Category: Agriculture

Horticulture Expert The Growth Driver Of Indian Agriculture Sector

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The horticulture sector, with a wide array of crops ranging from fruits and vegetables to orchids and nuts, mushrooms and honey – has been a driving force in the stimulating a healthy growth trend in Indian agriculture. India is currently producing 257.2 million tonnes of horticulture produce from an area of 23 million ha. What is significant is that over the last decade, the area under horticulture grew by about 3.8%per annum but production rose by 7.4% per annum. Given the increasing pressure on land, the focus of growth strategy is on raising productivity by supporting high density plantations, protected cultivation, micro irrigation, quality planting material, rejuvenation of senile orchards and focus on post harvest management to ensure that farmers do not lose their produce in transit from farm gate to the consumers plate.

Fruits:

With a production of 76.4 million tonnes, fruits accounts for about 30 per cent of the total production of horticulture crops. The area under fruit crops during 2011-12 was 6.6 million ha, which is almost 29 per cent of area under horticulture in India. The area under fruit crops has increased from 4.0 million ha in 201-02 to 6.7 million ha in 2011-12 with corresponding increase in production from 43.0 to 76.4 million tonnes. A large variety of fruits are grown in India. Of these, banana, mango, citrus, papaya, guava, grape, sapota, pomegranate, pineapple, aonla, litchi, pear, plum, walnut, etc are important. India accounts for 13 percent of the total world production of fruits and leads the world in the production of mango, banana, papaya, sapota, pomegranate, acid lime and aonla.

The leading fruit growing states are Maharashtra which accounts for 16.0 per cent of production followed by Andhra Pradesh (13.0%), Gujarat (10.0%), Karnataka (9.0%), Uttar Pradesh (8.0%), Tamil Nadu (7.0%) and Bihar (5.0%) altogether contributes for about 68.0 percent of the total fruit production in the country. Banana is the major fruit accounting for 35 per cent of total production followed by mango (4.0%), citrus (11.0%), papaya (6.0%), others (17.7%) in the country. It may also be mentioned that in the Himalayan states of Himachal and J&K the GDP from apples, plums, pears and stone fruits exceeds that of GDP from cereal crops.

Vegetables:

Vegetables are also an important constituent in horticulture sector which are mostly low gestation and high income generating crops. Many vegetables are now grown under protected cultivation like green houses and shade nut houses with a scope for off season production, which fetches remunerative prices.
Vegetables occupied an area of 8.9 million ha during 2011-12 with a total production of 155.9 million tonnes having average productivity of 17.4 tonnes/ha.

Vegetable production registered a quantum jump of 77 per cent between 2001-02 and 2011-12.

More than 40 kinds of vegetables belonging to different groups are grown in India in tropical, sub tropical and temperate regions. Important vegetable crops grown in the country are potato, tomato, onion, brinjal, cabbage, cauliflower, peas, okra, chilies, beans, melons, etc. The leading vegetables growing states are West Bengal which accounts for 15% of production followed by Uttar Pradesh (12%), Bihar (10.0%), Andhra Pradesh (8.0%), Madhya Pradesh (6.5%), Gujarat (6.4%), Tamil Nadu (5.8%), Maharashtra (5.7%), Karnataka (5.0%) and Haryana (3.0%) altogether contributes about 83.4% of the total vegetable production in the country. Among vegetables, potato is the major vegetable accounting for 27.0% followed by tomato (12%), onion (11.0%), brinjal (8.0%), cabbage (5.4%), cauliflower (4.7%), okra (4.0%), peas (2.5%) and others (25.4%) in the country. India is the second largest producer of vegetables after China and is a leader in production of vegetables like peas and okra. Besides, India occupies the second position in production of brinjal, cabbage, cauliflower and onion and third in potato and tomato in the world. Vegetables such as potato, tomato, okra and cucurbits are produced abundantly in the country.

Spices:

India is the largest producer, consumer and exporter of spices and spice products in the world. Over 100 plant species are known to yield spices and spice products among which around 50 are grown in India. India is known as the home of spices producing a wide variety of spices like black pepper, chilies, ginger, turmeric, garlic, cardamom and variety of tree and seed spices. Major spice producing states are Andhra Pradesh (19.0%), Gujarat (15.0%), Rajasthan (14.7%), Karnataka (8.0%), Madhya Pradesh (7.7%) and Tamil Nadu (7.0%). The spice production in India is currently estimated at 5.95 million tonnes from an area of about 3.21milion ha.

The production of spices in the country has registered a substantial increase over the last ten years with average annual growth of 5.8%. Chili is the major spice crop occupying about 25% of area under cultivation and contributing 22% of total spice production in the country. Garlic accounts for 8.0% of area with 21.0% share in production, while turmeric accounts for 6.8% of area with 19.6% share in production.

Flowers:

India has made noticeable advance in the production of flowers, particularly cut flowers, which have a good potential for exports. During 2011-12, floriculture covered an area of 0.32 million ha with a production of 2.6 million tonnes of loose flowers and 75066 million numbers of cut flowers. This sector is generating higher income and employment opportunities especially for women.

While India has been known for growing traditional flowers such as jasmine, marigold, chrysanthemum, tuberose and aster, the commercial cultivation of cut flowers like roses, orchids, gladiolus, carnation, gerbera, anthurium and lilium has become popular in recent times. The important flower growing states are West Bengal, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Odisha, Uttar Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir, North East, etc. Major area is devoted to production of marigold, jasmine, roses, chrysanthemum, tuberose, etc. The area under cut flowers having stems has increased manifold. Orchids, anthurium, lilium, gerbera and seasonal bulbous flowers are increasingly being grown both for domestic and export markets.
Growth in Exports:

Not only have these impressive production figures ensured a steady supply for the domestic market, they have also made Indian horticulture exports globally competitive. Over the last decade, there has been a significant improvement in export earnings in horticulture.
The horticulture division is working closely with APEDA and state governments to ensure that infrastructure and institutional support for export is available to ensure that farmers can leverage export markets for higher incomes.

Human Resource Key Performance Indicators For Finance

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Finance, always topical , of interest to everyone regardless of sex, color or creed, monetary values that are monitored by key performance indicators. Human resource operators manage and monitor real time trade environments.

Finance is an irremovable sector of the rich tapestry of life some say finance is management of finance in a modular scientific format. It is modular as the science extends across public finance, business finance and personal finance. Astute finance managers implement an array of KPIs which may be supported by real time alerts when trading in real time stock markets and exchanges. Financial modules will depending on the trading environment be subjected to risk factors. Time factors influence the timeline which is best suited to buy or sell finance. When trading in finance a potpourri of commodities one may wish to trade in are gold, reinsurance, government bonds, rubber markets, stock markets and of course currency markets. There is also a number of alternative commodity trading options, as in agriculture and farming both products and livestock are trading commodities. A fisherman generates finance by dealing in fish. A computer manufacturer generates finance by selling computers and PCs. Collectively when
there is no finance there is likely to be no business.

Human resource is one of the backbones of business, similar to the foundations of a building once the foundations are implemented one can then start building on the foundation base platform. Business can be established by adopting similar principles namely set up a human resource team of workers, then build up your business by using the skill sets and benefits that the HR foundations enable you to build a business upon. One element of control in business that requires 365/24/7 monitoring and control are costs, all FDs Financial Directors and Financial controllers need data to process costs, audit sales, audit profit and loss balance sheets. When KPIs are integrated into system data and audit data can be easily delivered to the financial controller. Methods of data transfer include email transfer, SMS delivery, Cloud computer storage gateway delivery etc etc.

Un audited finance should never exist in 2010 all the necessary control and monitoring resources are available for access. Regardless of whether it is a human resource or a computerized system that generates KPIs Key Performance Indicators.

Ensure that all your finance issues are controlled and monitored by specialized computer applications and systems that will manage, monitor and alert control your companies finance division.

There is an inherent synergy between Human Resource, Key Performance Indicators, for Finance. They are that when one combines together HR with KPIs and Finance one achieves a cohesion of three elements that when properly blended into a companies financial business process produce accurate managed data analysis Warning to one and all when dealing in finance it is essential to understand that trading in finance has many risk areas, most risk factors can be negated if one ensures that the necessary management tools and resources are implanted and/or absorbed into the financial control process.

When you control your financial software applications, you will have your company finances under control

Control all your personal and company finances now!

Agriculture Not Be A State Subject

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CII today organized a Seminar on Reforms in the APMC (Agricultural Produce Market Committee) Act , and its impact in the Southern States. This is an initiative of the Agri Business Sub-Committee, CII-Southern Region. Speaking at the occasion, Mr. Shankarlal Guru, Chairman-International Society for Agricultural Marketing said Agricultural sector is in urgent need of reforms by the respective State governments to help drive the economy to a higher growth rate that is expected by the policy makers, but a comprehensive agenda for reforms in this crucial sector is yet to emerge. Hence, the need for Agriculture to be made a central subject and not a state subject, thus alienating it from politics, said Mr. Guru. Contract farming should be encouraged as it will help bring technology and modern practices into the agriculture sector – opined Mr. Guru.

The APMC Act in each state of India requires all agricultural products to be sold only in government – regulated markets. These markets impose substantial taxes on buyers, in addition to commissions and fees taken by middlemen, but typically provide little service in areas such as price discovery, grading or inspection. A key impact of this regulation is the inability of private sector processors and retailers to integrate their enterprises directly with farmers or other sellers, eliminating middlemen in the process. Farmers also are unable to legally enter into contracts with buyers. This leaves no incentives for farmers to upgrade, and inhibits private and foreign investments in the food process sector.

Also addressing the audience was Mr. Sivakumar, Chairman Agri Business Sub-Committee, CII-Southern Region and Chief Executive – Agri, ITC Ltd. Said that Agri business in India is at a transition point. Having sailed through the shortage economy to an economy with surplus in grains, it is important that Governments at the Centre and State recognize the need for inclusive growth to take agriculture forward in India. Setting the context for the day’s discussion, Mr. Sivakumar emphasized that in spite of employing about 57% of the population of the country, agriculture on contributes 27% to the GDP of India. This distortion makes agriculture not a lucrative employment generator and hence, keeping with the global view, India needs to carve out opportunities in agri-exports sector. Contract farming and direct marketing to retail chains and processing units are the need of the hour he said.

Regulations to keep pace with these needs are required, which need alternative marketing mechanisms. Hence, reforms in the APMC Act are recommended in various fields, he added.

Making a presentation on “Aligning State Policies with emerging new marketing models”, Prof. S Raghunath from the Indian Institute of Management-Bangalore, emphasized the need for an effective and efficient distribution system for agri-produce and provision for supply-demand transparency. Since the main objective of the APMC Act was to prevent exploitation of farmers by various intermediaries, reforms were required in the Act, with changing face of agriculture and the agricultural supply chain, opined Prof Raghunath. India is the largest producer of vegetable in the world, with a total share of 15% of global produce. 8% of world’s fruits are produced in India, ranking it second in the world market. In spite of this, there is a high cumulative wastage of 40% in India, informed Prof. Raghunath. Inadequate infrastructure and lack of organized supply chain were the main cause for such a disparity, he said. Thus, reforms in this sector need to catch up with the pace of development in the economy and dis-intermediation and participation of organized players in the sector will remove the lacunae, opined Prof. Raghunath.

Centre asks states to amend APMC Act

In a move to allow farmers to directly sell their produce to industry, contract farming and setting up of competitive markets in private and cooperative sector, the Centre has asked the state government to amend the Agricultural Produce Marketing Act.

Under the present Act, the processing industry cannot buy directly from farmers. The farmer is also restricted from entering into direct contract with any manufacturer because the produce is required to be canalised through regulated markets. These restrictions are acting as a disincentive to farmers, trade and industries.

The government has recently approved a central sector scheme titled Development/strengthening of agricultural marketing infrastructure, grading and standardisation.

Under the scheme, credit linked investment subsidy shall be provided on the capital cost of general or commodity specific infrastructure for marketing of agricultural commodities and for strengthening and modernisation of existing agricultural markets, wholesale, rural periodic or in tribal areas.

The scheme is linked to reforms in state law dealing with agricultural markets (APMC Act). Assistance under the new scheme will be provided in those states that amend the APMC Act.

The Centre has asked the state governments to inform as to whether necessary amendments to the APMC Act have been carried out, in order to notify the reforming states for applicability of the scheme.

Along with the Centre, the industry is also interested in the amendment to the APMC Act as it restricts the growth of trade in agricultural commodities.

The policy regime pertaining to internal trade is particularly restrictive. The agricultural sector continues to be hamstrung by a plethora of controls, which were introduced during the era of shortages, said the PHDCCI.

Meanwhile, a decentralised system of procuring wheat and rice would make the Public Distribution System more cost effective, the government has said.

Is Composting The Future Of Landfill Diversion

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As there’s pressure from society regarding organic waste collection and the production of greenhouse gases mixed with targets of landfill diversion, a few are really trying to observe the manner in which they’ll attain their objectives. Generally, composting tasks are the greatest fix for creating landfill diversion initiatives, yet unless a local composting place exists already for getting the organic waste, not many can pay to construct a new place. A composting project takes a long time from idea to implementation. Before you can make an intelligent decision there are many things you should know.

Along with the beginning costs of a composting operation, earning community acceptance is critical. If locals complain about the smell, noise, more vermin, traffic, and fire risk, the task may be over prior to ever getting out of the committee.
Expenses include transportation, new procedure implementation, collection, quality control, consultation, tests, and more. After operating for a year, most find themselves over-budget.

It is another story in the Memphis area. A new in-vessel vertical composting unit has been designed by Agra Cycle. (VCU for short) named the Vee-Stack. While primarily operating within the UK and Australia, VCU’s has an over 30 years global presence, and is known for its extremely high composting standards. They have found ways to make the manufacturing process less expensive than those made overseas.
The Vee-Stack will help corporations and municipalities meet landfill diversion goals, provide greenhouse gas reduction, organic waste composting, and sustainable recycling and agricultural processes that provide carbon credits.Public Relations is where the key is. The PR for an environmentally sound, sustainable recycling project are enormous and timely. Composting is a bi-partisan activity which everyone can lend support to; and, it creates a better sense of community awareness. Those citizens who come forward without any motivations for improving the soil and cleaning the environment creates pride.

According to Agra-Cycle, “There are two keys to operational success using a Vee-Stack. The first is with the organic waste processing: there must be a balanced proportion of carbon and nitrogen. Then the pH values must be adjusted, followed by precise moisture control, and finally loading into the Vee-Stack. Agra-Cycle takes care of a big headache for the customer.

The second part happens with the normal draft induction process. Air enters the Vee-Stack from the bottom which greatly enhances the composting process in the chamber. If you know what a chimney fire is then you get a good concept of how the Vee-Stack operates. When thermal patterns increase in the stack, microbes which do well at greater temps become alive. In most cases this is referred to as the Stoichomatic range. For traditional composting techniques, these thermal ranges pose a fire threat and must be avoided no matter what, yet with in vessel building these temperatures are harnessed for process promotion. The fear of fire is eliminated from this process due to the high moisture content. The microbes eat all the smelly gases and hydrogen sulfides that create problems with other methods of composting. The machine basically functions as it’s personal bio filtration system. The Vee Stack is totally self contained; and, it even gathers and recycles leechate back into the system so that it can be composted, also.

Sustainable recycling involving local companies and communities, to prevent landfills, that is our goal. The Vee Stack can be custom made according to what you need and the size requirements. We also watch over, upkeep, manage the Vee Stack and take away the finished substance. Process your organic wastes consistently and for much less than you are currently paying for disposal by using the specialized knowledge and experience provided by Agra-Cycle.About ten tons of organic waste per day can be processed by continuous use of Vee Stack. The effects increase with the addition of more units. Depending on the organic waste used, the process can take between 14-21 days to complete.
Along with the said advantages, the cost incurred in getting rid of waste comes down by about 25%. Now this is how we define sustainable. Agra-Cycles is the sole proprietor of this technology and they are very committed to the mission of implementing sustainable recycling project in their home state of Tennessee, not as a preference but as a priority. Based in Tennessee, non-profit corporation Agra-Cycle promotes agriculture which can be sustained as well as providing resources of an educational nature. Every contribution is completely tax deductible. Please contact your tax professional for the most up to date tax laws.
Copyright 2010 Greg Traver

India Increasing Use Of Organic Farming

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Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar believes that Indias rapidly expanding production of organic agricultural goods can play a critical role in the future of the countys organic food trade.

Organic agriculture in India has made good progress during the last six years, Pawar stated while speaking in front of the parliamentary consultative committee for his ministry on Wednesday. With a combined effect of farmers efforts, NGOs work, government interventions and market forces, Indian organic agriculture has reached a stage where it can play a significant role not only in the growing domestic market, but also in global organic food trade.

Pawar said his ministry is promoting and spreading organic farming throughout the country with a variety of state-funded projects like the National Horticulture Mission, the National Project on Organic Farming, the Technology Mission for the Northeast and Rastriya Krishi Vikas Yojana.

In India, as against 42,000 hectares under certified organic farming during the 2003-04, initial estimates for 2009-10 indicate organic agriculture under certification has grown to 1.05 million hectares. Out of this, nearly 750,000 hectares are fully certified while the remaining 300,000 hectares are under various stages of conversion.

Pawar believes that organic farming is an ideal option for raid-fed, marginal land, and hilly areas and the Indian Council of Agricultural Research has initiated an All India Network Project on organic farming to scientifically test and prove the most effective methodologies in organic farming.

Promotion of organic farming will not only ensure increased availability of organic and biological sources of nutrients, but will also provide technologies and information which help other forms of agriculture in restoring soil health and conservation of resources, the minister said.

In addition to national initiatives in the organic farming field, a collection of state governments have also initiated their own organic farming promotion programs. Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim, and Uttarakhand have drafted policies for the promotion of organic farming and, of those, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim, and Uttarakhand have declared that they wish to go 100 percent organic in the future.