The voyage of watermelon
Shirish Joshi
WITH the vivid pink flesh, slick black seeds and thick green skin, the simple, sweet watermelon has been embraced by people from all walks of life for centuries around the globe. There is enough evidence to indicate that the watermelon is a native of tropical Africa. The explorer, David Livingstone, mentions them in his diary.

An encroachment on panchayats’ domain
Rajkumar Siwach
ACCORDING to the reported sources, the Government of Rajasthan took a step to declare the “johads” (earthen dams) built by the locals in 1,050 villages, illegal and technically unsound. It may be recalled that these water reservoirs are based upon traditional water preserving technique of Tarun Bharat Sangh, the Magsaysay awardee NGO. The few social activists criticise the government’s step as retrogressive to environment friendly people’s self-help movements.

Vanilla emerging as high-potential crop
S. C. Dhall
OVER-supply position in black pepper, the emergence of vanilla as a crop with high potential were the major subjects that came up for discussion at the sixth world spices congress held in Cochin in January-February, 2002. The commodity market is showing typical a demand-supply imbalance situation, especially in the case of black pepper where there is an over-supply position in the international market.

Farm operations for May

• Cotton

• Maize
  
  
  

The voyage of watermelon
Shirish Joshi

WITH the vivid pink flesh, slick black seeds and thick green skin, the simple, sweet watermelon has been embraced by people from all walks of life for centuries around the globe.

There is enough evidence to indicate that the watermelon is a native of tropical Africa. The explorer, David Livingstone, mentions them in his diary.

While in Africa, this missionary-explorer found “vast tracts of the country literally covered with watermelons.” He published an account of his discovery of watermelons in 1858.

The first recorded harvest of watermelon was nearly, 5,000 years ago in Egypt where watermelons were grown and regarded not only for their flavour but also for their beauty. It has been depicted in Egyptian wall paintings. Pharaohs stocked watermelons in their tombs.

It is said that when children of Israel wandered in the desert after their flight from Egypt, they remembered the watermelons they left behind.

From Egypt watermelon’s popularity spread with traders who sold the seeds along Mediterranean trade routes, and made their way into Italy and Greece. By the 10th century, it had found its way into China.

By the 13th century, the harvesting and eating of watermelon had spread into the rest of Europe via the Moors. Watermelons have been cultivated in Russia for thousands of years. The fruit has adapted to diverse soils.

The watermelon came to India around the fourth century AD. Susruta, the great Indian physician and surgeon, who wrote the Susruta Samhita, mentions that watermelons were cultivated along the banks of the Indus river. He calls the fruit kalinda or kalinga (hence kalingad in Marathi).

A very large number of watermelon varieties are grown in India. They have very exotic names like Noorjehani, Anarkali, Sharbat-e-Anar, etc. Some varieties are named after the towns near which they are grown — Faizabadi, Jaunpuri and Farukhabadi — all of them along the banks of the Ganga and the Yamuna.

Sugar baby, an American variety is very popular in Maharashtra. West Bengal grows the Asahi Yamato, a Japanese variety.

Watermelons are generally round, but elliptical and even cylindrical varieties are also available. Charlston Gray, an American variety, is cylindrical in shape with round ends, and is thus easy to transport because, unlike round or elliptical ones, these neither roll nor burst during transportation.

The USA obtained its beloved watermelon along with African slaves. However, some historians believe that watermelons originated in America. The early French explorers were said to have found Indians growing watermelons in the Mississippi valley. Today watermelons are grown in 44 out of the 50 states of the USA.

Grown in 96 countries today, watermelon’s popularity spans the globe. In China and Japan, watermelon is a popular gift to bring to a host. In Israel and Egypt, sweet slices of watermelon are often paired with the salty taste of cheese. Street vendors hawk slices of watermelons on sidewalks in India and the Mediterranean.

The colour of the skin varies from pale green to dark green, with or without stripes. The colour of the pulp varies from light pink to dark pink to even yellow. There are also cream and cream yellow pulp varieties in Japan. However, the average Indian looks for the pink or dark pink while buying a watermelon.

Colour of the pulp and its sugar content has little if any relationship to each other. You may buy a deep pink watermelon without appreciable sweetness or you may find a light pink variety which turns out to be very sweet on another day.

Like seedless oranges, Japanese scientists were the first to develop seedless watermelon. Agricultural researchers in India have also developed an experimental seedless variety and called it Pusa Bedana.

Taiwanese farmers have also developed a seedless variety. However, the seedless varieties of watermelon (unlike those of grapes) have not reached a stage of commercial cultivation.

Japanese farmers have also developed cubical watermelons. The idea of cubical watermelon came in mind of a farmer so that the melons could easily fit cardboard boxes, trucks and refrigerators. They are placed in cubical glasses while growing.

Watermelons weigh from 5 to 10 kg or a little more. Small so-called icebox melons weighing 1.4 to 4.5 kg are also cultivated. American farmers grow large watermelons weighing up to 20 kg.

According to 1998 edition of The Guinness Book of World Records, in 1990, Bill Carson of Arrington, USA, grew the largest watermelon weighing 119 kg. The word “watermelon” first appeared in English by 1615.

An encroachment on panchayats’ domain
Rajkumar Siwach

ACCORDING to the reported sources, the Government of Rajasthan took a step to declare the “johads” (earthen dams) built by the locals in 1,050 villages, illegal and technically unsound. It may be recalled that these water reservoirs are based upon traditional water preserving technique of Tarun Bharat Sangh, the Magsaysay awardee NGO. The few social activists criticise the government’s step as retrogressive to environment friendly people’s self-help movements.

Similarly, the developments taking place in different parts of the country in the field of Panchayati Raj reveal rulers’ strategies upsetting the applecart of the constitutional provisions of the 73rd Amendment Act, 1992.

First, almost all the state governments, except Jharkhand, Arunachal Pradesh, Pondicherry and Punjab have not been complying with the Constitution, mandatorily holding panchayat elections after completion of the five-year term. The political expediency is the preferred course of action than legally prescribed route, particularly when the state assembly elections are to be held concurrently with or following panchayats elections. The panchayat elections were postponed in Jammu and Kashmir, Bihar, Haryana and selectively in Gujarat where elections to the zila and taluka panchayats were held. The petty officials take up charge of the panchayats, thus, serving the interests of politicians.

Secondly, the power, authority and responsibility of the panchayats to implement and prepare plans for economic development and social justice are curtailed by some parallel structures. For instance, the government of Andhra Pradesh launched a “Janmabhoomi” programme in 1997 with the motto: “Andhra is a company, people are shareholders and the CM is General Manager. Some others states also followed suit by creating village development committees (Haryana); district government and user committees (Madhya Pradesh); water user groups (Rajasthan) and site implementation committees (UP). The central government also did not lag behind to infiltrate into panchayats legitimate domain by setting up district rural development agency, watershed development programme, joint forest management committee and district primary education programme. Hence, it appears that politicians due to their electoral angularities have been playing the second fiddle to the local self-governance. Their narrow and vested interests seem subservient to the letter and spirit of the Constitution.

Thirdly, the constitutional obligation to constitute a district planning committee for consolidating plans prepared by the panchayats and municipalities in a district with regard to spatial planning, sharing of water and other natural resources, integrated infrastructure development and environment conservation was not met in Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Goa and Gujarat.

Fourthly, the state governments have not been paying due attention to the reports of the state finance commissions entrusted to work and review financial status of the panchayats concerning principles governing net proceeds of tax, duties, toll and fees and grants-in-aid paid to the panchayats out of the Consolidated Fund of the state.

Fifth, and assault on the panchayat’s jurisdiction was carried out by the MP Local Area Development Scheme, where an MP within constituency can suggest local needs based projects of Rs 2 crore to the District Collector for generating durable assets. It is pertinent to note that items of work falling under the scheme are replicated from 29 subjects of the 11th Schedule, which is exclusive jurisdiction of the panchayats. Thus, politicians sneak into the panchayats premises, an infringement of the Constitution.

Sixth, the feudal lords who have been swaying hold over local resources and power, don’t want the herculean task of empowerment of the underprivileged through reservation, a success story. They, while representing de facto institutions, make panchayats dejure, defunct, formal and rubber stamps. To illustrate, the “gavki” — traditional village panchayat in Maharashtra — and “oor” — form of elders and influential villagers in Tamil Nadu — have been deciding crucial issues of the panchayats, including leasing and auctioning of lands, constructing of public works and releasing of funds for social functions. The conspicuous absence of the Dalits and the women in these bodies make the mockery of democracy, social justice and human rights.

Last, a disheartening trend was noticed in Tamil Nadu’s panchayat elections where the posts of panchayat president and ward members were sold to the highest bidders in Madurai district. This disturbing trend of selling posts does not only encourage corruption but also keeps the Dalits away from the scenario who cannot pay a hefty amount for the posts. The dominant Hindu castes, as reported, have been depriving the downtrodden of their constitutional right to get elected by the means of legal recourse challenging reserved seats, threat, intimidation, finding pliable candidates and even banishing if he turns hostile. The assassination of six members of the Melavalavu panchayat in 1997 is a reminiscent of worst anti-democratic action.

An overview of these developments reveals that the constitutional initiative of the particularly democratic decentralisation and self-governance is hijacked by some vested interests. They treat panchayat as their inherited estate and fiefdom. However, the ground realities in the rural areas where factionalism, internal feuds, ignorance and escalating disillusionment with present political power structure are also a matter of grave concern. The solution lies with the people by forming impeccable autonomous local associations working on social capital norms of communities empowerment, trust, accommodation, tolerance, individual dignity and transparency. The “little village republics” are curiously waiting for this to happen.

Vanilla emerging as high-potential crop
S. C. Dhall

OVER-supply position in black pepper, the emergence of vanilla as a crop with high potential were the major subjects that came up for discussion at the sixth world spices congress held in Cochin in January-February, 2002. The commodity market is showing typical a demand-supply imbalance situation, especially in the case of black pepper where there is an over-supply position in the international market.

It has been reported that Brazil has an excess supply of 26,000 tonnes of black pepper followed by India (25,000 tonnes), Malaysia (22,000 tonnes), Vietnam (10,000 tonnes) and Indonesia (5,000 tonnes). Above all there is an excess supply of 12,000 tonnes of white pepper in the international market.

The high price of vanilla now experienced in the international market will face a reversal very soon. The European Commission is financing a project to refurbish the Vanilla plantation in Madagascar and the production is expected to go up significantly in the next two to three years. Production levels will go up and the prices will stabilise.

The congress has also witnessed the new trend that is happening around the world with regard to rationalising the number of suppliers of spices. Big corporate houses like Griffith Labs, USA, and Kerry Ingredients, Ireland, and many others will be focusing on few suppliers and may enter into long-term strategical lines with them. The pricing policies are also witnessing rapid changes. From the cost plus pricing model wherein manufacturers add their expected profit margins to the costs to arrive at the selling price, the new trend is to look at the price the consumer will willing to pay, reduce the profit margin expectations and to arrive at the cost target. This model has been termed as the new challenging cost.

Many of the producing countries and the delegates representing them expressed their readiness to offer quality products to the importers but at an additional cost. The buyers should be prepared to pay a premium for a better quality product. The congress also looked in detail the range and extent to which value can be added to a product. Many of the end products developed from spices in functional foods or nutraceutical, pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, etc fetch a quite high value — as high as 50 to 60 times of the raw materials’ price.

The spice board and the all-India spices exporters will form the watchdog with regard to provision of the WTO that have an impact on the spice industry. There is the need to form strategic relationship amongst the spice industry in the growing countries, importing country governments, spice industry associations and multilateral funding agencies. Spices that need registration under Geographical indications have to be prioritised. The congress also viewed with concern that under the WTO, spices have been classified under cash crop and not as food crop. This will have an impact on the subsidy regime.

Farm operations for May

Cotton

— Drill 75 kg of superphosphate per acre with the last preparatory ploughing. In light soils, apply 10 kg of zinc sulphate per acre. If cotton follows wheat which received recommended dose of P, the application of phosphorus can be omitted to cotton.

Maize

— Start sowing maize during the last week of this month.

— Sow only the PAU recommended hybrids/varieties.

— Sowing can be done in trenches only upto mid-June. Trench planted maize resist lodging and gave more yield.

— Apply fertilisers on the basis of soil test report.

— Drill 35kg of urea, 150 kg of superphosphate and 20 kg of potash/acre at sowing in Paras, Prabhat, Sartaj and Bios 9637 hybrids of maize, but Parkash, Kesri, Pearl Pop Corn and JH-3459 required 25 kg of urea, 75 kg of superphosphate and 15 kg of potash/acre at sowing.

— Application of good quality FYM @ 6 t/acre is very beneficial and additional application of nitrogen is not substituted for this.

— If maize follows wheat which had received the recommended amount of phosphorus and potash then omit the application of these nutrients.

— For the control of weeds depending upon the soil type, Atrataf 50 WP @ 500-800 g/acre can be sprayed up to 10 days of sowing.

— Progressive Farming, PAU