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The Rs 730-crore crop insurance scheme for the plantation sector is likely to be unveiled shortly, most probably in the forthcoming Budget, official sources told Business Line. Centre to bear 50% premium as subsidy, growers the rest.
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The plantation sector is crucial as it employs 17 lakh workers and sustains 15 lakh small growers. These crops constitute around 3 per cent of India's exports. Each plantation crop was to have a separate premium amount and the sum insured. In case of a fall in production, the insurance company, including the Agriculture Insurance Company of India, was to pay for the shortfall.
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Disappointing Farm Research in raising yields -PMEC |
According to the PM’s Economic council, research in agriculture is stymied by factors such as lack of co-ordination between the extensive network of institutions, even as their contribution to raise yields on small farms remained disappointing.
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“Since the Green Revolution, no major breakthrough has been witnessed in agricultural research mainly due to inadequate resource allocation, lacunae in content, organisation of research, inefficiencies in extension activities and inadequate risk mitigation strategies for the farmer.” It has, accordingly, recommended a step up in agricultural research from 0.7 per cent of gross domestic product to 1 percent. |
PMEAC called for better farm practices, soil research, irrigation and increased productivity through the supply of quality high-yielding seeds to farmers, and suggested urgent imports of sugar to the extent of three to five million tonnes to bridge the demand-supply gap during the new fiscal.
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PM's council for clear policy on GM crops
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| After the success of Bt cotton and the benefits it has brought to farmers in Gujarat and Maharashtra, it is imperative that the government must have a clear policy on genetically modified crops. The regulatory framework should clearly assess performance in the field and the impact on environmental and food safety issues and bring the results into the public domain at the shortest possible time. |
Pressure on availability of water for farming
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| There is a need to meet the increased food requirements of the country, which requires increased water for irrigated agriculture. But, availability of water for irrigation is reducing due to relatively sharp increase in demand from other sectors," CWC Chairman A K Bajaj. Depleting ground and surface water due to rising demand from non-farm sectors has reduced availability for irrigated agriculture. |
Irrigation uses more than 80 per cent of the total water available. At present, the government has developed irrigation potential for 104 million hectare (MH), of which only 70 MH has been utilised. Total farm land is about 143 MH. BS 100210
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Wheat and Rice heavily subsidized-Fact Sheet |
*Wheat and rice account for just 20.8 per cent of the sub-set of the economy that is called “agriculture and allied activities”. In comparison, milk accounts for 17.6 per cent of agriculture, as does horticulture (fruit, vegetables and flowers). Only about 40 per cent of the country’s cropped area is under wheat and rice. The rest is under coarse cereals, oilseeds, pulses, cotton, fodder, sugarcane and the like. Mexico has 80 per cent higher wheat productivity than India, and Sri Lanka has double India’s rice productivity per hectare. |
*Even though they contribute barely 3.3 per cent to the country’s total GDP, they absorb something approaching 2 per cent of GDP as subsidies. The poor are separately being promised food security (which, if there is total coverage, will probably cost another 1 per cent of GDP).
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*No matter how one looks at the wheat-rice economy, the conclusion is inescapable that, despite all government efforts, producers achieve poor productivity, consumers complain of high prices, and both get subsidized!Source: BS 200210-
T N Ninan: Stuck in a wheat field
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| K.R.S.Reddy February 20, 2010 ,09:40 High time the focus is shifted from water guzzling rice and focused on improving yields of rainfed crops like coarse grains and pulses. Nutrition wise too coarse grains are far better than rice and wheat. If we price water, we will see how uneconomical rice and sugarcane growing is. |
| Milk Output Value Rs1.5 lakh crore |
The annual value of India's milk output at the farm gate is over Rs 150,000 crore. Assuming it changes hands at least twice before it reaches the consumer, some Rs 450,000 crore of transactions take place with cash on milk alone. |
| Milk production has to double to match demand: |
To meet the increasing demand of milk, the domestic production will have to grow from the current 2.5 million tonnes (mt) a year to 5 million tonnes. Increasing income of rural households and hike in salaries of Government employees are mainly responsible for the increase in demand at a rate much higher than the production, according to a release. |
| India tops in output of one in eight agri commodities |
India tops in production of castorseed, lemons, banana, mangoes, guavas, safflower, chickpea, pigeon pea and goat& buffalo milk. India is the number two in production of wheat, rice, sugarcane, onions & garlic. It holds the third position in the production of tomato, cashewnuts, linseed, rapeseed and sorghum. 2007. |
| Country's sugar production during the current 2009-10 season is expected to be 156 lt. During the 2008-09 season, the country's sugar production was estimated at 147 lt, |
| A P- Decline in food production by 40 lt |
The overall foodgrains output for 2009-2010 is likely to drop by about 40 lakh tonnes from last year's high of 204 lakh tonnes due to severe drought and other issues, including flood in parts of the State. The agricultural gross state domestic product (GSDP) was Rs 91,000 crore for 2008-2009, constituting 24.5 per cent of the GSDP and 11 per cent of county's agricultural GDP. |
For the kharif 2009-2010, the estimate of the area under rice cultivation is expected to be less than 28.03 lakh hectares and the production estimate of rice is likely to be below 83.80 lakh tones |
GSDP growth rate is expected to be a modest 5.04 per cent with agriculture growing by 1.20 per cent, industry 0.22 per cent and services 9.58 per cent. The services sector's contribution to the GSDP is clearly playing a dominant role contributing about 51 per cent, followed by industry (25 per cent) and agriculture (24 per cent). The share of agriculture sector to the GSDP has declined from 30.02 per cent in 2000-2001 to 24.1 per cent in 2008-2009 and the share industries has increased marginally from 22.6 per cent to 25 per cent and the services sector from 47 per cent to 51 per cent. |
| The per capita income of Andhra Pradesh is estimated at Rs 40,902 in 2008-209 as against Rs 35,600 in 2007-2008, thereby registering a growth of 14.89 per cent. |
| Indian National Debt 75% of GDP |
| In the US, the national debt is 92 per cent of GDP. In Japan, it is 197 per cent. And, the UK's budget deficit is far worse than that of the euro zone. In India, the budget deficit of the Central Government is about 6 per cent of GDP and this rises to about 10 per cent of GDP if the deficits of State governments are included. The combined government debt is now close to 75 per cent of GDP. |
