Asean pact not to hit Kerala’s products: Rubber traders’ body

Kochi, Aug. 25 The Cochin Rubber Merchants Association said that most of Kerala’s products are well protected under the recently concluded India-Asean agreement, which is expected to boost the trade between India and the member countries to $50 billion within a year.

Mr N. Radhakrishnan, President of the Association, said in a statement that an impartial assessment of the entire structure will show that Kerala need not be unduly worried about the Asean Agreement.

Kerala must try to maximise the market share among the Asean countries by taking advantage of its natural resources, technology and skilled manpower. The promotional measures adopted by countries such as Vietnam in the agri field are worth emulating.

There is concern in Kerala about the implications of the agreement on the State’s agricultural and marine products. However, a closer look at the aspects of the agreement relevant to Kerala’s economy shows that the apprehensions are unfounded.

He pointed out that coconut, rubber, cardamom, turmeric, vegetables, vanilla, ginger, cashew kernels and black tea are placed under Exclusion List and the existing duty on these items will not be reduced until India agrees with the member countries. He said that tariffs on items under the Exclusion List shall be reviewed each year by the member countries with a view to improving market access. Coconut is placed under Exclusion List with a 70 per cent duty, which will not change till 2019.

Rubber is placed under the Exclusion List with a 70 per cent duty on latex and 20 per cent on others with no change till 2019. Duty on rubber can be reduced only if India opts for it, which is quite unlikely.

Cardamom is placed under the Exclusion List with a 70 per cent duty with no change till 2019. Ginger and turmeric are also placed under the Exclusion List with 30 per cent duty each with no change till 2019.

Tea is placed under Special Products with existing duty of 100 per cent which will be regressively reduced to 45 per cent by 2019. Kerala’s share of production is only 6 per cent.

Coir Yarn and Coir Products are placed under the Normal Track with a duty of 10 per cent which will be reduced to zero within five years. Our major exports of these products are to countries outside Asean, he said. Already there is an acute shortage for coir fibre due to the heavy fall in production of coconuts in Kerala. Import of coir fibre from Asean nations for reprocessing, value addition and exports will generate more employment in the State and also give a fillip to the coir industry.

Courtesy : thehindubusinessline

Remarks:

India is self sufficient in production of Natural Rubber compared with  consumption. Now near about 98%  of imports are on ZERO percent import duty which is more than 80,000 Tonnes per year. When the rubber market is with  surplus  stock, the market prices will come down far below International prices. The joint venture of bulk dealers  & manufacturers are harmful to farmers. Many of the bulk dealers are co-operative societies who don’t want share the profits to Govt. treasury. The fluctuations of market price only will hit on farmers income. Now ASEAN agreement is not reflecting on rubber prices, because prices are  higher than International from few months continuously. In future ASEAN will be harmful on reduced price at  Kerala market under the pretext of ASEAN on 20% duty of small quantity can keep away the Indian manufacturers  from Indian market with the maximum benefits of ZERO percent import duty.

Kerala is  increasingly depends on other States for edible products. The vast cultivation of Natural Rubber will effect on more areas of fields like rice, vegetable, coconut, bananas etc.

Kerala Chief Minister V S Achuthanandan says the views of state governments affected by the proposed Afree trade agreement with the Asean group of countries were not taken before the Centre decided to sign it. And state agriculture activists have asked MPs from Kerala to resign if the pact is signed, as a mark of their failure to represent the state’s interests.

In a letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, the CM says ”it is a matter of serious concern that the views of the affected state governments were not taken into account while formulating a trade pact of this magnitude.’’

The opening line of the letter to the PM yesterday says: “ The state government has learnt from the media that the central government has decided to sign the much debated and widely criticised Asean trade agreement (which) has a number of provisions having far-reaching adverse impact on Kerala’s agricultural economy.” The decision to sign, he adds, comes even as the already liberalised import regime has distorted the market prospects of domestic coconut oil, pepper, etc.

When the decision came up before the Union cabinet last week, it was opposed within the government by ministers Jairam Ramesh, Vayalar Ravi and A K Antony, all from the state. While a delegation of Congressmen from Kerala led by legislative leader Oommen Chandy had also visited the Prime Minister to convey their opposition.

The matter has been sent to a Group of Ministers to assess the impact on Kerala’s growers. The letter further says the agreement will pave way for liberalised import of rubber, tea, pepper and edible oils. With liberalised imports, the prices of these are bound to crash, says the CM.

He also expresses concern about the import of sea food, saying it will throw more than a million people out of jobs in the fishery sector.

Agriculture groups say the Kerala government was justified in feeling left out of the consultation process on the FTA. Says R Sridhar, who helped draft the Paddy Act and is in a non-government working group on trade: “We would urge our MPs to resign from Parliament, if they are unable to protect the interests of Kerala’s farmers. He says that if farmers and local governments are not in control in determining the prices in the market, then farmers are going to be ruined and cash crop production would come to an end, as it would be a loss-making proposition.”

He says Kerala’s food security has already been compromised by a massive shift to cash crops, with 70 per cent of paddy lands now not recoverable. And denies that a negative list could provide protection to major cash crops in the state. The list will take the import duty to zero over a period of 10 years but after that there is nothing to protect the farmer.

Can we say rubber, tea, coffee productivity would be competitive in 10 years, he asks. “It is not possible because the conditions in which the cultivation is done is different in the Asean countries and not comparable. With the green revolution, paddy productivity could increase only by a tonne a hectare and so, with little incentives, not much can be expected from cash crops, he says.

Either don’t go for Asean or assess the impact and find means to protect the farmer. If a farmer is going to lose by the agreement, then let assessment be done as to how much should be paid to the farmer to buffer him from the loss, and how many farmers would need protection, says Sridhar.

Thomas Verghese, chairman of the Kerala State Prices Board, says it is a state subject and the Centre cannot enter into such deals, compromising the interests of the state’s farmers, without even consulting it. He says Kerala has borne the consequences of past treaties like the South Asian Free Trade Area Agreement in 2006. “If the price of a coconut was Rs 2 in 1960, it continues to be Rs 2 today. Can you show me any product whose price has remained static like this?”

He says that it is a livelihood crop for 3.5 million households and 6 billion coconuts are produced in Kerala. “Thanks to cheaply available palm oil from Malaysia and Indonesia supplied even through the subsidised public distribution system, coconut has completely lost out,’’ he says.

Similarly in the fisheries sector, most of the items covered under the agreement are those that can come from Thailand and are also produced in Kerala, thus exposing 20 lakh fishermen to risk.

He says there is no level playing ground in the matter of trade and hence equal rates cannot apply to commodities from ASEAN countries.

If pepper prodictivity is 380 kg per hectare in India, it is 1,000 kg per hectare in Vietnam and 3,000 kg per hectare in Indoniesia.

Courtesy: Business Standard

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Agriculture Department allegedly diverts funds allocated by the Coconut Development Board for measures to increase coconut yield and to replace disease-affected palms. This has been going on unnoticed for want of an efficient and scientific auditing system.

According to department sources, substantial sums are being marked as ‘expenditure’ every year and the records ‘set straight’ at the Krishi Bhavans so adroitly that such instances often go undetected. Since most coconut plantations in the State are not well maintained and are affected by mite and root-wilt diseases, the yield is far below the desired levels. The board sanctions funds to remove unproductive palms by paying a compensation of Rs.250 each. Also, a quality seedling priced at Rs.8 should be provided to the farmer for replanting.

There are complaints that the funds are not being utilised in a productive manner. Often, payments are made against a list of beneficiaries drawn up in each locality. When a complaint is made, the department officials verify the signature of the beneficiaries in the list and vouchers but seldom make physical verification of the plantations to ensure if the palms have been removed as claimed by in the official documents.

The claims made by certain Krishi Bhavans in the capital between 2005 and 2007 have been cited as an example. During 2005-06, the Vakkom panchayat made the highest claim of felling 4,000 palms, followed by Azhoor with 2,500, Balaramapuram, 2,000 and Chenkal, Marukil, Pallichal and Mudakkal, 500 each.

During 2006-07, Balaramapuram claimed a figure of 500. Poovar, Thirupuram, Pallichal, Marukil and Kalliyoor claimed 500 each and Maranellor 600. One panchayat has secured almost Rs. 10 lakh in the name of removing palms. The seedlings distributed are often doled out liberally among the local people. If the felling had taken place at this scale, most of these panchayats will not have any palms at all. The situation is almost similar in other districts, sources said.

Lack of transparency in preparing the list and an unscientific auditing system are being pointed out as the major lapses of the department.

Courtesy :: The Hindu

Hon. Dr Manmohan Singhji,

Prime Minister, Govt. of India.

New Delhi.

Subject:-Government of India should import iron and steel and supply it to rural India.

Respected Sir,

Government has reduced the import duty on wheat, rice, edible oil and pulses to zero so as to bring down the inflation. Government has also stopped the export of all these commodities. Before govt. took this step farmers were getting good price for these agriculture produce. Cereals and pulses were sold for 2500 rs. to 2700 rs. per quintal. But now farmers are getting only 2100 rs to 2200 rs for tur and 2300rs to 2400 for chana. Wheat is sold below 1000 rs per quintal now ie below minimum support price. There is also depression in the oil seed prices.

May the govt. be of any political party, to import and depress the price of agriculture produce , in the name of bringing down inflation, is the common policy executed by all of them. To import wheat at higher prices and sell in the local market via public distribution system at subsidized low rates is the common practice. This year wheat price was 1400 to 1600 in the world market. But farmers in India were getting only 900 rs to 1000 rs. per quintal.

Today in the world market pulses are 600 to 700 US $ per tonne. 2500 to 3000 rs per quintal is the price of imported chana and tur. But govt of India is importing these commodities via NAFED and STC at 15% subsidized rate. This is causing depression in the prices of pulses in the local market. Similarly govt. has declared the policy of importing the palm oil and selling it in the local market at the rate 15% lesser than the rate bought.

Respected sir , in our country, in the pretext of controlling inflation, prices of essential commodities are strictly kept under control. But when will we accept that the producer of essential commodities, the farmer also faces inflation. Also why isn’t farm labourers considered eligible for implementation of sixth pay commission?

Government is now a days trying hard to bring down the prices of steel and cement. But industrialists have not yet yield to the govt. pressure.

On this background we urge you to import cement and steel and sell it in the local rural market at subsidized rate. If that is done then, those who are living in the mud houses for generations will have the opportunity to build pucca cement houses for themselves

Thankyou!

Vijay Jawandhia

Shetkari Sanghatana

Wardha

Vijay Jawandhia

Vijay Jawandhia is one of the leading farm activists in Vidarbha, the region that has India’s highest rate of farmers’ suicides – eight per day. Jawandhia was the founder member of the Shetkari Sanghatana. He is also President of the Kisan Co-ordination Committee, a coalition of farmers organizations across the country. For one year, the Maharashtra government appointed Jawandhia as the director of the Maharashtra Cotton Federation.

In rural India, the landless and the landed farmers are all dependent on the agricultural economy. If the prices of agricultural products rise and are stabilized, then wage rates will also go up, and because of that the money supply in the economy increases. Only if the wage rate increases, can people cope with price rise.

What is happening in our economy now, is that the price of essential commodities have gone up but the government is afraid it is leading to inflation. So it takes measures and imports foodgrains to reduce the price. As a result, farmers don’t get the benefit of price rise. When the price is high, farmers shift to that crop to take advantage of the price. Then the production increases and it is used as an excuse to reduce prices, so farmers never get the price they hoped for while sowing the crop.

That’s why higher prices should be stabilised. Support prices should be increased. For example, In West Bengal, the CPM government is worried because of falling potatoes prices. Last year, it was Rs 15-18 per kg. Now, it is only Rs 2 per kg because production has increased. If the government wants the market to prevail, why do they intervene to reduce prices for farmers? Why don’t they intervene to ensure that farmers get a fair price when the market prices crash?

In the last decade, there have been low prices in the international commodity markets due to subsidies to farmers in developed countries. We imported cheap food then. Our farmers have no subsidy and we were not allowed to increase prices from 1997-2003. L.K. Advani claims that their government controlled inflation. But I want to refute that myth. They controlled inflation at the cost of the farmer. During their rule, 110 lakh bales of cotton were imported in 7 years. Because of this cheap import, cotton farmers in Andhra Pradesh started committing suicide. They also imported pulses and palm oil to keep prices low.

Now, prices in the international market are high. Wheat prices have shot up from $90 per tonne in 1999 to $500 per tonne now. Rice was $240 per tonne in 1999, but now, it is more than $500 per tonne. Pulses have increased from $300-400 per tonne in 1999 to $600 now. Cotton was $1.10 per pound in 1994, then 47 cents in 1998-2000, and now it is 70 cents. The prices have risen now because the US government has decided to subsidize the production of maize for ethanol, and also because of the drought in Australia. Rice production has fallen too and because of the wheat shortage there is a greater demand for rice, pushing up the prices further.

The Indian government has reduced import duties of agricultural products in the last year. Import duty of wheat was brought down from 50% to zero, pulses from 10% to zero and rice from 80% to zero. Edible oils had a duty of 90% which was reduced to 20%. But despite all this, the government can’t seem to be able to control prices. They were controlling prices by importing cheap. That’s not possible any longer with high international prices.

Mr Chidambaram says it is a problem of ‘supply side’ management. So, we must increase supply by increasing production and importing. If the farmer increases production, he won’t get the price because the government will reduce the price. So what does the farmer gain by increasing production? The more he produces, the more prices fall.

The government is adopting an inflationary economy. It is increasing money supply by announcing the 6^th pay commission and allowing foreign investments and inflows. Price rise of agricultural products is very necessary so that producers of essential commodities can survive in the economy. When we talk about inflation, we should not only talk about prices of wheat, rice and sugar but we should also include the price of iron, cement, petrol, diesel, plastic, health care, education and transport. We have to re-define what is price rise. Too much weightage is on food items. It should be more on the industrial and service sector. Only then will we be doing justice to the food economy.

In 1980, one litre of diesel was 84 paise and one kg of wheat was Rs. 1. Now, diesel is Rs 35 per litre, while the support price of wheat is only Rs 10 per kg. The question for the farmer is not only what price he gets, but what is the per kg purchasing power of agricultural produce. That is what the common farmer wants from the system. In 1973, the price of 10 grams of gold was the same as one quintal of cotton – Rs 300. That’s why cotton was called ‘white gold’. Now, 10 grams of gold (Rs 12,000) is more than four times the price of one quintal of cotton (Rs 2,700).

The panic about price rise is an anti-farmer urban bias. While announcing the 6^th Pay Commission, why doesn’t the government also announce an increase in wages under the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme? Doesn’t inflation affect everyone, not only government employees? If the wage rate increases, the cost of production also goes up so support price should also be hiked. In fact, there is a need to increase prices further. We demand that the minimum wage of agricultural labour should be the same as the minimum wage under the 6^th Pay Commission. The Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices (CACP) should use this to calculate and announce the support price accordingly. M.S. Swaminathan has recommended that the support price should be the cost of production plus 50% profit. At present, it is only 15% profit.

The entire system works against the producers of essential commodities. There is no denying that poor people must get cheap food. But to keep food cheap for poor people, the government is keeping food producers poor. Instead of increasing the subsidy for food distribution under the ration system, they are transferring the burden on to farmers. That’s why they are keeping support prices low. If the government were to stabilize prices at today’s higher prices for 3 years, they would see a change in the rural economy.

Farmers don’t get an assured price, especially when it’s time to sell the harvest. This year, when we started selling soyabean, it was Rs 1,400 per quintal. Now, after everything is sold, the price has gone up to Rs 2000. It’s the same for all crops. Right now, farmers are not getting the international price of wheat, which is Rs 1600-2000 per tonne because the government is importing wheat. The support price is still only Rs 1050-1150. The government would rather import at a high price than pay Indian farmers the market rate.

Inflation has hit the rural economy too. People cannot afford medical facilities or education. A CT scan or MRI costs nothing less than Rs 3000 to 4000. How can anyone earning the average rural income of Rs 1500 per month afford it? That’s why people are so deep in debt or are just living without medical treatment by the grace of God. People in villages are living because they are not dying.

To get admission into a Diploma in Education (D.Ed) course, you have to pay a donation of Rs 2 lakh. Government colleges are not increasing seats in proportion with population growth. Instead, the state is promoting private colleges, which charge hefty donations. For example, the donation for an engineering college is anywhere between Rs 2 – 7 lakh, and the fee is Rs 40,000. Who can afford this?

The purchasing power of the common man is reducing. The gap between urban and rural India is increasing. Urban India is becoming Super India and Bharat is becoming Ethiopia.

(as told to Dionne Bunsha)

PRESS RELEASE

“Government of Kerala will not allow GM crops & foods: Kerala CM”

Trivandrum, April 11, 2008: Speaking at the inauguration of a two-day national seminar on “GM Crops & Biodiversity Conservation” organised by the Kerala State Biodiversity Board, the Chief Minister of Kerala, Sri V S Achuthanandan assured the people of Kerala that no policy which will have adverse impact on farmers and/or environment will be brought in by the government, including GM (Genetically Modified) crops.

After two days of deliberations on all aspects related to GM crops, the seminar concluded resolving that “release of GM crops into the environment and GM foods into the market should be banned to protect the health, agriculture and biodiversity of the nation”. At the concluding ceremony today, this declaration was endorsed by the Minister for Agriculture Sri Mullakkara Ratnakaran who pointed out that the government cannot consciously restrict choices of farmers by introducing GM crops or allowing their field trials.

The workshop was attended by more than 150 delegates consisting of representatives of different State Biodiversity Boards, farmers and farmer organizations, agricultural scientists, educationists, students, consumer organizations, industry and civil society organizations. The meeting discussed at length issues like GM crops & Biodiversity, GM crops & Food sovereignty, Health Hazards of GM crops and biosafety regulation, Genetic Contamination from GE crops and IPR issues. Existing official data on economics of GM crops were also discussed.

Participants in the workshop also pointed out that it is not possible for Kerala alone to be GM-Free if neighboring states allow GM crops and that a precautionary approach to GM crops is needed at the national level.

Farmers and civil society groups taking part in the seminar pointed out that they had several large scale ecological farming experiences being successfully established in Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra and Kerala and given that such alternatives exist, there is no necessity for bringing in GM crops.

The meeting passed a “Kerala declaration on GM crops and Biodiversity” unanimously in the presence of the State Agriculture Minister.

KERALA DECLARATION ON GM CROPS & BIODIVERSITY

A two day national seminar convened by the Kerala State Biodiversity Board on 10 and 11 April 2008 at Trivandrum on GM crops & Biodiversity Conservation, attended by more than 150 delegates consisting of representatives of different State Biodiversity Boards, farmers and farmer organizations, agricultural scientists, educationists, students, consumer organizations, industry and civil society organizations,

After critically examining the following impacts of Genetically Modified crops (including Bt Cotton in India and other GM crops elsewhere in the world):

• genetic contamination of existing seed diversity and erosion of biodiversity,

• endangering of the diversity of crops for some of which India is the Centre of Origin,

• threatening the integrity of natural ecosystems

• irreversible and deleterious human health effects from GM crops/foods and adverse effects on other living organisms

• systematic monopolization of seed and other resources by a handful of large corporate bodies, to the extent that even future public research is jeopardized and farmers’ apriori rights completely violated

• and thus, making farming unviable economically and ecologically for farmers

And, realising the critical importance that biodiversity plays

• in sustaining livelihoods along with farmers’ traditional knowledge,

• in maintaining and enhancing food, nutrition and livelihood security of the country and rural communities,

• in creating resilient systems in the era of climate change, especially at a time when the country is experiencing the ecological disaster attendant to green revolution,

• in making farming economically and ecologically viable for farmers

And, recognising that genetic engineering in agriculture is imprecise, irreversible, uncontrollable and unpredictable and realizing the importance of precautionary principle as a guiding principle in this matter,

Declares that release of GM crops into the environment and GM foods into the market should be banned to protect the health, agriculture and biodiversity of the nation.