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

THE GREAT IMPENDING WATER SHORTAGE-FOOD, THE FIRST CASUALTY!

The importance of water in this Universe cannot be over emphasized. The whole human civilization prospered over thousands of years of history because of plenty of water sources accessible to them. With modern world built on unsustainable energy and water consumption levels in pursuit of material comforts, world seems to be running out of both these critical resources. While fossil fuel, the very foundation of modern industrialized society is fast dwindling with most sources getting exhausted due to over exploitation, water is also facing a similar situation. Though this planet boasts of abundant water all around, most of it is brackish in nature unfit for consumption or use for any productive purpose. Over exploitation of ground water and loss of rain water due to flow off into the ocean and destruction of natural lakes and water bodies, both the drinking water supply as well as irrigation water needs are dwindling fast, putting the future of humanity into a crisis mode. If the current trend continues, even production of food required to meet the bare minimum needs of man will be in jeopardy. Here is a commentary on the impending disaster if adequate measures are not taken now to meet the grim situation ahead.  

Allegations abound of manufacturers in developing countries depleting or damaging local freshwater to produce nutritiously dubious products, but, even where operations do not impact a community's supplies, can multinationals really justify creating water intensive foodstuffs for foreign markets when so many in the source nation lack clean water? Crossley suggests the issue is fundamentally an issue of rights. "We should not assume," he explains, "that we in the UK somehow have more of a right to the water that goes into producing our green beans or our tomatoes than those living in the [places] where they're grown." Aware that water scarcity presents real challenges, the cohort of companies looking to find solutions is expanding. In Britain, industry body the Food and Drink Federation launched the Every Last Drop campaign to focus on the practical steps that can be taken to conserve water, including tracking usage and reducing, recycling and reusing supplies. Food manufacturers "want to be responsible and do the right thing" insists Andrew Kuyk, the federation's director of sustainability. "What we eat in this country does affect the availability of water for domestic communities in Africa, South America, Australia or various other parts of the world – there is an inter-connectedness through global supply chains." Around a quarter of food and drink manufacturers in England and Wales have now committed to reducing water usage by 20% by 2020. But if they want to fully protect themselves against future water crises, they need to think about the whole of their supply chain, says Kuyk. "In some parts of Africa the combination of temperature rises and water scarcity will mean that some traditional crops may not be viable in ten years time. So if you are a chocolate manufacturer you need to start thinking: what are the potential alternative sources?" Many observers point to technological changes to help avert water crises. From genetic engineering and innovations in purification and desalination to novel changes to irrigation, recycling, piping and storage, there is reason to believe that water scarcity is not an "insoluble" problem, says Kuyk.But as long as water is cheap, the disincentive to invest in water efficiency may be too great. "If you can turn a tap on and get water for free, why would you spend £20,000 installing a piece of machinery?"
Drastic situation requires drastic remedies and mankind has no alternative but to reduce water consumption to a bare minimum besides taking measures to conserve water as much as possible. The recycling of used water cannot be brushed away and increasingly this is going to be a viable option. Similarly processing saline water to extract pure water is also emerging as an unavoidable necessity and countries like UAE, Israel have already proved that this route is feasible and desirable. There are highly efficient water technologies developed over the years and all it needs is a will and determination to take them up in a big way. The old concept that water is available plenty and can be had free will have to yield to new philosophy that it is a precious resource for which every one has to pay a price.

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

PLUGGING THE OIL AND PULSES SHORTAGE-A PRIVATE INITIATIVE

Criticizing multinational companies is a trait deep rooted in India which had seen how Britishers were able to bleed this country of its precious resources during their 300 years of rule. But such an attitude may not be relevant to day because there are many Indian companies which are multinational in character having operations out side the country. Also the framework of WTO regime within which India has sworn to work does not allow unreasonable restrictions on investors from member countries. Recent policy shift allowing foreign retailers to invest in India is a pointer to things to come in future. Under these circumstances the recent announcement by some Indian investors about forming a consortium for buying land in countries like Ethiopia and Uruguay and producing oil seeds and pulses should not come as a surprise to any one. 

The report quoted below does not really say much about any action taken so far but the likelihood of such mega agricultural projects, coming in technology and money starved but land rich countries, can be a distinct possibility. 

A consortium of over half a dozen companies, primarily leading oilseed processors, under the aegis of the Solvent Extractors' Association (SEA), is planning to acquire agricultural land in Latin America (LatAm) for planting edible oilseeds and pulses. Earlier, these companies had plans to acquire land in Ethiopia. But, the worsening law and order, poor infrastructure and complicated government policies in the African country, forced them to move to LatAm, where these issues are well addressed. The oilseed processors' drive assumes significance as these companies failed to expand their business horizontally through backward integration, as a result of corporate farming not permitted in India. Despite over 60 per cent of its edible oil requirements being met through imports, the government of India refuses to grant permission to big corporate players for acquisition of land for self-driven agricultural purposes. While contract farming, involving farmers as stakeholders, is allowed, the model has not worked to anyone's benefit. "We are looking at Uruguay in Latin America for growing soybean and pulses with around 6,000 hectares of land on lease for a couple of years initially. If it proves profitable, we would acquire land in Uruguay for full fledged planting," said B V Mehta, executive director of SEA.Mehta did not divulge the name of the consortium or the companies involved in the deal on fears of land price rise in Uruguay. He, however, confirmed that talks are in advanced stages and the Indian companies would begin soybean planting as early as next season. If successful, this would be the first entry of any Indian companies into Latin America for plantation. SEA has conducted detailed analysis of both countries - Ethiopia and Uruguay. In comparison with Ethiopia, Uruguay is more peaceful, has sustained agriculture policy and advanced infrastructure. In Ethiopia, Indian companies would need to invest on a sustained basis for over a decade to develop the requisite infrastructure, which may or may not be profitable for them in future. Besides, the presence of pirates in neighbouring Somalia has made transportation of oilseeds from Ethiopia a risky affair. Investing in Uruguay, which has agro-climatic conditions similar or even better than Ethiopia, does not entail any of these issues".

In such a future scenario a larger question is whether Indian entrepreneurs will be able to cope up with the investment and working environments in the foreign countries where operations are planned. The recent experience of Indian companies in countries like Maldives, France and others does not inspire much confidence about the success of such ventures. After all India is one of the countries which does not allow large corporate players to buy land for agriculture and if one single reason for the low productivity of agricultural crops is to be cited, it is lack of technology and resources in this sector mostly dominated by millions of impoverished rural farmers. Another assumption by Indian investors in foreign countries that they will be allowed to export their production freely out of the invested country may not turn out to be true because every country invariably tries to meet the domestic food demand before allowing exports. Any how this is an experiment worth trying and learn valuable lessons for similar projects in future.

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