Meeting to draft National Tobacco Policy Friday, November 09,2007 MIADHU NEWS [1]

MALE: A meeting was held in Male' yesterday to draft the National Tobacco Policy. The meeting organized by Department of Public Health, DPH, with the assistance of World Health Organization, WHO was participated by the committee charged with the prevention of smoking and various other government agencies.

The purpose of this one day meeting was to discuss the national tobacco policy and other issues involved with it.

Maldives is one 40 countries who has signed the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control. Even before signing the convention Maldives has implemented various measures curb smoking including conducting various programs on raising public awareness on the dangers of smoking.

Although there are many regulations concerning tobacco in the country, it has no constitutional authority. Many of the regulations issued under the Framework Convention on Tobacco are incorporated in the Tobacco Regulations of Maldives. Yesterday's meeting will pave the way for the formulation of a national law on tobacco.

Exporters happy over bumper onion crop Sunday, November 11,2007

KARACHI: After bumper production of onion in Sindh and Balochistan during the current season, exporters have resumed sending consignments of the commodity at larger scale during the last fortnight, earning precious foreign exchange to the national exchequer.

Currently more than 400 containers of onion have been exported to 5 to 6 East Asian and Middle Eastern countries after suspension of exports for a period more than four months because of damage to crop in Sindh and Balochistan after widespread monsoon rains.

Both southern provinces are the traditional centers of onion production and cater to exports and local demand round the year.

The areas where onion crop was badly damaged during monsoon rains included Sanghar, Tando Allayar, Hyderabad, Mirpurkhas districts of Sindh and Nal, Khuzdar, Zaidi and Ferozabad areas of Balochistan. The damage to the commodity not only halted its exports, but local supplies were also affected and consumers had been compelled to pay higher prices for the commodity for the last three to four months adding financial burden to their kitchen budgets. Haji Shahjahan, President of Wholesale Vegetable Welfare Association Sabzi Mandi, Karachi, who himself is a vegetable grower, told Daily Times here Saturday that the bumper crop of onion has brought financial relief to the growers and farmers who have already suffered massive losses previously. Majority of the 400 containers have been exported to Malaysia, Sri Lanka, UAE, Muscat and other Gulf countries where they are always in high demand due to their nutritious quality.

Replying to a question he said that India is the major exporter of onion for most of countries of the region as it caters to their requirement round the year while exports of Pakistani commodity are limited for a period of 3 to 4 months. One of the major reasons of high yield of Indian onion is huge incentives and modern storing facilities available to the growers, which is resulting in higher exports of the commodity without any interruption.

1995 to 2007 - 1.5 lakh farm suicides Monday, November 12,2007 The Hindu [2]

CHENNAI: Nearly 1,50,000 Indian farmers committed suicide in nine years from 1997 to 2005, official data show. While the suicides occurred in many States, nearly two-thirds of such deaths were concentrated in five States where just a third of the country's population lives. This means that farm suicides occurred in these (mainly cash crop) regions with appalling intensity.

The five States are Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh (including Chattisgarh) and Kerala. Of these, only Kerala showed no sustained increase in the number of yearly farm suicides over this period. That was mainly because of a decline after 2003, which was that State's worst year. Maharashtra, for which data exists from 1995, is by far the worst-hit. Farm suicides there more than trebled from 1083 in 1995 to 3926 in 2005.

Suicides as a whole rose nationally in the 1997-2005 period. But the rate of increase in farm suicides was far higher than the rate of increase in suicides by non-farmers. In Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Madhya Pradesh, the percentage increase in farm suicides were more than double the increase in non-farm suicides in this period.

While suicides by non-farmers went up by 23 per cent in the Big Four States, farm suicides went up by 52 per cent. Indeed, these States might be termed the "Suicide SEZ" or "Special Elimination Zone" for farmers this past decade. In 1997, these States accounted for 53 per cent, or just over half of all farm suicides in the country. By 2005, it was 64 per cent.

That is, in less than a decade, their share of farm suicides, already disproportionately high, leapt to nearly two-thirds.

These and other grim findings emerge from a comprehensive study of official data on farm suicides by Professor K. Nagaraj of the Madras Institute of Development Studies (MIDS).

The data analysed by him were drawn from various issues of Accidental Deaths and Suicides in India.

This is a publication of the National Crime Records Bureau, Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India. The period covered by the study is from 1997-2005.

Harvest of early-variety rice completed Monday, November 12,2007 NEW AGE [3]

RANGAPUR: FARMERS have completed harvesting of early variety aman paddy BRRI Dhan 33 in the poverty-stricken five districts of the Rangpur region much ahead of the traditional harvesting period of transplanted aman this year.

Officials said that the farmers cultivated the short duration early-variety paddy at a larger scale with a view to getting early harvest and mitigating crisis of seasonal monga and got an excellent yield rate.

Bangladesh Rice Research Institute has invented the new technology of farming early variety of aman paddy after long research through Direct Seeded Rice method to mitigate monga, especially during the Bangla months of Aswin and Kartik, they said.

With financial support from the Research Initiatives Bangladesh and technical assistance from the BRRI the project on expanding Early Rice Cultivation through Direct Seeded Rice was launched in 2006 for the first time on a larger scale by three non-governmental organisations - TMSS, USS, RDRS - and government organisation BRDB under the Northwest Focal Area Forum.

Under the project, 3,000 acres of land involving 10,000 farmers was brought under farming of BRRI Dhan 33 in 2006 in these districts that yielded expected results.

This year, 1,000 acres of land were brought under cultivation of this variety of rice in Rangpur, Kurigram, Gaibandha, Lalmonirhat and Nilphamari and Rangpur-Dinajpur Rural Service alone helped 1,500 farmers in cultivating the same in over 500 acres of land.

More NGOs including Solidarity, Jibika, Inter Cooperation Leaf, and some others were involved in popularising farming of the early variety of rice. A total of 25 NGOs have cultivated the paddy under the assistances of the RDRS this year and the RDRS is planning to bring about 1,200 acres land under its farming next year in the area.

Harvesting of the paddy began in the first week of October that continued till October 31 last and the yield rate of the dry paddy stood at 4.5 to 5 tonnes per hectare on an average, officials said.

The harvesting was completed within the peak monga period instead of traditional period of harvesting transplanted aman paddy from late November, which also helped by and large in eliminating job crisis of over 50,000 farm labourers.

General Officer Commanding of 66 Artillery Division and Rangpur Area Commander Major General Syed Fatemy Ahmed Roomy, deputy commissioners, UNOs, scientists and experts of the BRRI and other organisations and beneficiary farmers and villagers took part in the crop-cutting ceremonies about six to eight weeks ahead of the traditional transplanted aman harvesting period in the area.

Inventor of the technology and principal scientific officer of Rangpur Station of the BRRI Dr Abdul Mazid told the news agency on Saturday that large-scale farming of the rice would bring harvesting periods of all crops 40 to 60 days ahead than that of the traditional periods and the farmers would be benefited by and large through cultivating subsequent rabi crops and vegetables in relay methods in the same land.

The technology will expedite eradicating seasonal monga from the region and increase the crop intensity and overall crop productions at the earlier periods throughout the year and also reduce risks of natural calamities on the growing crops in the fields, he said.

BRRI scientific officer Anwarul Haque underscored the need for increasing production of seeds of BRRI Dhan 33 by various government departments, other organisations and NGOs to provide the same to the farmers for expanding its cultivation further at a larger scale.

The farmers would be benefited highly throughout the country if the technology were adopted on a larger scale everywhere, he added.

Onion price may rise further Tuesday, November 13,2007 MINIVAN NEWS [4]

MALE: The price of onions, which increased more than four fold at the end of October, may rise further according to some wholesalers. India, the main supplier of onions to the Maldives has imposed an export ban, leading the price in Malé to rise from Rf12 to Rf50 per kilo. Unless the export ban is lifted, prices will have to rise again according to wholesalers. The government has been criticised for failing to tap new markets for onions, which are a staple food in the Maldives, during the crisis.

Flour price up in Kabul Tuesday, November 13,2007 PAJHWOK [5]

ISLAMABAD/KABUL: Pakistan has banned flour exports to Afghanistan, driving up the price of the staple commodity by 20 percent in the impoverished strife-torn country. The Commerce Ministry, approached for comments, told Pajhwok Afghan News, it had no information about any ban imposed by Pakistan on flour exports to Afghanistan.

But Afghan trader Syed Wazir, in a chat with this news agency at the Torkham border crossing, claimed the Pakistan Army Friday ordered border guards not to allow even a single bag of flour to Afghanistan.

The businessman complained 50 trucks laden with flour were ordered back to Peshawar following a refusal by the authorities to let the vehicles cross into Afghanistan. "Four truckloads of flour that I was legally taking to Afghanistan were also returned," Wazir added.

Another trader estimated that before the ban was enforced three days back, more than a hundred trucks used to cross the border into Afghanistan on a daily basis.

A trucker named Majid said in Landikotal about 200 flour-laden trucks bound for the Afghanistan had been stopped. A Pakistani border official, Gul Sam, opined the ban might be linked to the imposition of emergency in the country.

Although Afghanistan also imports flour from Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, the landlocked nation is largely dependent on shipments from Pakistan.

A shopkeeper in Kabul said the price of a 100-kilogram flour bag had gone up from 1720 afghanis to 2100 afghanis as a result of the restriction. Engineer Shafi, president of the food item traders association, also confirmed the ban.

He feared a continued prohibition the price of a 100-kg sack could shoot up to 3000 afghanis. He went on to say if the ban was not lifted, flour smuggling would start because the two countries shared a long porous border.

Mohammad Azim Wardag, head of foreign trade department at the Commerce and Industry Ministry, expressed ignorance about the ban. He said he had received complaints a few days back but an inquiry suggested the grumbles were baseless.

The official, however, promised he would raise the issue at a cabinet meeting besides speaking to Pakistan authorities if the ban had in fact been in place in violation of international agreements.

Wheat purchase, support price de-linked Wednesday, November 14,2007 THE POST [6]

ISLAMABAD: The Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) of the Cabinet on Tuesday de-linked the wheat support price from wheat procurement price and decided not to fix the wheat support price for the year 2007-08.

The 115th ECC met under the chairmanship of the Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz also decided that the government would procure 7 million ton of wheat from the next crop on the prevailing market price.

ECC also approved Power Co-generation Policy by the Sugar Mills and decided that National Electric Power regulatory Authority (NEPRAS) to determine up front tariff for the mills within 45 days after submission of application by the sugar mills.

The meeting also reviewed the overall economic situation in the country and took some important decisions. Dr. Ashfaque Hassan Khan, Special Secretary Finance briefed the reporters about the decisions after the ECC meeting.

Dr. Khan said that ECC has decided to de-link the wheat support price with government procurement price for the wheat crop 2007-08. From the next wheat crop government would procure 2 million ton more wheat on market price as compared to 5 million ton in the last crop. He informed that Ministerial Committee on Core Food Inflation had recommended Rs 450 as wheat support price for the year 2007-08. He said that additional 2 million ton procurement from next wheat crop would give a signal to the farmers to growth more for batter returns.

ECC was informed that at present about 3.347 million wheat stock is available in the country, 2 million tons with Punjab, 0.35 million tons with Sindh, 0.8639 million tons with PASSCO, 48,270 tons with Balochistan and 72,881 tons with NWFP.

ECC was also informed that 50,000 tons of wheat would reach in the country by end of November by two vessels, 0.150 million tons by end of December and 0.3 million tons in January 2008. TCP has finalized 0.5 million tons of wheat import plan.

Giving details on Power Co-generation Policy by the sugar mills, he said that at present sugar mills are capable of generate 1500 to 1800 MW power and the new policy would encourage them in generation. It has been decided that NEPRA would decided up front tariff for the sugar mills within 45 days so that they are able to plan and implement their development plans for power co-generation. He informed that sugar mills to use local as well as imported coal for power generation purposes instated of gas.

ECC also decided to allow Corporate Income Tax exemption for 20 years to the Port of Singapore Authority for development of Gwadar port. ECC also allowed General Sales Tax exemption to three companies, which have been established to develop port, Gwadar Free Zone and other facilities. Raw materials and equipments to be used for Gwadar Port development have also been exempted from General Sales Tax for 40 years.

Dr. Khan informed that ECC has approved $50 as Research and Development Support on export of motorcycle from the country. It would help local 43 units to compete in the international markets and enhance exports from Pakistan. It would also help increase employment opportunities in the parts manufacturing industry, the ECC was informed. At present local assemblers are producing some 0.9 million units annually and it is hoped that exports from this industry would increase the numbers of units to be produced in years to come.

ECC also approved Auto Industry Development Pro-gramme to make it competitive in the exports markets as well locally. The government discourages import of used and old vehicles to enable the local industry expand its production facilities and initiate capacity building of its workers.

While reviewing the economic indicators, the ECC was informed that tax collection have witnessed an increase of 14.3 percent in July-October period and total collection have reach at Rs 271.1 billion as compared to Rs 237.2 billion in the same period of last fiscal year.

He informed that trade deficit in July-October period of this fiscal year was mainly due to the increase in the oil prices in the international markets. Increase in the imports during October was mainly due to the import of Oil Rig on re-export basis worth $400 million. While reviewing the edible oil imports in the country ECC directed FBR to re-examine the duty and tax structure for ghee and cooking oil industry and report to the ECC.

Pest attack to hit aman output Wednesday, November 14,2007 NEW AGE [7]

DHAKA: PRODUCTION of transplanted aman paddy is likely to fall in Jhenaidah this season.

Farmers said pests were destroying paddy sheaves, when the harvest was starting. Attack of a harmful pest, mazra, just before the harvest would decrease the production, they said.

Natural calamities and fertiliser crisis affected the cultivation in the beginning, they said, adding, they worked hard to brave the hindrance. Now the pest attack has upset many farmers.

While visiting some areas of Khalispur and Jalilpur under Moheshpur upazila, Manaharpur, Damukdia, Pathanpara, Hetampur and Paikpara under Sailkupa upazila this correspondent found that farmers were disappointed with the pest attack at the final stage of production.

They said the attack of harmful mazra pest was severe in the current season and it would definitely decrease the production.

Rashidul Hasan, a farmer at village Manaharpur under Sailkupa upazila, said many farmers like him faced severe crisis of urea during the peak season of cultivation.

The urea crisis has hampered the production significantly. He said, ‘Now I'm upset with the new problem, the pest attack.'

According to the Department of Agriculture Extension in Jhenaidah, a target has been fixed to produce 2.34 lakh tonnes of paddy on 90,000 hectares of land in the district headquarters, Sailkupa, Harinakunda, Kaliganj, Kotchandpur and Moheshpur upazilas.

When the farmers expressed their disappointment with the production the deputy director of the Jhenaidah DAE, Abdul Kader Sarkar, contradicted their comments and said the production would exceed the target.

He claimed that the pest attack was very nominal. ‘Rather, it would be more than the previous years,' he said.

Although the farmers brought 89,000 hectares of land under T-aman farming in the district, the yield would be 2.4 lakh tonnes this year, when the target was 2.3 lakh tonnes, Sarkar added.

'Fertiliser crisis myth made by media' Wednesday, November 14,2007 NEW AGE [8]

DHAKA: The industry adviser, Geeteara Safiya Choudhury, on Tuesday said the fertiliser shortage was a myth created by the media and those farmers unwilling to queue up.

She told reporters in the home ministry conference room that fertiliser stock was sufficient although its distribution suffered.

The adviser urged farmers to rest assured that enough stocks of fertilisers exist to meet their needs through the season.

She said not only the rice growers, fish and corn farmers as well were getting fertiliser allocations this season, which only proved that the government had adequate stocks of fertiliser to meet every requirement.

Geeteara informed the media that the government had decided to streamline the manure distribution countrywide, which included the decision of importing more fertiliser and building buffer stocks.

The government was taking a look at the distribution system to address the hurdles, she said, adding that they were considering introducing a new system being piloted at the field level.

The ‘improved' system would be introduced after the ‘peak season' is over and the government was employing more people to strengthen the distribution system through the present season, the adviser said.

Country has sufficient stock of fertilizer, says Geeteara Propaganda panicked farmers, she claims.

High tobacco taxes bring benefits Wednesday, November 14,2007 Lanka Business [9]

COLOMBO: Sri Lanka's high tobacco taxes and new laws have brought big benefits, with smokers and consumption falling, information filed by the multinational that has most of the island's cigarette market showed. Ceylon Tobacco Company, a Colombo listed firm owned by British American Tobacco and Phillip Morris said revenues increased 12.6 percent to 11.8 billion rupees as prices were raised.

"Driven by the decline in the number of smokers and their average daily consumption levels, total industry volumes continued to decline during the period under review," the company said in a stock exchange filing.

"Excise led price increases coupled with the effect of new tobacco regulations implemented in December 2006 resulted a decline in the company's total sales volumes compared to the same period last year."

Taxes to the government rose 9.8 percent to 9.6 billion rupees and after tax profits by 14.4 percent to 431 million rupees but volumes fell as prices were raised.

In the 9-months to September the company had raised 28 billion rupees from smokers for the government. Provincial governments had also increased their taxes from one to five percent.

The high taxes had made smuggling cigarettes a lucrative business.

But Ceylon Tobacco said authorities had conducted 462 raids in the last three quarters and found 163 million rupees worth of contraband cigarettes.

Though many western tobacco giants had been targeting women and children of developing countries as regulations in home markets got tougher, Sri Lanka has traditionally had a strong anti-tobacco lobby and low smoking prevalence among women.

However tobacco labeling in the country is still very lax and the graphic tobacco warnings have not been enforced yet.

Philippines said last week that it was planning a new law to put diseased lungs in cigarette packs.

Tobacco is responsible for millions of deaths worldwide and the industry has denied that it was selling a defective product and funded contrary research to discredit medical findings for decades.

Research presented at a global lung health conference in Cape Town on Friday found a strong link between tobacco and tuberculosis deaths.

Researchers said smoking increased the risk of getting TB and dying from TB by 20 percent.

Smoking is estimated to cause five million deaths a year, 13,400 a day and 560 an hour.

This was expected to rise to 10 million by 2030 -- 70 percent of them in the Third World.

There were an estimated 1.3 billion smokers in the world, with the number expected to grow to 1.64 billion by 2030.

Vegetable prices down as supply improves Wednesday, November 14,2007 THE KATHMANDU POST [10]

KATHMANDU: The onset of the flush season, followed by gradual improvements in supply over the past month, has pushed down prices of major vegetables in the market.

Traders said that with supply rising and demand falling or remaining the same, vegetable prices have taken a nosedive.

According to the data compiled by the Kalimati Fruits and Vegetables Market Development Board (KFVMDB), all the major vegetables except tomatoes have become cheaper.

Red and white potatoes were selling at Rs 23 and Rs 21 per kg respectively on Monday, down from Rs 26 and Rs 23 a month ago. Onions, another widely used item, were going for Rs 30 per kg. They cost Rs 52 a month ago.

Likewise, the marketplace also witnessed a sharp fall in the prices of popular vegetables like cabbages and carrots. They now cost Rs 30 and Rs 10 per kg compared to Rs 45 and Rs 35 last month.

"The main vegetable season is now on, and prices are going down," planning officer of the KFVMDB Binaya Shrestha told the Post. He added that with the inflow of vegetables increasing gradually, they would become even cheaper in the days to come.

According to traders, around 600 tons of vegetables arrive every day at the Kalimati market, compared to 450 tons that used to be delivered daily during the past month.

Krishna Basnet, office secretary of the Vegetable Wholesalers Association at Kalimati, said that local vegetables were pouring in with the beginning of the main season when domestic produce dominates the market.

Most of the vegetables brought to Kalimati come from Dhading, Palung, Chitwan, Nuwakot, Kabhre, Lalitpur and Bhaktapur.

Khalil Ansari, a vendor at Kalimati, said, "Freshly harvested potatoes are arriving from different parts of the country, contributing to the decline in their price. It's the same with other items."

However, the price of tomatoes has soared. Cauliflowers were selling for almost the same rate as last month.

"Lower production and increased demand during the Dashain and Tihar holidays have pushed up tomato prices," Shrestha said.

Large and small tomatoes were selling for Rs 30 and Rs 28 per kg on Monday, Rs 10 more expensive than what they cost previously. The price of cauliflowers stayed at around Rs 30 per kg during the past month.

Irrigation facility changes lives Wednesday, November 14,2007 THE HIMALAYANT IMES [11]

NEPALGUNJ: People in Udhrapur are no more depended on Indian market Rupaidiha and Balegaun for vegetable after they have installed Dhiki pumps in their village. They produce fresh vegetables on their own courtyard, thanks to the irrigation facility.

They used to go across the border to buy vegetables as they could not produce vegetables due to lack of irrigation facility in the village. But the situation has changed now after they installed Dhiki pumps with the assistance of the British donor agency Department for International Development (DFID).

Many of them also sell the surplus produce at the local market. The locals said that they used to buy decayed vegetables from Rupaidiha and Balegaun across the border because they had no other option.

"The Dhiki pumps have helped a lot to us," Meena B K, a housewife said adding that they have now enough vegetable production on their own Karesa bari. Another benefit the locals have from the Dhiki pump is that they are able to store seeds even if there was no enough rainfall.

Gyan Bahadur Oli, a local said that the Dhiki pumps have brought revolution in their lives. "Udharapur's Shantinagar had irrigation and drinking water problem though it is situated on the banks of Mankhola," he said adding that 398 Dhiki pumps were distributed under the community assistance programme.

Record maize cultivation target fixed Thursday, November 15,2007 NEW AGE [12]

RANGAPUR: THE sowing of maize seeds is getting momentum in all 16 districts of the Rajshahi division a little ahead of the traditional sowing period where an all-time record cultivation target has been fixed this season.

According to officials, the Department of Agriculture Extension has set the record target of producing 7,86,602 tonnes of maize from 1,35,155 hectares of land in the region that is 67.65 per cent of the whole national target during this season.

During the last season, the production target was 4,42,700 tonnes from 74,778 hectares and it was 2,73,049 tonnes from 59,641 hectares during 2005-06.

The national target of producing 11,63,418 tonnes of maize from two lakh hectares in all 64 districts has been fixed this year, DAE officials said.

Large-scale maize farming has changed the fate of hundreds of poor people on the sandy-barren char lands in recent years and the farmers, including the flood-hit peasants, are preparing for farming the cash crop on more land this year under the ongoing post-flood agri-rehabilitation programmes, the officials said.

DAE experts said cultivation of maize on vast abandoned and sandy-char land and in dried-up beds of the rivers and their tributaries in the region brought about a revolutionary change to the poor farmers and unemployed youths during the past two consecutive years.

Besides, adequately favourable soil, climatic and topographic conditions and increasing poultry feed industries have encouraged the farmers to grow maize to a greater extent to earn more profits through farming of the cash crop, the experts said.

The flood-hit farmers in the char areas are bringing huge sandy-barren land under maize farming for the third consecutive time this year as they got tremendous yield of the cash crop and its fair prices during the past two seasons, deputy director of the DAE, Rangpur, Kamal Shariful Alam told the news agency on Tuesday.

Over 30,000 hectares of char land in Brahmaputra, Teesta, Dharla, Jamuna, Ratnai, Saniyazan, Dudhkumar, Atrai, Mohananda, Kartoa, Ghaghot and other river basins in the region are expected to be brought under maize farming this year that is almost double than that of the previous year.

Cultivation of maize has also been contributing significantly to the poverty reduction and achievement of self-reliance for last few years in the region, including the vast char areas, which has become possible for cultivating maize.

‘Maize farming is always more profitable than many other crops and the farmers will do better this time as they are getting high yielding variety of maize seeds and have started farming the crop using latest scientific methods of cultivation for further successes,' the DAE officials added.

The experts said there were immense potentialities to increase maize production further by bringing thousands of hectares of the abandoned char land in Kurigram, Rangpur, Lalmonirhat, Nilphamari, Gaibandha, Bogra, Sirajganj, Pabna and other districts of the region and the country as a whole under maize farming.

New rules to control coconut rot-disease Thursday, November 15,2007 DAILY NEWS [13]

COLOMBO: The Plantation Industries Ministry will issue a special Gazette Notification extending the new regulations imposed to control the spread of the coconut leaf rot-disease prevalent in the Matara district, Ministry Secretary G. Abeywickrama said. Kamburugamuwa and Kotawila in Matara will be named as areas affected by the disease and the transportation of green cadjans from Matara to other districts will be banned.

Police will be authorised to check the transportation of green cadjans.

Pomegranate farmers see prices rise Thursday, November 15,2007 CHRON [14]

KANDAHAR: Farm hands place mounds of bright red pomegranates into shipping boxes stamped with "Product of Afghanistan" on the side. The price and quality of the sweet fruit are up, and the farmers are happy about a new storage facility that has extended their selling season. The advances in the pomegranate trade are a sliver of good news from a region of Afghanistan known more for its Taliban attacks and thriving opium trade.

Ubaidullah Jan, a 50-year-old farmer from the Arghandab area just north of Kandahar, said the price his pomegranates command has doubled this year to about US$1.20 a kilogram (54 cents per pound), due to the new cold storage facility and quality control programs implemented by the U.S. Agency for International Development, or USAID.

"The goods we are selling with the help of USAID, and being able to keep them in cold storage have brought a tremendous change in our business," Jan said, adding his goods are being sent to Dubai, Pakistan, India and Singapore.

Scarred by an almost perpetual state of conflict since 1980, Afghanistan has only one truly successful export: opium and the heroin that's made from it.

The country produced 8,200 tons of opium in 2007, up 34 percent from last year's record harvest. Farmers this year can make US$5,200 per hectare (US$2,105 an acre) of opium poppy; wheat yields about US$550 per hectare (US$222 per acre). The total value of the opium trade for Afghanistan farmers this year stands at US$1 billion.

The value of all of Afghanistan's legal exports in 2006, meanwhile, was US$193 million, with animal hides and wool skins topping the list at US$21 million. The overall legal export market has increased an average of 28 percent a year over the last four years and will continue to expand, said Loren Owen Stoddard, director of alternative development and agriculture for USAID.

Afghanistan's fruit and vegetables in particular have a lot of potential, he said. The "perceived value" of Afghan pomegranates and other fruits is high in regional markets.

"Talk to an Indian fruit seller and he'll instinctively know that (Afghan pomegranates) are the best in the world," Stoddard said. "When we show up the reaction is, 'Oh, these are the great Afghan products I used to buy.'"

In Kandahar, USAID is spending US$6.6 million on agricultural and marketing assistance programs for producers of fresh and dried fruits and nuts.

The goal is sustained economic growth that can help reduce and eventually eliminate poppy cultivation. About 330 vineyards and orchards have been developed in Kandahar, and 51 dry raisin sheds have been rehabilitated through the program. Next year 12,500 grape vines will be planted.

Farming in Afghanistan holds its challenges. Pomegranate farmers from Arghandab district abandoned their fields en masse earlier this month and headed toward the relative safety of Kandahar city after Taliban fighters moved into the region for several days.

USAID opened the cold storage facility in September and is trying to increase contacts with potential buyers in overseas markets. Farmers are being taught to grow their raisins away from Kandahar's dusty earth; cleaner raisins can fetch up to four times more at market.

Western aid workers dress in local outfits and travel around the province to help connect buyers and sellers.

"War creates a lack of communication and so some of what our guys are doing is reintroducing Afghans to buyers who have changed over 30 years," Stoddard said.

So far, the program has helped ship 690 tons of pomegranates to India, 600 tons to Pakistan and 36 tons to Dubai, mostly on outgoing military flights.

A sample 500 kilogram shipment was also sent to the United States, said Mohammad Gul, a USAID program officer in Kandahar. Future shipments to North American could be possible through refrigerated container shipments.

The pomegranate growers say Taliban fighters _ who recruit armed gunmen and force some farmers into the poppy trade across Afghanistan's south _ leave them alone.

"This is a business we've inherited from our ancestors," said Hayatullah Khan, 42. "The Taliban never say that we should grow poppy instead of pomegranates."

Khan said the success of the pomegranate project could lure other farmers back into legal crops, though the trend is currently in the opposite direction. Kandahar province in 2007 saw a 32 percent increase in the amount of land the region's farmers used for poppies.

Before more food products can be made at home, Afghanistan needs a better electrical grid. Only the western city of Herat, which imports power from Iran, has reliable power. The municipal electrical grid in Kabul on average provides only three hours of power a day.

"The No. 1 challenge to agribusiness is electricity," Stoddard said. "You can't keep things cold and you can't bottle them without power."

Farmers' group condemns ECC decision Thursday, November 15,2007 DAILY TIMES [15]

LAHORE: The agriculturists and farmers associations on Wednesday have strongly condemned the decision of Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) of de-linking wheat support price from wheat procurement price and said that the decision would leave negative impact on the production of wheat in the next year.

They said that the decision would leave drastic and negative impact on the farmers particularly and economy of rural areas generally.

The decision would discourage the farmers from sowing wheat, said Farmers Association Pakistan's (FAP) spokesman, Muhammad Idrees. He said that the cost of production for wheat has increased and the farmers were reluctant for sowing wheat and were waiting for the announcement of an attractive support price, but now the situation has totally changed. He said that the prices of fertilisers in the last one-year have increased at least 40 percent while the availability of water is also declined and all these circumstances are not favouring the farmers. "Now the decision of leaving the farmers at the mercy of corrupt people and black marketers would last nail in the coffins of farmers," Idrees lamented.

He said that the delay of sugarcane crushing is already confused the farmers and wheat sowing was in doldrums and now the ECC decision would tremble the confidence of the farmers.

Secretary Information, Kisan Board Pakistan (KBP), Chaudhry Akhtar Farooq also condemned the decision saying it could prove to be a double-edge sword, as no one could predict about the market price of wheat in the future. "The price of wheat could be very low in the coming days and there is a chance of attractive wheat price," he said adding that the farmers would remain in dark for the five months and could not determine the price. He said that the government has betrayed the 70 percent of population by de-linking the price.

Sadeed Ather Malhi, an agriculturist from Narowal said that he was considering increasing the wheat sowing area, as the farmers were expecting attractive wheat support price but now the situation has changed. "A couple of ministers, belonging from urban areas have made 70 percent of population hostage," Malhi said.

Imrah Ahmed Sindhu, another agriculturists from the same area said that the he would prefer hatching and poultry farm and would not sow wheat on his fields.

Edible oil selling at Rs 120 per kg Friday, November 16,2007 THE NATION [16]

LAHORE: International edible oil price closing at $985 per tonne has caused the vanaspati ghee and oil brand names companies go for another drastic jump in the prices within a week's time.

Retail vendors told The Nation that prices jumped to Rs 120 per kg from the previous Rs 109, Rs 310 per 2.5 kg for the previous Rs 290 and the Rs 590 per 5 kg from the Rs 540 pack sold at retail. PVMA Chairman Amjad Rashid when contacted in this regard argued that with the Chicago edible oil price regime reaching $985 per tonne i.e. Rs 60,085, it was inevitable for the industry to push up the prices on account of a troublesome taxation regime. When asked if there was some kind of dialogue between the industry and the policy makers, he confirmed that the Federal Board of Revenue had sought audience with the industry leaders over a review of the current sales tax and import duty regime.

that was doubling the impact of the import prices of the edible oil products.

It is pertinent to note here that with the edible oil products like canola and corn increasingly put into the use for the production of bio energy, the prices of edible oil has been consistently increasing.

Coupled with 15 per cent sale tax regime and other taxes, the retail prices have progressively gone up during the last six months from Rs 78 per kg to an expected astronomical figure of Rs 120 as is being heard now.

Govt to increase fertiliser sub-centres Friday, November 16,2007 NEW AGE [17]

DHAKA: The government has decided to increase the number of fertiliser sub-centres to cover all the unions with the existing dealer shops to make fertiliser available to farmers and to speed up distribution.

The decision was made as the government thought it would be difficult for the existing 4,800 dealers to make fertiliser available to every farmer in the forthcoming peak boro season, said the agriculture adviser, CS Karim, at a news briefing at the Press Information Department on Thursday.

A dealer will run three or more sub-centres in a union, which will increase the number of fertiliser selling outlets to about 15,000 across the country and increase fertiliser sale at block level in unions.

The process will add to fertiliser price a bit because of the transport cost, but it will be looked into by the district fertiliser committee, the adviser said.

Regarding the ongoing fertiliser crisis, the adviser said, ‘It is nothing but stray incidents which have taken place only 25 districts. We have suspended two officials involved in irregularities related to fertiliser. Action against a few is being processed.'

The amount of fertiliser subsidy has already reached about Tk 4500 crore in 2007-08 because of a significant increase in the prices of urea and non-urea fertilisers on the international market, Karim said.

The government is also concerned about the seed shortage as the country would need to increase food production, he said.

The government has increased the target of boro production to minimise crop losses due to recurring floods this year, he said.

The boro production target has been fixed at 169.45 lakh tonnes which is 10 lakh tonnes more than the figure of the previous year, said the adviser. Government agencies including the Bangladesh Agricultural Development Corporation, distributed 81.82 per cent of the seeds among the farmers

The agriculture secretary, Abdul Aziz, additional secretary CQK Mustaque Ahmed, Bangladesh Agriculture Development Corporation chairman Abdur Razzaque, chief information officer Iftekhar Ahmed and other high officials attended.