Government allows private middlemen in agriculture

CUBA STANDARD — Continuing Cuba’s trial-and-error quest for efficiency and a rise in domestic food production, the Council of Ministers on May 31 allowed private middlemen to supply and buy from farmers.

“It’s urgent to put the conditions of all producers on equal footing, free the productive forces, and promote their efficiency,” economic czar Marino Murillo told the cabinet in announcing a package of measures, according to official daily Granma.

All private farmers will now be allowed to relate directly to “natural or juridical persons in regards to supplies, services and products,” according to the Granma article. Farmers can now explicitly sell all production that exceeds planned quotas to “any natural or juridical person,” said Murillo, who is a vice president in charge of coordinating the reform process. Likewise, the sale of fertilizer, seeds, fuel, equipment, specialized services, cattle feed and other industrial sub-products for animal food will be gradually shifting from central assignment by government at subsidized prices to “wholesale and retail markets” at free prices.

This is the first time the government explicitly allows middlemen to supply farmers and buy their products.

The dysfunctional state food distribution monopoly Acopio has been a persistent bottleneck to get domestically produced food to market.

Beginning next year, the government will allow the creation of agricultural supply markets that can sell at free prices on the Isle of Youth. These agricultural supply markets will gradually expand to the rest of Cuba, the Granma article said. Before opening the markets, there will be a six-month training program.

“The land management measures that during decades were put in practice have not led to the necessary increase in production,” Murillo said. “It’s necessary to rectify the distortions that have affected economic results.”

Murillo pointed out that 80 percent of Cuba’s arable land is owned by the state, but 70.5 percent of all land is used by private farmers or privately-owned cooperatives, much of it through long-term leases from the state.

Meanwhile, state farms will be reduced to a few strategic activities, such as citrus, protected crops, registered seeds, pig and buffalo breeding, and species genetics, Murillo said.

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GM crops and India’s grain exports

To have, or not to have, genetically modified (GM) crops, is a raging controversy in India today. While opponents of GM crops cite several reasons for rejecting such technologies, many argue that we cannot afford to ignore this option.

The threat to our food grain exports has often been cited as one of the reasons for not allowing GM crop trials. Is this a genuine concern, or is it a mere ruse to influence policymakers against technologies that can potentially help our agricultural sector end the impasse that it is currently in?

Agricultural products contributed around 9% of the total of over $400 billion worth of goods exported from India last year. In value terms, food grains and oil meals constitute less than 40% of all exported agricultural products. Rice tops in the list of exported food grains. With record rice production and exports from Thailand falling significantly, India has emerged as the largest exporter of rice. Last year, we exported 9.75 million tonnes of rice, of which around three million tonnes was the premium basmati variety.

Much of our non-basmati rice exports end up in countries such as Bangladesh and Nigeria, countries where food production is well short of demand. Some countries in western Europe, where the opposition to GM crops is most strident, could be sensitive to the so-called GM contamination in their basmati rice imports. This argument has been used in the past to restrict field trials of improved basmati-like varieties. An objective analysis of the facts shows that such arguments for banning field trials are misleading. It does not help the agricultural sector nor does it serve the interest of Indian farmers.

Europe accounts for just 3% of the total basmati exported from India. More than 70% of our exports go to Gulf countries, which have to get their supplies from India to meet their full requirement. All these countries import processed food items from the US, which contain significant amounts of GM ingredients. Unlike in several European countries, they do not even mandate labelling of food items for GM ingredients.

Analysis shows that more than 96% of our basmati exports are to such countries that will not be affected by allowing GM rice trials. Even the contention that exports to Europe will be affected is misleading as Europe is the largest importer of GM soybean and corn from the Americas.

The possibility of adventitious mixture of GM grains from research trials with that of commercially produced grains is extremely remote as these trials are well contained using scientific principles of isolation—geographical, temporal and spatial isolation.

Several GM crops that can create huge value to the Indian farmer are in advanced stages of testing. A recent study by the Centre for Social Development in Delhi has shown that the net returns to the farmer have gone up by 375% after the adoption of BT cotton. With rice occupying almost four times the area under cotton in the country, the potential creation of value in this case will be much more than the value of the total rice exports from India.

Indian agriculture needs technology solutions to meet food and nutrition security challenges. Heeding misleading arguments against GM crop trials will result in potential solutions needlessly remaining just that.

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Agriculture shows pull out all the stops for young and old

The growing popularity of our agricultural shows is reflected in the fact that many are now becoming bona fide two-day events.A case in point was the weekend's Ballymoney Show, which attracted large crowds of visitors from the North Antrim area and beyond.

"We had tremendous crowds in the showgrounds on both Friday evening and throughout Saturday as a whole," North Antrim Agricultural Association President Frank McClure told the Belfast Telegraph.

"At the very heart of our activities on the Friday evening is our ever growing relationship with the Young Farmers Clubs. It is tremendous to see the commitment of so many young people helping to make Ballymoney Show such a success."

He continued: "Friday evenings also suit the large numbers of people who may have significant weekend commitments. Our committee will be actively looking at ways in which we can further expand the activities taking place on Day One of the Show."

Commenting on the event as a whole, Frank McClure confirmed that livestock entries had held up well.

"However, trade participation was well up on 2012," he stressed.

Saturday afternoon saw Maghera Charolais breeder Patrick Gallagher carry the field with his more than impressive three year old bull: Rumsden Fawhes. Bought for an undisclosed sum as a weanling, the bull looked every bit the champion in the show ring last weekend. His Ballymoney success follows on from a more than impressive outing at Balmoral last month.

Meanwhile, the 101st Lurgan Show was also proving a popular draw on Saturday.

Hosted by Lurgan and District Horse and Cattle Society Ltd, the County Armagh town's idyllic park was a hive of activity from early and throughout the day welcomed thousands of exhibitors, judges and spectators from all over the country, and as far afield as Australia.

Craigavon Mayor Carla Lockhart arrived in a horse-drawn carriage flanked by the PSNI, and was joined by other VIP guests including Ulster Farmers' Union president Harry Sinclair; Upper Bann MP David Simpson; MEP Diane Dodds; local MLA's Sammy Gardiner, Sidney Anderson and Joanne Dobson; and RUAS president John Bamber.

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Genetically Engineered Wheat is Destroying US Agriculture: Oregon Wheat Found Contaminated with GE Wheat

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced that unapproved genetically engineered (GE) wheat was found growing in an Oregon wheat field. The discovery has implications for U.S. trade as Japan has already indicated it would stop purchasing U.S. wheat exports.

According to USDA officials, a Oregon farmer sprayed his wheat field, intending it to lay fallow for the next year. Despite multiple sprays of RoundUp, the farmer found so-called “volunteer” crops unexpectedly persisted, just as GE crops are engineered to do. The discovery prompted him to send samples to Carol Mallery Smith, scientist at Oregon State University, who determined that the crops were infused with the RoundUp Ready gene. USDA confirmed the results but officials have declined to comment on how the seeds ended up in this farmer’s field to begin with considering Monsanto has not conducted field trials in Oregon since 2001 when it reportedly withdrew from the state.

Since 1994, Monsanto has conducted 279 field trials of RoundUp Ready wheat over more than 4,000 acres of land in 16 states. Tests have been conducted in Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Kansas, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oregon, South Dakota, Washington, and Wyoming. After facing intense opposition from farmers and activists, Monsanto reportedly stopped its efforts to introduce GE wheat, but restarted extensive field trials again in 2011.

Contamination of non-GE crops, particularly for USDA certified organic crops, is a serious concern. Worries about harm to human health and the environment have prompted several state legislatures to consider bills that would require labeling of products with GE ingredients so consumers know what they are eating. Additional legislation proposed by Senator Bill Bowman (R-ND) in 2002 would have allowed farmers in North Dakota the right to sue Monsanto if wheat was found to be contaminated with genetically modified crops. The discovery is likely to prompt similar legislation if not litigation.

USDA regulates GE herbicide-tolerant plants under the Plant Protection Act, however its scrutiny of the full range of potential human health and environmental effects has been challenged by environmental groups as inadequate. GE wheat is not approved to be grown in the U.S. or anywhere world-wide.

While the world’s biggest wheat importer, Egypt, has made no move to stop importing U.S. wheat, Japan has cancelled its offer to buy U.S.\ western white wheat. Meanwhile the European Union has prepared to begin testing shipments for the RoundUp Ready gene. These discoveries may have major implications for the U.S. economy, In 2012, exported wheat represented a gross sum of $18.1 billion, with 90% of Oregon’s wheat exported abroad.

“Nobody’s going to want to buy wheat from the PNW (Pacific Northwest) for a while,” said Roy Huckabay, analyst with the Linn Group in Chicago.

For more information on the environmental hazards associated with GE technology, visit Beyond Pesticides’ Genetic Engineering webpage. The best way to avoid genetically engineered foods in the marketplace is to purchase foods that have the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Certified Organic Seal. Under organic certification standards, genetically modified organisms and their byproducts are prohibited. For many other reasons, organic products are the right choice for consumers.

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African Land Grabs: Defending Basic Human Rights, Promoting Sustainable AgricultureAfrican Land Grabs: Defending Basic Human Rights, Promoting Sustainable Agriculture

SOCFIN Agricultural Company Sierra Leone Ltd. (SAC), a subsidiary of SOCFIN, (Société Financière des Caoutchoucs), a Luxembourg-registered company controlled by the prominent French entrepreneur Vincent Bolloré and Belgian businessman Hubert Fabri, is suing a Sierra Leonean NGO, Green Scenery, for its reporting on the activities of the company.

In May 2011, Green Scenery released a report on SAC’s oil palm project in Sierra Leone, which highlighted inadequate compensation, corruption, and pressure on land owners and chiefs to sign agreements to give up their land. [1]

Earlier in 2011, SAC signed a 50-year lease with the Sierra Leonean government for 6,500 hectares (ha) on land used by more than 9,000 farmers in 24 villages in Pujehun District. The deal gave SAC an option to expand the leased area by an additional 5,000 ha.

The company responded by filing suit for defamation (known as a SLAPP suit) against the NGO and its Executive Director, Joseph Rahall, asking a Sierra Leonean court to order them to apologize, pay damages, and to stop publishing information that the company may consider defamatory. Yet, Green Scenery’s report is consistent with the formal grievances filed by local communities opposed to the forceful takeover of their land and the destruction of their crops and forests by SOCFIN. [2] In December 2012, 101 members of landholding families from 36 villages called on the national Human Rights Commission, civil society organizations, and the United Nations to support their struggle against the company. [3]

The allegations have also been corroborated by independent assessments on the ground conducted by several international organizations, including the Oakland Institute in February 2012 [4] and Welthungerhilfe in May 2012. [5]

“Bolloré and Fabri are using a defamation suit to silence local opposition and to intimidate an NGO whose only crime is to defend the basic rights of local farmers whose land is being taken away,” says Frédéric Mousseau of the Oakland Institute.

“Similar practices by SOCFIN subsidiaries have been reported in recent years in Liberia, Cameroon, and Cambodia, [6] where Bolloré or SOCFIN have used the threat of legal action against NGOs and the media to silence criticism,” says Devlin Kuyek of GRAIN.

As organizations committed to defending basic human rights and promoting sustainable agriculture, we are as much concerned about the threat that SOCFIN’s project poses to Sierra Leone’s farmers as we are about the threat that intimidation maneuvers pose to the work of independent civil society organizations and, through them, democracy. This is why we are standing by Green Scenery.

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Agriculture sector's share in GDP dips: Assocham

LUCKNOW: Despite record foodgrain production during the course of the past few years, the share of agriculture and allied sectors to India's gross domestic product (GDP) has declined by more than 4.5% between 2004-05 and 2010-11; while the share of services in the gross domestic product has increased by more than 4.6% during the same period; apex industry bodyAssocham has said.

Moreover, the share of agriculture and allied sectors in the gross state domestic product (GSDP) of the top 19 states in India declined significantly during the aforesaid five-year period, thereby registering a fall ranging between about 2% to about 12% in the GSDP, according to a sector specific analysis carried out by Assocham.

While the industrial sector saw a paltry increase of 0.5%, the mining and quarrying sectors marginally dipped by 0.6% across India during the aforesaid period; according to the Assochamanalysis. The industry sector in Punjab saw a surge of about 6.27%, followed by Uttarakhand, where the industry sector grew by about 6.13%. Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Odisha and Uttar Pradesh are other states that saw marginal growth in industrial sector."Jharkhand is the only state across top 20 states in India to have witnessed a surge of over 3% and about 11% in the share of agriculture-allied activities and services sector respectively in its GSDP," said DS Rawat, national secretary general of Assocham, while releasing the findings of the chamber's analysis.
The share of agriculture and allied sectors in the GSDP has fallen drastically by 7% in Uttar Pradesh. Expressing concern over the decline in the share of agri-allied activities in the GSDP of almost all the states, Rawat said that, "This calls for increased investments in research and development for speedy improvement in yield, besides addressing infrastructure requirements in storage, communication, roads, and markets, in the agriculture sector."

According to an Assocham-Yes Bank study titled '2nd Green Revolution: Agriculture to Agribusiness,' the government must push agricultural reforms, including streamlining of norms to promote private sector investments in the sector.

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Jalili vows to put agriculture top of agenda

alili, who is serving as secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council (SNSC), said dynamic agriculture can easily boost domestic production, create new job opportunities and consequently curb price hikes.

Production will prevent the current 11-billion-dollar imports and release the existing potential to create more jobs, he said.

The presidential candidate said millions of dollars have been allocated to the agricultural sector and the next administration needs to exploit those funds to help rural areas prosper.

Jalili is facing seven rivals: former Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Velayati, lawmaker Gholam-Ali Haddad-Adel, Secretary of the Expediency Council Mohsen Rezaei, Tehran Mayor Mohammad-Baqer Qalibaf, President of the Strategic Research Center of the Expediency Council Hassan Rohani, former First Vice President Mohammad-Reza Aref, and former Telecommunications Minister Mohammad Gharazi.

The president of Iran is elected for a four-year term in a national election.

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