Policy risks to agriculture

Policy risks to agriculture
By Ahmad Fraz Khan

If farmers’ fears are to go by, the new year might not be any different for agriculture from the last one. They think that this year too, the terms of trade would be unfavourable for them, international recession would keep commodity prices down and an ever-expanding domestic tax regime would keep the cost of production high.

Listing factors causing fears, farmers maintain that uncertainty is also haunting them. At the policy level, no one knows who is in-charge of the sector? The federation has abdicated the sector to provinces after the 18th amendment, but the federating units have yet to come to grips with the problems agitating the growers.
Ideally, it should be a temporary phase and the provinces, especially Punjab and Sindh, should quickly develop the capacity to plan and execute their own agricultural priorities. The problem, however, is that agriculture, as a sector, is yet to appear on provincial policy radar. The budgetary allocations reflect the level of neglect that the sector faces by the provinces. Punjab, which is considered to be the food basket of the country, allocates only Rs3-3.5 billion for the sector each year. To put the things in context, it has allocated Rs50 billion for police this year.

The spending patterns leaves even more to be desired. Out of Rs3.5 billion, the subsequent budgetary revisions regularly rob almost half of the amount, which leaves the sector with less than Rs2 billion to spend during an entire year. For the last three years, the actual budgetary spending has never crossed 60 per cent of the allocations. It means, actually, the sector gets only Rs1 billion each year; it indicates the commitment of the provincial government. With this meagre money, it can hardly meet the level of expectations raised by the 18th Amendment. That is precisely the point that continues to haunt the farmers. Can the Punjab government reverse the spending trend in 2012, the farmers are not convinced.

Second, the farmers fear crop cycle failure during this year. They feel that the country has started the year on a wrong foot.
The cane crop is sprinting towards marketing failure and wheat would be the next one. The cane crop, which is hugely healthy, has seen delayed start of the crushing season and price sliding. The millers, fully aware of the crop size, are making up to 25 per cent deductions in price on excuses like quality. If crop is short, the millers never mention the quality issue. But now, they are doing so with full fiscal ferocity.
On the other hand, farm temperatures have dropped much below the zero degree, injuring the crop from within. Both these factors are hurting the farmers. Cane has overlapping harvesting and sowing activity; on the one hand, it is harvested, and on the other, sown. If farmers don’t get proper returns, the sowing would immediately suffer.
The wheat failure is also feared, not because of production but procurement, as is the case with cane. The country is currently holding close to ten million tons of wheat, with a clogged debt of around Rs300 billion. Servicing this debt is costing the country around Rs6 billion per month. The State Bank has warned everyone that they would get as much loan as they retire.
Thus, money would severely be in short supply when the government needs it the most four months down the line

The federation has increased wheat price by more than 10 per cent, correspondingly raising the inventory keeping cost. If these factors lead to a price crash, the farmers would be in for a big trouble.
Both crops, if they fail as much as the farmers fear, can take the entire crop cycle down next year. If farmers do not get money from one crop, their investment would naturally drop on the next one. The fertiliser crisis has already taken a toll on wheat this year. Punjab is still lagging 600,000 acres behind its target, which it would, most probably, miss this year because temperatures have already dropped in the country to a level that make germination impossible.
Third fear factor is prices of inputs, especially fertiliser. In the last one year, urea prices have doubled and that of DAP increased by more than 50 per cent. It has already reflected in their off-take; urea consumption in Rabi has dropped by more than 15 per cent so far and DAP by 40 per cent.

The new increase in gas prices, effective from January 1, would further increase urea prices, taking them out of farmers’ fiscal reach. To make the matter worse, the government, instead of controlling ever-increasing fertiliser prices, is contributing to their increase. Taxation, increasing gas prices, failure to print prices on bags and failure to move its machinery for regulating prices are a few examples of government unwillingness or inability to keep prices in check.
The fourth factor is the federal attitude. After lobbing the sector in provincial lap through the 18th Amendment, it seems to have abandoned even those decisions it can take. Like, export of agriculture commodities and imports of inputs. The country is still holding huge wheat stocks because it failed to export wheat due to federal fears and delayed decisions. Its import of fertiliser got dangerously delayed because the federation took time to get fully convinced.
Courtesy: The DAWN

 

Source: http://www.pakissan.com/english/issues/policy.risks.to.agriculture.shtml

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Hoti launches mechanised farming project at Tarnab

December 04, 2012: Chief Minister Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Amir Haider Khan Hoti has formally launched Mechanised Farming Project and Agriculture Policy at Tarnab Farm on Monday. Addressing the ceremony, he said that project of mechanised farming and agriculture policy will prove harbinger of progress in active government functionaries, financial improvement of farmers and progress in agriculture production.

Provincial Agriculture Minister Arbab Muhammad Ayub Jan, Provincial Minister For Animal Husbandry Haji Hidayatullah, MPA Saqib Chamkani, administrative secretaries of agriculture, livestock and fishery departments, vice chancellor agriculture university, faculty members, agriculturists, scientists and farmers were also present on the occasion.

He said that the project will make available modern technology, environment and facilities to enable farmers to yield more production from their limited areas. The chief minister said that increase in agriculture sector due to 18th amendment, agriculture policy congruent to modern needs was needed. He said that 10 years agriculture policy with assistance of F.A.O, has been prepared bearing self-sufficiency in agriculture and achievement of priorities in mind, added, implementation on the policy has commenced.

He said that under the policy worth Rs 500 million, farmers will be provided with modern technology at subsidised rates and other benefits and facilities. He said that resources will be provided to Model Farms Services Center in the form of endowment fund. He said that the province has the lead in preparing agriculture policy at national and provincial levels under which the guidance will be provided to agriculture sector for coming 10 years.

He said that the government has allocated Rs 2 billion to agriculture for achieving self-sufficiency in agriculture this year but the previous government has allocated Rs 322 million. He said that future of the province was linked to investment in hydel power, oil and gas and agriculture. He approved construction of road from GT Road to Tarnab Farm and issued directives to concerned authorities in this connection.

The chief minister also distributed endowment funds cheques among representatives of different farms services centers and offered honorary certificates to prominent performers agriculture scientists and officers and personnel of livestock and agriculture departments.

Courtesy Business Recorder

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Cotton market: prices firm amid modest trading

December 05, 2012: Rates moved up cautiously on the cotton market on Tuesday after the short fall in phutti arrivals in the Pakistan Cotton Ginners Association (PCGA) fortnightly report, dealers said. Official spot rate was unchanged at Rs 5,900, they said. Above, 1300 bales of cotton finalised between Rs 5650 and Rs 600, they said.

Prices of seedcotton (phutti) in Sindh were nearly unchanged at Rs 2500-2700, in Punjab, rates were at Rs 2600-2900, they said. According to some analysts, despite lower-than-expected phutti arrivals, prices any significant change and this was some surprising for the ginners, as many in the market were expecting major hike in the rates.

The mills and spinners were importing fine quality cotton at the local prices, this is a leading factor, which did not allow the prices to go up sharply, experts said. According to the Reuters, the US cotton futures hit their highest levels in almost six weeks on Monday on speculative buying and a weaker dollar but pared gains late in the day on technical selling.

Prices rose almost one percent and pierced 74 cents per lb in early trading for the first time since October 23 as fresh speculative money piled into fibers on the first day of the month. Later on, tentative producer and technical selling pushed prices off their highs, with the most-active March contract on ICE Futures US settling up 0.07 cent, or 0.09 percent, at 73.98 cents per lb.

The following deals were reported: 1000 bales of cotton from Shahdad Pur at Rs 5650, 800 bales from Khair Pur at Rs 6000/6050, 1000 bales from Upper Sindh at Rs 6050, 200 bales from Bakkhar at Rs 5900, 800 bales from Layyah at Rs 5900-6100, 400 bales from Ali Pur at Rs 5950, 800 bales from Tonsa Sharif at Rs 5950/6075, 400 bales from Haroonabad at Rs 5975, 800 bales from Khichi Wala at Rs 6000, 600 bales from Hasil Pur at Rs 6000/6050, 400 bales from Mian Chano at Rs 6000, 200 bales from Bahwal Pur at Rs 6000, 400 bales from Basti Malook at Rs 6000, 400 bales from Khan Pur at Rs 6000, 600 bales from Sadiqabad at Rs 6000, 400 bales from Faqir wali at Rs 6000, 400 Fort Abbas at Rs 6000, 400 bales from Jalal Pur at Rs 6000, 2000 bales from Rahim Yar Khan at Rs 6050/6100, 400 bales from Shadan Lund at Rs 6075 and 400 bales from Rajan Pur at Rs 6075, they said.

Courtesy Business Recorder

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Pre Feasibility Study on raisin Production Unit

 

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Graps in Sindh By: M.H. Panhwar

Grapes are said to have originated from Pakistan to the Caucasus Mountains area. There still are wild varieties of grapes in hilly tracts of the northern area of Pakistan and Dr. Maxime Thompson of the University of Oregon has collected more than 100 wild varieties recently. They still are in quarantine with the USDA.

Some 12,000 years ago temperatures were some 10°F (5.5°C) lower than today and Sindh (see the climatic map of Sindh drawn by the present writer) probably had wild grapes growing all over the Province (State). Warming started 10,000 years ago and as the area was arid most of the grapes in the wild were destroyed by grazing animals. There is archaeological evidence of grapes being cultivated in Sindh by Neolithic farmers 7,000 years ago and afterwards. The varieties grown then must have come from wild ancestors. Since then grapes have been raised in this area throughout the centuries.

Around 2,800 years ago tribes in northern Pakistan, developed Vedic religion (Hinduism descended from it). Among their four early religious texts, one describes making wines and liquors in great details and their taking on religious occasions. This shows large scale use of grapes for the purposes. There was no prohibition or inhibition about hard liquors in South Asia until Islam was introduced in Sindh by Muslim conquerors in 711 AD. Having been committed to prohibition of alcohol, they banned its use in public and followers of Vedic religion called Hindus (a word derived from Sindh to Ind to Hind to Hindus or dwellers of India), had to manufacture and use liquor virtually in secret from locally grown grapes to avoid conflict with followers of this faith. Muslims rulers and elite themselves were fond of liquors and probably encouraged its cultivation among non-Muslims. A well known variety of grapes “Bukhari” was introduced by them in South India. The Muslim attitude about raising grapes was an outcome of pleasing staunch clergy.

While a student at High School Mehar a town of 5000 souls, I saw eight vineyard each less than 1 acre within the municipality limits, owned by Hindu business men and being looked after by Hindu labour from the present Northern India. Grapes were harvested in early July and converted into liquor. Most of the grapes grown in Sindh were never seen in the market and were unsuitable for table use. Table grapes were imported from other areas. Such small vineyards existed in the urban towns in the whole Sindh and the cultural practices involved were not known to the Muslim cultivators, who resided in the rural areas as against Hindus who lived in urban settlements. In 1947 after the creation of two independent States of India and Pakistan, there was mass migration of Hindus to India and newly settled urban Muslims did not know what to do with the vines, so they were destroyed by neglect.

In the School my performance was good and this helped me to make friendships with Hindus students, some of whom came from the families of vine owners. Vines were irrigated by lifting water with Persian wheels from dug and brick lined wells. Average temperature of well water was 80°F against 118°F in June and minimum of 30°F on coldest nights of January. Bathing in water drawn from wells was the normal custom and also fun in the summer or winter. Free bathing water reservoirs were constructed by owners. Early morning bath just before sunrise was a religious rite among the Hindus and there invariably was a rush at the wells. Since school insisted on personal hygiene all Muslim students also took daily baths at these wells and I visited one or the other wells every day. In the process I had a chance to see most of the cultural practices involved in raising vines, stopping water in December/January defoliation manuall7y and pruning in February. I had no chance to taste the fruit as school was closed for summer vacation at harvest time during early July. What were the varieties raised for wine is not known, but a table variety known as Karachi Gulabi has survived in south India and is recognised as a dark red Muscat. It is certain that some plants may have survived now in the wild state in the abandoned fields of their original owners and collection from those localities is possible.

Knowing the background. I thought I could introduce the grape cultivation on commercial scale in the mild climate (300 chill hours below 7.2°C) at my farm by stopping water for creating stress. Small scale experiments with Thompson Seedless and its two local variations, Sunderkhani and Kishhmish, besides a few European varieties and also recent hybrids like Italia, Cardinal, Ruby Red, Alphono Lavalle, Ribier, Flame Seedless, etc., showed varying amounts of success. Being on 25°-30’N, 3 miles east of Tando Jam, the maximum angle of the sun is 49° on December 23. We therefore have run vine rows east and west and have built inclined trellis at 35° to the horizontal with 6 feet long arm to carry five wires. It works fine but under our sunny and arid weather and with irrigation there is profuse growth and I thought, we can manipulate two crops a year. We stated experiments in 1985 and put commercial crop on 2 ½ acres in 1990. We had small crop in June 1991. We are putting another 4 ½ acres in January 1993. We do not have well defined winter as our climatic chart will show you. We have not taken two crops a year as yet as rains come in July and August and water stress can be created only after rains. We plan to do so in August of 1993 hopping to get the first crop in March of 1993 and the second in June of 1994. The latter by pruning at the end of January 1994. We had succeeded in getting two crops from our experimental plots, this way. We have completed pruning only two days before Christmas and have sprayed the buds with Dormex (a new German chemical for breaking dormancy and producing uniform flowering), and expect new growth by about 10-15^th January, flowers in early February and harvest at end of May.

We came to know about the Minnesota Grape Growers Association at the University of California Davis from the library. This is how I got in touch with you. I am a graduate in Agricultural Engineering from the University of Wisconsin at Madison. I worked as Agricultural Engineer and later on as Chief Agriculture Engineer for Sindh Province for 16 ½ years and then started a consultancy company. I have successfully introduced peaches, plums, apples, pears, almonds and pomegranates on small scale in weather climatic charts of which is enclosed. I visit USA regularly. My wife Farzana is a Bio-chemist and has been working with me as a consultant as well as on the farm. She helps me to manipulate the environment for introducing these crops. We grew mangoes and banana on our farm and were very comfortable. We helped the people of whole Sindh to introduce these fruit crops. Expansion of area, reduced to the real income to about 40%, so we thought of changing cropping pattern. To the bad luck of the whole Province more than 150,000 acres under banana was destroyed by Bunchy Top Virus during past 4 years. I recognised the disease and one year later this was confirmed by Dr. Stover of Canada, a writer of the latest book on bananas. As token of this scientific work, President of Pakistan awarded me the highest civilian title, “Sitara-e-Imtiaz” or “Star of Excellence”. I and my wife travel to USA once a year primarily to learn from various specialists but have not stopped over in Minnesota except touching the twin city airport. Many years ago I had visited Minneapolis to contact Howard Johnson about tube-well screens. We now are planning to introduce low chill stone fruits, pome fruits, grapes, nuts (almonds and pecan) and pomegranates. We have varietal collection and plan their propagation. We need your blessings.

 

Source: http://panhwar.com/Article85.htm

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Pakistan: high value early maturing grapes varieties for monsoon rain fall region of Punjab

Pakistan: high value early maturing grapes varieties for monsoon rain fall region of Punjab

Pakistan Agricultural Research Council (PARC) Scientists are striving hard for developing modern technologies by identifying crop varieties that are more productive, profitable and environment friendly.

According to a press release issued from National Agricultural Reserch Centre Planning and Monitoring Research Cell, Scientists engaged in research activities at the National Agriculture Research Centre (NARC), Fruit and Vegetable program have recently identified three high value early maturing varieties of grapes for monsoon high rain fall region of Punjab.

Grape is one of the most remunerative summer fruit crops, native to warm, temperate zone between 34oN and 49oS latitude. In Pakistan, grapes are grown over an area of 13,000 ha with annual production of 49.0 thousand tones. Its crop require long, warm, dry summers and cool winters for best development. Mountainous and sub-mountainous areas up to 2000m altitude or more are suitable for its cultivation.

Monsoon rains result in fungal diseases and rottening of grape berries. Therefore, it was imperative to select those varieties that escape the summer monsoon rain and mature before the monsoon season.

Recent developments in its production technology by Pakistan Agricultural Research Council (PARC) scientists have made it possible to grow this crop in monsoon rain fall region of Punjab. On the basis of encouraging results obtained in terms of fruit production and quality a complete package of production technology has been developed for production. The Scientists evaluated varieties at NARC and revealed that Flame Seedless, King’s Ruby and Perlette are early in maturity, and can be grown on commercial scale successfully in monsoon rain fall region of Punjab.

Now monsoon season can not produce harmful effects to spoil the grape crops. The technology developed by the NARC Scientists had a special significance because early crop harvest would bestow higher returns to farmers luckily due to off season. The spokesman of the NARC assured, if the technology is adopted by the farmers properly then one can expect that this will help to bring radical changes for alleviating poverty in monsoon rain fall region of Punjab.
Source: onlinenews.com.pk

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مہندی

مہندی

نباتاتی نام Henna
انگریزی نام Lasonia
تعارف
مہندی ایک جھاڑی نما پودا ہے اس کے پتوں کا سفوف بنا کر پانی میں حل کیا جائے توسرخی مائل رنگ دیتا ہے۔ اس کی سال میں 3تا 4 بار کٹائی ہوتی ہے سردیوں میں اس کی بڑھوتری رکی رہتی ہے ۔مارچ سے لے کر ستمبر تک یہ پودا خوب بڑھتا پھولتا ہے اس کی برآمد بھی ہوتی ہے افغانستان اور ایران میں اس کی کافی کھپت ہوتی ہے ایک اندازے کے مطابق ایک کٹائی سے 30 من تک سبز پتیاں حاصل ہوتی ہیں ۔ایک آسان اور نقد آور فصل ہے ۔ایک دفعہ لگانے سے کئی سال تک کٹائی حاصل کی جاسکتی ہے۔ان بڑے زمینداروں کے لیے زیادہ سودمند ہے جو خود فصل کی نگرانی نہیں کرسکتے کیونکہ ایک دفعہ نرسری منتقل کرنے کے بعد گوڈی اور پانی کا بندوبست خاطر خواہ ہوجائے تو فصل 15-10 سال آسانی سے چل سکتی ہے۔
طریقہ کاشت
اس پودے کی پہلے نرسری لگائی جاتی ہے ۔جب پودا منتقلی کے قابل ہوجائے تو اکیلا اکیلا پودا 2 فٹ کے فاصلے پر لگا دیا جاتا ہے۔لائنوں میں کاشت کرنے سے پودوں کی تعداد فی ایکڈ برقرار رکھی جاسکتی ہے ۔
وقت کاشت
پنیری منتقل کرنے کا بہترین موسم مارچ ہے۔
زمین کا انتخاب
اس کے لیے بھاری زمین مناسب ترین ہے وگرنہ درمیانی زمین سے کامیاب فصل حاصل کی جاسکتی ہے۔
کھادوں کا استعمال
ہر کٹائی کے بعد ایک بوری نائٹروفاس اور دو بوری یوریاکافی رہتا ہے یوریا کو اگر 3-2 حصوں میں ہر پانی کے بعد ڈالا جائے تو بہتر نتائج حاصل ہوتے ہیں
پانی
اس فصل کو پانی بروقت ملناچاہیے کیونکہ پانی کی کمی اس کی بڑھوتری پر بری طرح اثر انداز ہوتی ہے۔ اگر ایک دو پانی کم ملیں تو فصل کی پتیا ں کم پھوٹتی ہیں ایک کٹائی حاصل کرنے کے لیے 5-4 پانی درکار ہوتے ہیں ۔اگر نہری پانی میسر نہ ہو تو ٹیوب ویل کاپانی کافی ہوتا ہے۔
جڑی بوٹیاں اور ان کی تلفی
یہ فصل چونکہ موسم سرما میں خفتگی کی حالت میں رہتی ہے اس لیے ربیع میں جڑی بوٹیوں کا چنداں مسئلہ نہیں ہوتا۔ البتہ مارچ کے موسم میں جب مہندی پھوٹنے لگتی ہے اس وقت ساتھ ہی ربیع کی جڑی بوٹیاں بھی نکلنی شروع ہوناتی ہیں عام طور پر کھبل اور مدھانا گھاس زیادہ ہوتا ہے اس کی تلفی پر ایک کٹائی حاصل کرنے کے لیے 5-4 گوڈیاں فکرنی چاہئیں
برداشت
شاخیں کاٹ کردھوپ میں ڈال دی جاتی ہیں خشک ہونے پر پتیاں جھاڑ کر بوریوں میں ڈال دی جاتی ہیں۔ اس دوران اگر بارش پڑ جائے تو پتیوں کا رنگ کالا ہوجاتا ہے اور ان کی خصوصیت بھی برقرار نہیں رہتی بہتر یہ ہے کہ چھپر کے نیچے پتیاں ڈال دی جائیں تاکہ بارش وغیرہ سے محفوظ رہیں ۔بوریوں سے براہ راست پتیان پیس کر استعمال کرلی جاتی ہیں اس کی تیاری کے لیے پیچیدہ طریقہ کار کی ضرورت نہیں۔
استعمال وفوائد
عام طور پر خضاب کی جگہ استعمال ہوتی ہے ۔
٭ ہاتھ پاﺅں کی جلد کو نرم رکھتی ہے اس لیے گھریلو عورتیں اسے پسند کرتی ہیں۔
٭ جلدی بیماریوں کے لیے دیسی حکیم استعمال کرتے ہیں ۔
٭ خارش ،داد، چنبل کے نسخوں میں خصوصاً استعمال ہوتی ہے۔
٭ مہندی گرمی ،لو اور تپش کے اثر کو زائل کرتی ہے۔

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Chillies Varities

 

 

Chillies Varities

 

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History and Concepts of food quality and safety in Organic

History and Concepts of food quality and safety in Organic

Organic agriculture is a multifaceted phenomenon in the field of agriculture and food production. On the one hand, it is a low external input production technique originating from both traditional and alternative farming practices developed in the late 19th and early 20th century and from European and

USA contexts of intensive agriculture. On the other hand, it reflects societal debates on the sustainability of agriculture, on food quality and nutritional habits and on ethical issues like animal welfare. A growing number of scientists and policy makers qualify organic agriculture as an efficient and holistic approach to reach the multiple goals of agriculture including food security, sustainable use of natural resources and the dignity of creatures (Jaber, 2000).

Organic farming is a food production method defined at great length in many international (e.g. Codex Alimentarius), supranational (e.g. EU Regulation on Organic Farming) and national (e.g. the US National Organic Program (NOP), the Japanese Agricultural Standard for Organic Products (JAS) or the Swiss Regulation on Organic Farming) standards.

In the developed world, crop production was intensified in the 19th and first half of the 20th century by the use of commercial fertilizers. Soluble phosphorus and nitrogen triggered a first increase in yield levels. The next step in the intensification of agriculture was the widespread use of insecticides, fungicides and herbicides, a practice that also made many conventional farmers feel uncomfortable. The pursuit of yield increases also took hold in livestock husbandry, leading to changes in feeding regimes, industrialized methods for keeping animals and increasing use (and misuse) of veterinary medicines (e.g. antibiotics, anthelmintics) and growth hormones. The arrival andcontinuous expansion of organic farming has to be seen against this background of continuous intensification of food production and the associated negative impact on environment and biodiversity (Stolze  et al., 2000; Stoate  et al., 2001; Pyček  et al., 2005).

Although it is perceived by the public as a rather uniform and regulated farming method, organic farming has had a range of origins and a multifaceted development until standardization started in Europe in the late 1980s. The most important of these historical food and farming concepts are described in this chapter. Although in some cases only of historical interest, these concepts reveal the background of modern organic farming and food processing and help to elucidate some of its characteristics.

Lately, the progress in organic farming has been dominated by standard setting, their harmonization and the introduction of equal certificates. These activities were driven  by (a) fears among organic farmers that organic standards and principles may be compromised by competing strategies like integrated pest management (IPM) or integrated production (IP), (b) consumers who wanted protection from deceit and (c) emerging markets (in particular supermarket chains) in search of certified quality standards. In food markets worldwide, organic foods represented the first food standards, which defined, audited and certified a specific food production process (tracking) rather than specific product properties (e.g. size or colour of vegetables) or composition of the end product (tracing). Such a process-oriented approach in quality management was necessary as organic and conventional foods were difficult to distinguish.

History of different food concepts of organic farming

One of the earliest sources of inspiration for organic farming was the concept of naturalness  of foods. It derived from different ecosocial movements of the early 20th century like the ‘naturalist’, the ‘vegetarian’ and the ‘reform’ philosophies. Of particular influence was the German  Lebensreform  movement, which became important during the time of the Weimar Republic (1919 to 1933). Deteriorations in the living conditions of people during the transition from an agrarian to an industrialised society were correlated with the ‘unnaturalness’ of the living conditions of the cities (Vogt, 2000). Back to nature was seen as an escape and alternative. Medical doctors and nutritionists

like Werner Kollath, Max Bircher-Benner or Stefan Steinmetz propagated whole food (raw vegetables and fruits, whole meal bread or muesli). In this context, the pioneers of ‘natural’ husbandry and gardening, the Germans Julius Hensel, Heinrich Bauernfeind, Ewald Könemann or the Swiss Mina Hofstetter, experimented – among other farming and gardening techniques – with different rock powders as natural fertilizers to cure the negative effects of mineral sources of nutrients (Vogt, 2000). It can be concluded that ‘natural’ husbandry was the first concept of organic farming in Europe, which developequickly from lifestyle movements in the 1920s to an alternative farming method based on the emerging soil and agricultural sciences and on practical farming and gardening experience in the 1930s.

Such idealistic ‘back to nature’ movements also developed in other parts of Europe. Almost contemporaneously, a group of British writers including Harold John Massingham, Adrian Bell and Rolf Gardiner, promoted their vision of a revitalised countryside (Moore-Colyer, 2001). Central to this vision was an agriculture based on organic principles and this movement became one of the origins of Soil Association which was founded in 1946.

The concept of the vitality of food was raised for the first time by Rudolf Steiner in his seven lectures in 1924 (Steiner, 1929). The emphasis of his lectures was less ecological or agronomical, but focused on describing his views on the deterioration of modern food quality. As part of a wider ‘holistic’ philosophy called anthroposophy which covered education, art, social theory and science, Steiner developed a spiritually based plant, animal and human nutrition theory, where the real quality of food was not linked to compounds and their metabolisms, but to the spiritual forces which are supposed to ‘bound’ to them. Many agricultural practices he introduced (e.g. biodynamic preparations, the consideration of lunar or cosmic rhythms when cultivating, sowing or harvesting) aimed to influence these spiritual forces, which were in Steiner’s thinking vital for all organisms (Endres and Schad, 1997). Subsequently, anthroposophic scientists introduced the term ‘vital quality’ (Balzer-Graf and Balzer, 1991; Bloksma  et al., 2001).

The efficacy of the specific biodynamic agronomic measures introduced by Steiner has been studied extensively over the last 75 years, but focused mainly on investigations into the way that lunar cycles and biodynamic preparations affect yield, the composition and the nutritional quality of crops. The relative efficacy of these measures is often considered to be less than that of other agricultural measures like variety choice, the intensity of organic fertilization, soil tillage and/or other permitted plant protection measures. To conclude, the improvements achieved by these specific biodynamic techniques are small, often not reproducible and therefore, from a scientific point of view, obsolete. However disenchanting the lack of activity of these specific measures might be, the overall management approach taken by biodynamic farming as a whole is a surprisingly effective and efficient one. In addition, long-term biodynamic soil management has been shown to achieve greater improvements in soil biological activity, structural stability and inherent fertility than more ‘mainstream’ organic management practices in the long-term field trial DOK where bioDynamic, Organic and conventional (in German Konventionell) plots have been compared since 1977 (Mäder et al., 2002).

Since Steiner’s aim was to improve ‘immaterial’ qualities of foods, anthroposophic scientists have developed analytical methods, which aim to visualize this kind of ‘inner’ quality. This is done by preparing watery solutions of the plant, meat or milk (= juices) which are then brought into reaction with metallic salts like copper chloride (copper chloride crystallization method) or silver nitrate (two different capillary picture methods). The quality of the pictures is either interpreted by visual evaluation or by computerized image texture analysis (Meier-Ploeger  et al., 2003). Both interpretations are reproducible and the results are often correlated with standard food analytical quality parameters (e.g. for a case study comparing organic and conventional apples, see Weibel et al., 2000). The main concept of analysing the pictures created by such methods is that crops grown under optimal biodynamic conditions should have a higher degree of ‘order’ and should be better organized and structured. However, there are currently no sound scientific data that validate and calibrate such methods against standard food composition and metabolic profiling analyses and no studies that demonstrate that consumption of food showing a greater level of ‘order’ when assessed by ‘picture forming methods’ results in improved animal or human health. Another important concept introduced by Steiner was that of ‘holism’ or ‘integrity’  of food and farming (Steiner, 1929). Steiner saw a farm as an organism with an inner structure and functionality and not purely as a business with different lines of production. He stressed greatly the common bonds between physiological processes in soils, plants and livestock. This was one reason why organs of cattle (e.g. cow horns or bovine peritoneum) played an important role in the production of biodynamic preparations which aimed to improve soil fertility and plant quality. He believed that, like an organism, a farm has to be managed as a whole unit in its full complexity and integrity.

Steiner was influenced by the theory of ‘emergent properties’ which was developed in the 19th century and which is still used today to characterize very complex systems and phenomena, in nature, physics or engineering (Fromm, 2004). An emergent property can appear when a number of simple subsystems operate as a collective and show more complex and often unexpected behaviours which cannot be explained by adding up the behavior of the single subsystems. As a consequence, biodynamic farmers are very sceptical about isolated partial interventions (e.g. phytomedical treatments) and rely very much upon preventive and long-term strategies of farm management.

The concept of self regulating and healthy systems was introduced by the English pioneer Sir Albert Howard who stated in the 1930s: ‘[E]vidence for the view that a fertile soil means healthy crops, healthy animals, and healthy human beings is rapidly accumulating. At least half of the millions spent every year in trying to protect all three from disease in every form would be unnecessary the moment our soils are restored and our population is fed on the fresh produce of fertile land’ (Howard, 1942). Lady Eve Balfour, the founder of the Soil Association in Great Britain later described the same concept: ‘The health of soil, plant, animal and man is one and indivisible’ (Balfour, 1943). To some extent this concept of a self-regulating nature dovetailed with the idealisation of nature by the philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau. In Albert Howard’s words:

The crops and livestock look after themselves. Nature has never found it necessary to design the equivalent of the spraying machine and the poison spray for the control of insect and fungus pests. There is nothing in the nature of vaccines and serums for the protection of the livestock. It is true that all kinds of diseases are to be found here and there among the plants and animals of the forest, but these never assume large proportions. The principle followed is that the plants and animals can very well protect themselves even when such things as parasites are to be found in their midst. Nature’s rule in these matters is to live and let live (Howard, 1943).

 

Source: Handbook of organic food safety and quality

Edited by

Julia Cooper, Urs Niggli and Carlo Leifert

2007, W OODHEAD   PUBLISHING   LIMITED

Cambridge, England

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Rice --Introduction, Cultivation

RICE(Oryza sativa)
 

 

It is the staple food crop for more than 60 per cent of the world people. In some countries, attractive ready to eat products, which have, long shelf life e.g.popped and puffed rice, instant or rice flakes, canned rice and fermented products are produced. Protein is present in aleuron and endosperm (6–9%) and average is 7.5%. Rice straw is used as cattle feed, used for thatching roof and in cottage industry for preparation of hats, mats, ropes, sound absorbing straw board and used as litter material. Rice husk is used as animal feed, for papermaking and as fuel source. Rice bran is used as cattle and poultry feed and defatted bran, which is rich in protein,can be used in the preparation of biscuits. Rice bran oil is used in soap industry. Refined oil can be used as a cooling medium like cotton seed oil/corn oil. Rice bran wax, a byproduct of rice bran oil is used in industries. Rice bran oil is available in the market in the name of Porna for edible purpose (no cholesterol).

Origin:

De Candolle (1886) and Watt (1862) thought that South India was the place where cultivated rice is originated. Vavilov (1926) suggested that India and Burma should be the origin of cultivated crop.

Species

Rice belongs to genus Oryza and family Poaceae. The genus includes 24 species of which O. sativa and O. glaberrima are cultivated. O. sativa has three sub species viz., Indica, Japanica and Javanica.

1. Indica: Indigenous to India. It is adapted to subtropical-tropical regions. In India, the varieties are very tall, photosensitive, lodging, poor fertilizer responsive, moderate filling and late matur-ing. The morphological differences between the varieties are very wide and awnless.
 

2. Japanica:It is confined to subtropical temperate regions (Japan, China, and Korea). Varieties are very dwarf, erect, non-lodging, photo insensitive, early maturing, high yielding and fertilizerresponsive. The morphological difference between the varieties is very narrow and awnless. Hence, crosses were made between Indica and Japanica—first cross was ADT 27 during 1964.

3. Javanica:It is a wild form of rice and is cultivated in some parts of Indonesia. Varieties are the tallest, erect, poor filling and awned.

Distribution

It grows from the tropics to subtropical and warm temperate countries up to 40°S and 50°N of the equator. Most of the rice area lies between equator and 40° N and 70° –140° E Longitude. Highest yield was recorded between 30° and 45°N of the equator. The average yield ranges from 2.0–5.7 t/ha in India, China and Egypt lying between 21° and 30° N. The countries near the equator show an average yield of 0.8–1.4 t/ha.

Area, Production and Productivity

In terms of area and production, rice is second to wheat. Maximum area under rice is in Asia (90%). Among the rice growing countries, India has the largest area (42.5 m.ha) followed by China, Bangla-desh and Thailand. The area, production, productivity of rice for the world (continent wise) and some of the important countries is given in Tables 1 and 2.

 

 

 

Climate and Soil

Rice can be grown in different locations under a variety of climate. The Indica varieties are widely grown in tropical regions. Japonicas, which are adapted to cooler areas, are largely grown in temperate countries. Both Indica and Japanica rice varieties are grown in subtropical regions. However, the crosses between Indica and Japanica are grown through out the world. Rice needs hot and humid climate. It is best suited to regions, which have high humidity, prolonged sunshine and an assured supply of water. Temperature, solar radiation and rainfall influence rice yield by directly affecting the physiological processes involved in grain production and indirectly through diseases and pests.

(a) Temperature: Extreme temperatures are destructive to plant growth and hence depended on the environment under which the life cycle of the rice plant can be completed. The critical low and high temperatures for rice are normally below 20°C and above 30°C respectively, which vary from one growth stage to another. Temperature affects the grain yield by affecting tillering, spikelet formation and ripening and it influences the growth rate just after germination and increases almost linearly with increasing temperature within a range of 22–31°C. At later stages, it slightly affects tillering rate and the relative growth rate. During reproductive stage, the spikelet number per plant increases as the temperature drops. The critical temperatures for different growth stages of rice are given in Table 3.

(b) Solar radiation: The solar radiation requirements of rice crop differ from one growth stage to another. Shading during vegetative stage slightly affects yield and yield components. Shading during reproductive stage has a pronounced effect on spikelet number. During ripening, it reduces grain yield considerably because of decrease in the percentage of filled spikelets. Solar radiation at the reproduc-tive stage has the greatest effect on grain yield. The minimum requirement of solar radiation is 300 cal/cm 2/day.

(c) Day length: Rice is a short day plant. Long day prevents or delays flowering. E.g.,GEB 24 is a photosensitive and season bound variety. However the latest varieties released are photo insensitive.

(d)Rainfall: Under rainfed rice culture, rainfall is the most limiting factor in rice cultivation. When irrigation is provided, the growth and yield is determined by temperature and solar radiation. Water stress at any growth stage may reduce the yield. The rice plant is most sensitive to water deficit from the reduction division stage to heading.

(e) Wind: Moderate wind is beneficial for crop growth. High wind at maturity may cause lodging of the crop.

(f)Soils: Rice is a semi aquatic plant and grows best under low land condition. In India, it grows in all most all type of soils; alluvial, red, lateritic, laterite, black, saline and alkali, peaty and marshy soils, and in acid soils. But the soil having good retention capacity with good amount of clay and organic matter is ideal for rice cultivation. Clay and clay loam soils are most suited. It tolerates a wide range of soil reaction from 4.5–8.0. It grows well in soils having pH range of 5.5–6.5. It can be grown on alkali soil after treating them with gypsum or pyrites.

Transplanted rice

Wet nursery: The seed rate of 60 kg/ha is recommended for short duration, 40 kg/ha for medium duration and 30 kg/ha for long duration varieties.

A. Pre-treatment of seeds (before sowing)

(a) Dry seed treatment: Mix any one the fungicide at 2 g/kg of seed (Thiram, Captan, Carboxin or Carbendazim). Treat the seeds at least 24 hrs prior to soaking for sprouting. The seeds can be stored for 30 days without any loss in viability.

B. Treatment of seeds at the time of soaking the seeds for sprouting

(a) Wet seed treatment: Treat the seeds in Carbendazim or Pyroquilon or Tricyclozole solution at 2g/lit of water for 1 kg of seed. Soak the seeds in the solution for 2 hrs. Drain the solution, sprout the seeds and sow in the nursery bed. It gives protection to the seedlings up to 40 days from seedlings disease such as blast and it is better than dry seed treatment.

(b) Seed treatment with Azospirillum: Three packets (600 g/ha) of Azospirillum culture are to the mixed with sufficient water wherein seeds are soaked over night before sowing in the nursery bed. The bacterial suspension after decanting may be poured over the nursery area itself.

(c) Seed treatment with Pseudomonas fluorescence: Three packets (600 g/ha) of Pseudomonas culture should be added in water wherein seeds are soaked over night before sowing in the nursery bed. It can be mixed with Azospirillum culture, as it is not inhibitory to Azospirillum.

C. Soaking and sprouting the seeds

The seeds are soaked for 10 hrs. Drain the excess water. The seeds should not be soaked in running water, which removes the minerals and nutrients. Keep the soaked seeds in gunny bag in dark room and cover with extra gunnies for 24 hrs for sprouting. The seeds should not be covered with thick material, which develops heat and reduces the aeration.

D. Preparation of nursery for sowing

About 20 cents (800 m2) for planting one ha is required. Raise the nursery near the water source. Apply 1 t of FYM or compost to 20 cents of nursery and spread the manure uniformly. Before ploughing, allow water to a depth of 2.5 cm. Before last puddling, apply 40 kg of DAP @ 2 kg/cent. Basal application of DAP is recommended when the seedlings are to be pulled out in 20–25 DAS. If the seedlings are to be pulled out after 25 days, application of DAP is to be done 10 days prior to pulling out. In clayey soils, where root snapping is a problem, DAP has to be applied at 1 kg/cent 10 DAS.

Mark out plots, 2.5 m broad with channels, 30 cm wide in between. Collect the mud from the channel and spread on the seedbed and level the surface of seedbed so that water drains into the channel. Having a thin film of water in the nursery, sow the sprouted seeds uniformly on the seedbed.

E. Water management

For water management in nursery, first drain the water 18–24 hrs after sowing and allow enough water to saturate the soil from 3–5th day. From 5th day onwards, increase the quantity of water to a depth of 1.5 cm depending on the height of seedlings. Afterwards, maintain 2.5 cm depth of water.

F. Weed management

Apply any one of the pre-emergence herbicide like Butachlor or Thiobencarb at 2.0 lit/ha or Pendimethalin at 2.5 lit/ha or Anilophos at 1.25 lit/ha on 8 DAS to control weeds in the nursery. Keep thin film of water at the time of herbicide application and should not drain the water after application.

G. Top dressing with fertilizers

If the seedlings show the symptoms of ‘N’ deficiency and if the growth is not satisfactory, apply urea at 500 g/cent of nursery, 7–10 days prior to pulling. If DAP is applied 10 days prior to pulling, urea application is not necessary.

H. Optimum age of seedlings for transplanting

Short duration varieties : 18–22 days, Medium duration varieties : 25–30 days, Long duration varieties : 35–40 days

I. Main field preparation for transplanted rice

Wet rice requires a well puddled soil. Ploughing under submerged soil condition is called puddling. The land is ploughed repeatedly 3 or 4 times with aninterval of about 4 days between each puddling by country plough or mould board plough or tractor drawn cage wheel or by using power tiller with a standing water of 3–5 cm. Optimum depth of puddling is 10 cm for clay and clay loam soils.

J. Application of organic manures

Apply 12.5 t of FYM or compost/ha and spread the manure uniformly on the dry soil before applying the water. If FYM or compost is not available, apply green manure/green leaf manure at 6.25 t/ha. Compute the green matter using the formula. Yield/m2  in kg × 10,000.

The yield of green manure is 10–15 t/ha for daincha, 8–15 t/ha for sunnhemp and 6–7.5 t/ha for Kolingi.

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