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Subject: Agriculture

  • USTR takes India off Developing Country List

    Context

    The United States’s annual exercise of designating developing, and least developed countries has assumed importance for India this year: it has been dropped from the list of developing countries.

     ‘Developing’ or ‘developed’ country designation by the US

    • Last week, the United States officially designated developing and least-developed countries for the purposes of implementing the countervailing measures.
      • The division is provided by the Agreement on Subsidies and Countervailing Measures (ASCM) of the World Trade Organisation (WTO).
    • Why the designation matters?
      • The higher level of subsidies allowed: According to the ASCM, developing countries are allowed to grant higher levels of subsidies as compared to the developed countries before countervailing duties (CVD) can be imposed.
      • What are the limits? The maximum limit of the subsidy is-
      • For developed country: Limit is maximum 1% of the import value of the investigated product.
      • For developing country: Limit is a maximum 2% of the import value of the investigated product.
      • If the limit is breached the importing country can impose a countervailing duty on the product.

    India as a target by the US

    • Provision of self-designation: Under the WTO rules, any country can “self-designate” itself as a developing country.
    • No criteria specified by the WTO: The WTO does not lay down any specific criteria for making a distinction between a developed and a developing country member, unlike in the World Bank where per capita incomes are used to classify countries.
    • Arbitrary criteria used to designate India: Despite this clearly laid down criterion in the WTO rules, the United States Trade Representative (USTR) employed an arbitrary methodology that took into consideration-
      • “Economic, trade, and other factors, including the level of economic development of a country (based on a review of the country’s per capita GNI) and a country’s share of world trade” to exclude India from list of designated developing countries.
    • Second such instance after denying GSP: Excluding India from the lists of developing countries for the purposes of using countervailing measures or denying benefits of GSP are but two of the more recent initiatives that the U.S. has taken to challenge India’s status as a developing country in the WTO.

    What would the impact on India?

    • Loss of Special and Differential Treatment (S&DT): India would lose the ability to use the special and differential treatment (S&DT) to which every developing country member of the WTO has a right.
      • What is S&DT? In short, S&DT lessens the burden of adjustment that developing countries have to make while acceding to the various agreements under the WTO.
      • How S&DT benefited India?S&DT has been particularly beneficial for India in two critical areas: one, implementation of the disciplines on agricultural subsidies and, two, opening up the markets for both agricultural and non-agricultural products.
    • Limits on subsidies: The WTO Agreement on Agriculture(AoA) provides an elaborate discipline on subsidies.
      • Subsidies are classified into three categories, but two of these are virtually outside the discipline since the WTO does not limit spending on these categories of subsidies.
      • Limits on price support measures: The discipline exists in case of price support measures (minimum support price) and input subsidies which is the more common form of subsidies for most developing countries, including in India.
      • Limits on spending on prices support measures: For developing countries, spending on price support measures and input subsidies taken together cannot exceed 10% of the total value of agricultural production.
      • In contrast, developed countries are allowed to spend only 5% of their value of agricultural production.

    Shifting to DBT

    • Why shifting to DBT necessary? India is a major user of price support measures and input subsidies.
      • And given the constraints imposed by the AoA, the government has spoken about its intention to move into the system of direct benefit transfer (DBT) for supporting farmers.
      • No limit on spending through DBT: A shift to DBT is attractive for India since there are no limits on spending, unlike in case of price support measures and input subsidies.
      • Rework subsidies’ programme: Faced with on-going farm distress, the government has had to rework its subsidies’ programme in order to extend greater benefits, especially to small and marginal farmers.
    • Challenges in the implementation of DBT
      • Implementation of DBT in agriculture has several insurmountable problems.
      • Difficulty in identifying the beneficiary: Targeting potential beneficiaries of DBT seems difficult at this juncture for a number of reasons, including inadequate records of ownership of agricultural land on the one hand, and the presence of agricultural labour and tenants on the other.
      • This implies that in the foreseeable future, India would continue to depend on price support measures and input subsidies.
      • How it matters: Given this scenario, the government needs the policy space to provide adequate levels of subsidies to a crisis-ridden agricultural sector.
      • And therefore it is imperative that continues to enjoy the benefits as a developing country member of the WTO.

    Issue of tariffs

    • The issue of market access, or the use of import tariffs, is one of the important trade policy instruments.
    • Provision of no reciprocal tariff cuts: It has some key provisions on S&DT, which the developing countries can benefit from. The most important among these is the undertaking from the developed countries that they would not demand reciprocal tariff cuts.
      • Over the past two years, the government of India has been extensively using import tariffs for protecting Indian businesses from import competition.
      • With the increasing use of tariffs, almost across the board, India’s average tariffs have increased from about 13% in 2017-18 to above 17% at present.
    • Why it matters? Developed country members of the WTO have generally maintained very low levels of tariffs, and, therefore, India’s interests of maintaining a reasonable level of tariff protection would be well served through its continued access to S&DT, by remaining as a developing country member of the WTO.

    Conclusion

    With the changing stance of the US towards India, the government must ensure its international trade and agriculture at home is not adversely impacted.

     

  • SUTRA PIC India Programme

     

    The government has unveiled SUTRA PIC programme to research on ‘indigenous’ cows.

    SUTRA PIC

    • SUTRA PIC stands for Scientific Utilization Through Research Augmentation-Prime Products from Indigenous Cows.
    • To be funded by multiple scientific ministries, the initiative, SUTRA PIC, is led by the Department of Science and Technology (DST).
    • It has the Department of Biotechnology, the CSIR, the Ministry for AYUSH (Ayurveda, Unani, Siddha, Homoeopathy) among others and the Indian Council of Medical Research as partners.
    • It has five themes:
    1. Uniqueness of Indigenous Cows,
    2. Prime-products from Indigenous Cows for Medicine and Health,
    3. Prime-products from Indigenous Cows for Agricultural Applications,
    4. Prime-products from Indigenous Cows for Food and Nutrition,
    5. Prime-products from indigenous cows-based utility items

    Aims and objectives

    The proposals under this theme aim to:

    • perform scientific research on the complete characterization of milk and milk products derived from Indian indigenous cows;
    • scientific research on nutritional and therapeutic properties of curd and ghee prepared from indigenous breeds of cows by traditional methods;
    • development of standards for traditionally processed dairy products of Indian-origin cow

    Other facts

    • In 2017, SEED constituted a National Steering Committee (NSC) for ‘Scientific Validation and Research on Panchgavya (SVAROP)’.
    • Panchgavya is an Ayurvedic panacea and is a mixture of five (pancha) products of the cow (gavya) — milk, curd, ghee, dung and urine.
    • Its proponents believe it can cure, or treat a wide range of ailments.

  • [pib] Soil Health Card Scheme

     

    The Soil Health Card Scheme has completed 5 years since its launch.

    Soil Health Card Scheme

    • Soil Health Card (SHC) is a Government of India’s scheme promoted by the Department of Agriculture & Co-operation under the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare.
    • It is being implemented through the Department of Agriculture of all the State and Union Territory Governments.
    • A SHC is meant to give each farmer soil nutrient status of his/her holding and advice him/her on the dosage of fertilizers and also the needed soil amendments, that s/he should apply to maintain soil health in the long run.
    • The scheme was launched by PM on 19.02.2015 at Suratgarh, Rajasthan.

    Details on the SHC

    • SHC is a printed report that a farmer will be handed over for each of his holdings.
    • It contains the status of his soil with respect to 12 parameters, namely N,P,K (Macro-nutrients) ; S (Secondary- nutrient) ; Zn, Fe, Cu, Mn, Bo (Micro – nutrients) ; and pH, EC, OC (Physical parameters).
    • Based on this, the SHC also indicate fertilizer recommendations and soil amendment required for the farm.
    • It provides two sets of fertilizer recommendations for six crops including recommendations of organic manures. Farmers can also get recommendations for additional crops on demand.

    Other details

    • The State Government will collect samples through the staff of their Department of Agriculture or through the staff of an outsourced agency.
    • The State Government may also involve the students of local Agriculture / Science Colleges.
    • It will be made available once in a cycle of 3 years, which will indicate the status of soil health of a farmer’s holding for that particular period.
    • The SHC given in the next cycle of 3 years will be able to record the changes in the soil health for that subsequent period.
    • Soil samples will be drawn in a grid of 2.5 ha in irrigated area and 10 ha in rain- fed area with the help of GPS tools and revenue maps.

     Why needed such scheme?

    • Soil testing is developed to promote soil test based on nutrient management.
    • Soil testing reduces cultivation cost by application of right quantity of fertilizer.
    • It ensures additional income to farmers by increase in yields and it also promotes sustainable farming.

  • National Groundwater Management Improvement Programme

    The Government of India and the World Bank have signed a $450 million loan agreement to support the national programme to arrest the country’s depleting groundwater levels and strengthen groundwater institutions.

    About the Programme

    • The World Bank-supported programme will be implemented in the states of Gujarat, Maharashtra, Haryana, Karnataka, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, and Uttar Pradesh and cover 78 districts.
    • These states span both the hard rock aquifers of peninsular India and the alluvial aquifers of the Indo-Gangetic plains.
    • They were selected based on several criteria, including degree of groundwater exploitation and degradation, established legal and regulatory instruments, institutional readiness, and experience in implementing initiatives related to groundwater management.
    • This programme will contribute to rural livelihoods and in the context of climatic shifts, build resilience of the rural economy.

    Objectives

    The programme will, among others, enhance the recharge of aquifers and introduce water conservation practices; promote activities related to water harvesting, water management, and crop alignment; create an institutional structure for sustainable groundwater management; and equip communities and stakeholders to sustainably manage groundwater.

    Particulars of the programme

    • The programme will introduce a bottom-up planning process for community-driven development of water budgets and Water Security Plans (WSPs).
    • Water budgets will assess surface and groundwater conditions (both quantity and quality) and identify current and future needs.
    • The WSP, on the other hand, will focus on improving groundwater quantity and incentivize selected states to implement the actions proposed.
    • Such community-led management measures will make users aware of consumption patterns and pave the way for economic measures that reduce groundwater consumption.
    • Crop management and diversification will be the other focus areas.

  • A crisis deferred

    Context

    Union budget missed the opportunity to undertake reforms in the grain management system and food security act.

    The massive reduction in food subsidy and its implications

    • Subsidy slashed by 75,552 crores: The revised estimates (RE) for food subsidy for 2019-20 have been slashed by a whopping Rs 75,552 crore -from the budgeted estimate (BE) of Rs 1,84,220 crore to Rs 1,08,668 crore (RE).
      • For the next fiscal year, the budget estimate has been kept at Rs 1,15,570 crore.
    • No major reforms in grain management system: One wonders whether any major reforms have been undertaken in the grain management system or in the National Food Security Act such that this massive reduction in budget estimates is feasible. But no such reforms are undertaken.
      • The Food Corporation of India (FCI) has been asked to borrow more from myriad sources, but most importantly from the National Small Savings Fund (NSSF).
      • An item that should have been in the budget, is now getting reflected as outstanding dues of FCI.
    • Implications of the move–postponing of the crisis:  In order to gauge how much is the effective food subsidy in the country, the budget numbers are becoming totally irrelevant.
      • One needs to add the actual subsidy numbers reflected in the budget to the outstanding dues of FCI.
      • Effective food subsidy: If one adds the due, the effective food subsidy turns out to be Rs 3,57,688 crore.
      • By not provisioning for it fully in the budget, and not undertaking any reforms in the foodgrain management system or the NFSA, the government is only postponing the crisis.

    Need to bring down the coverage: The Economic Survey

    • Bringing down the coverage at 20 %: While the Economic Survey clearly states that the coverage under NFSA needs to be revisited, and brought down to say 20 per cent of the population.
      • The budget did not bite this bullet.
      • Cost of procurement to go up: The expected cost of rice to FCI in 2020-21 is going to be about Rs 37/kg, and for wheat it will be Rs 27/kg.
      • The issue price, that covers 67 per cent of the population, is just Rs 3/kg and Rs 2/kg respectively.

    Excessive stock with the FCI

    • Actual stock in excess of buffer stocks: Compared to a buffer stock norm of 4 million tonnes, actual stocks with FCI (including unmilled paddy) were 3.5 times higher.
      • It speaks of a colossal waste of scarce resources, especially when tax revenues have been sluggish.
    • Stocks likely to increase further: Given that Skymet has predicted that the coming wheat crop is going to be one of the best in many years-the stocks is likely to touch 113 million tonnes.
      • With procurement prices being above global prices, the chances of wheat exports are bleak unless there is a subsidy for exports.
      • And that will be challenged in the WTO.
      • The FCI may run out of stock capacity: So, one should expect a piling up of grains stocks with a record procurement of wheat.
      • FCI may run out of storage capacity. Stock levels may touch 85-90 million tonnes, or even more, by July 1, 2020.

    Fundamental questions

    • First: Is the government ignorant of the impending crisis of plenty?
    • Second: Does it realise that the policy of procurement prices (50 per cent above cost A2+FL), without looking at the demand side, is likely to create more troubles for the government?
    • Third: Does the government have any plan to reform the public distribution system under NFSA?

    Way forward

    • Reforms in foodgrain management: Reforms in foodgrain management have to start with reforming the PDS system.
      • With moving gradually moving away from grains to cash transfers.
      • Think over implementing the Shanta Kumar Committee reports recommendations.
    • Stop open-ended procurement in Punjab-Haryana belt: The policy of procurement prices, with open-ended procurement in the Punjab-Haryana belt, is doing more damage by depleting the water table and not letting crop diversification take place.
      • This is very unfortunate as the “dead loss” in grain management runs to more than Rs 1,00,000 crore.
    • Rationalise the fertiliser subsidy: The other part related to this is the fertiliser subsidy, which is largely used in wheat and rice.
      • The budget estimates for 2020-21 show a reduction in the subsidy, while dues of the fertiliser industry keep on piling.
      • The fertiliser industry estimates that by April 2020, the dues will be roughly Rs 60,000 crore.
      • Demoralised fertiliser industry: While FCI has been asked to borrow, the fertiliser industry does not have that type of window.
      • It is feeling totally demoralised.
      • No private player wants to come and invest in this sector.

    Conclusion

    Instead of postponing the crisis by compelling the FCI to borrow, the government need to reform the foodgrain management system, rationalise the fertiliser subsidy and limit the coverage under the NFSA.

  • [pib] Nagpur Orange

     

    The first consignment of Nagpur oranges was flagged off to Dubai from Vashi, Navi Mumbai.

    Nagpur Orange

    • Nagpur orange is rustic and pockmarked exterior which is sweet and has juicy pulp.
    • It gives the city of Nagpur its pseudonym Orange City.
    • It oranges blossom during the Monsoon season and are ready to be harvested from the month of December.
    • The Geographical Indication was accorded to the Nagpur Orange by the registrar of GIs in India and is effective as of April 2014.

    The best breed

    • Nagpur mandarin in one of the best mandarins in the world. Production of this fruit crop in the central and western part of India is increasing every year.
    • Mrig crop (monsoon blossom), which matures in February – March, has great potential for export since arrivals of mandarin fruit in international market are less during this period.
    • In the whole region only one variety of Nagpur Mandarin is grown.

  • [pib] ‘Apiary on Wheels’ Initiative


    ‘Apiary on Wheels’ was recently flagged off today by the Union Minister of MSME.

    ‘Apiary on Wheels’

    • It is a unique concept designed by KVIC for the easy upkeep and migration of Bee Boxes having live Bee colonies.
    • It is a platform which can carry 20 Bee Boxes from one place to another without any difficulty.
    • It is like an attachment which can be easily connected with a Tractor or a Trolley and may be pulled to any suitable destination.
    • Specially, in summers, the beekeepers usually adopted crude methods to feed the bees and many bees used to die in the process.
    • This concept of migration, cooling with the help of solar panels and sugar drips with zero risk to the lives of bees, will prevent any damages to the bee boxes or bee colonies and help produce quality honey.

    How it works?

    • Two large wheels on either side of the Apiary and 4 separate compartments with independent doors, having 5 bee boxes each help the platform to remain intact without disturbing the live bee colonies.
    • It is also connected with a solar panel system which automatically triggers a fan inside the compartment as soon as the temperature reaches 35 degree centigrade or above.

  • Protected Special Agriculture Zone

    The Cauvery delta region in Tamil Nadu will be declared as ‘Protected Special Agricultural Zone’ (PSAZ) by the TN govt.

    Cauvery delta PSAZ

    • Declaring PSAZ ensures that particular region will not be granted permission for any new projects like those related to hydrocarbons.
    • Only Agro based Industries would be given permission to be built.
    • The special protection will be bestowed on Cauvery Delta districts such as Thanjavur, Tiruvarur, Nagappattinam, Pudukottai, Cuddalore, Ariyalur, Karur and Tiruchirappalli districts.

    Significance of the move

    • The Cauvery Delta Region is Tamil Nadu’s rice bowl comprising above eight districts.
    • It is just and reasonable that projects like hydrocarbon exploration have raised concerns among farmers and other agriculture-based labourers.
    • Drilling for extraction of oil and gas in these regions that hampers agriculture and posing much environmental impact or health hazards will be stopped immediately.

  • New rice variety: Muktoshri (IET 21845)

    Researchers have developed and commercialized a rice variety that is resistant to arsenic.

    Muktoshri

    • The new rice variety, Muktoshri — also called IET 21845 —, was developed jointly by the Rice Research Station at Chinsurah coming under West Bengal’s Agriculture Department and the National Botanical Research Institute, Lucknow.
    • A gazette notification for the commercial use of Muktoshri was made by West Bengal last year.
    • During our multilocational trials, it was found that this variety uptakes very less amount of arsenic from soil and water in comparison to other varieties of rice.
    • The rice is long and thin, and aromatic. Across the State, thousands of farmers have started cultivation, even in areas where arsenic in groundwater is not an issue, because of the aroma and the yield.

    Significance

    • West Bengal is among the States with the highest concentration of arsenic in groundwater, with as many as 83 blocks across seven districts having higher arsenic levels than permissible limits.
    • Several studies have shown that arsenic from groundwater and the soil can enter the food chain through paddy.
    • According to the WHO, long-term exposure to arsenic, mainly through drinking water and food, can lead to poisoning. Skin lesions and skin cancer are the most characteristic effects.

  • National Programme for Bovine Breeding and Dairy Development

    • The Minister of State for Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying has provided certain information in Parliament regarding the ongoing National Programme for Cattle and Buffalo Breeding.
    • The scheme is subsumed under Rashtriya Gokul Mission since December 2014.

    National Programme for Bovine Breeding and Dairy Development

    • The NPBBDD has been formulated by merging four ongoing schemes of the Department of Animal Husbandry, Dairying and Fisheries in the dairy sector.
    • It was launched in Feb 2014.
    • This merger has been done to integrate milk production and dairying activities in a scientific and holistic manner to meet the increasing demand for milk in the country.

    Components of the scheme

    NPBBDD has the following three components.

    • National Programme for Bovine Breeding (NPBB)
    • National Programme for Dairy Development (NPDD) and
    • Rashtriya Gokul Mission.

    Differences between all these schemes:

    1) National Programme for Bovine Breeding

    It aims-

    • To arrange quality Artificial Insemination services at farmers’ doorstep
    • To bring all breedable females under organized breeding through Artificial Insemination or natural service using germplasm of high genetic merits

    2) National Programme for Dairy Development

    It aims-

    • To create and strengthen infrastructure for the production of quality milk including cold chain infrastructure linking the farmer to the consumer
    • To strengthen dairy cooperative societies/Producers Companies at the village level
    • To increase milk production by providing technical input services like cattle-feed, and mineral mixture etc.

    3) Rashtriya Gokul Mission

    It aims-

    • To undertake breed improvement programme for indigenous cattle breeds so as to improve the genetic makeup and increase the stock.
    • To enhance milk production and productivity of indigenous bovines.
    • To upgrade non-descript cattle using elite indigenous breeds like Gir, Sahiwal, Rathi, Deoni, Tharparkar, Red Sindhi.