Category Archive Articles

How can we grow more rice – with less land, water and pollution?

http://www.edf.org/blog/2013/07/31/how-can-we-grow-more-rice-%E2%80%93-less-land-water-and-pollution

Kritee / Published July 31, 2013 in Economics

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(This post was co-authored by Richie Ahuja.)
Rice feeds the world. It provides more calories to humans than any other food, and more than a billion people depend on rice cultivation for their livelihoods.
In fact, rice is central to existence in many nations. For example, in 2008, when rice prices tripled, the World Bank estimated that an additional 100 million people were pushed into poverty. No wonder that changes in the price and availability of rice have caused social unrest in developing countries.
To keep rice prices affordable as populations increase, the International Rice Research Institute estimates that anadditional 8-10 million tons of rice will need to be produced worldwide every year. But a report from the International Food Policy Research Institute estimates that by 2050 rice prices will increase some 35% because of yield losses due to climate change. Some 90% of the world’s rice is grown in Asia, on more than 200 million small scale farms, most no larger than an acre.
These colliding trends mean that the world must learn to produce more rice – and to do it with less land, less water and less labor. That means devising more efficient and profitable production systems that are resilient to climate change and contribute less to it. This is exactly the challenge EDF and its partners have taken up in India, a country where roughly 500 million of the world’s 2.3 billion people in small-scale farming families live and earn $2 – $4 a day.

Rice farming releases greenhouse gasses more potent than carbon

When organic material decays without oxygen, as it does in water-logged rice paddies, soil microbes generate methane, a greenhouse gas with 25 times more warming potential than CO2. In India, rice methane emission account for about 10% of the nation’s total greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.
Lately there is growing awareness that when rice is grown under dryer and aerated conditions, nitrous oxide emissions from rice can be as (or even more) significant as methane emissions. Nitrous oxide has about 300 times more warming potential than CO2. It has not yet been estimated what percentage of nitrous oxide emissions in India, or for that matter other rice growing regions in Asia, come from rice cultivation.

Partnering with NGOs in India yields a promising future

The rice farmers in South India are working with non-governmental organizations that are part of a broad coalition called the Fair Climate Network. EDF’s science team is working with these NGOs to develop an environmentally sustainable and economically profitable way to farm rice that will increase climate resilience and decrease GHG emissions.
With our partners, we are developing rice farming practices that change water, fertilizer and organic matter management such that GHG emissions go down as rice yield and farm profitability stay stable or go up. Our partners are working with thousands of rice farmers to record all the farm level data (methods of tilling and weeding, types of fertilizer used, amount of water used and harvest yields) necessary to understand the economic and environmental impacts of their work.
We have also developed protocols to quantify everything: yields, production costs, and emissions of nitrous oxide and methane from the rice fields. Our partners have even set up field laboratories in rural South India to constantly monitor GHG emissions. Our preliminary research work in fields “adopted” by EDF’s partners shows that there is potential to reduce GHG emissions by 2-5 metric tons per acre per year which is same as taking of an average American car off the road for a year.

Eventually, we expect to have enough data to make a case for low carbon farming of rice throughout all of South India. If low carbon rice farming becomes the standard just in all rice growing farms in South Indian states where we are currently active, we can decrease GHG emissions by 40-100 million tons of CO2e per year while saving water, improving farm incomes and protecting rice yields. This reduction is roughly equal to taking 10 million American cars off the road or taking 10-20 coal power plants off the grid. To make this possible, we will have to raise resources for outreach and the transactions costs of monitoring and verifying the GHG reductions.
The potential for this kind of research to support development, food and political security, while mitigating climate change is enormous. That’s something to think about the next time you have a bowl of rice.

The whole paradigm of the genetic engineering technology is based on a misunderstanding

http://www.vancouversun.com/health/Genetically+modified+food+rapped/8308415/story.html

 Vancouver Sun April 29, 2013
Dr. Thierry Vrain Courtenay
 [ re:  Genetically modified food is welcome innovation by Lorne Hepworth President, CropLife Canada
I retired 10 years ago after a long career as a research scientist for Agriculture Canada. When I was on the payroll, I was the designated scientist of my institute to address public groups and reassure them that genetically engineered crops and foods were safe.
I don’t know if I was passionate about it but I was knowledgeable.  I defended the side of technological advance, of science and progress.
I have in the last 10 years changed my position.  I started paying attention to the flow of published studies coming from Europe, some from prestigious labs and published in prestigious scientific journals, that questioned the impact and safety of engineered food.
I refute the claims of the biotechnology companies that their engineered crops yield more, that they require less pesticide applications, that they have no impact on the environment and of course that they are safe to eat.
There are a number of scientific studies that have been done for Monsanto by universities in the U.S., Canada, and abroad.  Most of these studies are concerned with the field performance of the engineered crops, and of course they find GMOs safe for the environment and therefore safe to eat.
There is, however, a growing body of scientific research – done mostly in Europe, Russia, and other countries – showing that diets containing engineered corn or soya cause serious health problems in laboratory mice and rats.
We should all take these studies seriously and demand that government agencies replicate them rather than rely on studies paid for by the biotech companies.
The Bt corn and soya plants that are now everywhere in our environment are registered as insecticides. But are these insecticidal plants regulated and have their proteins been tested for safety?  Not by the federal departments in charge of food safety, not in Canada and not in the U.S.A.
There are no long-term feeding studies performed in these countries to demonstrate the claims that engineered corn and soya are safe.  All we have are scientific studies out of Europe and Russia, showing that rats fed engineered food die prematurely.
These studies show that proteins produced by engineered plants are different than what they should be. Inserting a gene in a genome using this technology can and does result in damaged proteins.  The scientific literature is full of studies showing that engineered corn and soya contain toxic or allergenic proteins.
Genetic engineering is 40 years old. It is based on the naive understanding of the genome based on the One Gene – one protein hypothesis of 70 years ago, that each gene codes for a single protein.  The Human Genome project completed in 2002 showed that this hypothesis is wrong.
The whole paradigm of the genetic engineering technology is based on a misunderstanding.  Every scientist now learns that any gene can give more than one protein and that inserting a gene anywhere in a plant eventually creates rogue proteins.  Some of these proteins are obviously allergenic or toxic.
Dr. Thierry Vrain Courtenay
© Copyright (c) The Vancouver Sun

Local seeds best bet against climate change

http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/Madurai/local-seeds-best-bet-against-climate-change/article5149009.ece
S. POORVAJA

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A paddy field at Pannaikudi in Madurai district. Photo: S. James
The HinduA paddy field at Pannaikudi in Madurai district. Photo: S. James
They need less water, no fertilizer and hardly any care or attention
 has spawned debate as well as initiatives such as planting saplings, cultivating kitchen gardens, household energy conservation and so on.
At the grassroots level, a few farmers are doing their bit to preserve traditional and local varieties of seeds.
“These farmers are commonly called ‘Custodian farmers’. They preserve traditional seeds and make sure that they don’t disappear amongst the variety of hybrid seeds available in the market which farmers prefer because of the promise of high yield,” says M. Palanisamy, Programme Director, Rainfed Farming Development Programme at the Dhan Foundation in Madurai.
The need to preserve traditional and local varieties of seeds that are gradually disappearing is all the more because they do not need much water or chemical fertilizers and pesticides to grow. They can withstand the rigors of climate change and its harsh side effects.
True to the term ‘custodian farmer,’ R. Jeyaraman from Adhirangam in Tiruvarur has preserved 63 types of traditional paddy. “These traditional paddy varieties, unlike the ones used at present, do not need much water,” he explains.
Mr. Jeyaraman has distributed the paddy varieties to farmers from Kerala, Karnataka, Orissa and West Bengal. Among the paddy varieties he has preserved are seeds that need only 60 to 180 days to grow.
“Another factor that most farmers today struggle with is that their crops need constant care and attention, especially before harvest. What they don’t realize is that many of these  need only a short span of time to grow and can be harvested easily,” Mr. Jeyaraman says.
While hybrid varieties enjoy brisk demand, the promise of high yield often diverts attention from the side effects.
“When rainfall is extremely scanty, it is impossible to plant most new varieties of seeds,” A.P. Alagarsamy from Pallapatti in Dindigul district points out.
With climate change affecting the conditions under which these farmers are forced to work, the need for such traditional varieties which can withstand harsh climatic conditions is growing.
“Traditional varieties of paddy that can withstand floods for as long as a month and torrential rain are the kind of seeds we need to preserve,” said Syed Ghani Khan, a farmer from Mandya in Karnataka.
“With traditional paddy types from Thailand, Burma and Indonesia, I hope to preserve many more traditional seeds through cross pollination,” he adds.
Hybrid seeds and the other varieties that are distributed also have a shorter lifespan that results in the quantity of yield gradually decreasing as years go by.
“Seeds from the hybrid crops cannot be sown directly. The farmer is forced to go back to the centres after his crop is harvested to buy the seeds again and has no control over the price,” says Mr. Palanisamy.
Jegannath Raja from Rajapalayam district has preserved and aggressively marketed two varieties of mango — ‘Mohandas’ and ‘Potllama.’
“The two traditional varieties are fast disappearing and I managed to preserve them and spread awareness of how these varieties can be used to generate income in rain-starved areas since they do not need much water to grow,” says Mr. Jegannath.
He has preserved over 2,000 traditional varieties of fruit, though not all are income-generating.
“While I have preserved a number of seeds to safeguard them, I encourage farmers to buy only a few varieties that are traditional and promise high yield,” he says.
With the importance of preservation and conservation of these traditional and indigenous seeds, there is a need for live genetic resources or nurseries to facilitate studies and spread awareness among farmers.
“Farmers should set apart a portion of their land for cultivation of traditional seeds. With live genetic resources, or maintaining nurseries rather than seeds, it will be easier for farmers to choose varieties and see the benefits for themselves,” said R. Adinarayanan, a faculty member at the Tata Dhan Academy.
The farmers were recently honoured at the Madurai Symposium 2013, organized by the Dhan Academy, and given the ‘Custodian Farmer’ awards for their contribution to biodiversity conservation.
“God has given us the resources we are using now and it is our duty to conserve them and pass them on to posterity,” says Mr. Syed Ghani.

Organic cultivation: learning from the Enabavi example

http://www.thehindu.com/sci-tech/agriculture/organic-cultivation-learning-from-the-enabavi-example/article5045359.ece
M. J. Prabu

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INSPIRATION: The small village attracts farmers and policy makers. Photo: Special Arrangement.
The Hindu INSPIRATION: The small village attracts farmers and policy makers. Photo: Special Arrangement.

Is it possible to get a good yield without using chemical fertilizers? Will a shift to organic affect our food security? Can we manage insect pests without using pesticides? Will organic cultivation still be profitable for farmers?
These are some of the often asked questions by farmers when problems of modern agriculture are being discussed.
Enabavi, a small village in Warangal district, Andhra Pradesh promises to answer all these.
Situated off the Hyderabad-Warangal highway near Jangaon town, Enabavi is today an inspiration for many other villages and farmers, thanks to the efforts of the local organization called CROPS (Centre for Rural Operations Programmes Society) supported by the Centre for Sustainable Agriculture (CSA).
Visitors
This small village attracts visitors ranging from farmers to policy makers who want to understand the concept of successful sustainable agriculture. In the last three years more than 10,000 people have visited this village.
“Commercial crops like cotton are the main crops grown in the district. From 1997 onwards, large numbers of farmers’ suicides have been reported from this district. In the middle of this distress, Enabavi showed the resolve of a strong community which decided to take control of its agriculture in its own hands. “With just 51 households belonging mostly to the backward castes, the village started shifting to non-chemical farming about a decade ago. In 2005-06, the entire 282 acres was converted to organic farming. There is strong social regulation within the community towards organic cultivation to ensure that there are no ‘erring farmers” says Dr. G. V. Ramanjaneyulu, Executive Director, Centre for Sustainable Agriculture, Secunderabad.
The elders in the village take the youth along with them. They have also started investing in teaching their school-going children the knowledge and skills of non-chemical farming.
Variety of crops
The farmers grow paddy, pulses, millets, cotton, chilli, tobacco and vegetables. They process their paddy and sell directly to consumers and also through a marketing channel called Sahaja Aharam in Hyderabad.
Their average spending on chemical fertilizers and pesticides used to be around Rs.3,500 per crop per acre while it was around Rs. 500 per acre for seeds. The traders would dictate the price for the produce in addition to charging interest for the inputs supplied. Now, all of this has changed. The farmers do not spend a single rupee anymore for buying all the inputs.
Past experience
“In the 1970s this village like many others across the country, also went through the same process of using more and more chemicals to increase the productivity. By 1995 problems started showing up. Investments kept increasing but the returns were not good.
“In late 90’s pests like red hairy caterpillar caused devastating effects in this region. The initiatives on managing the pest using non chemical approaches evolved into non pesticidal management which is now widely practised in Andhra Pradesh and other states.
The confidence in using non chemical approaches, helped farmers to move away from chemical fertilizers towards sustainable solutions,” says Dr. Ramanjaneyulu.
Some farmers started looking for options like using tank silt, poultry manure, vermi-compost and farm yard manure. They set up their own compost manufacturing units in their fields and started following various ecological practices.
They also started to depend on their own seed for many crops, except for cotton. Now farmers also produce seeds for others. They have set up self help groups for men and women separately and started thrift activities too.
As the farmers moved into more and more sustainable models of production they realized the importance of natural and common resources for sustaining their own livelihood.
Social rule
As a result the tank in the village was desilted and is presently being managed by the community. A cooperative called Enabavi Organic Farmers Cooperative was formed for supporting the several activities and to improve their collective bargaining power in the markets.
“Today, Enabavi has many valuable lessons to teach other farmers, not just on how to take up sustainable farming. They also have lessons to share on social regulation, learning from each other, the benefits of conviction born out of experience and most importantly, the way out of agricultural distress by taking control over one’s own farming,” adds Dr. Ramanjaneyulu.
To visit and learn more on Enabavi interested readers can contact Dr. G. V. Ramanjaneyulu, Executive Director, Centre for Sustainable Agriculture, 12-13-445, Street no-1, TarnakaSecunderabad-500 017, ph. 09000699702, email: ramoo.csa@gmail.com, facebook: ramoo.agripage, website: www.krishi.tv

Water in half of India’s rivers is undrinkable – report

Source: Mon, 19 Aug 2013 12:05 PM http://www.trust.org/item/20130819120503-eq3yw/?source=hptop

hum-wat hum-dis
A boy throws a banana after collecting it from the polluted waters of river Sabarmati, in the western Indian city of Ahmedabad, July 18, 2013. REUTERS/Amit Dave
NEW DELHI (Thomson Reuters Foundation) – More than half of India’s rivers are so polluted by human and industrial waste that the water has become unfit for human consumption, the Hindustan Times reported on Monday, quoting a study by the country’s pollution watchdog.
The Central Pollution Control Board, which tested samples from 445 rivers between 1995 and 2011, said the water was not only undrinkable but also unsuitable for bathing in.
“The quality of river water has fallen dramatically between 1995 and 2011,” said the newspaper report, adding this was largely due to the growing amount of untreated human waste that is being discharged directly into rivers from cities.
Homes and industry in India’s urban centres generated an estimated 38 billion litres of wastewater daily in 2011 — double the amount recorded in 1995, said the report. But less than one-third is treated before being discharged into rivers.
The report said the projected amount of wastewater from urban centres could surpass 100 billion litres daily by 2050, with rural India generating another 50 billion litres.
Contaminated water and poor sanitation are responsible for a large number of preventable deaths in the country, experts say.
Around 638 million Indians, more than half the population, do not have access to proper toilets and are forced to defecate in the open.
The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) says diseases related to poor sanitation and contaminated water are a common occurrence in India, especially among children. Diarrhoea and respiratory infections are the number one cause of child deaths.

New state of poverty

#Telangana #EcologicalPoverty
Author: Richard Mahapatra @Richard20711534 

Posted on: 14 Aug, 2013
 http://www.downtoearth.org.in/content/new-state-poverty

It’s time we acknowledged ecological impoverishment as one of the poverty indicators
imageSource: Prashant Ravi
On the face of it, the release of India’s latest poverty estimate and the decision to create the 29th state, Telengana, seem to be two unrelated developments. The media and public dialogues also, though hyper on both developments, did not see any link between the two. The discussion over poverty mostly revolved around what one can buy with Rs 28/day decided as poverty line figure for rural areas. As far as Telengana is concerned, the focus was on how prominent the demand for small states has become. And, of course, some talk about how small states aid development. Ecological poverty, however, failed to find any mention in these discussions. This is how the debate on governance issues in India consistently fails to acknowledge the centrality of ecology.
To join the dots, most of the demands for new states come from areas that are rich in natural resources but high on poverty index. Of the 20 areas demanding state-status from the Union Ministry of Home Affairs, 15 have distinct socio-economic profiles. These areas predominantly depend on natural resources for sustenance. Or, one can say, they are biomass-based economies. Unlike immediately after Independence, now the demands for a separate state are not entirely based on linguistic or ethnic identities. Invariably, poor regions inside a state tend to demand separate administrative units, which could either be a separate state or a new district. Such regions, for years, have been citing regional development disparity as the main reason for their demand for a separate identity. It is a way of redrawing India’s ecological map—resource-rich areas do not want their assets to be used as raw materials for development elsewhere. But does having a separate state guarantee better access to local resources for communities? This is an important question because in such areas most of the poor depend on resources like forests and farms for survival.
Now, let’s look at the three small states created in 2001, when India last created new states after sustained demands. All the three—Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand and Uttarakhand—are rich in forest, water and land resources. Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand are suitable for analysing of whether new identities helped in better access to natural resources. This is because in both the states local ecology has been the economy of the impoverished and the two states together account for a significant proportion of India’s poor population. How have they performed in poverty alleviation as separate states?
The latest poverty estimate shows that despite a sharp drop in poverty, both the states have nearly double the poverty level of national average. Segregated data shows that tribal, forested and other mineral-rich districts contribute up to 70 per cent of the two states’ total poor. Chhattisgarh emerges as the country’s poorest state with around 40 per cent people below the poverty line. This is the same level of poverty that was reported before 2001 when the new states were created. This despite the fact that the state’s economic growth has been more than the national average. However, this is a pan Indian trend—states are reporting high economic growth but not a proportionate decline in poverty levels.
This brings into debate the ecological nature of India’s poverty. Current debates focus on impoverishment entirely as income poverty. Poverty in Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand or, for that matter, rural poverty in general, is ecological since poor depend on the environment for survival. According to various income surveys, close to 70 per cent earning of a poor person comes from ecological sources. In forested areas, forest products contribute 80 per cent of the local people’s income.
With the creation of new states in 2001, India had its first brush with ecological states. Many hoped that control over natural and ecological resources would help redefine the state of poverty in these states. Everybody believed that the new states would, at least, frame policies that reflect the ecological reality. In an anti-climax, both the states first declared industry policy to exploit the vast mineral resources and sold land at cheap rates as a bonus. This reflects in the current state of affairs in Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand. Just like before their formation, there is a sharp division within the new states: two warring groups are fighting over resources. The same old model of development continues. Naturally, the residents of resource-rich areas feel further marginalised. No surprise they continue to be poor.
This is where those euphoric over Telengana need to pause and review the past experiences. The debate over poverty line must get real and accept ecological poverty as the real poverty indicator.

Banks may write off Rs 7200 crore debt to microfinance institutions

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/news-by-industry/banking/finance/banking/banks-may-write-off-rs-7200-crore-debt-to-microfinance-institutions/articleshow/21872024.cms
MUMBAI: Banks that restructured Rs 7,200 crore of debt to microfinance institutions are staring at a possible write off as several of these institutions are finding it difficult to recover loans in Andhra Pradesh.
Lenders had bailed out microfinance institutions (MFIs) such as Spandana Sphoorty FinancialAsmitha MicrofinShare MicrofinTrident MicrofinFuture Financial Services and Basix in 2011 after the Andhra Pradesh government passed a law to regulate MFIs.
“MFIs have not been able to recover any loan. The restructuring has failed. They have not been able to recover any money from Andhra Pradesh,” said a senior banker close to the development.
MFIs had sought the Reserve Bank of India’s nod for a second round of restructuring, but the regulator rejected the request. “If banks were to restructure loans of troubled microfinance institutions for the second time, they will not get any benefit in terms of provisioning,” RBI Deputy Governor Anand Sinha had said at a recent banking conference. “We do not stop second restructuring. But what we say is that asset classification benefit will not be available to banks. The RBI does not stand in the way of second time debt restructuring.”
RBI prescribes that if a borrower, who is already into corporate debt restructuring, has to avail of loan recast again, then its banks will have to provide 15% of the recast loan amount as provision. This has increased the trouble for banks and MFIs.

Banks may write off Rs 7200 crore debt to microfinance institutions

“Banks are staring at a possible write off unless the state government changes its stance and conveys the message that it is the duty of every borrower to repay debt. There are about 92 lakh defaulters in Andhra Pradesh, which has affected their credit history,” said Vijay Mahajan, founder and chairman of Basix, a livelihood financial services group.
“The average ticket size of the loan is around Rs 7,000. We had also offered to waive off the interest charged on loan after October 2010. This would mean an interest loss of three years. Borrowers would have to repay only the principle. It is for the government to decide,” he said.
Mahajan said the legislation passed by Andhra Pradesh has several provisions that make it difficult for MFIs to recover their dues.
“It requires MFIs to take government permission for every fresh loan granted. This is cumbersome. We are also not permitted to visit the borrower’s house or work place for collection of loan. We have to meet the borrower at a public place or panchayat office,” Mahajan said, adding that there have been no recoveries in the past two years.
Andhra Pradesh-based MFIs have been facing repayment pressures after the state government in October 2010 passed the Microfinance Act to check alleged coercive recovery practices of these institutions. The Act, apart from other provisions, also mandates MFIs to collect loan payments on a monthly basis as against the earlier practice of weekly collections, which has further hit their collections.

Taste for organic foods

http://www.hindustantimes.com/Entertainment/Food/Taste-for-organic-foods/Article1-1109620.aspx

Himani Chandna Gurtoo , Hindustan Times
Mumbai, August 19, 2013

The lifestyle of software engineer Karan Suri, 37, changed after he underwent a surgery to remove a cancerous cyst in his stomach. After the surgery, Suri decided to purchase only organic foods – rice, cereals, pulses and even pasta – for his family. “One needs to develop a taste for organic foods. But I feel safe that I am eating pesticide-free, natural food.”
Many other consumers have started buying organic foods that have not been farmed using synthetic pesticides and chemical fertilisers. Nearly 62% of high income households prefer organic products due to rising awareness, higher disposable incomes and easier availability in the market, according to an Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (ASSOCHAM) survey. “Organic farming was one of the fastest growing industries last year,” said DS Rawat, secretary general, ASSOCHAM.
A growing list of farm-fresh and organic foods is hitting retail shelves briskly. The demand for them has grown sharply in recent years; in earlier years, they were primarily exported to Europe and the US.
And then there is Tata Chemicals which offers farm-fresh, unpolished dal varieties and besan made from unpolished channa dal, under the Tata I-Shakti brand. The pulses, says the company, are directly procured from reputed Indian farms supported with Tata’s Good Agricultural Practices, or from NCDEX-associated farmers.
https://i2.wp.com/www.hindustantimes.com/Images/Popup/2013/8/19_08_biz6.jpg?w=720
Ashvini Hiran, COO consumer products business, Tata Chemicals, said, “Consumers, increasingly health conscious, choose food  products that not only taste great but are also fortified with health benefits. To reach out to them and let them know of I-Shakti dals’ delicious taste and quick cooking, we roped in Sanjeev Kapoor, one of India’s quintessential faces for high quality cooking, as our brand ambassador.”
From very few categories, natural and organic foods have extended to tea, coffee, biscuits, pasta and sauces, among others, indicating growing consumer interest. Most big retail chains stock these products, including Godrej Nature’s Basket, Food Bazaar, More, Nilgiris, Spencers and Tesco-Starbazar.
Sresta Natural Bioproducts started producing organic foods in 2004. For the first two years, it found no buyers. “Then retail chain Spencers agreed to sell our brand. Now we sell across 36 cities, growing at over 70% annually,” N Balasubramanian, Sresta’s CEO, said. Sresta works with 12,000 farmers across 14 states.
“Urban, more mature people, 30-55 years old, are the primary consumers who are shifting to organic foods,” said Mohit Khattar, MD, Godrej Nature’s Basket. “The number of categories will continue to grow as people develop a taste for organic foods. But they will not attract many youth customers in the near future.”
Besides modern retail networks, organic foods are also available through exclusive, producer-owned stores in the bigger cities. “Awareness and acceptance of organic products has increased manifold in urban India. Many organic food suppliers are now opening stores across the country,” pointed out Ankur Bisen, VP retail of leading management consultancy, Technopak.
For instance, Organic India, which does organic farming in Uttar Pradesh, is setting up its own chain of exclusive retail stores.
The high prices of organic foods – around 40-60% higher than regular foods – could be a deterrent in runaway growth. Dr. Divya Choudhary, former dietician at Fortis Hospital, said, “I prescribe organic food to most of my patients but they don’t follow the advice as the food is not yet pocket-friendly.”
The cost of production of organic foods over traditional foods is higher, as the yield per acre is lower because the crops do not use fertilisers or pesticides. “As more consumers gravitate towards organic foods, in time, costs will come down,” Balasubramanian predicted

One village. 60 millionaires. The miracle of Hiware Bazar

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CAN A poverty-ridden village where alcoholism and crime are rampant turn into a showpiece of change and prosperity? Seems highly unlikely. In Hiware Bazar in Ahmednagar district of Maharashtra, however, you will see such a miracle in progress.
Hiware Bazar conjures up images of a bustling marketplace, but a few years ago, it was one of the most drought-prone villages of Maharashtra. Today, the rich and prosperous village is a shining example of how sustainable development and change can be brought about with common sense and determination. In 1995, the monthly per capita income was around Rs 830. Now, it is Rs 30,000. The village, which has 235 families and a population of around 1,250, now also boasts of 60 millionaires.
The cement houses along well-planned, clean roads are pinkish brown. There is a sense of discipline and order. Liquor and tobacco are banned. So is open defecation and urination. Every house has a toilet, a fact that few Indian villages can boast of.
The fields are lush with maize, jowar, bajra, onions and potatoes. Hiware Bazar is an oasis in a drought-affected area.
But, it was not always like this. Let us rewind to its dark past. “We lived in a poor village, but were happy with our simple lives,” recalls Raosaheb Rauji Pawar, 85. “But after the drought of 1972, the peace was shattered. People became irritable and restless as the struggle to stay alive became severe. Petty reasons were enough to trigger-off bitter quarrels, as there was so much despair and frustration. Villagers started consuming liquor and it added to our ruin. Many residents migrated to nearby cities to work as daily wage labourers.”
The local economy collapsed. So did the social fabric that held the village together in spite of its backwardness. Ninety percent of the villagers migrated. Despondency, hopelessness and unaddressed anger punctuated the villagers’ lives.
As India ushered in economic reforms, showing perceivable changes in both urban and rural areas in terms of opportunities, the youth in Hiware Bazar wondered if they were fated to remain in the shadows. There was no governance worth the name. Or leadership. The sarpanch was just a figurehead, too old to function. As the youth discussed the state of affairs, they felt it was worth experimenting with a young sarpanch who could bring in a whiff of fresh thinking and visionary zeal.
Popatrao Pawar, 52, was the only postgraduate in Hiware Bazar. So, the youth pleaded with him to contest for the sarpanch’s post in 1989. But Pawar was not interested. In fact, his family totally disapproved of the idea; they wanted him to go to the city and get a white-collar job. Pawar wanted to become a cricketer as he was a good player and his family also thought he had great promise and would play in the Ranji Trophy someday.
But as the youth persisted, he agreed to contest. He was elected unopposed. Pawar realised he had got the chance of a lifetime to usher in change.
Pawar began by asking the villagers to become proactive towards creating their paradigms for development. The village was caught in a pincer of alcoholism leading to frequent brawls and violence. There were 22 liquor shops in the village. He got them closed after convincing villagers that alcoholism had made them poor and addicted. He got the gram sabha to tie up with the Bank of Maharashtra to grant loans to poor families, including those who were brewing illicit liquor earlier.
“Ours was a simple village with happy families. But lack of water turned our fields barren,” remembers Laxman Pawar, 71, a farmer. “Out of desperation, people started to drink, gamble and fight. Liquor had ruined us. When the illicit dens were closed, we knew there was hope.”
One of the first things the sarpanch did was water conservation and management as it helped farming and brought in some money. He got the villagers to voluntarily help in rainwater harvesting. Soon, the villagers built 52 earthen bunds, two percolation tanks, 32 stone bunds and nine check dams. “We used state government funds. The volunteer labour programme cut costs and also ensured quality work. It was as if we were building it for ourselves and for our children,” he says.
The idea was to harvest every raindrop as it fell. Being in the rain-shadow region, Hiware Bazar received just about 15 inches of annual rain. Ponds and trenches stopped rainwater from flowing out of the village. After the first monsoon, the irrigation area increased from 20 hectares to 70 hectares. “In 2010, the village got 190 mm of rain, but we managed well because of water management,” says Habib Sayyed, who works on water issues in the village.
Water management helped them harvest multiple crops. Before 1995, there were 90 open wells with water at 80-125 feet. Today, there are 294 open wells with water at 15-40 feet. Other villages in Ahmednagar district have to drill nearly 200 feet to reach water.
In 1995, only one-tenth of land in Hiware Bazar was arable. Out of a total of 976 hectares, 150 hectares was rocky. Nature was against them as there were recurrent droughts. Now, even the stubborn land is being tamed with the rocks being removed and ploughed so that sowing can start when the rains come.
Anshabapu Thange, 45, had two acres lying fallow 15 years ago. But when water became available, he was back to farming. Today, he has 25 acres growing maize and fodder. He also has 30 buffaloes yielding 250 litres of milk a day. “Earlier, we did not have a grain to eat. It is water that helped us become rich,” he says.
There are success stories all over the village. Raosaheb Raouji Pawar, a former wrestler, cycles to the village square to sit and chat with friends. Today, he owns 45 acres, one tractor, one harvesting machine and three motorcycles. His annual turnover is now Rs 15 lakh.
School students at the primary level go through a compulsory course on water management. To ensure that water is not overused, water budgets are designed to estimate its use by measuring water levels and then prescribe cropping patterns. Monthly readings are done to calculate the amount of water available.
In 2007, the village won the National Water Award for community-led water conservation. The water audits determine which crops can be grown in a season, says Shivaji Thange, who works with the watershed committee.
With the water level in the wells rising, farming became a full-time activity. It immediately created conditions for prosperity to bloom. In 1995, as many as 168 of its 182 families were below the poverty line. Today, government estimates put it at only three. But sarpanch Pawar says that by Hiware Bazar’s definition, there are 12 BPL families. The village defines a BPL family as one that cannot have two full meals a day, cannot pay for children’s education and afford healthcare.
“We just need one more year to make Hiware Bazar a BPL-free village,” says Pawar, as the panchayat is already working on a strategy to draw them out of poverty.
In the mid-1990s, a five-year plan was drawn up for ecological regeneration, integrating available government schemes. Around 10 lakh trees were planted, increasing the forest cover and raising the water table. The temperature also fell by two degrees. Babool trees used to be cut for fuel, but now, it is being protected as villagers harvest gum from them, which is priced at Rs 2,000 per kg. The Forest Department is now assisting villagers making it a new commercial proposition.
As villagers were pulled in to make decisions and then implement them, there was no opposition as they had the feeling of ownership. The village was not divided by narrow politics. “We monitored everything we did so that funds were utilised properly. We had audits of all the work we did,” says Pawar.
There is a different gender sensitivity that one sees here. The gram panchayat has now decided that the second daughter’s education and marriage expenses will be taken care of by the village. In the seven-member panchayat, three are women. Sunita Shankar Pawar is the sarpanch this year but Popatrao Pawar as deputy sarpanch is the cynosure of all eyes.
To improve farming and livestock production, the villagers took bank loans. Last year, the disbursement touched Rs 38 lakh.
As farming increased, so did work. Getting labour was expensive, so Popatrao Pawar introduced the idea of collective farming. When a farmer is sowing, others join in to help so that he saves on labour. This practice has caught on and has created a new sense of belonging among the villagers. He says it is not money that can bring in rural change, but people working together to reach common goals without caste, creed and politics playing spoilsport.
Pawar turned to concentrate on another activity that had the potential of bringing villagers additional revenue. He got them to stop cattle from grazing in the forest as it had ecological implications. Instead, he persuaded them to grow more fodder. The focus on livestock resulted in the gradual increase in milk production bringing in steady revenue. In the mid-1990s, milk production was just 150 litres a day. Now, it has touched over 4,000 litres a day.
WHILE VILLAGERS are migrating to cities in the rest of the country, here is an excellent example of how reverse-migration is demonstrating the importance of villages becoming sustainable and consequently, prosperous. Ninety-three families have returned to Hiware Bazar since 1997. They had earlier left for nearby cities such as Ahmednagar, Pune and Mumbai to work as daily wage labourers for around Rs 50 a day. More importantly, aspirations have increased with a better and peaceful lifestyle back home.
Pawar did not rest on his laurels. He got the school, which was almost non-functional, working again. He started a children’s parliament that monitored if teachers were regularly attending school and if the students had any complaints. As students completed school, the desire to study further is now taking them to a nearby college. In fact, 32 students are now studying medicine.
There is no doctor in the village. “There is no need of a doctor here as everyone is healthy. No one can fall sick when the streets and houses are clean. We do not have open sewage systems, garbage lying around or open defecation which spreads disease,” he says. There are no sweepers hired by the village. Yet, the streets are clean as everyone chips in to keep it that way. It has become a culture to live in clean surroundings.
Pawar motivated villagers to adopt family planning, take care of their health and hygiene and even advocated that couples take a HIV test before marriage. He had a different outlook and villagers did not object as he always explained ideas at meetings before taking any decision. Collective decisions have helped keep rancour away.
The village has just one Muslim family and as there was no mosque for them to offer prayers, one was built for them. Banabhai Sayed and his family take part in all Hindu festivals and effortlessly sing Hindu bhajans.
The village has always planned ahead. In 2008, the gram sabha passed a resolution requesting that cars should not be used within the village to save fuel and cycles could be used instead. If they want to go to Ahmednagar, located 17 km away, they resort to a car pool.
With basic needs taken care of, Pawar’s focus now is on energy and is looking at solar energy. He also wants to slowly ensure that every food item from Hiware Bazar is organic. “Only 20 percent of chemical fertilisers are used now, but we will slowly turn organic. We will then set up our own market for organic food,” he says.
Pawar has now been made chairman of Maharashtra’s Model Village Programme that aims to create 100 villages like Hiware Bazar. He says he succeeded because of the participatory approach adopted where people decided what they wanted and brought in need based feasible plans. “I took 21 years to transform my village. Now, I have zipped the strategy to take just two years. With community participation, we can create a new era of rural change.”
While tangible changes are visible, it is the intangible lessons like changing consciousness, redefining political goals, willingness to sacrifice personal interests for the common good and cohesiveness in decision-making that make Hiware Bazar a lesson for rural India.
The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity, a UN report, points out how looking after nature makes both economic and ecological sense. Hiware Bazar has shown how it actually works. It has also shown what a good leader can do in a leadership-driven society like India.
Source: http://www.tehelka.com/story_main54.asp?filename=Ne201012VILLAGE.asp

The fight for your plate

http://www.hindustantimes.com/India-news/Mumbai/The-fight-for-your-plate/Article1-1099950.aspx
Smruti Koppikar, Hindustan Times  Mumbai, July 29, 2013
Imagine you have a choice of bananas – one that you have always preferred from the 200 varieties India has to offer and another engineered to give you extra iron but whose impact on your physiology is uncertain. Imagine a similar choice with your staple rice; regular rice or fortified with beta-carotene whose long-term impacts are not fully studied. Or mustard.
Conventional wisdom would have you pick the first item in every category. That’s if you knew which banana, rice and mustard in the market was the natural organism and which genetically modified. The idea of choice works when there’s information to make it.
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The pitched debate around genetically modified (GM) crops, including food crops, revolves around two important themes: ambiguity about long-term health and safety impacts and inadequate labelling that hinders choice. The genetically modified organism (GMO) industry – international and Indian companies – believes GM food could deliver food security to India, a line parroted by Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar. The broad-based anti-GM coalition believes existing data is inadequate to embrace GM food and evidence of its adverse impacts is rising.
The battle is likely to get sharper, perhaps ugly, in the months ahead. There’s a clear division in Dr Manmohan Singh’s cabinet itself. “We have two senior cabinet ministers ranged on either side,” said a Congress party source, referring to environment minister Jayanthi Natarajan and Pawar, “It’s not right to link GM foods to food security.”
“Let’s be honest. Farmers don’t fund elections; rich and big companies do. Besides, we know the PM’s stand on the issue,” says Devinder Sharma, food policy analyst and anti-GM campaigner. Sharma and others like him say “a false crisis about food security is being created; the real agenda is to create a market” in India for GM foods.
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The Technical Expert Committee (TEC) of the Supreme Court, recommended last Monday an indefinite moratorium on all field trials till a proper regulatory authority was put in place. Natarajan had announced in April that 20 food crops has been approved for field trials and trials had been initiated in cotton, corn and mustard.
While the Coalition for GM-free India urged the government to accept “the recommendations based on sound science, justice and principle of sustainability”, Monsanto spokesperson stated, “The TEC report sought to go beyond the Terms of Reference and recommendations made are discouraging of science and agriculture.”
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In the high-stakes battle, the role of an independent regulatory authority – to   safeguard people’s health and protect the country’s bio-diversity – becomes crucial. The dispute over GM crops these days often segues into a debate over the proposed Biotechnology Regulatory Authority of India (BRAI). “There’s the Genetic Engineering Appraisal Committee. The new regulatory authority will be under the science and technology ministry which is responsible for promoting GM technology. What’s this if not conflict of interest,” asked Sharma. However, the industry believes India’s regulatory framework is good. “India has a robust science-based regulation and regulatory process in place which is comparable to global standards,” stated the Monsanto spokesperson.
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This divergence of perspectives is forcing people to take sides. Politicians seem to have chosen theirs. For people to weigh in, “more honestly scientific information” about GM food impacts has to be in the public domain, said Sharma. This includes letting people know what they are consuming by adequate labelling. Cotton seed oil derived from Bt Cotton could already be in your kitchen. “Cotton seed oil contributes to domestic edible oil needs, it’s the number 1 choice in Gujarat,” admitted Monsanto spokesperson. What exactly it does to your gut is still in the realm of research. What a GM-rich diet does to health is left to your imagination.
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