Get farmers out of debt
By J.L. Dalal
AGRICULTURE is the oldest profession and farmers are its prime players. It is linked directly with the survival of the humanity. The profession is not only difficult and risky but is also least remunerative also. To make it sustainable and bring about the desired transformation, its intricately related basic problems have to be given the highest priority by the government.

Chrysanthemum queen of autumn
By J.S. Arora

CHRYSANTHEMUM, plant of east, adorns the houses and gardens by its highly colourful flower of varying sizes in different shapes like incurved reflexed, decorative, pompon, spider, spoon, button, etc.

Native of China, it reached Japan where its cultural practices were standardised and new types were evolved. It reached Europe in 17th century and the USA and India in early 19th century. In Punjab the name Bhai Vir Singh is associated with it who has described its beauty in his poem. Amritsar holds a chrysanthemum show in his memory every year in December.

There are several thousand varieties belonging to various classes. Large-flower varieties which are raised in 25 to 30 cm pot size are snowball, Casse Grande, Sonar Bangla, Kiku Biori, Beatrice May, Rupasi Bangla, Bidhan’ Best, Mahatma Gandhi, Queen to Temluk, etc. These are raised as standard keeping one to seven main branches and single bloom by following pinching, regular disbudding and staking.

On the contrary the spray-type varieties like Arctic, Blue Chip, Birbal Sahni, Baggi, Basanti, Ratlam Selection Jubilee, Yellow Divinity, Cameo, Flirt, Jaya, etc. are prepared by following disbudding and the plants bear a good number of flowers of medium size. Pinching and disbudding are laborious jobs and hence no stake and no pindi varieties are preferred which are raised in 15 cm pot and produce 20-30 flowers of small size or small plants. The varieties liked are Apurva, Shard Shingar, Hemant Shingar, Peet Shingar, Pancho, Bindiya, etc.

Recently ‘Punjab Gold’ an early variety having coppery red colour at the time of opening and turning to golden yellow colour at full bloom has been approved by Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana, for trial.

The main season of its blooming is November-December but it has been extended from September to January by selecting right variety and planting on different dates. It can also be bloomed round the year by adjusting photo period, temperature, shading and using of growth regulators.

Chrysanthemum is a perennial plant and mainly propagated through rooted suckers and terminal cuttings. However, the latter method is preferred. Mother plants are maintained in partial shade and kept healthy by regular feeding and watering. Five to 7 cm long terminal cuttings are made in the first week of July by shearing base leaves and cutting half of open leaves. For enhancing rooting, these cuttings are treated with seradix or 25 ppm NAA and planted in pot filled with fresh river sand or beds in partial shade. Cuttings are sprinkled water twice or thrice a day. To avoid rotting of cuttings, Captan (0.3 per ce4nt or Brassicol (0.2 per cent) should be applied in water once or twice. After 3-4 weeks, rooted cuttings are ready for transplant 10m is pot or in the field. Experiments have revealed that late planting in the second week of August is better which produce dwarf neat plant with flower of good quality.

Chrysanthemum are grown in pots to decorate verandas, windows and gardens. Mostly earthen pots of different sizes are used. Nowadays the use of plastic pots is also getting popular. Pots are filled with three to five pieces of concave side of crocks over drain hole and 3 parts gardens soil: 1 part sand: 1 part lead mould and 1 part of well rotten farmyard manure. Rooted cuttings are planted in mid of August. Staking, pinching and disbudding is also done according to the type of variety and method of training. Regular feeding with nitrogen, phosphorus and potash is done in small doses to obtain good-size a bloom. Urea should not be used as this is known to be detrimental. At the time of appearance of buds, feeding with dilute solutions of cakes and superphosphate is highly beneficial. The use of growth retardant like phosphon (at 10 per cent liquid formation or Alar (33 g/1) normally at the rate of 100 ml of solution per pot has been found effective.

The growing of medium-sized double flowered varieties of pompon or decorative around the bid cities have been found profitable. At present flowers of chrysanthemum are procured from Ratlam, Ujjain, Indore and surroundings to Delhi market as local production is nil. Keeping its potential in view, after trials of several and Ratlam Selection have been released for commercial cultivation and efforts are being done to popularise it. For raising a commercial crop, a fresh crop is to be raised every year. About 1,50,000 cuttings are required for planting in a hectare. Growers are advised to propagate their own planting material as method suggested. Soil is prepared in the end of June by cultivating two or three times and adding 20-55 tonnes of well rotten farmyard manure along with 250 kg single superphosphate and 320 kg of potash/ha before planting as basal dose. The rooted cuttings are transplanted at the distance of 30x20 cm in the evening hours in middle of July-August. In order to encourage branching and ultimate flowering, pinching of apical shoots should be done after four to seven weeks after transplanting. The application of 600 kg of calcium ammonium nitrate per ha should be applied in two or three splits at the interval of 30 days. Flowering occurs in the middle of November and fully opened flowers are plucked. The yield of Birbal Sahni, Baggi and Ratlam Selection varieties 32, 143, 175 a/ha, respectively, and flowers are sold at 20-40 kg, depending upon demand can be earned.

Get farmers out of debt
By J.L. Dalal

AGRICULTURE is the oldest profession and farmers are its prime players. It is linked directly with the survival of the humanity. The profession is not only difficult and risky but is also least remunerative also. To make it sustainable and bring about the desired transformation, its intricately related basic problems have to be given the highest priority by the government.

As per newspaper reports, the farmers’ debt in Haryana and Punjab — claimed to be the most progressive states — runs into Rs 4,500 crore and Rs 5,700 crore, respectively. In Haryana the number of land holdings is about 18 lakh. The amount of debt, thus, works out to Rs 25,000 per holding. About 90 per cent farmers are small and marginal. As such this debt is very high for them.

In the thirties, Mr Malcolm Darling wrote in the book, “The Punjab Peasant in Prosperity and Debt”, that the Punjab peasant is born in debt, lives in debt and dies in debt. This holds good even today. Chaudhry Chhotu Ram, who was a minister in pre-partition Punjab, wrote rather more elaborately about the distressful life of the farmers in the form of a booklet, “Bechara Zamindar”, in the thirties.

What a paradox, on one hand the Green Revolution is acclaimed to have brought about prosperity and an overall improvement in the lives of the people, both rural and urban, on the other hand, burden of debt on farmers (90 per cent being small and marginal) has become so heavy. It appears that the Green Revolution has ceased to be a — lasting boon for the farmers.

The onus for solving the problem squarely lies on the agricultural scientists who have to be more conscientious and pragmatic not only to understand the problems in the changed environments but also to find their suitable solutions, necessary for higher production. Continued deterioration in soil health and hazards of pests and diseases, which have become bane of intensive cultivation and a flood of spurious pesticides are the new problem areas to be tackled. For reversing the process of diminishing economic returns of the farmers and thereby upgrading their dwindling economy, they have to be freed from the clutches of the money-lenders and even the cooperative societies.

An equally or rather more important question that requires to be solved simultaneously is the systematic and proper transfer of the new technology, especially to the small and marginal farmers, who, by and large, have been so fare less lucky. The best way to train them is through “field demonstrations” which must be laid out by extension workers under their personal supervision. “Hearing is forgetting, seeing is believing and doing is understanding” is an old adage. This needs to be followed strictly for proper training of the farmers.

Improved seed is the basic input for higher agricultural production. It has to be of genuine quality, purity and reasonably cheap. The Haryana Seeds Development Corporation is the primary seed agency for supplying certified seed of main crops in Haryana. It is learnt that during the 1997-98 rabi the HSDC wanted to charge a high rate of wheat seed but with the intervention of the state government it was agreed at Rs 900 per quintal. The state government sanctioned a subsidy of Rs 200 per quintal, thus brought down the cost of certified wheat seed to Rs 700 per quintal.

The Seed Certification Agency and the HSDC are reported to have jointly worked out the cost of production of wheat seed at Rs 650 per quintal. With a 10 per cent increase in the cost as profit to the HSDC, the sale rate could be Rs 715 per quintal and not Rs 900. As such, the HSDC got the subsidy and not the farmers.

The situation in the case of private seed agencies seems to be equally baffling. During the current kharif season, a 2 kg bag of sunflower seed was sold at Rs 450. This works out to Rs 22,500 per quintal. The seed of hybrid maize was also sold at Rs 250 per bag of 5 kg. Are these anyway cheap and can the small and marginal farmers afford. This is private sector scenario.

The agricultural universities in the country have a large number of plant scientists and economists. They should produce authentic statistical data regarding production costs of seed of all crops.

It is also important to analyse the pattern of subsidy on chemical fertilisers, particularly on phosphatic ones. The market price of imported DAP is reported to be lower than the indigenous one. The cost of the latter is brought at par with the imported one after subsidising the cost of the indigenous DAP. This means the subsidy is provided to the sick DAP industry and not to the farming community and publicity is made that the DAP is made available to the farmers at a subsidised rate.

An insight into contract farming
By P.P.S. Gill

AGRO TECH ’98, which concluded in Chandigarh on December 6, was the third in a series organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII).

While Punjab and Haryana were co-hosts, Andhra Pradesh chipped in, for the first time, as a partner state. All three are known to be agriculturally progressive states with a streak of recent suicides by farmers. There is a difference of opinion on the causes of such suicides. But that is a different furrow.

This City Beautiful, which is used to and exposed to a different kind of culture, was made to experience another kind of culture: agriculture. Though often mocked at, yet the fact remains that this is the “mother” of all cultures. Thus not only did ordinary city folks flocked to the exhibition put up on the occasion, the CII, as is its wont, ensured presence of the virtual who’s who of the politico-administrative institution, which governs.

There were two focused themes: “dairy expo ‘98” and “poultry expo’98”. The former featured a live integrated dairy farming and processing unit put up jointly by the Punjab Dairy Development Department and the Israel Dairy Board. The latter brought together on one platform Indian and international companies engaged in poultry breeding, feeding, healthcare and processing.

If the dairy industry in India today is $26.25-billion strong and the country is ranked No. 1 producer of milk in the world, the standing of poultry industry is no mean achievement: at $ 7.5 billion. With an annual growth rate of 20 per cent, the Indian poultry market is ranked fifth in the world.

Two questions kept echoing all through Agro Tech: one on the usefulness or otherwise of the ‘show’ and two, on how small and medium farmers, who constitute the backbone of agriculture in the country, will or can benefit from such an event. One did rub shoulders with the rural folks at the show. The rural housewives, however, were a little disappointed. Some wondered why not have a wing on home science at the next Agro Tech. Incidentally, the next event is scheduled for 2000 (December 1 to 5) for which, as the CII (Northern Region) Chairman, Mr Arun Bharat Ram said “at least 40 per cent of the space already stands reserved by exhibitors.”

As the name suggests, the emphasis was on exposing the people to available technologies and endeavour was to make the occasion a “specialised” business fair and an affair. No wonder, the choice of subjects for display, discussion and conferences encompassed the “sunrise” technologies. The themes ranged from processing of fruits and vegetables to emerging technologies in the dairy industry to application of biotechnology in agriculture and industry to water management and cold chain technologies.

What emerged as a new concept all through was contract or corporatisation form of farming. In other words, the CII managers propounded the hypothesis that for better and remunerative returns to farmers, particularly small and marginal ones, the business or industrial houses and international companies should opt for leasing in agricultural land (also providing necessary inputs) and offer better price to procure particular farm produce for processing etc.

What led credence to this emerging concept was the assurance of the Union Minister of State for Agriculture, Mr Som Pal, that an appropriate legislation would be brought about on lease in and lease out of land. That there would be no fear of the owner being dispossessed of his land must be integrated in legislation.

Another aspect on which Agro Tech focused was the limited credit flow to agriculture and lack of technologies in the post-harvest period. Staggering wastages have to be taken care of. Though India is the second largest food producer in the world, stands first in fruit and milk production and second in vegetable production, the fact remains that wastages alone are worth Rs 50,000 crore. Ranking, thus, becomes inconsequential when viewed through the prism of poverty and non-availability of even one square meal, what to speak of nutritious and balanced food for people, feed for milch animals and pure milk for children. India still has 40 per cent people living below the poverty line.

Another term which found currency was value addition. Therefore, rather than remaining confined to raw marketing why not introduce the producers (who are also consumers) to processed marketing of their produce. This will require two things — an attractive brand name and an equally attractive packaging. These aspects were also part of Agro Tech, which did realise that without government intervention through policies and pricing it would be difficult to reverse the situation or introduce reforms in agriculture.

The CII has, perhaps, realised that unless a farmer becomes prosperous an industrialist cannot prosper. When the CII talks of “Agri-business” or corporatisation” of agriculture, the idea is the same: both agriculture and industry are, in fact and in effect, simply “made for each other”.

Does all this add up to the conclusion that better days are ahead for the agriculture sector, which has so far despite best efforts failed to diversify while rural development has remained deprived of attention and money? Or has it been its misappropriation?

Agro Tech was agog with the proposed new national agricultural policy. The CII also presented its own version of an agenda for reforms in agriculture. In nutshell, its emphasis was on a sound, expanded infrastructure, reduction of duties on fertilisers private sector involvement in the modernisation of foodgrain storage, a free trade zone for all foodgrain in the country, market rates and weather forecasting, wasteland development, better credit inflow and a comprehensive crop insurance scheme.

The most telling revelation on subsides came from Mr Som Pal himself. He chided those who were crying over the issue of subsidies to the farmers. In the context of developments credit (only 17 per cent in Seventh Five Year Plan) in agriculture, he said when it came to making available utilities and amenities, the agriculture sector’s share was just 26 per cent in electricity, 11 per cent in housing loans, 18 per cent in the seats in higher and technical education and 30 per cent seats in schools.

These are some of the things both industry and agriculture, perhaps, hope will happen.

Such occasions do provide an exposure and an insight into what is new in science, technology and how the same can be applied to increase yields, make crop and animal husbandry cost-effective and in return give the best price for the produce and products to the farmers. In fact unless agriculture is treated on commercial lines and made competitive the socio-economic lot of the tillers will remain shrouded in indebtedness and ever cash-strapped.

WHEAT

• For late sown wheat, prefer to sow short duration varieties like PBW-373, Raj-3765 and PBW-138.
• For the control of loose smut of wheat, treat the seed with Bavistin/Agrozim/Derosal/Benor/J.K. Stein/Sten50/Provax at 2.5g/kg or Raxil at 1g/kg seed or with Vitavax at 2g/kg seed.
• For the control of root rot, foot rot, seedling blight, black tip and black spot of glumes, treat the seed with Captan or Thiram at 3g/kg seed. Captan and Thiram treatment should not be done earlier than one month of sowing as it affects seed germination.
• For the control of ear-cockle disease put wheat seed in ordinary water and agitate vigorously for a few minutes. Ear-cockle galls will float to the surface. These may be taken out with an ordinary sieve and burnt.
• Phalaris minor and wild oats can also be controlled by spraying isoproturon herbicides two to four days before first irrigation. On heavy textured soils, isoproturon 75 WP can be used at 400g/acre. In case of light textured soils, the dose can be reduced to 300g/acre.
• For the control of phalaris minor, in addition to the recommended herbicides, Metocouron 80 WP at 750g/acre (commercial), Illoxan 28 EC at 1.25 1/acre or Grasp 10 EC (Tralkoxydim) at 1.4 1/acre can also be applied 30-40 days after sowing i.e. after first irrigation when the field permits walking. For the control of mixed infestation of phalaris minor and certain hardy broadleaf weeds, 2, 4D at 250g/acres can be tank-mixed with isoproturon group of recommended herbicides.

(Progressive Farming, PAU)