflation.)

The specific break-up of growth within major crops was particularly interesting this year. Cotton production expanded by 18.6% to 13.6 million bales in 2012, boosted mainly by a very healthy 12.6% rise in average yield. Rice production expanded by an even greater 27.7% to 6.2 million tons this year, on the back of a 17.5% rise in average yield.

Neither of these two crops enjoys any government protection, with deregulated markets allowing farmers access to global markets. Higher global commodity prices have allowed farmers to invest in raising their productivity, which accounts for higher yields in both of these crops.

Meanwhile, government-supported wheat and sugarcane crops seem to be suffering. Pakistan’s wheat production declined by 6.7% to 23.5 million tons, despite the government raising its support price by 21% this year. The main culprit behind the smaller crop: a 4.2% drop in yields.

Sugarcane fared marginally better than wheat. Production actually rose by 4.9% to 58 million tons, but this was largely due to a 5.9% increase in the acreage under cultivation. Yields declined by 0.9%.

In minor crops, the sharpest drop occurred in chillies – where production declined by 78.3% to 37,200 tons. Onion production also declined by 15.4% to 1.6 million tons. Nevertheless, some minor crops did well, with potato production increasing by a healthy 17.5% to 4.1 million tons.

Livestock boom

The star in the agriculture sector, however, was livestock – which grew at 4% in 2012. The government seems particularly excited about the possibility of expansion in this sector since it employs about one in every six Pakistanis, including some of the poorest segments of society. In particular, the livestock sector has been identified as a source of potential export revenues for the economy.

Meat exports from Pakistan – mainly to Saudi Arabia, UAE and other parts of the GCC – amounted to approximately $120 million in 2010; the last year for which figures are available. Experts in the livestock sector estimate that the figure for 2011 will be close to $180 million, representing a growth rate of about 50%. This growth is made all the more impressive by the fact that the country has been hit by floods for two years in a row.

The government has initiated seven major projects worth approximately Rs8.8 billion to promote the livestock sector. These include providing veterinary services to livestock farmers, developing feedlots for meat production, installing infrastructure to help reduce wastage in milk collection, etc.

In addition, Pakistan is about to enter the global market for seafood exports; worth about $90 billion worldwide. The government is currently negotiating for access to the European Union’s markets for Pakistani fisheries to sell their products.

Published in The Express Tribune, 

Cotton stainers attack

A pale cotton stainer.

A pale cotton stainer.

A pale cotton stainer.

By BRAD PFEFFER, Australian Cotton Outlook

THEY are bright red, good at hiding, and enjoy feasting on cotton bolls.

And the cool season has given rise to large numbers of this pest - pale cotton stainers - which have been making a meal of cotton crops across most growing areas this year.

And simply, the pest has not been a problem in the past as it is typically called from heat about 40 degrees Celsius, and in pre-Bollgard days was usually a secondary casualty of heliothis control.

But the unique 2007/2008 season has seen many growers opt to chemically control the bug to mitigate potential yield losses, and even potential downgrading issues.

As the stainers eat the maturing seed, they can affect seed weight, oil content, and seed viability. Tightlock can result around damaged seeds, preventing the lint from fluffing out as the boll opens.

Dr Lewis Wilson with the CSRIO said that part of the problem came with the fact that little was known about pale cotton stainers, purely because they hadn’t been a problem in the past.

While they affect cotton crops across the world, Australia typically escapes the worst of their damage.

“But the damage can range widely to quite severe,” he said. “They have a proboscis that is very, very strong.

“Whereas green vegetable bugs or mirids target younger bolls, these guys have a strong proboscis and can target hard bolls, and even lay their eggs in open bolls.”

Damage to young bolls can cause them to shed, while damage between eight days and opening has various consequences.

“When they feed on a boll they also defecate and their faeces is a yellow sticky stuff in patches through the lint.

“We have found that this can cause downgrading.”

The Cotton CRC has set a tentative threshold of three per metre for pale cotton stainers, although Dr Wilson also warned that they could be difficult to find.

He said that they liked to hide below the canopy, and that detection with a beat sheet required patience. They can also disperse around a paddock in patches, making thresholds and counts harder than usual.

He added that because they were often in the low levels of the plant this could also make chemical control more difficult at times.

He said there were two pyretheroids registered for their control in Australia, whole others would also control them, as would some organophosphates.

“Make sure you look at your crops for this pest. You don’t need to panic over them; but you need to be aware they could be there.”

Volatile Prices Affect Mexico Cotton

MEXICO - The Post/New MY (market year) 2012/13 total Mexican cotton production is forecast to decrease approximately 17 per cent due to a drop in planted area resulting from continued volatility in international cotton prices and a contraction in domestic consumption.

The MY 2012/13 internal consumption estimate is expected to decrease substantially as imports of clothing and textiles from China should increase substantially with the removal of protective duties as of January 1, 2012. Industry sources estimate thatfor MY 2011/12, 85 per cent of the total area planted used GE seeds with an average yield of 8.55 bales per hectare (ha). Conventional hybrid cotton seeds yield, on average, only 7.24 bales/ha.

The transitional duties that Mexico placed on 112 apparel items, 14 textile items, a range of footwear and various other products originating in mainland China were eliminated on December 12, 2011.

These duties were originally implemented on October 15, 2008, as part of a deal that required Mexico to replace the non-WTO-compliant and extremely high antidumping duties that had been in place on most textiles and apparel for many years with a temporary measure on a significantly narrower group of products that would give Mexican manufacturers additional time to prepare for fully-fledged competition.

The Mexican government unveiled in December 2008 a program that established a schedule for the reduction in five annual stages of the MFN duty rates on approximately 97 per cent of manufactured imports. The most recent round of cuts took place on January 1, 2012, and included 479 tariff lines, including 355 apparel tariff lines of Chapters 61 and 62, 41 textile made-ups of Chapter 63 and 26 items of Chapter 42.

The duty rates on covered apparel and textile made-ups were reduced from 25 per cent to 20 per cent or from 30 per cent to 25 per cent, depending on the product. Another batch of cuts (to a 20 per cent duty) will take place on January 1, 2013, for certain apparel, textile made-ups and footwear.

This means that the MFN duty rate for apparel and textile made-ups imported into Mexico is either already at 20 per cent or will reach that level on January 1, 2013.