by admin | May 25, 2021 | Business, Commodities, Commodities News, Corporate, Corporate Buzz, Medium Enterprise, SMEs
By Saurabh Katkurwar,
Bhopal : Barku Jairam, a 55-year-old farmer from Barwani of Madhya Pradesh, has taken up cultivating organic cotton, which he claims, has significantly brought down input costs besides ensuring a decent yield.
The demand for organic cotton from global apparel companies has prompted 1,000-odd farmers in the state to switch to eco-farming to grow cotton using bio-fertilisers and pesticides manufactured from medicinal plants.
The C&A foundation — the corporate foundation of fashion retail clothing chain C&A — has tied up with a few non-profits in the country to promote organic cotton farming as a part of its efforts to procure sustainable raw material for its business.
Although yields from organic farming are lower than by using Genetically Modified (GM) seed, chemical fertilisers and pesticides, the negligible input cost makes it a profitable business, Jairam said.
“Till three years ago, I would earn up to Rs 27,000 per acre when I used GM hybrid seeds but the input cost would be around Rs 20,000 due to expensive chemical pesticides and fertilisers.
“Now, I earn around Rs 20,000 per acre but the input cost has reduced to just Rs 5,000,” Jairam told IANS.
Farmers like Jairam produce bio-fertiliser for free from manure and agricultural waste from their fields and pesticides from extracts of medicinal plants such as neem, karanj (pongamia), ratanjot (alkanet root), besharam (ipomoea) and custard apple leaves along with cow urine.
Non-profits Aga Khan Foundation and Action for Social Advancement are helping the C&A Foundation in promoting and procuring organic cotton.
According to the Union Agriculture Ministry, 30.01 million bales (of 170 kg each) of cotton — roughly 5.1 billion tonnes — were produced in the country in 2015-16. The ministry, however, doesn’t give out the breakup of organically grown cotton vs other methods.
At 60,184 tonnes, India was the largest organic cotton producer in the world in 2015-16, accounting for 56 per cent of the total production of 107,980 tonnes while Madhya Pradesh accounted for 24 per cent, as per the C&A Foundation. Organic cotton accounted for less than one per cent of cotton produced globally.
Another farmer, Dhansingh Ghana, said hybrid seeds for organic farming were provided for free for first three years by the foundation as incentives to make them self-reliant.
“Even if we will have to pay for seeds now, the input cost would not be much as major components such as bio-fertilisers and pesticides are still free,” said Ghana.
According to these farmers, who had come to the state’s capital Bhopal to attend an event on organic farming, the foundation gave them Rs 200-300 more per quintal when compared with the government rates.
Anita Chester, Head of Sustainable Raw Materials of C&A Foundation, said the negative impact of climate change has driven brands across the globe to look for sustainable alternatives.
“The way climate change is impacting all of us, the whole industry thinks that the businesses have to be more responsible.
“In this inequitable world, there is growing consciousness that there has to be more equity in what we do. This is what drives the brands to push themselves and set targets to source sustainable materials,” she said.
Organic cotton production needs 93 per cent less water as compared to the conventional cotton cultivation, according to the foundation.
It also said the climate change impact is of 338.5 kg CO2 equivalent by organic cotton as opposed to 680.2 kg CO2 equivalent by conventional cotton.
The brands have sustainability commitment and so the demand for organic material is very strong now, said Chester.
“They are giving clear signal that organic is important and special. So it needs to grow,” she said.
Chester said her foundation supports the farmers who want to go organic through capacity building and helping them in getting certification, which helps them to link with the markets.
While there are hurdles such as non-availability of seeds, lack of input agencies, poor market links for organic farming, the foundation is bringing all stakeholders, including the government to cross the barriers, she said.
Faiz Kidwai, Managing Director of the Madhya Pradesh Agriculture Marketing Board, sought a fixed price for farmers to promote organic cotton.
“There is a huge potential for organic farming in the state but farmers are not keen on doing it because they do not see any benefits due to lack of market, supply chain or value chain.
“We will have to assure fixed market price to bring them on board,” Faiz told reporters on the sidelines of the event.
(Saurabh Katkurwar was in Bhopal at the invitation of C&A Foundation. He can be contacted at saurabh.k@ians.in)
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | News, Politics
Police patrolling the Mhow- Neemuch highway amid burning tyres of a truck in Mandsaur, Madhya Pradesh. (representational purpose only) (HT Photo)
By Saurabh Katkurwar,
New Delhi : Pavitra Singh of Punjab’s Mansa is representative of farmers across the country who were infuriated as agriculture prices collapsed for the second consecutive year, but their sufferings remained unnoticed until the June police firing in Madhya Pradesh’s Mandsaur district that killed five farmers.
The episode, which led to many subsequent protests across the country, provoked the aggrieved farmers to vent their anger over the agrarian distress, mostly caused by the November 8, 2016, demonetisation that crippled the rural economy.
Farmers were unhappy over the non-fulfillment of the 2014 campaign promise by the Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) that they would be able to make a 50 per cent profit over their input costs — especially as the situation got aggravated by the huge fall in prices to the extent that many couldn’t even recover their input costs.
“Leave alone the big promises, we did not even receive the MSP (minimum support price) for the grain we produced. We did not have funds for the next sowing after the demonetisation struck us. We are facing huge difficulties in repaying our loans,” Pavitra Singh lamented while speaking to IANS.
He said farmers in his area were forced to sell their rice at Rs 1,200 to Rs 1,250 per quintal as there were no takers for the MSP of Rs 1,510 fixed by the government.
Agricultural economist Devinder Sharma said the government’s farm polices, especially those related to imports and exports, went awry to a “large extent” and led to prices in the local markets dropping.
“There are two major reasons for farm distress — demonetisation and the crashing of the international market. The government imported pulses, wheat and coconut when the local production was, in fact, high. The volume of imports was more than the total agriculture budget,” he said.
Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh witnessed a number of protests this year over the slump in prices of pulses — mainly arhar (red gram) — after the government stopped their procurement.
Thus, while it had been smooth sailing on the agricultural front for the BJP government at the Centre for almost three years since it came to power in 2014, the Mandsaur firing could be seen as the turning point, with the negative cascading effects, including the consolidation of farm unions and opposition parties on the issue and some prominent allies quitting the ruling alliance.
The anger can also be gauged from the fact that the BJP suffered electoral losses in Gujarat’s cotton-belt in the assembly elections earlier this month.
Lok Sabha member and Swabhimani Shetkari Sanghatana leader Raju Shetty left the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) in July after the government did not entertain the farmers’ demand of a countrywide loan waiver and remunerative prices for their produce.
“I had pleaded with the government to provide financial help and assure remunerative prices for farm produce. However, the government did not act. So I had no option but to leave them to ensure justice for the farmers,” Shetty told IANS.
Another big jolt was when Nana Patole, BJP MP from Maharashtra, resigned from the Lok Sabha and left the party.
While farmers across the country were mourning the death of their brethren in Mandsaur, Union Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh had different priorities — he chose to participate in an yoga event the very next day after the incident.
This only added to the government’s image as anti-farmer, which was quite evident during farmers’ agitations.
“We held protests in Delhi for over 100 days for our demands and many supported us during the difficult time. However, Radha Mohan Singh neither visited us nor invited us to discuss our issues,” said P. Ayyakannu, leader of 100-odd Tamil Nadu farmers who attracted eyeballs with their strange and innovative protests.
Parts of Tamil Nadu and Southern Karnataka have been reeling under severe drought for some years owing to a shortfall in the monsoon.
Barring a few exceptions, Swaraj India leader Yogendra Yadav managed to bring almost all concerned organisations under one umbrella — 184 in the recent one — to hold nationwide protests and the government was seen struggling to cope up with them.
In the mega protest held last month, around 20,000 farmers across the country hit the national capital to press their demands.
Dharmalingam, a farmer from Karnataka’s Kolar district, said the government was seen in advertisement blitzes promoting new schemes for farmers, but their benefits hardly reach those for whom they are meant.
“A number of schemes have been launched so far in order to supposedly double our income. However, none of them has had any palpable impact so far,” Dharmalingam told IANS.
(Saurabh Katkurwar can be reached at saurabh.k@ians.in)
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | News
Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan felicitating Madrasa student on its Foundation Day in Bhopal.
By Pervez Bari,
Bhopal : Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan has said that the amount given annually to each madrasa for infrastructure development will be hiked from Rs.25,000 to Rs.50,000. An auditorium would also be built for Madhya Pradesh Madrasa Board. Chouhan was addressing the 20th foundation day of Madhya Pradesh Madrasa Board and one-day Madrasa Shiksha Sammelan.
Chouhan said that modern education should also be imparted along with religious training in madrasas. Children need to be skilful as well in today’s modern times. While there is employment on the one hand, there is dearth of skilful hands. We have to check this situation. He said that children would have to be given modern education besides religious training to make them good human beings.
He said that the state government has not let any kind of discrimination in the education of children. There are schemes for everyone. A student is the best gift of God. Government is responsible to do its best for the students. He said that the aim of education is the transfer of knowledge, making students skilful and giving them good culture.
School Education Minister Kunwar Vijay Shah said that computer education is being given in madrasa classes since Class I. He said that the tricolour would be hoisted in madrasas also like in other schools of the state every day. He lauded the progress in imparting modern education in madrasa board. Madrasa Board Chairman Professor Sayyed Imadduddin informed that so far 2575 madrasas have been registered in which 2 lakh 88 thousand children are studying.
Meanwhile, Chief Minister Chouhan honoured best madrasas, best madrasa teachers and outstanding students on the occasion. He also released a souvenir containing the remarkable progress of Madrasa Board.
Women and Child Development Minister Mrs. Archana Chitnis, Minister of State for Minority Welfare Mrs. Lalita Yadav, MP Nand Kumar Singh Chouhan and Manohar Untwal, Chhattisgarh Madrasa Board Chairman Eijaz Baig, Mrs. Mehrunnisa from Rajasthan Madrasa Board, Central Hajj Committee member Mohammed Irfan, Tourism Development Corporation Tapan Bhowmik and Delhi’s Main Imam Omar Ahmed Iliyasi were present on the occasion.
by admin | May 25, 2021 | Interviews
Shivraj Singh Chouhan
By Brajendra Nath Singh,
New Delhi : Madhya Pradesh will review its industrial policy to encourage private investment — with concessions to woo investment in backward areas — in a bid to counter the aggressive sales pitch of other states, says Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan.
The state is also focussing on spreading the network of small and micro industries and encouraging young entrepreneurs who feel they can excel like their counterparts in the southern states or Gujarat or Punjab, he said in an interview to IANS.
With just a year to go before his third term ends, Chouhan is so confident of victory in the Assembly elections that he spoke of reviewing polices before the next global investors summit in the state to be held in 2019.
The Chief Minister acknowledged that there has been some farmer unrest over the fall in prices of agricultural products and the government was addressing the issue.
Chouhan said the state has realised that agriculture alone cannot sustain growth. This is why it launched a global investors meet to attract investment in 2007 by changing policies and bringing in a single-window clearance system, and improving ease of doing business.
“In 2014-15, we finalised investments of Rs 2.73 lakh crore against MoUs of about Rs 5 lakh crore. In the last investors summit held in Indore, we received intent-to-invest proposals of around Rs 5 lakh crore. I am hopeful that the actual investment figure will be around Rs 2.5 lakh crore. The proposals are in IT, health, automobile, food processing, renewable energy, mining and other sectors.”
Asked about other states aggressively seeking investment, Chouhan said: “If some states are aggressive, we change our policy accordingly. To encourage investment we will again review our policies before the next investors summit to be held in 2019 — after the next assembly elections.”
He said concessions are given depending on the size of the proposed investment as well as where it will be made. “If somebody wants to invest in backward areas, then the government gives them special concessions,” he said.
The 58-year-old Chief Minister said Madhya Pradesh was focussed on spreading the network of small and micro industries. “If investors come from outside, they are welcome. If not, we will develop our people as entrepreneurs and industrialists.”
He said the state has launched the Madhya Pradesh Yuva Udyami Yojna under which the government provides loans of up to Rs 2 crore for starting small and medium industries.
“The government provides guarantee for the loans. It has started giving results. Many youngsters from poor backgrounds have developed themselves as successful entrepreneurs and industrialists.”
With “bijli, sadak, pani” (power, roads and water) as the focus of infrastructure development, Chouhan said, “We were generating 2,900 MW of power some years ago. Today we are generating 17,000 MW. Now we are a power-suplus state and are giving power to other states.”
In agriculture, the state had 7.5 lakh hectares of irrigated land when he came to power. “We are increasing this area by generating 4-5 lakh hectares of land every year. My target is to create 60 lakh hectares of irrigated land.”
Asked about the farmer unrest in the state and the police firing in Mandsaur that claimed the lives of five farmers in June, Chouhan said it was not a farmers’ movement in Mandsaur.
“Mandsaur is the most affluent district of Madhya Pradesh because opium is grown there. There were many anti-social elements behind it who were later arrested. Their activities were always suspicious. Some smugglers are there against whom we had acted and also arrested some under NSA.”
He acknowledged that there was some unrest among the farmers because the price of products like onion and pulses had gone down suddenly. “But some miscreants and anti-social elements used the occasion for their own benefit and tried their best to create unrest in the state. The Congress also incited the masses,” he alleged.
As far as suicide of farmers is concerned, he said, “I am not going to justify it. But this is the situation in every part of the country… Those involved in farming and agriculture, if any of them commit suicide due to whatever reason, they are counted among farmers suicide… There are different reasons for the suicides. We need to go into details of these problem and find a solution.”
The Chief Minister said a roadmap has been prepared for doubling farmers’ income by 2022 and it has been submitted to the Prime Minister.
“We are organising workshops in every district from September 15 to October 15. These workshops will be attended by experts, farmers and ministers. We will keep this roadmap of doubling farmer’s income and will discuss with them and plan accordingly. We are developing modern farm houses and Khet teerth to set examples.”
—IANS
