TEARS FROM AND FOR ONIONS-WHO IS RESPONSIBLE?

Is onion an important food for Indians? Obviously it appears so as reflected by the political significance attached to shooting prices that rule the onion markets across the country. It is not easy to forget what happened in Delhi State two decades ago when spiraling onion prices resulted in collapse of the then government. Present situation is reminiscent of what prevailed then and it appears Onion and Petrol are competing with each other to see which will breach the Rs 100 mark first! What is incongruous is the effect of this price escalation of onion on the national economy and the muddied thinking of the present day government in tackling the same. Here is a take on this "tear some" issue as is being experienced by the Indian citizen every day!

"The uptick of wholesale prices to a six month high of 6.1% in August, largely fuelled by a 244.6% increase in onion prices, is bad news for the economy. Not only does it set back hopes of a rate cut to boost investments in the monetary policy review by the RBI at the end of the week, it also highlights the government's continuing inability to manage the food economy and rein in volatility of food prices. Blaming bad weather doesn't cut much ice. The rising prices of essential food items like rice despite good monsoons are mainly due to the large stocks accumulated to meet the needs of the food security Act. The continuous increase in minimum support prices for rice and wheat by the government has also proved counterproductive as it has discouraged a shift in cropping patterns to vegetables or the diversification of production to livestock, fish and poultry. Consequently, prices of vegetables and high protein foods like milk, eggs, fish and meat have shot up, making them unaffordable to the poor. Inadequate storage facilities and the failure to modernise the food supply chain have also added to the problem. Curbing volatility in food prices and improving supply would require strong measures by both state and Union governments. States have to reform the Agriculture Produce Marketing Committee Act to allow for contract farming, direct marketing and setting up markets in the private sector. Adequate credit has to be ensured for setting up cold storage chains. The bias against large organised retailers, including foreign chains, has to be dropped. Given their global supply chains, they would have cooled domestic prices by realigning their procurement orders. The government should also shift to direct cash transfers from food subsidies, thus reducing the need to build huge stocks".

If government sources are to be believed this phenomenon is unlikely to last for long and the prices would come down in a "few days" time! According to records onion prices have been ruling abnormally high during the last few months and it is far fetched to expect the prices to come down soon. Announcing imports is just a play of words meaning nothing as not even a kilogram of foreign onion has landed in the country yet! It is a pity that consequences of policies announced like the Food Security Act are not thought of and how the country will suffer because of these follies. It is believed that farmers may increasingly switch over to cereals in the coming years because of high procurement prices offered to them, further endangering the nutritional security of the population. One can only hope that a more cohesive and visionary government after the coming general election will address these issues and reverse the present disastrous policies ruining the country. 

V.H.POTTY
http://vhpotty.blogspot.com/
http://foodtechupdates.blogspot.com

OLEORESINS-INDIA'S NEW STRENGTH

The late Dr H A B Parpia, who recently passed away must have been excited if alive to day by the news that India is dominating the world oleoresin market, thanks to his endeavors during late sixties to develop domestic technology for recovering the active ingredients of spices, condiments and aromatic materials. If Indian manufacturers, most of whom use the  CFTRI technology for manufacture of oleoresins from a variety of odiferous substances, are able to capture more than 60% of the world market for these concentrated flavor products, it is due to also their innovative efforts and adaption of the original CFTRI technology to keep up with global needs and standards. Three cheers to them. Here is a report from the industry itself which highlights their capabilities in this area. 

You may not realise it when you dig into a piece of chicken in, say, Kentucky and wash it down with a cola. Chances are that spice oil extracts or oleoresin of chilli from Andhra and nutmeg grown in Kerala may have given hot and tangy flavours to the meat and cola. Or, take the perfume that you spray on your body. It could be carrying the aroma of lemon grass oleoresin from Karnataka or cardamom extracts from Kerala. India dominates the global market for spice oleoresin, which is in big demand from processed food and fragrance industries that now mostly prefer natural colouring and flavouring agents to artificial ones as consumers become increasingly health conscious.

One must recall what type of trials and tribulations this industry went through in early days to commercialize the indigenous technology tailoring to the needs of foreign buyers. The original technology was developed using ethylene di chloride as the solvent which was banned because of potential health hazards. Now the technology makes use of alcohol and/or acetone as the preferred solvent while the high pressure super critical fluid carbon dioxide extraction gives a very high quality product from practically any odiferous substance with no solvent residue left behind to be bothered about. If the industry performs well keeping quality and safety as its corner stone, it is unlikely that any competitor will ever emerge to rival India's position as the number one player in the global arena. 

V.H.POTTY
http://vhpotty.blogspot.com/
http://foodtechupdates.blogspot.com

THE KILLING SCHOOLS OF INDIA-MIDDAY MEAL TRAGEDY IN BIHAR

Can the ruthless politicians and arrogant bureaucrats hear the wailing of parents in Chhapra, Bihar after the latter lost their most precious possessions-their tender children? In stead of apologizing for their callousness and unconscionable guilt for not preventing an avoidable tragedy, they are bickering among themselves regarding the culprits for this ghastly man created tragedy and it is a shame on the education minister in that state to imply openly that these children were deliberately poisoned by his opponents! Where is the moral high grounds usually taken by honest administrators when inefficiency and neglect on their part cause such fatal episodes under their care?  This Blogger recently raised the most crucial question in one of his Blogs regarding the suitability of schools to cook safe and nutritious foods and highlighted the dangers posed by ill-equipped teaching shops in undertaking food cooking. (Please refer to http://vhpotty.blogspot.in/2013/06/schools-in-india-are-they-meant-for.html). To receive such a news within a matter of few days of publishing the above piece is shocking indeed! If the recent public debate on this issue in one of the English Channels is closely followed one can realize that such episodes occur fairly frequently with the governments least concerned about its impact on innocent children of this country being subjected to such grave risks by sending to killer schools like the one in Chhapra. Here is a take on the Chhapra episode.  

"21 children have died as a result of the free lunch they were served in that school yesterday.  Officials say it appears that the meal of lentils, vegetables and rice was contaminated with insecticides; a forensic report is due later this evening. Another 30 children remain ill in hospital in Chhapra, some of them lying listless on stretchers, intravenous drips attached to their tiny arms. "My children had gone to school to study. They came back home crying, and said it hurts," one distraught father told NDTV.  "I took them into my arms, but they kept crying, saying their stomach hurt very badly." As weeping parents mourned, political parties delivered stunning responses.The ruling Janata Dal United said it is being targeted  by "a deep-rooted conspiracy." Spokesperson KC Tyagi said, " The way the opposition of Bihar is responding, I feel that it is a big conspiracy. They want to destabilise the Bihar Government."  he BJP, which was booted out last month from a 17-year partnership with the Janata Dal United, backed some locals who said that  officials took too long to organise ambulances for children after they fell violently ill at school. It took 15 hours to evacuate the children. This is criminal negligence and the state government is responsible for this," said Rajiv Pratap Rudy of the BJP".

The sum and substance of the stand taken by this Blogger was that most schools are ill-equipped in terms of facilities, spare time and skilled personnel required to cook decent foods and therefore there must be a rethinking on the present policy of the government to serve "hot foods" which carries with it grave risks to the lives of tender children being sent by their parents to receive basic education. Packed foods manufactured by established food processing industrial units, standardized to contain the optimum levels of essential nutrients, are far more preferable though there could be an element of monotony in terms of taste factors. But this is not a problem which cannot be solved provided reputed food research agencies and nutrition experts join hands to evolve a basket of products with impeccable credentials which can be prepared in the schools with minimum risks before feeding the children. One of the Parliamentary Committees  of the very same government recommended packed foods three months ago which was irresponsibly ignored! Is there some substance in the argument that politicians of all hues and colors are least interested in the well being of children going to government schools because their own children go to fancy schools paying enormous fees for their education? It is for people to brood over such an allegation and act appropriately during the election time!    

V.H.POTTY
http://vhpotty.blogspot.com/
http://foodtechupdates.blogspot.com

  

IS UNEMPLOYMENT RAMPANT IN INDIA? PROBABLY NOT!

There is a wide spread perception among international agencies that the unemployment situation in India is serious and people are starving because of lack of adequate income generation opportunities, especially for the vast mass of unskilled and illiterate citizenry. A recent report from the government sources however gives a totally different picture vis-a-vis the employment situation where people are shunning work even under some of the government sponsored employment schemes under some of the laws like Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act! If the employment situation is really grim, why should people shun the offer of the government to give work for every citizen above 18 years of age at least for 100 days in an year and in a family with at least two adults the annual income works out to more than Rs 30000, adequate for sustenance. Still demand for this dole out is progressively coming down during the last 4 years with very few takers coming forward to take up work under the Scheme! Why? What is the real reason? There may be many "official" explanations but the fact still remains that people do not want to take up this offer from the government because they have better income generating opportunities elsewhere! How can any one believe the 'statistics" being published regularly by the government on the unemployment situation in the country? Here is a take on this ironic situation. 

The Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act makes it mandatory for the State government to ensure a minimum 100 days of unskilled manual labour for any person above the age of 18, demanding employment under the scheme. But, cut to 2013, there are no takers for the scheme. As per the data provided by MGNREGA at the State level, between 2009-2010 and 2012-2013, the cumulative number of households with job cards demanding employment through this flagship scheme declined from 74,753 to 15,303 in Bangalore (both rural and urban). According to officials, in 2013-2014, there will be a further dip in the job demand. The total number of job cards issued to households in the City has also seen a sudden dip of 60 per cent in the past four years. The phenomenon is no different in other parts of Karnataka. In the same time period, the State has experienced a decline of around 61 per cent, from 36 lakh to 14 lakh, in job demand. "The scheme in Karnataka was started with great enthusiasm and had received good response from the people. But, in the last few years, the impact has tapered off to a great extent, due to several bureaucratic issues," said Chandrashekar, Joint Director, MGNREGS, Karnataka.

Another less charitable view of the situation is that people are being made lazy by various populist schemes through which government spends public money largely to further the interests of the political group that rules the country and they are satisfied by what they are getting almost free like rice, wheat, gas connections, television sets etc without raising a finger! With the Cash Transfer Scheme now being implemented at a huge cost, cash is going to be put in the hands of the so called poor to spend as they like and why should any one work if his needs are satisfied by sitting at home enjoying a retired life even before the life starts? Many critics believe that in a matter of few years after implementing all these misconceived schemes, India may have to import "human beings" from neighboring countries to do hard work on various developmental projects!. No wonder that industrial production is dipping alarmingly low and infrastructure activities are not taking off because of such a huge human shortage for doing hard work. What will be the impact of these changes on food production in future? Small farmers are likely to be wiped out leaving large landholders to carry out agricultural operations using large scale mechanization! Is India going to be a nation of zombies with no initiative to work and wasting precious human wealth? Only time will tell!   

V.H.POTTY
http://vhpotty.blogspot.com/
http://foodtechupdates.blogspot.com

INDIA-A SITTING DUCK FOR FOREIGN FOOD COMPANIES?

Any one not familiar with various economic jargon may not understand why so many consumer industry giants from around the world are rushing to this poor country to invest in droves? This is especially jarring to the ears of poor and hungry millions in the country who seem to have been left behind in the race of the country to be a top global economic power. Alarmingly the gap between the rich and the poor is increasingly widening with the fruits of economic development cornered by a few rich people. It is not that poor has not been benefited at all but such crumbs thrown at them are minuscule compared to rich man's taking! As some critics have pointed out foreign players are more interested in consumer products industry while the much sought after infrastructure investments are far and few. In one of the most paradoxical twists in the economic development, government seems to be pumping more and more and more money into the hands of people through gigantic subsidy schemes and benefits distribution policies that even the poor people seem to have more money in their hands which are being spent for purchase of many aspirational products, normally the prerogative of the rich! Seeing this trend foreign players are trying to attract this money in the hands of the poor for reaping a rich harvest in terms of profits. Here is a take on this paradoxical situation currently playing out in India. 

"From Diageo and Unilever to GlaxoSmithKline, all multinational companies want a bigger slice of the Indian consumption story - fuelled by rising income and small families, say bankers. "We are seeing a secular growth trend in all consumer-led businesses, whether it's consumer products or health care - primarily driven by favourable demographics and increasing purchasing power. That is reflected in increasing M&A deal volumes, besides higher sustainable market valuations, as foreign investors don't feel concerned about any regulatory or governmental overhang that they see in other sectors in India," says UBS Investment Bank Managing Director Ravi Shankar. The recent investments show foreign investors have completely shunned the infrastructure sector - roads and power, for example - which is facing serious issues of environmental clearances and land acquisition. A top official of US-based Blackstone said all of the company's investments in the Indian infra sector were blocked due to problems plaguing the industry. "There is no option but to remain invested in infra companies," he said. In contrast, in 2012, Indian food & beverage sales rose 21.2 per cent, while sales of home and personal care grew 17 per cent. Sales for airline and cell phone companies also grew. A Morgan Stanley report says food & beverages sales in India will rise another seven-eight per cent, while home and personal care sales will go up four per cent, ahead of a rise in disposable income over the next six years. Adding to the consumption story are rising rural wages, which have continued to grow, 18.3 per cent on a year-on-year basis as of November 2012 - thanks to the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme. The growth rate moved up from 10-13 per cent in the first half of 2008 to an average 19 per cent annually over the past three years. Against this backdrop, as economies across the world slow down, the Indian consumers are providing investors comfort to open their purses and put their money in companies here'.

What is unfortunate in this sordid story is that the public money amounting to more than Rs 5 trillion showered on the poor in the country, at least a significant part of it, seems to be ending up in the pockets of organized industry as it offers goodies to fulfill the emerging aspirations of this new segment of consumers. With rice, wheat and coarse grains being offered under the new food security regime at Rs 1-2 per kg, free gas connections provided under some populist schemes in a few states, electricity being practically free, what ever government is offering under various employment schemes like MGNREGA,  SJSRY etc, creates surplus money in the hands of these beneficiaries which ultimately flow to the cash boxes of consumer goods selling industry! What type of equity is this where honest tax payers money is diverted to the so called poor families who spend most of it on organized industry?  No wonder more and more global players are queuing up for getting a slice of this cake! Recent opening up of the retail trade to foreign investment is being trumpeted as a "win-win" situation for the country  because of the restrictive clauses stipulating 30% local purchase and 50% of investment on back end infrastructure. If recent attempts by a few major retail giants to modify or eliminate these provisions clearly show their real intent of flooding the market with cheap imported goods, mostly from China ignoring the local farmers, micro enterprises and artisans. The mirage of improved infrastructure will remain a mirage only while these foreign players will laugh all the way to their banks in tax haven countries!

V.H.POTTY
http://vhpotty.blogspot.com/
http://foodtechupdates.blogspot.com

ROTAVIRUS INFECTION-HOW SERIOUS IT IS IN INDIA?

Rotavirus infection is known to cause serious damage to health especially among infants and children and the symptoms include severe diarrhea and consequent dehydration leading to death if not properly treated. About half a million children are reported to be dying yearly world wide because of Rotavirus infection. The virus attacks the cells that line the small intestine causing diarrhea. Though about 2 million infections are reported world wide, it is believed that every child is exposed to this virus at least once till it reaches the age of 5. The most common of the 5 types, Rotavirus A accounts for 90% of the infection and vaccines are now available for infants for routine administration. Most children gain immunity if infected mildly and as they grow they do not face any threat subsequently. In the absence of reliable statistics about this infection in India, it is difficult to conclude as to how many cases of diarrhea occurring in the country can be attributed to this virus. Still the recent news that a low cost vaccine has been developed in India is indeed welcome. Here is the report which highlights the achievement of Indian virologists.

While two common vaccines against rotavirus made by GSK and Merck cost around Rs 900 per dose, Hyderabad-based Bharat Biotech plans to sell the Indian product at Rs 54 (one dollar) per dose. Children need three dosages at sixth, tenth and 14th weeks of their lives.   Developed after 28 years of research, the indigenous vaccine against rotavirus shows promise in clinical trials. The last part of the trial (phase–III) demonstrates 60 per cent efficacy and lesser number of deaths. The two commercial vaccines too have similar efficacy in India.  Diarrhoea is the third leading killer of children in India, accounting for 13 per cent of all deaths in children below five years and kills an estimated 3,00,000 children each year, almost half of which are caused by rotavirus. Rotavirus is the leading cause of severe diarrhoea causing 4,57,000 to 8,84,000 hospitalisations, two million outpatient visits and 1,22,000-1,53,000 deaths.  A Global Enteric Multicentre Study – published in the "Lancet" on Tuesday – showed one in five children in the developing countries of Asia and Africa below two years of age suffered from moderate-to-severe diarrhoea each year, which not only increased their risk of death 8.5 times more, but also led to stunted growth over a two-month follow-up period.

Viewed from a global perspective a vaccine that costs one twentieth of that made in developed countries can be of immense relevance to most nations in Asia, Africa and South America. If the vaccine is eventually produced commercially no effort should be spared to distribute the same to fellow countries for massive inoculation of infants at an early stage. International organizations like WHO and UNICEF must take action to promote this vaccine though there may be stiff resistance from the existing private vaccine manufacturing industry as it may impinge on their business.

V.H.POTTY
http://vhpotty.blogspot.com/
http://foodtechupdates.blogspot.com

ENTREPRENEURSHIP NEVER DIES!-A CLASSICAL EXAMPLE IN FOOD PROCESSING

What will one do when a lottery is won for a billion rupees? Normally such a winner will keep the money in deposits earning interest and live happily for ever! What about investing that money in Industry with an intention to earn more returns beyond the 9% interest being offered by most Banks? Considering the road blocks, impediments and excessive risks  that are to be faced by an entrepreneur in this country, very few can be expected to venture into industry. According to a news report, the reputed founder of MTR brand of processed foods, who took that company to stratospheric heights with hard work for more than two decades and sold the same to a multinational company some time back for a whopping Rs 360 crore does not seem to be content with sitting back and enjoying a leisurely life. His entrepreneurial spirit does not seem to be quenched in spite of his enormous success in his first avatar and with courage and conviction he has started the food business all over again with a new venture, his commitment still being on traditional foods of India for which he had slogged for years as head of MTR Foods earlier. Knowing him well there is no reason to doubt about his success in the second avatar for which the country is looking forward. Here is a critique on his new vision and expectations.

India's packaged food industry, including snacks and ready-to-eat foods, is likely to touch $30 billion by 2015 from $15 billion last year, according to an April 2012 report by industry lobby group Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (Assocham)."It's too early, but our likely (product) mix would be 50% from traditional Indian snacks, both south Indian and north Indian, and 50% from other things like beverages (lassis, milk shakes, fruit juices), ready-to-eat, spices, etc.," Maiya said in an interview. "We started our business selling 56 varieties (of snacks) in 2010-end; now we have 65."MTR, on the other hand, gets a majority of its business from masala powders, spices and breakfast and meal mixes."Snacks is a new area for us and we're still building our presence there. We're currently testing our products in Karnataka. We have internal benchmarks and standards and till the time we beat those, we will not want to expand (in snacks)," said Vikran Sabherwal, vice-president, marketing, at MTR. "In beverages, we have a badam (almond) drink product, but we don't see ourselves becoming a mainline beverage player. Our competence lies in packaged foods and we will put most of our efforts behind that," he said.Maiya expects his new company to triple sales to Rs.120 crore in the current financial year from Rs.30-40 crore last year. MTR expected to close the 2012 calendar year with sales of roughly Rs.430 crore, chief executive Sanjay Sharma said in an interview in October. While he was at MTR, Maiya introduced new product categories in India on a large scale such as ready-to-eat foods and so-called softee ice-creams. He said he plans to do the same—open up new product categories—with his new company. "We're coming out with frozen foods and fruit chips made from jack fruit, mango, apple, banana and pineapple. Another innovation is nanotechnology-based products. For example, buttermilk powder—you just add water and you get buttermilk. It's taken me almost six years to do all this. After leaving MTR, this is all I've been doing," he said. Maiya's company is also significantly expanding its distribution network both within and outside India. The company already exports snacks and beverages to customers in six countries including the US, Germany, Japan and this year, it plans to sell in another 12 countries such as South Korea, China and Canada, Maiya said".

MTR Foods which had established its brand name within India as well as in many other countries, presently owned by a Norwegian company, may find it difficult to prosper in this country having no clue regarding the dietary habits of Indians and this is reflected by the fact that its turn over is stagnating around Ra 500 crore for the last few years ever since it bought out this ethnic food company. No new successful products are emerging from its stables and it is unlikely that it would survive for long. With its erstwhile owner coming to the market with many products similar to that being made by them, MTR Foods may wither away sooner or later. Of course India is a large enough market for many players but only those with their pulse close to the consumer can succeed and former MTR boss seems to have a distinct edge at the present reckoning.    

V.H.POTTY
http://vhpotty.blogspot.com/
http://foodtechupdates.blogspot.com

FOOD SECURITY AND GM TECHNOLOGY-WHAT IS THE CONNECTION?

The furious debate regarding the relevance and need for wide scale adoption of genetically modified crop technology world wide does not seem to be abating in spite of tons of scientific reports supporting as well as decrying this new agricultural tool emanating from many research institutions world over. Hardly a day passes without any publication coming out in this subject of intense interest for the consumer as well as policy makers. While the claim that GM technology can raise yield has not yet been conclusively established, it can cut down field losses due to some pests cannot be denied. Similarly long term safety of all GM crops is till uncertain though short term studies do not indicate they are harmful. Environmental issues are still to be sorted out as many fear that wide scale cultivation of GM crops can wipe out the native species over a period of time through contamination. Here is the latest on this subject which only adds to the already existing confusion. 

The US Congress adopted a clause in its 2013 agriculture budget bill that effectively bars the department of agriculture from any attempt to halt planting or harvesting a GM crop, even if the call comes from the judiciary, sparking outrage. India imposed a 10-year moratorium on field trials of GM crops in 2012. Organizations like Greenpeace and activists worldwide welcomed India's decision, but the IFPRI report describes it as a significant setback to food policy, and mainstream scientists argue that GM crops offer a way out of deepening food insecurity as growing conditions like the weather and water become compromised by climate change. IFPRI researchers P K Joshi and Devesh Roy note that the moratorium, "not based on scientific logic, will have negative effects on frontier research and demand-driven technology generation". The adoption of the US clause, nicknamed the "Monsanto Protection Act", was described by Greenpeace as a "sad day for democracy and the future of our food". Mark Bittman, a food writer for the New York Times, cites interviews with the Union of Concerned Scientists stating that GM crops purported to be weed- and insect-resistant are actually failing.  There is no reliable proof that GM crops are harmful to human beings. "That's not the same thing as saying that the potential isn't there for novel proteins and other chemicals to generate unexpected problems," Bittman writes, "which [is] why we need strict, effective testing and regulatory systems." The debate on GM crops is polarized between supporters and those who think it will have long-term impacts on biodiversity, possibly health, and lead to a takeover of food production by corporations like Monsanto. This has also been the case in Africa, where some countries have banned GM maize as food aid. Per Pinstrup-Andersen, 2001 World Food Prize Laureate and the author of a book on the politics of GM food, described India's moratorium as "nonsensical", and said it "reduces India's efforts to assure sustainable food security for its population". He is among the mainstream scientists who prefer to be open-minded on GM technology and believe that while it might not be the panacea to climate-proof plants, it is a tool with some potential to ensure food security in the coming decades.

There is some criticism about Indian Governments 2012 policy of imposing a moratorium on GM food crop cultivation though one cannot find fault with this step considering the rich diversity this country has vis--a-vis food and agriculture. The argument that such a policy will stifle research is misplaced because there is no stopping of research and development of this tool and if the scientific community can come up with GM foods based on "confined" research with safety questions fully solved, Government may be able to justify lifting the ban for the benefit of the country. Any attempt in introducing GM crops must satisfy the need to protect indigenous species through multiple gene pool collection and maintenance. No self respecting country can pass on the responsibility of developing such new technology to private sector monopolists like Monsanto or Cargil which can have potential danger of exploiting the farmers through stifling restrictions and restrictive patenting. Of course a rich country like the US has opted for a policy of protection to the GM seed industry in a big way with least concern to the well being of its citizens, third world countries should not mimic this strange country and opt for farmer and consumer friendly policies only.  

V.H.POTTY
http://vhpotty.blogspot.com/
http://foodtechupdates.blogspot.com

INDIAN AGRICULTURE-THE WRONG PRIORITIES AND THE CONSEQUENCES

Internationally India is one the top food importing countries in the world  with a substantial portion of its requirements of pulses and edible oils coming from outside its boundaries and though this situation is continuing since 3 decades no palliative steps have been taken by the governments ruling the country at different point of time except for pompous and meaningless statements. It is just laughable that a few private entrepreneurs are globe trotting trying to solve India's food problems through leasing out foreign lands, especially in Africa while the real answer lies within the country. Here is a fabulous critique on the misguided and senseless policy orchestrations being pursued by successive governments with limited farsightedness!  

Sound food policy should be a priority for India, on track for the world's largest population by 2025. India has also achieved status as a major food exporter with rice, wheat and buffalo beef. Indian policies emphasize minimum support prices for farmers and subsidized crops for the poor, but these in turn spur food inflation, price volatility, overproduction of grains and overworked land. The government purchases about one third of all cereal output, yet pro-cereal policies hinder production of non-cereals like fruits, vegetables and dairy products, which benefits other export nations like Canada or Australia. Despite misgivings by economists, a food security bill guaranteeing low prices for more than two thirds of India's population is winding its way through parliament. "The end result of these policies will be India's forced integration into global agricultural markets, not only as a grain importer, but also as a leading buyer of non-cereal commodities," explains Deepak Gopinath, director of a research service on emerging markets. Global markets won't provide special pricing for India's poor.

Is it not rue that the country is being burdened by unwanted surplus food grains which neither serves domestic food security nor the export business of the country. Endless encouragement to a section of farmers who over utilize the resources of the country on non-priority food as well as non food crops has resulted in gross shortage of health protecting foods like fruits, vegetables and pulses besides raising their price beyond the reach of most citizens. To day in most urban markets no fruit is available, with the exception of Papaya, at a price less than Rs 50 per kg with fruits like apple pomegranate, strawberry etc commanding prices above Rs 100 per kg. Similarly almost all vegetables are sold at prices ranging from Rs 30 to Rs 60 per kg! Ironically the farmers who grow them are reported to be getting only a fraction of the consumer price, a major portion of it being gobbled by the so called middlemen! Unfortunately GOI does not seem to be unduly concerned and there is not yet any evidence that this issue will be addressed seriously in the near future. GOI is obsessed with only grains, formulating schemes after schemes to supply these commodities practically free to the population incurring huge subsidies draining the exchequer. Under these circumstances no one knows what lies ahead for the citizens of this country under political masters who cannot see any thing beyond their nose (or purse?). 

V.H.POTTY
http://vhpotty.blogspot.com/
http://foodtechupdates.blogspot.com

LICKING THE MALNUTRITION SCOURGE-INEFFECTIVENESS OF GOI PROGRAMS

If any Indian citizen wants to go through a depression phase, please read the stinging criticism of GOI's program, spending billions of rupees to tackle the problem of malnourished children in the country! What a pathetic situation that exists in thousands of nutrition management centers where thousands of workers are employed on the pay role of the government! In spite of such resource allocation the country is not able to make any substantial impact on the sorry conditions under which millions of children live with no hope. Why such insensitivity? Conceded that in a democracy there can be small gap between targets and actual accomplishments but not this type of gaping hole in the program with criminals and shameless touts, siphoning of the earmarked funds through devious means. Capital punishment in this country must be reserved for such culprits who make money at the expense of poor children! Here is a report of the Controller and Auditor General about this massive financial misappropriation.

"A decade after a CAG audit revealed how a scheme to help infants and young children was failing, a fresh report tabled in Parliament on Tuesday says the number of malnourished children exceeds the 40% mark in 10 states as on March, 2011. The audit of the flagship Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) says 49% children in Andhra Pradesh, Bihar (82%), Haryana (43%), Jharkhand (40%), Odisha (50%), Rajasthan (43%), UP (41%) and Delhi (50%) are moderately to severely malnourished".

in stead of proclaiming from the house top catchy slogans like aam aadmi, gharibi hatao, food security and cash transfer, governments at the center as well as in the states must concentrate on plugging the holes in the program. It is time that a separate dedicated cadre of committed service oriented rural development personnel is created with short time training for managing children's program. The service conditions for them should be such that their performance should be measured in terms of percentage of children uplifted through their service as certified by health specialists.   

V.H.POTTY
http://vhpotty.blogspot.com/
http://foodtechupdates.blogspot.com

PADDY YIELD-INDIAN CLAIM BEING CHALLENGED!

China and India are two of the major rice producing countries and naturally both can be expected to intensify their research efforts to increase paddy productivity to meet the increasing needs of their ever growing populations. The Green Revolution in India during the last millennium achieved quantum jump in productivity which helped to tide over food scarcity for a few years. However further increase in productivity could not be achieved to any significant extent though the agriculture research institutions brought out many new varieties with traits like lesser water requirement, better nutritive value, improved cooking characteristics etc. Against such a background came the news from a Bihar farmer in India that he was able to harvest more than 22 tons from one hectare of land during the year 2011. This claim is now being challenged by China which does not concede that such a yield is possible at all. Here is the expose on this issue as is being debated by the international community. 

China's leading rice scientist has questioned India's claims of a world record harvest, following a report in last week's Observer of astonishing yields achieved by farmers growing the crop in the state of Bihar.
Professor Yuan Longping, known as the "father of rice", said he doubted whether the Indian government had properly verified young Indian farmer Sumant Kumar's claim that he had produced 22.4 tonnes of rice from one hectare of land in Bihar in 2011. Yuan, director-general of China's national rice research centre  and holder of the previous record of 19.4 tonnes a hectare, asked: "How could the Indian government have confirmed the number after the harvesting was already done?" The dispute centres on a controversial method of growing rice that is spreading quickly in Asia. System of Rice Intensification (SRI) uses fewer seeds and less water, but seeks to stimulate the roots of young plants, mainly with organic manures. It can work with all kinds of seeds, including GM, and has the effect of getting plants to grow larger, healthier root systems. Many scientists initially doubted whether yields of this magnitude were possible, but peer-reviewed papers have shown consistent improvements over conventional rice farming methods. Yuan told the Chinese press after seeing the Observer Food Monthlyarticle: "I introduced the intensification method to China myself. It could increase yields by 10-15% in low-yield fields, but it's not possible for fields that are already producing relatively high yields." However, Norman Uphoff, professor of agriculture at Cornell University in the US, defended Kumar and the Indian authorities. "The yield measurements for Kumar and other farmers in the Nalanda district of Bihar, which matched or exceeded the previous record, were at first rejected by Indian scientists, who did not believe such results were possible. "The measurements were made by staking out 10 by 5 metre plots in the centre of one-acre fields, not sampled crop-cuts from small areas. The 50 square metre plots were harvested with hundreds of people watching the cutting, threshing and weighing because everyone anticipated unprecedented yields," he said. "These results were achieved with hybrid varieties which derive from Yuan's own innovation of hybridising rice, considered for decades by most rice scientists to be impossible." The measurements were later acknowledged as valid by both the Indian Council for Agricultural Research and the Ministry of Agriculture.

One can understand the frustration of the Chinese scientist who was instrumental in developing the much acclaimed SIR cultivation technique which is based on stimulating the root of the young paddy plants to grow larger root system enabling them to bear more flowering and fruiting resulting in higher yield per plant. Since the yield figures have been verified more than once through scientific measuring methodology in presence of international experts there is no reason to doubt the claims of the Bihar farmer. While India need not bother about any certificate from Chinese scientist, efforts must be made to spread the technique in all paddy growing regions to achieve huge production jump in the country. The country is not in competition with any other country for getting into the record books but trying hard to provide adequate food to its population. While yield increase is laudable, lesser water requirement for this technology is an added bonus to go by if such efforts succeed on a wider scale.

V.H.POTTY
http://vhpotty.blogspot.com/
http://foodtechupdates.blogspot.com

INDIA BECOMING A MODERN DAY COLONIALIST?-MAY BE!

Colonialism is considered a dirty word in the modern world because of the exploitative nature of the relationship between the rulers and the vassals. British Prime Minister, representing the most powerful colonial power till the middle of last century, is reported have expressed his regret for the harsh regime it had used to rule the country for more than 3 centuries, while making a business cum friendship visit to this country recently! Who would have thought that in a reversal of history India itself, forgetting its past, could try to be a colonial power with a difference, the modus operandi being economic imperialism! That is what is being reported from Africa where earth's most impoverished people eke out a  miserable living due to abject poverty. In a recent report from Ethiopia, the economic muscle of Indian business enterprises has been unveiled which may be some what disturbing. Here is a take on this new issue that is confronting the world to day. 

Indian companies are among the biggest players in the land deals, with investments of over $ 5 billion, and leases over 6,00,000 hectares. Karuturi Global, a Bangalore-based agroproduce company has alone received 3,00,000 hectares. Claims by these companies and by the Ethiopian government that the deals are legal and entail no human rights violations, have been shown as false in a series of on-ground investigations. The Oakland Institute has meticulously documented the nexus of corporations, politicians, investors, and officials that has made the land-grab possible.It notes that there is no public consultation with local communities (much less their consent), many of whom find out that their pastures or fields have been sold off only when bulldozers arrive. Any form of resistance or even questioning is met with imprisonment, beating up, and even killing. Both private security companies and the Ethiopian government's own forces are used to protect the investors. And there is a total lack of environmental and social impact assessments in these deals. It is also stated sometimes that what Indian companies are doing abroad, is not the responsibility of the government. But this ignores the various ways in which the Indian government facilitates and supports such deals, not only through diplomatic channels but also financially (even if indirectly). For instance the Indian Export-Import Bank has pledged $640 million of credit over five years for Ethiopia's sugar industry, and the fact that Indian companies are getting the biggest deals for sugarcane plantations cannot be unconnected 

There is another perspective to leasing of land in undeveloped and under developed countries by business conglomerates from emerging economies like India and China. In theory putting fallow land into use for food production is a laudable act which deserves appreciation but if the local people suffer due to large scale displacement and loss of regular avocation, it cannot be acceptable and this seems to be what is happening in Ethiopia, a poor country in Africa where large acreage of land is being "cornered" by Indian business men with deep pockets in connivance with the local government. It is conceded that India has some scarcity of arable land and Indian agricultural entrepreneurs are known to be industrious and efficient. However if the fruits of their venture are exported massively where will the local population go for their food? This is where the national governments will have to be careful while opening the flood gates for foreign investment in agriculture through land leasing arrangements. An international legal frame work will have to be enforced when agricultural lands are leased out to rich landlords for raising land productivity and increased food production.  

V.H.POTTY
http://vhpotty.blogspot.com/
http://foodtechupdates.blogspot.com

ANOTHER BUMPER CROP? THE IMPLICATIONS

Any news regarding increased food production should be welcomed, especially in a country like India where hunger and poverty live side by side. If so why is that the latest "projection" by government agencies ( based on sowing estimates!) predicting a bumper harvest of food grains this year should create panic in the government? The answer is simple. Those in power at Delhi is again going to be caught in a state of unpreparedness to store the grains that will flow into the government granaries in the coming months. The problem is further accentuated by the higher support price being decided by the government against the advice of its own expert panel for political expediency. Those keen observers of the "grain politics" GOI is practicing in the past, cannot forget the rap it got from the Supreme Court last year for allowing precious food grains to rot in the open as sufficient storage facilities were not organized in spite of knowing the problem for almost two decades. With no clarity still emerging regarding the so called "Direct Cash Transfer" scheme and the fate of PDS in the coming years, what is in store for millions of people living below poverty line in future is still uncertain. Here is a critique on this vital issue facing the nation.   

Officials said wheat production in 2013-14 season that starts from April 1, is expected to be between 85 and 90 mt as sowing till Friday is around 458,000 hectares more than last year. This year, the country harvested a record 94 mt of wheat compelling state agencies to procure an all-time high 38 mt, a staggering 10 mt more than 2011-12. A situation similar to this year is also expected in 2013-14. Already, in rice state agencies have procured 1.2 mt more till yesterday as compared to the same period last year. By the close of the season, government plans to procure almost 40 mt of rice from farmers this year, 5 mt more than 2011-12. Wheat and rice procurement seasons are different. Rice procurement starts from October every year, while wheat begins from April. However, all this will not come at a low price. Infact, with government increasing the minimum support price (MSP) of wheat for 2013-14 season by Rs 65 per quintal, the food subsidy burden will straight away rise by Rs 2,275 crore. In 2012-13 Union Budget, the food subsidy has been pegged at Rs 75,000 crore. "With increase in MSP by Rs 65 a quintal, procurement cost of FCI will surely go up, and depending upon how much is procured and for how long it is stored and at price it is distributed under PDS, the subsidy Bill will get inflated. Presuming that FCI will procure at least 35 mt of wheat (last year it procured 38 mt), and if all other costs remain the same, the subsidy bill will go up by minimum Rs 2,275 crore," Gulati said. The burden will also be no less on consumers as wheat prices along with that of wheat flour will further move up. "Retail prices of wheat will go up further unless larger leakages from PDS flood the market at lower prices," Gulati said. The direct fallout of over-emphasis on grains, which the CACP sought to correct by recommending freezing the MSP of wheat for 2013-14 season is that import of edible oils and pulses is expected to cross Rs 65,000 crore in 2012-13 financial year, a steep jump of almost 16 per cent from the previous year. But, a bumper harvest does not necessarily mean that the farmers are getting benefit from producing more. A recent field visit by senior officials from the department of agriculture found that rice prices in eastern India has plummeted to almost Rs 800-1,050 a quintal, as against the Centre determined MSP of Rs 1,250 a quintal in the absence of suitable state intervention mechanism. Official data showed that this year (2012-13) rice procurement in the three major eastern states of Bihar, West Bengal and Odisha has been less than one-fourth of last year."This clearly shows that something is serious wrong with the policy as farmers are producing more, but in many area they are not getting adequate returns for their labour," another expert said.

What is becoming tragic is that farmers who toil hard against all adversities are becoming more and more stressed financially while the consumer prices are soaring making the lives of both more and more miserable! One of the funny reasons attributed to food inflation is that many states are succeeding in plugging leakage from the PDS, resulting in less and less transfer of cheaper grains from the distribution chain to the open market! Openly or surreptitiously GOi is bound to allow more and more export of grains to prevent spoilage like last year due to shortage of storage facilities. If direct cash transfer system were in place throughout the country probably there would have been higher off take of grains by those economically poor families with the cash received from the government. But this "gift" of the government may take years to come to the hands of all the beneficiaries as the infrastructure for fund transfer is grossly inadequate as of now. Thus bumper harvest or normal harvest, it makes very little difference to the two important players in this ball game, viz the poor farmer and the ever suffering aam aadmi!  

V.H.POTTY
http://vhpotty.blogspot.com/
http://foodtechupdates.blogspot.com

INDIA TO BECOME A GLOBAL FOOD GRAIN TRADER?-THE RISK FACTOR

Food security for a country implies that adequate food is available to every citizen and there is no short supply. Unfortunately in India this term is being touted to imply that government warehouses hold adequate stocks of food grains, that too rice and wheat to meet the statistical average need of a person. The wide income disparity and extensive property do not allow such citizens to buy their food requirements is gloated over under the excuse that these segment of the population is covered by the inefficient and corrupt Public Distribution System or PDS under which Below Poverty Line families are supposed to get their minimum needs at very low cost. In this scheme Food Corporation of India {FCI) which is the nation's store keeper under GOI is supposed to manage grain procurement from farmers, store them safely and supply the same to so called ration shops spread all over the country. According to many studies it has become clear that more than 50% of the grains do not reach the targeted beneficiary, getting "leaked" on the way! FCI is also used as an arm for export and import of food grains as when there is a contingency. This very same agency is now being asked to get into global grain trading business assuming that such activities can reduce the subsidy burden of GOI. How far this may work out and the long term implications on country's domestic market are discussed in a recent report by an experienced expert on agricultural policies. here is a gist of it.  

"At a time when the Global Hunger Index 2012 ranks India 65th among 79 countries, K V Thomas, minister of state for food and public distribution and consumer affairs, has revealed that the Food Corporation of India (FCI) will soon trade wheat in the futures market. Seeking clearance from the Forward Markets Commission, the minister said: "The market has to perform the economic function of price discovery and price risk management." Well, what I can see as the basic objective is to replace the open market sales scheme with trading in the futures market. In other words, futures trading will provide an opportunity for FCI to make some profits, which in turn can be ploughed back in its procurement operations, thereby reducing the subsidy outgo".

A moot question that begs for an answer is whether India can really sustain itself as a viable food grain business player when the government is trying to usher in a new policy of supplying food grains at ridiculously low price covering almost 70% of the population? The requirement for such populist scheme is going to be huge and FCI is going to be tied to this challenge in the coming years. GOI does not seem to have learned its bad experience in propping up State Trading Corporation (STC) as a state controlled business arm by giving it monopoly in dealing with some portfolio and if FCI is now going to follow the footsteps of STC, one can imagine what would be the result. Unless the management structure and working style of FCI are drastically improved, the new policy may end up in another fiasco. This is not to under estimate the potential for FCI to become a global player in grain business as it is one of the world's largest grain dealers, handling massive quantities of food grains, primarily for domestic market and if this is to be realized GOI will have to relax its iron like grip on the functioning of the organization, giving it a free hand in day to day operations. Will this ever happen? No way, knowing the unlimited power wielded by bureaucracy on every institution in the country to day.

V.H.POTTY
http://vhpotty.blogspot.com/
http://foodtechupdates.blogspot.com

   

REINVENTING BUTTER MILK-NEW DEVELOPMENTS IN DAIRY SECTOR

There was a time when Grandmas were dominating the kitchens providing unique traditional foods made from good quality ingredients and coaxing the best flavor through age old proven and tested cooking methods. One can only be nostalgic about those days after the emergence of modern food processing industry which dominates the market through thousands of commercial products which many old times feel have neither "life" not nutrition in them. A new trend seems to be emerging where people are increasingly turning to the past for really enjoying the food they consume every day. Hot bread shops, kettle fried potato chips, old style counterparts of some of the popular modern day products, sun dried fruits and vegetables, etc which are appearing in the market are real manifestation of such a change. Latest to hit the market is Buttermilk which was considered a dairy industry waste recently being brought to the market in beverage format, promoting it for its unique flavor, taste and mouth feel. According to historians Butter milk was a common product in the diet of American families till the middle of the last century and started its decline after the advent of modern large scale dairy processing plants and probably the revival of Butter milk owes it to small scale milk processors who find it easy to make and market in nearby markets. Here is a report on this new trend.

"Today, Kate's produces more than a million pounds of butter a year, all from the same tiny garage. And last year, the company became the first large-scale bottler of a dairy product that has almost disappeared from American tables:real buttermilk, the creamy liquid that remains in the churn after the butter comes together. "People have no idea how good this stuff is, but they are about to find out," said Mr. Patry, 62, who is possibly the most optimistic and talkative native Mainer in history. Many home cooks keep buttermilk on hand for pancakes, ranch dressing or corn bread. They might know that it makes more tender cakes (because it softens the gluten in flour), loftier biscuits (its acid boosts leaveners like baking soda and baking powder) and thicker dressings (lactic acid in buttermilk gently curdles proteins into a smooth mass). But what few cooks know is that commercial buttermilk isn't really buttermilk. It is made from regular low-fat or skim milk, usually low-grade rejects from cheese and butter companies. The milk is inoculated with cultures to make it acidic, and thickened with additives like locust bean gum and carrageenan. The result is a flattened facsimile of the real thing, as a ring tone is to a song. There's nothing wrong with it, but I wouldn't want to drink it," said Diane St. Clair, a dairy farmer in Vermont who, like many of her peers, prefers the tart, light, yet rich flavor of genuine buttermilk. That's what poured out of the bottom of Mr. Patry's churn at 6:45 on a recent morning. Real buttermilk is what's left of heavy cream once it has been churned (here, knocked around 1,000 pounds at a time, dropping from top to bottom of a 13-foot-high butter churn with great thwacks and thumps) to break its natural emulsification. In the process, the fat globules are cracked open to release yellow butterfat, which clumps together into butter. The liquid that remains is buttermilk: naturally defatted milk, with microscopic traces of butter that leave a haunting, rich flavor and a creamy mouth feel. Real buttermilk contains natural diacetyl, the same compound that makes melted butter so aromatic and infuses some Chardonnays with buttery flavors. "My buttermilk has pieces of butter floating in it, which it's probably not supposed to," said Ms. St. Clair, who has a herd of eight Jersey cows at her farm (called Animal Farm and located in the town of Orwell, Vt.), and makes butter and buttermilk for the chef Thomas Keller's restaurants. "But it certainly tastes good that way." She, Mr. Patry and a few other dedicated dairy producers here and in the South have just begun to bring old-school buttermilk to green markets and groceries, as small-scale bottling operations become more affordable. Their efforts fit neatly into several culinary trends: working with traditional agricultural products, and embracing the once-rejected byproducts and odd bits of favored ingredients. Buttermilk even manages to represent both the American South and Scandinavia, two of the liveliest influences in food today. Ambitious chefs all over are suddenly wallowing in buttermilk. In New York City alone, Roberto Mirarchi is saucing earthy sweet potatoes with tangy buttermilk at Blanca; Wylie Dufresne of WD-50 glazes sweetbreads with nasturtium-infused buttermilk; and the young gun Matthew Lightner strains the stuff till thick and uses it to fill crisp-fried sunchoke skins at Atera".
In India even today Buttermilk is consumed in significant quantities in some parts of the country. In Gujarat, diluted Butter milk, going by the local name "Chaas" is a must during lunch while it is one of the most consumed summer drinks popular in the northern region. Use of Butter milk as an ingredient in some foods including bakery products is still prevalent in the West but probably this is not really the same as the traditional product because it is made more often from low fat or skim milk rather than the left over by-product of churning cultured, fermented curd preparation. Interestingly the AMUL cooperative is marketing a standardized spiced version of Buttermilk in Tetrapack format but its marketing is not very much focused with the product availability limited to some outlets, that too occasionally. As for the future of Butter milk in America, same is likely to be very encouraging considering that farmers' markets and locally produced foods are increasingly being patronized by more and more people and small scale Butter milk producers located in these areas can find a ready market for their "original" product.

V.H.POTTY
http://vhpotty.blogspot.com/
http://foodtechupdates.blogspot.com