Are we doing Agriculture properly?

Agriculture

Irrigation

Pesticides

Seeds

Fruits

webgeek · Posted: Sun Jun 18, 2006 8:32 am Post subject:

ICICI Bank is looking agressive at using its Small Business Channels to go to the rural markets to sell agriculture loans. Though it is active in the north, the south is yet to get this...

Secondly, Reliance is considering setting up its own agri yards to try export oriented agriculture produce..

Aren't these some good trends for the indian agriculture sector?
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statesman · Posted: Wed Jun 21, 2006 6:14 pm Post subject:

I don't think this will solve the problems being faced by farming community. farmers can get or already getting loans for that a private bank like ICICI can also try. reliance is dirty bania company only safeguard their interest and will certainly play foul to kill farmers.

But my opinion and sivego's opinion on this topic is almost same to create awareness in farming community to set them selves as groups, have a mentor to plan, have a tie up with a bank, without depending on government for supply of seeds, fixing prices for produce and off course subsidies and calamity exgratias etc. only to teach a lesson to politicians of this country who regularly use their name for cornering votes.

these groups should become a corporate entity and should try for bulk loans to have their own cold storages, dedicated power plants, export tie up,market management skills, tie up with seed, fertiliser, pesticide manufacturing companies and off course tie up with insurance companies.
To acheive all this first people should have integrity and wisdom and ready to work with team spirit. As long as the farmers donot show up above qualities and fight among them selves with unhealthy competetion and bringing in dirty politicians and beg the governments for sops no one including god cannot help them.

In my opinion if farming community learns these coprporate skills and work in a direction of real teams, automaticaly all the ills in rural areas will perish along with politicians interference. these farming community teams can as well start their own super bazaar chains, raithu bazaars and even create mobile bazaars to sell their produce like a real corporates like mobile phone companies.
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ved · Telugu Veera Joined: 26 Feb 2006 Posts: 2003

There is a realization across the board that significant amount of pesticide residual is left in farm products, endangering health of people. In one survey, it is revealed that an alarming % , up to 50% of traces of pesticide are found in the final product. This is creating more awareness and demand for organic products. Because of our income levels, we are little behind in this concept, but we are catching up with rest of the world. Consumers across the world are ready to pay higher prices for farm products without pesticides and inorganic fertilizers.

All of a sudden, it became not only cheaper to cultivate farms without fertilizer and pesticides , but more profitable to sell the product. However, currently this is limited to export oriented farm products, but soon will catch up with domestic consumption.

As a consumer , are you willing to pay higher price for organic products? If you are a farmer, what crops you target for organic production?. Also do you think organic products yields are good enough to make up the deficiency with higher prices?

ved · Telugu Veera Joined: 26 Feb 2006 Posts: 2003

This is a great story about agriculture revolution that is going to set in this country. Actually the real story lies in revolution in marketing of agriculture products. Then it predicts gaint leap in productivity of farmland. It is no surprise this revolution is driven by technlogy and globalization. One of the leading participant is expected to be Reliance.

Here is the story from cnn India's next green revolution

Some excerpts...

"Reliance, one of India's two largest industrial groups, has even bigger plans. In June its chairman, Mukesh Ambani, announced a $5.6 billion multiyear investment in agriculture and retail. He aims to make a new company, Reliance Retail, the dominant player in the sector.

Links are being established with farms on several thousand acres in Punjab, West Bengal, Maharashtra, and elsewhere, with rural centers providing goods for farmers and handling their produce. Supply chains are planned from these hubs to Reliance Retail's outlets, as well as to foreign buyers.

Ambani says he wants to deliver "better returns for the Indian farmer and producer by connecting them directly to Indian and global consumers, and lower prices and better product quality for consumers." He is already growing mangoes on land adjacent to Reliance's oil refinery at Jamnagar and plans to become India's biggest mango exporter, selling 3,600 tons annually within five years

With 77% of India's population relying on agriculture for a living, improvements in efficiency and new markets have the potential to benefit large numbers of people. The initiatives by Bharti, Reliance, and other companies will undoubtedly bring advantages of scale that have largely been missing in a nation where the average land holding is only 2½ acres and 60% of agricultural output is consumed by farmers' families. ""