The sudden fall in commodity prices and unpredictable climatic change has left farmers high and dry. The recent cyclone in Andhra Pradesh has inundated a large portion of arable land, particularly when the farmers were preparing for the Rabi season. Oilseed prices are inching closer to minimum support prices as farmers in Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra are preparing for kharif harvest. The future for farmers in these states remains uncertain with major vegetable oil exporting countries Malaysia and Indonesia falling over each other to offload their large inventories. Speaking to Business Line, V Shankar, Managing Director and CEO, Rallis India, a Tata Group company said coping with sudden change in climatic condition has been a big challenge for agriculture sector. While it went dry in June and July, rains poured out to make up for the entire deficit in August and then came the Hudhud cyclone when the farmers were preparing for the peak Rabi season. Excerpt:
Q) How do you see Rabi season?
A) Since the kharif season was not that great for farmers, they will take up Rabi with more vigour. Rabi is when farmers make more investment and not mind using value added products. It is typically a more commercial season than kharif. We are looking forward to farmers doing well in Rabi. But it is no denying that they incurred loss in kharif.
Q) Will the unusually hot October suck the moisture and impact on Rabi season?
A) I do not think so. We are also having thunderstorm at the other end. This kind of situation affects agriculture putting farmers in quandary. Like in Andhra Pradesh it was the peak season for pesticide spray. There is a pest called brown planthopper. In fact, rain and hot season is very conducive for pest build up. When this kind of cyclone comes and stops activity for two-three weeks. Everything comes to a standstill. Fortunately, the impact on paddy will be minimal as it can survive under water for few days, but the farming activity is delayed by few weeks. It is not a happy situation.
Q) Will the rise in input prices hurt farmers?
A) I believe farmers would look at the value. They would not cut down on spending if they consider a product is important. Since the general inflation has moved up, farmers may be very selective and look for quality products, particularly in the Rabi season they will look up for products that can improve yield.
Q) What is the progress of your ‘Grow More Pulses’ programme?
A) We have signed a memorandum of understanding with the Madhya Pradesh government to roll out ‘Grow More Pulses’ programme in the state. We would be covering about one lakh hectares involving over 100,000 farmers over three to five years. We are already working in Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka. It is progressing well especially in Maharashtra. We have covered over 300,000 farmers. This year we should be touching about 100,000 hectares. We got invitation from Jharkhand and Bihar governments to roll out the programme in these states. We have also started working to improve yield of chillies at Guntur in Andhra Pradesh. We also have a similar programme for grapes and programate in Maharashtra.
Q) How is the response for the new products?
A) We have introduced two new interesting products including Origin and Hunk. While Origin is the first ever combination of an insecticide and fungicide in India, Hunk is a good solution for sucking pest, especially in paddy. Initial response has been very good. We have also introduced corn hybrid targeted at farmers in Andhra Pradesh and Bihar. This is a special hybrid which requires more input management and the yields are very high. We are quite excited with all these interventions as all of them are quite new to Indian markets. The non-pesticide portfolio was 35 per cent of the revenue in the first half. This is a good progress in line with our long term strategy of the company.