The Centre approved increase in the statutory minimum price (SMP) of sugarcane from Rs 81.18 to Rs 107.76 a quintal to be payable by mills in the forthcoming 2009-10 crushing season (October-September). The new SMP is linked to a higher basic sugar-to-cane recovery of 9.5 per cent, subject to a premium of Rs 1.13 for every 0.1 percentage point additional recovery (over 9.5 per cent). As against this, the Rs 81.18 a quintal SMP for 2008-09 was linked to a basic recovery of nine per cent, with the incremental premium component working out to Rs 0.90. Thus, on a recovery of 9.5 per cent, the 2008-09 SMP would have been Rs 85.68 a quintal and the increase in SMP works out to about 25%. This price has limited significance considering that in most States, mills are paying much more than the SMP(UP Rs140, Haryana Rs 165, TN Rs 122. The only State where the SMP could make a difference is Maharashtra, where mills recorded recovery rate of 11.52%.

“Taking the 11.52 per cent recovery for 2008-09, the new SMP will work out to Rs 130.67 a quintal and if you deduct harvesting and transport charges of around Rs 26, the effective realisation for the farmer would be Rs 104.67.” For the 2008-09 season, the average SMP for the State (taking the previous year’s recovery of 11.94 per cent) was Rs 107.70 a quintal or Rs 82.70 after deducting Rs 25 harvesting and transport charges. Sugar output in the 2008-09 season has touched a three-year low of 14.7 million tonnes on lower sugarcane production as farmers shifted to more remunerative crops.

Mills across the country will benefit from this increase, as the price of levy sugar would now be calculated on the revised SMP. Industry sources said the price of levy sugar could go up from the current level of around Rs 1,300 a quintal to Rs 1,750 a quintal. Mills have to sell 10 per cent of the sugar they produce as levy to the government for the latter’s public distribution schemes

Combining innovation and tradition, a 56-year-old caretaker of a farm run by Aurobindo Ashram, has been using organic farming for over 34 years to get copious yields. Surendra Mohanty, who cultivates different varieties of horticultural crops, flowers, vegetables and other produce since 1975 says he had been using organic manure in the farm "as the traditional system of cultivation is time tested and is in thorough communion with nature". Use of organic manure and vegetable waste has enabled him get a healthy yield of vegetables, flowers and fruits. Waste and used polybags are being used for vegetable cultivation, obviating excavation of the Earth and are cost effective as they are cheaper than earthen pots, consumption of water is less and needs lesser space. Polybag culture is extended to promote cultivation of medicinal plants. TH 230609

The south-west monsoon is likely to be below normal this season, government announced today raising concerns about its impact on agriculture and economy. The monsoon rainfall for the country as a whole is likely to be 93 per cent of the long-period average. This is three per cent less than what the India Meteorological

Over the years, governments have paid scant attention to these Standing Committee reports. A few are taken up for discussion while a much larger number of demands are routinely guillotined (passed without any discussion). Indeed the hours spent discussing the budget has steadily declined; from close to 180 hours in 1964, Parliament spent just 27 hours discussing Budget in 2008. No wonder government feels it is on a strong wicket in seeking to scrap the process altogether. But does that make it right? Not in the least! It goes against the very grain of parliamentary form of government. Scrutiny by various committees (an improvisation introduced in the early 1990s in lieu of the earlier system of discussion by the full House) is critical to ensuring the accountability of the executive to the legislature.

Few, perhaps, are aware of the Standing Committee on Finance’s denunciation of the debt waiver scheme in the 2008 budget proposals. ‘It appears to address the symptoms and not the root cause of the malady,’ said the committee, criticising government for not making adequate budgetary provisions for the scheme in the budget itself. It was equally critical of government’s attempts to fudge the revenue and fiscal deficits. “Transactions on account of bonds/ securities issued by the government each year to finance subsidies on food, fertiliser and petroleum are not usually reflected in the fiscal and revenue deficits since there is no cash outgo due to matching receipts taken in lieu of issue of securities/bonds. The finance secretary was candid enough to admit to this lack of transparency and has promised to get on to a path of transparency. The committee hopes steps will be taken in consultation with the Comptroller and Auditor General of India to reflect the above transactions appropriately in the Fiscal and Revenue deficits in future. ET160609

Lalgarh (WB)had its beginnings in police atrocities following the landmine blast on the way of Buddhadeb’s motorcade last November as he was returning from the inauguration of the Jindal Steel Plant SEZ in Salboni. After the police rained brutalities in 35 villages to make up for its own lapses, the tribals rose in arms with the aid of the Maoists. Now, while the hardcore Maoists can melt into Jharkhand with ease, for the tribals and others the current operation may well be worse than the nightmare they had protested in their own way. An irony of Lalgarh has been that it is happening in a state ruled continuously by the Left for over three decades. It undercuts the claim of inclusive growth that has been the Left’s primary boast. The arid Western districts of South Bengal have been the most neglected in all respects, with villages literally at starvation levels. From a different angle though, it is hardly surprising that all this is happening in West Bengal. While it may have failed to bring development to those who needed it most desperately, the Left has succeeded in infiltrating and systematically destroying every institution of democratic governance in the state. When the police force to the autorickshaw union to the professors’ association all take orders from the CPI(M) headquarters, people have no option but to barricade roads and chase suspected Left supporters away from their homes to make a point, however misguided these actions maybe. By gradually choking normal ground-level democracy in Bengal, the Left has set the stage for this eruption of violence. The hills were the first to use this successfully; the tribals and Maoists of Western Bengal tried it next. Rajesh Chakrabarti FE230609

The President’s address had a passing mention of looking into changing land acquisition laws. At present, there is an archaic law from 1894 that guides policy on this very sensitive matter of acquiring agricultural land for industrial use. Given the political hot potato that land acquisition has become the government needs to proceed with its SEZ policy cautiously. To put it bluntly, any new SEZ will become a non-starter until the government sorts out the political economy of acquiring farmers’ lands. Any review process will have to start in effect from the very basics—there are still plenty of problems with title deeds to land (in a lot of cases, they simply don’t exist) that are a huge stumbling block when it comes to compensating farmers for land. The government has to begin with revamping the system of land records before it will be in a position to compensate people legitimately and equitably. Then, of course, there is a question of adequate compensation and whether the government should acquire land directly or let the private players do it. fe Jun 09, 09

A British psychologist at Cardiff University has devised a formula to pinpoint the day when people are all most likely to feel the cheeriest -- his complicated mathematic formula is: O + (N x S) + Cpm/T + He. In fact, he gave values to each symbol and added being outdoors (O) to nature (N) multiplied by social interaction (S), added memories of childhood summers (Cpm) simply divided by the temperature (T), and added excitement about holidays (He). "The most important things you can do to be happy are free. People may be less able to afford other leisure activities but it's free to walk in the park or paddle in a stream. It refreshes you and you forget your other worries. "And the most important thing in our lives are our relationships -- and no amount of money can buy that. Any psychologist, life coach or happiness expert will tell you that relationships with people are what make you happy.  TH 190609