Regoverningmarkets South Asia Newsletter (Vol. 28, No. 43 October 06 – October 12, 2007)

Early BRRI crop farming stressed Friday, October 05,2007 NEW AGE

RANGPUR: Scientists opined that adoption of the newly-invented early crop farming by Bangladesh Rice Research Institute could eradicate monga, increase crop production, lessen production cost and reduce risks of natural calamities.

At the same time, harvesting period of all varieties of crops might be advanced by at least 40 days against the traditional crop-harvesting periods in all seasons, which would enable the farmers in adjusting themselves with the changing climatic pattern that hampers cultivation and production of seasonal crops, they added.

They said this while addressing a farmers' field day on harvesting of the early variety BRRI-33 paddy and ‘Farming of early rice and crop diversification for eradicating monga and creating food security in Greater Rangpur' organised by BRRI at its training room and nearby fields.

Principal scientific officer of BRRI's Rangpur Regional Station Dr Abdul Mazid presided over the discussion orgainsed before the crop cutting on the occasion that was attended by deputy commissioner of Rangpur Khondker Atiar Rahman as chief guest.

Representative of the International Rice Research Institute in Bangladesh Dr Zoynul Abedin, Tampat union parisad chairman Hassan Ali and senior expert of the Department of Agriculture Extension Harun Ur Rashid were present as special guests.

Dr Mazid invented the new technology of farming early variety T-aman inbred paddy followed by relay-method cultivation of early variety vegetables, including potato, mug dal, tomato, onion, garlic, pulses, maize, mustard, vegetables and other cash crops after long research work.

Though the research work was planned to mitigate the seasonal job crisis of the farm labourers during the Bangla months of Aswin and Kartik in northern region through early crop farming in a diversified manner, huge repeated success of the invented technology showed that it would be adopted countrywide to increase the overall crop production, they said.

DR Mazid said he started sowing BRRI-33 variety T-aman seeds using direct seeded rice method with the help of drum seeders and ‘lithao' system from 1995 and after repeated researches, he got the results.

Then the government approved its farming at field levels from 1997 and its farming began from 1999.

Though the normal harvesting takes 130-140 days for BRRI-33 variety T- aman, the crop is being harvested using the technology in less than only 100 days from the date of sowing the seeds.

‘We successfully invented the technology that helps harvesting T-aman paddy during the months of Aswin and Kartik, which is 40 days early than that of the traditional T-aman paddy.

It creates huge job opportunities for the jobless farm labourers during the two-month lean period of the year in the area," they said.

Using the technology, 10,000 farmers involving 12,000 farm labourers cultivated the early BRRI-33 variety T-aman paddy in over 4,200 acres of land in Lalmonirhat, Nilphamari, Rangpur, Thakurgaon, Panchagarh and Kurigram districts last year.

Dr Zoynul Abedin and dr Mazid expressed satisfaction over the yield rate of over five tonnes paddy per hectare after harvesting BRRI-33 paddy this afternoon at the field of farmer Hem Babu in village Tampat of Rangpur using the newly invented rice farming technology and called for expanding the technology countrywide.

Cultivation of indigenous crops stressed Sunday, October 07,2007 NEW AGE

DHAKA: Experts at a discussion on Saturday stressed the need for cultivating indigenous varieties of crops using the traditional knowledge to preserve the country's bio-diversity.

There are a good many environment-friendly traditional varieties of paddy in the country and these varieties can be produced in one-and-a-half month or two, they said.

These varieties can be introduced in the flood-prone regions of the country, the experts told the discussion on ‘Role of Media in Sustainable Environmental Governance' at the National Press Club.

‘Although such varieties of paddy yield less, they can help us meet our domestic demand for rice,' water expert Dr Ainun Nishat told the function chaired by secretary of environment ministry AHM Rezaul Kabir.

Former adviser to the caretaker government Mahbubul Alam attended the meeting as chief guest while information ministry secretary Md Didarul Anwar spoke as special guest.

The ministry of environment and Forest and World Conservation Union (IUCN) country office in Bangladesh jointly organised the programme.

Dr Ainun Nishat, also country representative of IUCN Bangladesh urged the government to send qualified persons to effectively participate in the international environment- related meetings for ensuring sustainable development.

Although Bhutan and the Maldives have very few qualified people compared to Bangladesh, they seriously participate in all international environmental conferences, he pointed out.

Former adviser Mahbubul Alam laid emphasis on producing expertise in the country to effectively face the ‘global

challenge' emerging from climate change and urged the policy makers to come up with plans to face the situation.

‘We will lag behind in many sectors if we don't have proper experienced people... Decision should be taken at political level for building capacity of the country," he said.

Information secretary Didarul Anwar stressed that the country's print and electronic media should create awareness among government and the people about the imperatives of preserving bio-diversity.

Unless the media was engaged effectively, the environmental management process would yield little result towards the expected goal, he said.

Water melon prices may go up Sunday, October 07,2007 MIADHU

MALE: Thoddoo farmers states that the value of water melons will go up during the last few of days the month of Ramazan. Abdul Gaffaaru, a Thoddoo farmer, who has been selling melons at the Farmers Market in Male' says that the price of water melons will go up during last five days of month of Ramazan. He also said that due to excessive supply of melons earlier in the month, melons are in short supply in the fields.

Abdul Gafoor also said that due to excessive supply of water melons earlier in the month, large amount were wasted.

Abdul Gaffaru says the price of water melons at the beginning of Ramazan stood at Mrf. 12 per kilo, and in the middle of the month the price stood at Mrf.8 per kilo and now the price stands at Mrf. 25 per kilo.

Gaffaru also notes that the profit from this year's harvest of melons was not as profitable as that of last year. Last year each farmer from Thoddoo got a minimum of Mrf. 10,000.

US plans changes in poppy eradication Sunday, October 07,2007 PAJHWOK

NEW YORK: The poppy eradication strategy in Afghanistan this year would focus on the rich and the powerful and not the poor, as in the past, said a top Bush administration official.

 "We will hit the wealthy people, the rich people who are involved in poppy cultivation with their vast tracts of land in Helmand province, rather than the poor people and the less powerful," said Thomas Schweich, co-coordinator for Counternarcotics and Justice Reform Programme in Afghanistan.

 In his testimony before a Congressional panel, Schweich said eradication efforts this year would focus on wealthy farmers, the opportunists, the corrupt police officials, people who grow on government land.

Taking down high-value targets would be another key feature of this years strategy. A list of such high-value targets was being compiled and evidences being collected against them, he said.

 Schweich said: "Once you're able to actually gather the evidence against these people, it is very important that you have access to them. Some of them are very well-protected and well-defended."

 Earlier, Chairman of the sub-committee Gary Ackerman alleged that US President George Bush shifted his focus from Afghanistan to Iraq.

"I said before and I will say again, the president surged in the wrong country. The country where our money and our diplomacy and our soldiers could have made the most difference is not Iraq but Afghanistan," Ackerman said.

"Osama bin Laden doesn't live in Baghdad; he is in the mountains between Afghanistan and Pakistan. The Taliban haven't been defeated; they've regrouped, joined forces with narcotic traffickers and imported suicide bombers to destroy the nation's institutions of state to terrorize the Afghan people," he observed.

Tomato prices more than double Monday, October 08,2007 DAILY TIMES

LAHORE: The prices of green chillies and tomatoes rose at the Sunday Bazaars after a shortage was reported.

Tomatoes were sold for Rs 45 and Rs 48 a kilo this week. It had been priced between Rs 18 and Rs 24 a kilo last week. Green chillies were sold for Rs 39 and Rs 49 a kilo. Last week onions were sold for Rs 10 and Rs 13 a kilo. This week they have been sold for Rs 20 and Rs 26 a kilo. This week potatoes (stored) were priced at Rs 9 to Rs 11 per kg. They were priced at Rs 7 to Rs 9 last week. This week lemons were priced at Rs 64 to Rs 84 a kilo. Last week they were sold for Rs 50 and Rs 70 a kilo.

Last week, bananas (1st class) were sold for Rs 24 and Rs 32 a dozen. This week they were priced at Rs 24 to Rs 28 a dozen. Bananas (2nd class) were sold for Rs 10 and Rs 15 a dozen last week. They were sold for Rs 12 and Rs 16 a dozen this week. Pomegranate was sold for Rs 39 and Rs 49 a kilo this week. Last week apples (golden) were sold for Rs 25 and Rs 40 a kilo. This week they were sold for Rs 29 and Rs 49 a kilo. Last week dates were sold at between Rs 25 and Rs 50 a kilo. This week dates were sold for Rs 36 and Rs 64 a kilo.

Basmati rice was sold for Rs 45 and Rs 48 a kilo this week. Mutton and beef prices remained unchanged this week with mutton being sold for Rs 200 a kilo and beef for Rs 100 a kilo. Chicken was sold for Rs 124 a kilo this week. Last week it was sold for Rs 123 a kilo. Grain was sold for Rs 35 and Rs 39 a kilo. Lentil was sold at between Rs 48 and Rs 50 a kilo and moong was sold for Rs 46 and Rs 47 a kilo. Sugar (white) was priced at Rs 29 a kilo this week.

Last week grapes (high quality) were sold for Rs 36 and Rs 60 a kilo and grapes (low quality) were sold for Rs 35 and Rs 45 a kilo. This week grapes (high quality) were sold for Rs 64 and Rs 84 a kilo. Grapes (low quality) were sold for Rs 36 and Rs 54 a kilo this week.

SAB concerned over wheat seed shortage Monday, October 08,2007 THE NEWS

HYDERABAD: A meeting of the Sindh Abadgar Board (SAB) held with its general secretary Mehmud Nawaz Shah in the chair expressed concern over the shortage of seeds in the country and feared that this would create a negative impact on the sowing of wheat.

Representatives of different areas of Sindh participated in the meeting and discussed problems faced by growers and called for their early solution. The meeting, expressing concern over the shortage of seeds, blamed multi-national companies for selling them at higher rates and apprehended that its impact on the sowing of wheat would be negative.

The meeting demanded that the government should fix Rs 500 per 40 kilograms as the support price for wheat so that growers can sow wheat properly.

The meeting also criticised breach in Rohri canal despite rotation programme and demanded that sugarcane prices in Sindh be fixed at Rs 8 higher than what is being fixed in Punjab.

Import taxes on palm products Monday, October 08,2007 Colombo Page

COLOMBO: Sri Lanka's Ministry of Plantation Industries has decided to introduce import taxes on both processed and raw palm products. The Ministry came to this decision to avoid the influx of raw palm such as palm nuts ever since the government imposed taxes on palm oil to save the country's coconut oil industry.

The Cabinet paper in this regard will be sent to the Cabinet of Ministers soon, said Plantation Industries Minister D.M. Jayaratne.

Flour prices go high Monday, October 08,2007 PAJHWOK

KABUL: After registering an upward trend for almost a month, flour prices have decreased by almost 100 Afs/100kg during the outgoing week.

Retailer Khan Ali of the Kart-i-Seh locality of Kabul says 100-kilogram sack of flour was sold for 1,640 afghanis during the current week as compared to the last week price of 1,750 afghanis.

Flour traders believe the price dived because of the resumption of import of the commodity from Pakistan. According to retailers, Pakistan had banned flour export to stabilize prices at home.

According to Khan Ali, prices of other kitchen items like cooking oil, rice and tea stayed stable during the outgoing week. Price of a 50-kilogram sack of rice was 2,700 Afs, five kilograms of ghee 370 Afs and one kilogram of tea was 140 Afs.

Among the foodstuff, sugar was the only commodity price of which registered a slight increase over the weekend. Rate of 50kg bag of sugar increased from 1,210 of the last week to 1,220 afghanis during the current week.

Prices of fuel like liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), petrol and diesel, which had shot up in the month of September, stayed stable during the current week.

One kilogram of LPG was available for 44 afghanis. The government had announced the price of one kilogram of LPG at 40 Afs. However, some residents complained that the gas sellers were fleecing the consumers.

Ghulam Ali, resident of the Dasht-i-Barchi locality of this capital city, told Pajhwok he had purchased one kilogram of gas for 55 afghanis. Another citizen Sayed Amin said he was charged 60 Afs for one kilogram of LPG in the northern part of the city.

As for petrol and diesel, the prices remained unchanged. Price of one litre petrol remained at 42 and that much diesel at 34 Afs of the last week.

In the same token, rates of gold also remained unchanged. One gram of Arabian gold was sold for 1,050 and that quantity of Iranian gold for 870 Afs.

In the money exchange market, one US dollar accounted for 49.80 afghanis, while 1,000 Pakistani rupees for 824 afghanis.

'Basmati norm shift to hurt India' Tuesday, October 09,2007 Indian Express

NEW DELHI: Airing concerns over the proposed inclusion of evolved varieties in the Basmati rice category, Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (Apeda) chairman K S Money on Monday cautioned against such a move. "Any dilution in the definition (of Basmati Rice) is not in the commercial interest of India," he said.

Money also stated that if the definition is changed, Pakistan would get more benefits as it has more evolved varieties, while India can encash upon its traditional varieties peddling on their purity and authenticity. "While changing the definition, we should look at how it will affect our market," he added.

The agriculture ministry wants inclusion of evolved varieties like ‘1121' developed by Indian Agricultural Research Institute, Pusa. The ‘1121' variety has all other characteristics of Basmati except the direct lineage with traditional variety. The agricultural ministry has written to the commerce ministry for its view on change of the definition of Basmati by including the evolved varieties which have no direct lineage with the genes of traditional variety.

For any rice to be called Basmati there are three main parameters. First, it should be grown in a particular area, secondly it should have elongation and aroma and lastly any evolved variety should have at least one gene of a traditional variety.

Wheat support price to be raised Tuesday, October 09,2007Indian Express

NEW DELHI: With an early election looming, the Government, which has been reeling under severe criticism over wheat imports at prices higher than that paid for domestic procurement, is set to correct its stance by substantially raising the minimum support price for the rabi crop.

As the UPA and the Left are set for another round of negotiations on Tuesday to avoid early elections, the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) will also be meeting to consider raising the MSP from Rs 750 to Rs 1,000 per quintal. This was a suggestion from the Commission on Agriculture Costs & Prices.

The proposed hike is whopping. The previous NDA Government had raised MSP by only Rs 50 over five years.

The CCEA may also look at a proposal to provide Rs 50 per quintal as bonus for kharif paddy procurement, which is currently on. The bonus will be in excess of the MSP of Rs 675 per quintal announced for Grade A and Rs 645 per quintal for common variety of grain. Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar had met the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh last week on the issue of declaring the bonus for paddy so as to reduce the widening difference between MSP of rice and wheat. Singh is learnt to have agreed.

The CCEA is also likely to consider the recommendations of the EGoM headed by External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee, that looked into the plight of sugar industry that has been adversely affected by the glut in sugar production.

Sources said the EGoM has recommended to make 10 per cent ethanol blending in petrol mandatory from middle of 2008. The EGoM is also learnt to have approved of providing soft loans to sugar factories against their excise payment to the government so as to make the sugar industry viable in the wake of glut in sugarcane production and declining sugar prices.

With Congress claiming to bat for the aam admi, the CCEA is also expected to discuss a proposal by the Power Ministry headed by Congress leader Sushil Kumar Shinde to revise the Rajiv Gandhi Grameen Vidyutikaran Yojana (RGVY), which had planned to electrify about 1.25 lakh village with an estimated cost of Rs 16,000 crore during 2005 to 2009 period.

Sources informed that the Power Ministry will be seeking CCEA approval to extend the RGVY scheme to Eleventh Plan period with an estimated revised cost of Rs 51,000 crore.

Rural women's right to agriculture Tuesday, October 09,2007 DAILY STAR

DHAKA: A national dialogue will be held in Manikganj on October 30 with a call to ensure rural women's right to food and agriculture, said the speakers at a press conference yesterday.

They said the dialogue would be arranged to mark the World Rural Women's Day on October 15.

The press conference was organised by Nari Sangbadik Kendro (Centre for women journalists), Bangladesh Resource Centre for Indigenous Knowledge (BARCIK) and Steps Towards Development at Dhaka Reporters' Unity auditorium.

The speakers said rural women had played an important role in food management but laws or policies did not recognise their contribution.

"Women's right have to be ensured and their contribution to agriculture management should be admitted," they added.

Ferdousi Akhter of BARCIK presented a written speech at the press conference while Nasimun Ara Haque Minu and Parveen Sultana, president and general secretary of Nari Sangbadik Kendro, Rekha Saha, director of Steps Towards Development and Pavel Partho, programme officer of BARCIK spoke on the occasion.

Tk 145cr sugar stockpiles at 7 mills Tuesday, October 09,2007DAILY STAR

DHAKA: Around 51 thousand tonnes of sugar, worth about Tk145 crore, produced by seven state-owned mills in the country's northern area, has been unsold for six months as the market price for sugar is well below the factory cost of production, according to our correspondents from Kushtia and Dinajpur.

The mills are Dinajpur, Thakurgaon, Panchagarh, Joypurhat, Kushtia and Mobarakganj sugar mills in Jhenidah and Darshana Sugar Mills in Chuadanga.

This stockpiling of a huge quantity of unsold sugar has also thrown the fate of hundreds of farmers in and around the mill zones into uncertainty as they have yet to be paid for supplying sugarcane.

While talking to The Daily Star, most officials of these sugar mills directly blamed the past BNP government's policy for the situation. They said duty cuts, smuggling and increased imports had undermined the domestic sugar price and they were not prepared to sell stocks at a loss.

According to industry insiders, the country's 15 sugar mills can meet only 10-12 per cent of total national demand, with a total output of roughly 2 lakh tonnes per annum against a demand of 12 lakh tonnes.

They also blamed the ineffectiveness of the Bangladesh Sugar and Food Corporation (BSFC) for its failure to manage a stable sugar market in the country.

Sources said that of the 7 loss making sugar mills, four mills under the BSFC allegedly failed to pay out salaries, amounting to Tk 30 crore, to their staff for the last six months.

The quantity of unsold produces of the four sugar mills in Dinajpur, Thakurgaon, Panchagarh and Joypurhat reached 27,518.20 tonnes, worth about Tk 75 crore, during the period.

According to the sources in the Dinajpur Sugar Mills, 7,800 tonnes of sugar have been produced this season by the mill, whereas 7,588 tonnes of sugar have remained stockpiled as the quantity is unsold.

Thakurgaon Sugar Mills produced 10,930 tonnes, whereas 6,800 tonnes remained unsold so far. Panchagarh Sugar Mills produced 6800 tonnes and Joypurhat 14,000 tonnes. Of the quantity, the two mills failed to sell 6330.20 tonnes each.

Darshana Sugar Mills sold 4,309 tonnes of sugar until Saturday and 9,250 tonnes, worth about Tk 27crore, are still unsold.

The mill sources said an amount of Tk 3 crore arear dues for farmers still remained unpaid.

This year the mill incurred a loss of about Tk 7 crore on an average from sugar production.

Kushtia Sugar Mills incurred Tk 6.48 crore this year against the Tk1.67 crore profit last year.

The mill sold only 1,605 tonnes of sugar until Saturday and the rest 8,607 tonnes, worth about Tk 25 crore, still remained unsold.

Besides, the mill owed Tk 8.45 crore to the sugarcane growers under the mill zone.

Salaries to its employees also remained unpaid. There are 895 seasonal, 150 contractual workers, 40 permanent drivers and 60 officials in the mill.

When contacted, General Manager (Admn) Abdul Khaleque said the mill earned profit last year in its long history, but this time faced a setback with a huge quantity of sugar being unsold.

The authorities of the losing mills have uged the government to arrange loans so that they can pay out al least the arear dues of the sugarcane growers.

US renews bid to destroy poppies Tuesday, October 09,2007 AOP NEWS

KABUL: After the biggest opium harvest in Afghanistan's history, American officials have renewed efforts to persuade the government here to begin spraying herbicide on opium poppies, and they have found some supporters within President Hamid Karzai's administration, officials of both countries said.

Since early this year, Mr. Karzai has repeatedly declared his opposition to spraying the poppy fields, whether by crop-dusting airplanes or by eradication teams on the ground.

But Afghan officials said that the Karzai administration is now re-evaluating that stance. Some proponents within the government are even pushing a trial program of ground spraying that could begin before the harvest next spring.

The issue has created sharp divisions in the Afghan government, among its Western allies and even between American officials of different agencies. The matter is fraught with political danger for Mr. Karzai, whose hold on power is weak.

Many spraying advocates, including officials at the White House and the State Department, view herbicides as critical to curbing Afghanistan's poppy crop, officials said. That crop and the opium and heroin it produces have become a major source of revenue for the Taliban insurgency.

But officials said the skeptics - who include American military and intelligence officials and European diplomats in Afghanistan - fear that any spraying of American-made chemicals over Afghan farms would be a boon to Taliban propagandists. Some of these officials say that the political cost could be especially high if the herbicide destroys food crops that farmers often plant alongside their poppies.

"There has always been a need to balance the obvious greater effectiveness of spray against the potential for losing hearts and minds," Thomas A. Schweich, the assistant secretary of state for international narcotics issues, said in an interview last week in Washington. "The question is whether that's manageable. I think that it is."

Bush administration officials say they will respect whatever decision the Afghan government makes on the matter. Crop-eradication efforts, they insist, are only part of a broad, new counter-narcotics strategy that will include increased efforts against traffickers, more aid for legal agriculture and development, and greater military support for the drug fight.

Behind the scenes, however, Bush administration officials have been pressing the Afghan government to at least allow the trial spray of glyphosate, a commonly used weed-killer, current and former American officials said. Ground spraying would likely bring only a modest improvement over the manual destruction of poppy plants, but officials who support the strategy hope it would reassure Afghans about the safety of the herbicide and make eradication possible. Aerial spraying, they add, may be the only way to make a serious impact on opium production while the Taliban continues to dominate parts of Southern Afghanistan.

On Sunday, officials said, a State Department crop-eradication expert briefed key members of Mr. Karzai's cabinet about the effectiveness and safety of glyphosate. The expert, Charles S. Helling, a senior scientific adviser to the department's Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs, met with, among others, the ministers of public health and agriculture, both of whom have opposed the use of herbicides to eradicate poppy, an Afghan official said.

For all the controversy over herbicide use, there is no debate that Afghanistan's drug problem is out of control. The country now produces 93 percent of the world's opiates, according to United Nations estimates. Its traffickers are also processing more opium into heroin base there, a shift that has helped to increase Afghanistan's drug revenues exponentially since the American-led invasion in 2001.

A United Nations report in August documented a 17 percent rise in poppy cultivation from 2006 to 2007, and a 34 percent rise in opium production. Perhaps more importantly for the NATO-led effort to stabilize Afghanistan, taxes on the growers and traffickers have become a major source of financing for the Taliban.

The problem is most acute in the southern province of Helmand, a Taliban stronghold. Helmand produced nearly 4,400 metric tons of opium this year, nearly half of the country's total output, according to United Nations statistics.

Moreover, as Afghanistan's opium production has soared, the government's eradication efforts have faltered. Federal and provincial eradication teams - using sticks, sickles and animal-drawn plows - cut down about 47,000 acres of poppy fields this year, 24 percent more than last year but still less than 9 percent of the country's total poppy crop.

And even that effort had to be negotiated plot by plot with growers. Powerful and politically connected landowners were able to protect their crops while smaller, weaker farmers were made the targets. The eradication program was so spotty that it did little to discourage farmers from cultivating the crop, American and European officials said.

"The eradication process over the past five years has not worked," Antonio Maria Costa, executive director of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, said in an interview. "This year, it was a farce."

The Americans have pushed the Afghan government to eradicate with glyphosate for at least two years. According to current and former American officials, the subject has been raised with President Karzai by President Bush; Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice; Stephen J. Hadley, the national security adviser; and John P. Walters, the director of national drug-control policy.

American officials thought they had the Karzai administration's support late last year to begin a small-scale pilot program for ground spraying in several provinces. But that plan was derailed in January after an American-educated deputy minister of public health presented health and environmental concerns about glyphosate at a meeting of the Karzai cabinet, Afghan and American officials said.

Since then, Mr. Karzai has said he opposes spraying of any kind.

"President Karzai has categorically rejected that spraying will happen," Farooq Wardak, Afghanistan's minister of state for parliamentary affairs, said in a recent interview. "The collateral damage of that will be huge."

Yet in the weeks since the latest United Nations drug report, the Bush administration's lobbying appears to have made new headway. The administration has already won the backing of several members of Mr. Karzai's government and the spray advocates here are now trying to swing other key Afghan officials and Mr. Karzai himself, one high-level Afghan official said

"We are working to convince the key ministers and President Karzai to accept this strategy," said the official, who supports spraying but asked not to be identified because of the issue's political sensitivity. "We want to convince them to show some power. The government has to show its power in the remote provinces."

General Khodaidad, Afghanistan's acting minister of counter-narcotics (who, like many Afghans, goes by only one name), said in an interview last week that ground spraying is under careful consideration by the Afghan government. A high-level official of the Karzai administration said he believed some spraying might take place during this growing season, which begins in several weeks.

The American government contends that glyphosate is one of the world's safest herbicides.

One noted supporters of glyphosate as a counter-narcotics tool is the American ambassador in Kabul, William B. Wood, who arrived in April after a four-year posting as ambassador to Colombia. There, Mr. Wood oversaw the American-financed counter-narcotics program, Plan Colombia, which relies heavily on the aerial spraying of coca, the raw material for cocaine.

Mr. Wood has even offered to have himself sprayed with glyphosate, as one of his predecessors in Colombia once did, to prove its safety, a United States Embassy official in Kabul said.

But among European diplomats here, a far greater concern than any environmental or health dangers of chemical eradication is the potential for political fallout that could lead to more violence and instability.

These diplomats worry particularly that aerial spraying would kill food crops that some farmers plant with their poppies. European officials add that any form of spraying could be cast by the Taliban as American chemical warfare against the Afghan peasantry.

The British have been so concerned that on the eve of Mr. Karzai's trip to Camp David in August, Prime Minister Gordon Brown called President Bush and asked him not to pressure the Afghan premier to use herbicides, according to several diplomats here.

In something of a reversal of traditional roles, officials of the Pentagon and Central Intelligence Agency have also challenged the White House and State Department support for spraying, raising concerns about its potential to destabilize the Karzai government, current and former American officials said.

American officials who support herbicide use do not dismiss such concerns. They say an extensive public-information campaign would have to be carried out in conjunction with any spraying effort to dispel fears about the chemical's impacts.

Mr. Schweich, the assistant secretary of state, emphasized that a new American counter-narcotics strategy for Afghanistan, introduced in August, went far beyond eradication. He noted that it would increase punishments and rewards, including large amounts of development aid, to move farmers away from poppy cultivation. It also calls for more forceful eradication, interdiction and law-enforcement efforts, and closer coordination of counter-narcotics and counterinsurgency efforts, which until now have been pursued separately.

"We will do what the Afghan government wants to do," Mr. Schweich said, referring to the use of herbicides. The Bush administration, he added, simply wants to ensure that the Afghans "have all the facts on the table."

Kirk Semple reported from Kabul, Afghanistan, and Tim Golden from New York.

Wheat MSP raised to Rs 1,000 Wednesday, October 10,2007 The Tribune

CHANDIGARH: The Central Government on Tuesday announced the MSP for wheat at Rs 1,000 per quintal. It also announced a bonus of Rs 50 per quintal on MSP for paddy for the ongoing procurement season.

The wheat crop in April this year was purchased at Rs 850 per quintal by government agencies that included a bonus of Rs 100 per quintal, while the MSP was Rs 750. There is a hike of Rs 250 per quintal in MSP as compared to last year.

The Central government has been facing criticism over the import of wheat at costs, which are higher that the prevailing MSP, and today probably it played its "election card". This would quell the criticism over imports and please the farmers.

Fine paddy is being procured at Rs 675 per quintal with bonus; now the rate will go up to Rs 725. The MSP for coarse grain is Rs 645 per quintal.

Wheat is at present being sown across Punjab and Haryana and the crop will be ready by next April.

The wheat crisis was such in May that the Union Government had to send a minister to ‘plead' to the Chief Ministers of Punjab and Haryana to ensure that enough wheat was available in the mandis. But the move failed forcing the government to import wheat. Already the Planning Commission has included seven districts of Punjab under the Food Security Mission to increase farm productivity.

Punjab Chief Minister Prakash Singh Badal said the hike in the MSP for wheat was long overdue, taking in compulsions of market reality. But the hike still does not meet the import price of Rs 1,250 per quintal.

Sukhbir Singh Badal had earlier written a letter to the Prime Minister demanding that wheat MSP be linked to the market price, he added.

Haryana agriculture minister H.S. Chatha said the unprecedented hike in the wheat MSP would boost production in the country. Chatha said though Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda had demanded the wheat MSP for Rs 1,100 per quintal at the "Bijli Rally" at Jhajjar on October 7, UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi had assured Hooda that the wheat MSP would be announced much before the sowing season.

Chatha said the MSP fixed by the Centre was remunerative and would encourage the farmers to sow wheat in a large area. Meanwhile, a delegation of the Punjab Congress led by Rajinder Kaur Bhattal will leave for Delhi tomorrow to call upon Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and union agriculture minister Sharad Pawar to thank them for the hike, said Parminder Singh, general secretary of the Punjab unit.

Exports: Pak never gained what BD lost Thursday, October 11,2007DAILY TIMES

KARACHI: In this age of cutthroat competition in the international market, the country's textile sector has failed to grab the export orders from global buying houses, which the Bangladeshi garment sector has lost in recent months due to political turmoil in that country.

"We don't know where these orders have gone as the local textile sector has not seen any major surge in its export orders during this period," said a textile exporter.

According to the latest details, Bangladesh saw a 24 percent decline in its garment exports during the month of July 2007 when compared to same month a year earlier, which exporters of that country attributed to political disturbances and labour unrest for quite some time.

It is pertinent to mention that during December 2006, the same situation happened when agitation and political upheaval in Bangladesh caused a massive decline in its garment exports and the Pakistani textile sector capitalised on this situation well by grabbing a major share of their export orders.

However, this time, the country could not take advantage of this situation as no visible growth was seen in textile exports during these months.

"If you talk of political disturbance in Bangladesh the situation is not really different in Pakistan, which is also passing through an almost similar situation," said Zubair Motiwala, a leading textile exporter, when contacted to seek his views on the situation.

Motiwala, who is frequently consulted by government on the sector's issues and has also headed a committee formed by the government for providing relief to this vital sector of the economy, said that instability on the political front is detrimental to economy, which is evident from the happenings in Bangladesh and Pakistan.

He pointed out that foreign buyers want sustainability in supply and whenever there is disruption in the supply chain because of any reason, the diversion of orders is quite natural.

"I think that export orders diverted from Bangladesh have been grabbed by India and China, where their textile sector is doing a smooth sailing due to a stable political environment," he felt.

About the growth in export of textile products, Motiwala said that average growth in textile export has been at just above four percent compared to required 18 percent to meet the target.

However, if the export of raw cotton and yarn has fallen, this is not to be something to worry about, however the decline in home textile is cause of concern for the local industry, which he attributed to high cost of production.

Another textile industrialist, Mushtaq Vohra, expressing similar views said that no such orders have come to Pakistan as local textile products have been rendered uncompetitive due to the high cost of production and therefore are not in a position to capitalise on the situation.

"Instead of grabbing these export orders of others, the local textile sector is struggling hard to keep its own export orders intact," Vohra said.

He pointed out that among others, rising prices of cotton are also adding to the increased cost of production in the country, which needed to be brought down to make the local products competitive to some extent.

About falling garment exports of Bangladesh, Vohra said that though these have declined but it should also noted that there are 12 million spindles in Pakistan whereas in Bangladesh, which does not produce an ounce of cotton, but number of spindles have jumped to nine million from five million in just six months, which shows the strength of its textile sector.

Sharp fall in farmers' suicides in AP Thursday, October 11,2007 The Tribune

HYDERABAD: For the Congress government in Andhra Pradesh, which takes pride in calling itself farmer-friendly, this should sound like music.

The farmers' suicides in the state have dropped significantly this year.

Not very long ago, the spate of suicides across rural Andhra Pradesh was a major political issue which went on to influence the poll outcome in 2004.

The number of suicides has come down to 141 this year, compared to 1,212 in 2004, 657 in 2005 and 514 in 2006. It was alleged that over 4,000 debt-ridden farmers had committed suicide during the previous nine-year regime of TDP, headed by N.Chandrababu Naidu.

"Through a series of measures, we have been able to instill a sense of confidence among farmers. Our sustained focus on agriculture and irrigation has helped in revival of rural economy," agriculture minister N.Raghuveera Reddy said.

The supply of free power and increased institutional credit flow to farmers, remunerative prices for their produce, input subsidies, effective market intervention and building new infrastructure in rural area are among the steps that led to improvement in the situation, officials said.

Significantly, no suicides have been reported from Warangal, Mahboobnagar, West Godavari, Vizianagaram, Visakhapatnam and Srikakulam districts this year.

"Since coming to power three years ago, we have spent more than Rs 21,000 crores on irrigation projects, apart from welfare measures like health insurance, housing and pensions," the state Congress spokesman P.Venkat Rao said.

These measures, he said, had helped in mitigating the plight of farmers who had suffered during the previous TDP rule.

The debt burden, crop failure due to pest attack, failure of borewells and vagaries of Nature are seen as the major reasons for farmers' suicides in this predominantly agriculture-based state.

A one-man commission, headed by retired judge L. Ramachenna Reddy, had, in its report in 2005, blamed the TDP government's lopsided policies for large scale-suicides and made a series of recommendations to put agriculture sector back on the rails.

The probe panel found fault with the previous government's decision to stop payment of ex-gratia to the kin of farmers who committed suicide under the mistaken notion that compensation could encourage more suicides.

The neglect of rural economy was widely seen as a major factor responsible for TDP's debacle in the 2004 polls.

No respite from soaring vegetable prices Thursday, October 11,2007 THE HIMALAYAN TIMES

KATHMANDU: Soaring prices of vegetables, particularly of potatoes and onions, will not come down even during Dashain, thanks to limited import from India.

The price of vegetables, especially those being imported from different parts of India, has puffed up in the market. Potatoes, green chillies, lemons, tomatoes and cauliflowers are among the vegetables that are imported from India, partially.

The wholesale price of onion ranges from Rs 45 to 50 per kg, whereas the price of potato is up to Rs 23 per kg.

According to the Kalimati Fruits and Vegetable Market Development Board (KFVMDB), the recurring bandhs in the Tarai, which borders India, have resulted in scarcity of vegetables in the market and caused price hike. Hailstone and floods in India also have led to insufficient supply of vegetables here, it said. "Vegetable shortage prevails in Indian market as well. Export is very low and the price is expensive," Tara Pati Pokahrel, an officer at the KFVMDB, told this daily.

Shivaji Prasad, a wholesaler of onion and potato, said, "We were selling onions at the rate of Rs 35 to 38 per kg some 10 days ago. There is a shortage of these items as supply of these items from India has come to a halt. The shortage has increased the price of these items." The supply situation will not normalise immediately, he said, adding that there is a slim chance of vegetable prices going down during Dashain. Apart from India, the major supplier, vegetables are brought into the market from different parts of Nepal, India and China. Hari Prasad Sharma, adviser to the Kalimati Fruits and Vegetable Market Vocational Committee, said that onion and potato brought to the market from different parts of the country can meet the demand for about 15 days in a year.

Export wheat taken to facilitate bigwig Friday, October 12,2007 DAILY TIMES

ISLAMABAD: The combined opposition on Thursday submitted an adjournment motion to the Senate Secretariat for debate on the flour crisis in the country. Pakistan People's Party Parliamentary Secretary Izhar Amrohi submitted the motion signed by Mian Raza Rabbani, Asfandyar Wali, Saadia Abbasi, Babar Awan, Ilyas Bilour and Safdar Ali Abbasi. The senators have expressed concern over the sale of flour at Rs 20 per kilogramme throughout the country.

Senator Enver Baig told Daily Times that the "wrong decision" of the Economic Coordination Committee to allow the export of wheat on fabricated figures led to the crisis.

Bigwigs benefit: "The decision to export wheat was taken to facilitate the bigwigs, particularly in Punjab, to hoard wheat and mint money for the forthcoming general elections," Baig alleged. He said that the Punjab government was not interested in conducting raids, though Finance Ministry Special Secretary Ashfaq Hassan Khan in a press conference in Lahore on August 16 had categorically stated that wheat was being hoarded in godowns and gas stations.

"Federal Minister Jahangir Tarin and Punjab Chief Minister Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi accused each other of creating the crisis in a live television programme," he added.

Baig said the government was not interested in the welfare of the poor. "They are only protecting the big guns and their allies including the mill owners," he added.

Baig thanked Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry for taking suo motu action on prices and wheat hoarding.

Govt. exempts duty on imported rice Friday, October 12,2007 Colombo Page

COLOMBO: The government has decided to exempt the Rs. 20 per kilo tax on imported rice to arrest the escalation of prices in the domestic market. The decision was taken during a discussion President Mahinda Rajapaksa had with the Pettah Essential Food Importers' Association, said the media spokesman of the Association Hemaka Fernando.

He said that the President also agreed to reduce the Rs. 15 per kilo import tax on big onion up to five rupees per kilo and the traders would issue new consignments of big onion to the market by next week.

Earlier, the government decided to release 40,000 metric tons of paddy stocks available at Agricultural Products Marketing Authority to the market at the prices Rs. 23.50 per kilo for Samba and Rs. 19.50 per kilo for Nadu. These are out of the 50,000 metric tons stocks kept for emergency depleting the emergency stock to mere 10,000 metric tons.