Development Diary ..

Export Target

The export target for 1990-91 isfixed at Rs. 36,000 crores. The keyelements of the export strategyinclude: availability of raw materials,components and capital goods toexporters at world prices, streng-thening the export -incentiveschemes like. CCS, Duty drawback,International Price ReimbursementScheme (IPRS), concessionaryinterest rates, supportive exchangerate, demand management policies,improvement in infrastructuralfacilities and simplification oxprocedures. During the year,' theexport of agricultural commodities isestimated to contribute about 15.88per cent of the overall export target.

Testing Electronic

Products

For the first time, three Indianlaboratories have been licensed totest and certify electronic productsmanufactured in India for Inter-national markets. These laboratoriesare und~r the Standardisation,Testing and Quality Control (STQC)Directorate. At present electronicproudcts are sent to laboratoriesabroad for certification. The facilityat the three Indian laboratories willhelp the manufacturers to cut downtheir expenses and uncertaintyinvolved in the process.

The Department of Electronics hastaken steps to certify electronicproducts from the safety angle 3S

well. Safety' Certification is amandatory clause for entry into theWestern markets for any electronicproduct.

Nationalised Bapk Profit

Nineteen out of the 201nationalisedba~ks, which have finalised theiraccounts for .the y~ar 1989-90,achieved a profit. of nearly Rs. 240crares. Government and the ReserveBank of India have taken series ofmeasures to improve the;performanceand profitability of the public sectorbanks. These include a,ugmentationof capital, higher ci(Jupon rateson Government'securiti~s and higherreturn on cash balances. Banks havebeen advised by RBI to draw upAction Plans to improve theiroperational efficiency.

Communication iFacilitiesThrough IN~AT-ID

The Department of Telecommunica-tions plans to improve cotnmunicationfacilities in thecoun.ry throughINSAT-IDSatellite. Subscriber TrunkDialling (STD) 'facility will beprovided to about 17 District Head~Quarters in remote, hilly, backwaroand island areas of the country.About 35 new earth staiions will beset up. Satellite earthl stations atKulu, Port Blair, Imphal'and Agartalaare to be augmented for handlingmedium traffic capacitY to provideSTD facility from these places.

I

A Remote Area Busiiless MessageNetwork (RABMN)is being created. Itwill provide the followibgfacilities:

_ Interactive data corttmunicationfor speed upto 1200 ~ps.

_ Facsimile service. I

_ Access to domestic telex network.I ._ Access to Interna~,ional TelexExchange.

_ Access to Interna~ional DataNetwork through VSNL GatewayExchange.

Voi.34No. 18 ,

,Chie.fEditorD.K.,Bharadwaj

•qOlono Octorber l-Iti, 1990Asvina 9-23; 1912

EditorMahadev Pakrasi

Asso. EditorC.P. LaIman

Assistant EcJ.itor';'S:P.}~.alik~ //

Sub-EditorD.K.Chaliya ,

Senior Correspondents:Ahmedabad: B.P. Shah

Bangalore: B.N.GurumW"thy

calcutta: B.1e.ehakravarty

Guwahati: B.1e.Salida

'Jlyderabad: e,G.1e. MW"thy

Madras: Ie. G,...et!ianTrivandrum: S.& PlBai

IleputyDirector ,.PrO(ij: Y.1e.Mallto.~a

\dvertisement Manager:: BalJ Natli Rajbhai-.'. . I . .

Business MaJ,lager (Hqfs);I •• ~ ••• t St.Dgh

('JOverDesign:'D. T.;~agtap',

YO,JANAse"'ek$tocariyTh~, me~age bf the Plan tp ail sections9f.the people 8Ddpromote a mo~eamest discuSsion oliproblenis '9fsocial and economic development. AlthoughpUblished by the Ministry of Jnfqrmation and Broadcasting''~A iHlot restric:ted to expre58ing the officw point ofview .. ,VOJANA is Published. in Assamese, Bengali,English Gujara~ Hindi, Kannada, Malayalam;Marathi,Punjabi, T~ Telugu and Urdu.

EdItorial Oake: Yojana Bhavan, Parliainent Streetl NewDelhi, Telepbone: 3710473.3117910, 3715481 (extensions2644,2643,2402,2319).Tclegnun:YojawL '

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S"bticription:, Inland: One year. Rs;.60: Two years Rs. 108:

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4 AGRQ-CLIMATIC REGIONAL PLANNING-I7 WETLANDS: A NEW HORIZONRam Kumar Bhakat

9 HOUSING- A MANAGEABLE CHALLENGEDeepak Razdan

11 FOOD PROCESSING: THRUST AREA FOREXPORT AND FOREIGN COLLABORATIONM. K. Ghoshal

13 VOLUNTARY AGENCIES AND RURAL UPLIFTDr. D.K. Ghosh

15 ELIMINATING AN I~HUMAN'PRACTICE, Bhabatosh Chakraborty16 FUNDS' MANAGEMENT IN REGIONAL RURAL

BANKS: A CASE STUDYDr. Noorbasha A,?dul and M. Jyothi .

. 18 PUNJAB AGRICULTURE: SCOPE OF ENERGYCONSERVATIONAmarjit Singh .

21 IMPACT OF DRYLAND DEVELOPMENT'PROGRAMME ON CROPPING PATTERN-ACASE STUDYT. Narasimha Reddy, H. G. Shankara'Murthy and H.S. Vijayakumar

23 MILCH ANIMAL SCHEME IN DROUGHT-PRONEAREAS-A CASE STUDYDr. K. Jayachandra

25 CONSUMER AUDIT ,Dr.:K Seshaiah and N. Adikrishnaiah

27 GINGER PRODUCTION: PROBLEMS ANDPROSPECTSDr. Vigneshwara. ~

I '

30 TO KEEP OUR ISLANDS INTACTS.S. Chana .

3~ SERVICE AREA APPROACH-A BOON toRURAL DEVELOPMENTKrishnan. C

33 BOOK REVIEW

Agro-Climatic 'Regi~'n.alPlanning'

Agro-Glimatic Regiona! Planning aims atscientific utilisation of agricultural andallied resources to boost ~production,income and employment. E]Ccerptsof the'study made by the PlanningCommission arebe~ngpublished in three instalments. Thefirst part deals with the issue. The secondpart concentrates on implications of thestrategy and the last one throws lighf oncrop planning, allied activities and__employment dimension&

(xv) The Islands Region

A Zonal Planning Team (ZPT)has been set up for each of the 15Regions. The Team is headed bythe Vic~Chancellor (VC)of a StateAgricultural University located inthe Zone, with the VCs of otherState Agricultural Universities. in'the Zone acting as -its members.Senjor Officers of the Depar:tmentsof Agriculture, - .Irrigation and,FOl:ests.of-the State Governments

. falling within the Zone have beenincluded in the Team, apart from

representatives of the Planning -Commission and of -the UnionMinistries of Agriculture - andWater Resources. In order to give a'Planning Team the required multi-c:J_isciplinarycapability, experts inthe fields of satellite. imagery,environment, finance and Coopera- I

tion have also been inducted into'.it. Care has also been taken to have _at least one representative from aVoluntary Organisation in eachZPT.

A synoptic view of agro-climatic-features of 15 zones ..directlyrelevant to agricultural develop-ment strategy is presented in'Statement I. Along with thereSource considerations and landproductivity level, relative pressureon land and environmental factorshave been kept in view in framing

~this typology. Such very synoptic.typologies are ~elpful for assessing.

(d) Provide the framework for 6dv) Westerr:t Dry Regionthe scientific and sustainable -use of our natural resources,particularly land, water andforests, in the long run.

-The e,xp~riment of the ~SpeeialFoodgr"ins Production Programme

;implemented in _169 - selecteddistrict:> during the last few yearsin the Seventh Plan provideduseful initial insights for thisapproach and established itsrel~ance for adoption _on acountrywide scale in a long timeperspective. - The -programmes/proposals drawn on the basis ofagro-climatic zones are expectedto be more relevant and meaning-ful for the concerned Region. Thiswould help in the comprehensivedevelopment of tlie R,!gion.The Regions are:

(i) Western -Himalayan Region(ii) Eastern Himalayan Region(iii) Lower Gangetic Plains Region(iv) Middle Gangetic Plains Region _

-_(v~ Upper Gangetic Plains RegionThe objectives of the exercise - (v)j Trans- Gangetic plains

are: . _Rejponivjjl -EaStern Plateau & HIllsRegior

Attempt a broad demand-_supply balance of maJ'or' (vin) CentralPlatean&.HillsRegion

(ix) Western Plateau & Hillscommodities at the nationallevel but based on a careful- Region

-(x) Southern Plateau & Hillsanalysis of potential _and -prospects of various Zones; }Jegion

-(xi) East Coast Plains &. HillsMaxi~ise net income ofpro~ucers'. . Region

(xii) West Coast PlainS"& GhatsGenerate additional employ- Regionment, particularlyoflandl~ss. (xiii) Gujarat Plains &. Hills Region

_.a!>ourery.j

fa,

THE STRATEGYOF'agro-climaiiCplanning aims at a more scientific _utilisation of available resources,both natural and man-made. The

- potential for growth apd diversifica-tion would be fully exploitedtaking a holistic view of -theclimate, stiil type, topography,_water resources and _irrigationfacilities and relating them torequirements of output _ andemployment.

As a first step. the counhy has,been -divided into i5 Regions'delineated on the basis of acommonality ofagro-cllmaticfactors like soil type, rainfall,temperature, water resources, etc.Inthis innovative approach, based:on agro-climatic zones, an Qveralldevelopment profile of eachregion is formulated through anoptimal mix of land stpck manage-ment, crop pro(luction; animalhtISbandry, aquaculture,horticul--ture, foreshy and agro-processing.

- activities. '

. (c)

- (b)

'_YG.JANA,O~ober 1-15,1880

Statement I

Statement IIZones at a Glance

Geog: Popu. Culti\'ableZone Name Area Density NSA Forest Land/Cap.No. (OOOsqkmJ (/sqkmJ (%) (%) (Ha/cap)1. WHimalaya 245 li2 18.2 45.3 0.1952. E Himalaya 274 118 18.7 42.8 0.1893. ' L Gangetic 69 692 63.8 11.0 0.0984. M Gangetic' 164 526 62.8 8.7 0.1415. U Gallgetic 143 466 70.1 4.5 0.1726. T Gangetic 116 331 80.9 3.2 0.268'7. E'Plateau 395 136 35.9 35.2 0.323.8. C Plateau 370 137 4~.0 14.2' 0.4469. W Plateau 331 170 59.7 11.8 0.39610. S Plateau 395 .200 48.4 17.1 0.31911. E Coast 197 321 43.3 18.7 IT. 18112. W Coast 117 441 37.2 29.0 0.12313. Gujarat 196 175 51.4 ]{).9 0.36314. WDrvlands 175 58 47.7 1.2 1.31415. Islands 8 '29 4.2 88.1 0.210All India 3195' 215 47.0 19.3 0.260

5I

ofIand ~nd water primarily clue.t~inappropriate cultivation practicesand land and water managementis evident in other Zones. Thus,the "real test of agricultural.dev~lopment in future will lie inevolving a sustainable agriculturalsystem; with a steady increase inland productivity, aggregateagricultural production and risingfarm incomes .

-51. NO ..

(0) (2)

Zone

Trans-GangeticPlains (NO.6)Upper GangeticPlains (No.5)

Lower and Middle

Gangetic Plains(Nos. 3 & 4) '.Eastern and CentralPlateau & Hills (Nos,7&8)

,Land}.iV~tockResoUrces

L~nd availabilitY measured asPer Capita Culturable Land (PCCL)shows a ratio of1:14 among Zones.Zones .with richer land resour~and more cmigenial climaticfeatures (for'crop system), generally

'but not always, htve' lower PCCLavailability. Plateau and the Dry

\

Typology

Zonal Characterisation in the Form of'1)'pologles

Rich water and S9il resources, high land productivity f majorcrops), moderate population 'pressure on land. •Rich soil and water resources, medium productivity leveland moderate population pressure on land, deterioratingenvironml!nt with respect to land quality.Rich water and soil resources, low productivity level.

high population pressure on land, incre~sing proportion ofprobleJ1l soils.Large volume of land and water resources, vel)' lowproductivity of land with predominance of subsistenceagriculture, low population pressure, high proPortion ofproblem soils.Less favourable soil and water resources, low land Western andproductivity, low to medium population pressure, deteriora. Southern Plateau &

, ting environment in respect of soil erosion and water quality Hills (Nos.9 & 10)Itichwater resou~es but relatively poor land, medium land East Coast and Westproductivity, medium to high popull;ltion pressure, fragile Coast Plains & Hills

and the Islandseco-sv~tem. (Nos.11, 12 & 151

Less favourable land and. water resources; low land The Himalayanproductivity, low pressure on land and fragileeco-s~stem. Regions iNos.l & 21

Se~l-aJid to arid conditions, moderately good land quality, GujaratPlains &

land p~uctivity: moclerate popu'taiiOli p~ssure on I~na. Hills (No 13).Ari~ conditions, large but less fertile soil resources. very low Western DIy (No.14)land productivity, low population pressure and fragile,eco-system. '

3.

2.

1.

7.

4.

6.

5.

8

9.

the diversity of different Zonesand in providing broad directionsof development.

Details in respect of specificparameters relating to cropproduction systems, land andlivestock resources, productivity

, leveland input use and demographic'features and poverty ratio asrelated to the above typologies are.summarised ,in the form of a' "stateJIlent on' Zones at a glance?

In' terms of strategies .forenhancing agricultural productionwith particular reference tofoodgrains, it .is evident thatMiddle Gan~etic Plains and EasternPlateau dese.ve the highest priorityefollowed by UppeI:' and LowerGangetic Plains. Productivity levelof rice (lead) crop in the formertwo Zones is very low, between 8to 10quintals per hectare. Doublingof yield level in these two zones,which is a realistic target,giventhe land and water resourcesquality, is feasible and desirable.This will make a major differenceto the' Nation's foodgrains budget.

Relatively high population ,pressure 'on lands in the LowerGangetic Plains and thl;!East and 'West Coast Plains, which also havehigh productivity potential, is anadditional dimension to beconsidered in framing agriculturaldevelopment strategy. Atthe othec .extreme, the Trans-Gangetic Plains, 'which has already tapped thepotential resources, should now!)e moulded for a high technologyand diversified agricultural system.The Western Dry Region shows anextreme typology with inherentlow land productivity potential.This underlines the need for astrategy of land development, asalso activity centered on non-cropbased activities like livestock.

AIQngwith the objective ofenhancing agricultural production,which has to come from relativelyresource rich Zones as identifiedin; ,statement H, ~n equallyimportant aim will be themaintenance of the ecosystem.This is particularly true of, theHimalayan and Coastal Regions.An increasing rate of deterioration

'YWANA,Oetober I-IS, 1990

.:..- ..,-.1/ ----..,.--

Cropping Specialisation In the Zones

Statement III

,Percentage81.No: Crop/Crop group ZOnes of concentra~on Percentage

to total area to total produc-tion

(1) (2) (3) (4)(0)

1. Rice 3,4,7, 11 62.0 55.3

.2. Wheat 4,5,6,8 80.0 86.2

3. Jowar 8.9,10 . 86.3 87.0

4. Pulses 6,8,9 66.6 65.5

5. Oilsceds 8.9,10,13 70.0 70.3

6. Conon. 6,9,' 10,13 92.0 85.3

7. Su'garcane 4,5,9,10 74.3 72.6

8. .Fruits &.

vegetables 3,4,'5,12 . 56.4 60.8 ..'

Demographic. Features

Large variations are observedamong the Zones both with.respect , to. population density(perSons per sq. km.) and socialdevelopment' indicators (forexample literacy). Gangetic Plains(Zones 3,4, 5 a':ld 6)are rich in landand water resources and show"higher population density followedby theCoast:a1 Plains.' Zone 3..(Lower Gangetic Plains) shows thehighest population density (691),,.the 100yestbel~g Zone 14(WesternDry Region). Zone 12 (West Coastl

- " I •stands out as snowmg the top rankin terms of social development asreflected through female literacy. (56%)compared to as low as 10%forWestern Dry ~egion.' Unemploy-'ment rate is found to be higher for.the Zones wit"_lower per capitaland availability (Lower Gangetic'Plains and West Coast). Poverty"atio is highest for Eastern PHtteall&.. Hills Region (50% in ruriU.foHowedcIosely by MiddleGangetic Plains and CentralPlateau and Hills. The productivityof major crops explains to a largerextent the relationship 10 thepoverty rat~o. p

been developed,.in value terms.(usingnationai average ofwholesaleprice for individual crops) to assess'returns to growers in monetaryterms. There is wide variability in.input' usage 'and apparently noexaci functional relationshipbetween input. use and the land'productivity index. In terms ofinput use the Trans-GangeticPlains standi> out way above therest. This reflects very high levelsof irrigation and. fertiliser use. Atthe other extreme lies the WesternDry Region. However, valueproductivity of land is the highestin the Islands"West Coast and theEast ~oast. Thi's is explained ~ythecrop mix i.e. i predominance of. high value crops in the CoastalZ9nes. Trans-Gangetic Plains.have much higher physical'productivity in terms of paddy,wheat and pulses but the.proportion of high valued crops islow .

As.an aid Ito .plarln,ing. acomposite input indexh~!; been'prepared incluliing overall biigationintensity, fertiliSer use, intensity of .tubeweUs:jind .tractor -llsage: Ahmd .proo~C!tiyitvy'iJ.lcl~X,h<!~also

In resp«:ct of some other crops,regions with low area coverage'have high productivity and sharein total production' Rg., Trans~;Gangetic Plains in the' case ofpulses and Upper Gangetic Plainsin the case of rice and the East.Coast in case of cotton.

Productivity Level andInput UseLarge variations in yield level of

.;major crops are observed amongstZones. In the case of rice, Trans~Gangetic plains show a yield levelmore than twice the nationalaverage (1400kg/ha in TE 1984-85).Per contra, the Eastern .PlateauRegion which has the highest area '.und~r rice (SSlakh hal, shows only.half of the national average in''yield. In the case of wheat,'variations are less, with Trans-Gangetic . Plains .showing thehighest yield. Irrigation. and input.use possibly explain such variations(i.e: fertiliser consumption inEastern Plateau of about 9 kg/hacompared to' 77 kg/ha in. Trans-:Gangetic Plains). Sugarcane yield.is much. lower in the Gangetic:Plains in spite of higher irrigationintensity, compared Olo PlateauRegion (95 tonnes per ha in the

.. latter compared to.42 tolines perha in the former)'

;/Agricultural ProductionCrop specialisation is, more. in

crops . I~e. sugarcane, :cotto~,jowa.. and wheat as may be seen in .the Statement III. In the' case ofdte, pulses, fruits and vegetablesdistribution appears to be' morewidespread.

.Regions have higher PCCL amiZones in alluvial plains' with.higher' level of i~gation show.lower per capita land. However,Zone 6 (Trans-Gangetic Plains) hashigher per capita availabilitycompared to other Zones in theIndo-Gangetic Plains as well as inthecoast.

Livestockconsidered as resource,supplementing agricultural incomeand employment, also shows widevaI'ialions either on per capitaba~is or per hectare 'of grosscropped area, the latter indicating.the\f:el~tive pressure on land. As in":'the'casb of dem~graphic features,'Western Dry Region stands out asthe extreme Zone with per capitalivestock three times tiie nationalaverage. However, .the 'relativepressure on land is not that high inview ofmuch larger land availability:Highest. ratio of livestock perhectare of Gross. Cropped Area(GCA)is in Western--'"Himalayan.Region (Zone 1) and Bihar part ofMiddle Gangetic Plains (zone 4)..Lowest per capita ratio and'number per hectare of GCAis seen'in West Coast Plains and Ghats. (zone 12).

,8

Ram Kumar Bhak~t

Wetlands: A New Horizon

,Wetlands are not all that bad They ha~ ric" .• •potentialities, given scientific management,'

says the author in this interesting study. Theneed is better appreciation of the subject "which is possible through dissemination ofinformation.

Wetlands' are major source of,non-food plants. too,; Plants likecattail, reed, etc. are used inthatching, paper production andbedding. In the several districts ofWest Bengal,caUail cultivation inwaterlogged depressions supportsa substantial,' Portion of ruraleconomy. In the Sunderbans(W.B.J, the'leaves of Nypa areextensively uS,edfur roofing. Many<;oastal communities inhabitingthis swamp subsist on harvestingtimber, firewood and producing'honey and wax from the forest.

wetlands support diverse plants.and animals which are dependent'notoniy on th~ir envir~n~ent but,

Wildlife

Fishery

Lakes, ponds and coastalwetlands are highly produetive,spawning, nursery an~ feeding.grounds for fish. The COJDmon,fish found in - freshwaterwetlands, in general, are cClfPS,catish, mullets, perches, ,etc.Mangrove swamps excel in fish•diversity. The organic debrisproduced by the vegetation givesshelter and promotes foodchain, .support for fish of' major 'economic value. AS much as 80%of )the !ndian fishery catch from thelower delta region of the Ganges •.Jlrahmaputra is from the SUnderbjms,wetland complex. The Hooghly-Matla estuary of this wetlandharbours more than 150 bheriswhich are famous for prizedprawns.~

In ,'and around the easternwetlands of Calcutta for years this, city's solid waste is dumped and, the sewage outflow channels passthrough. Here innovative farmersare creatin#{ wonders by uUlizing'this municip3l waste in growingfish and agq.cultural crops. These,wetlands ;act as a true backyardgarden f-or. this. Iliegapolis insupplyirig'3DO tonnes of freshvegetables daily and 8,000 tonnes,of fish, each year. Well over 10,000families survive on this marshlandwhich has incidentally turned into.:the world's largest waste recyclingarea.

Rice is the most' significant'wetland crop' in terms of worldproduction and impact on man,probably more than half of our,population depending on it as astaple food. It is t.he highestyielding grain crop. ~win#{ in hotclimate and fed, with water byirrigation or flooding. Worldwide,its total production is second onlyto wheat." '

Economic Plan-':s

, ,

A WETLAND IS' a place, ,mo~: economic use. These plantsintermediate between the purely' provide food, timber, fueI.fodderaquatic environment and the well- and forage, industrial productsdrained.' Swamps, : marshes, and so on. Many of these productsbo~s an similar areas are some'of are the direct result of the extra-the, examples. These, habithts ordinary productivity of extremelyperform major .eco!ogical roles in specialized wetland plants. Manythe biosphere. They are among the have large leaf areas and liulemost, productive ecosystems in .wood, meaning that more of athe world., Some of them can plant is devoted to creating energyproduce upto eight times as much and growth. And herein lies the,plant matter as an average wheat importance of these plants.field. It was the swampy environ-ment of .the Carboniferous (coal-:bearing) period that produced andpreserved many ,of the fossil fuels'on which we now' depend.W~~I~n<:Jsare sources! sinks andtransformers of a multitutde ofchemical, biological and genetic/ ~aterials. They' receive wastesfrom natural and human sources,and have been found to cleansepolluted water, prevent floods andprotect shore-line. Furthermore, The swamp sago (MetroxylonJthey play significant roles in the produces starch from which sagolandscape by providing unique flouris made. Through bioconver-habitats for a wide variety of flora sion, this flour can' be u~ed toand fauna. While the values of produce either alcohol or protein.wetlands for fish and wildlife Thegoverriments of Papua Newprotection have been known for Guinea and the Philippines areseveral decades, some of the other considering cultivating the sugarbenefits have been identified producing mangrove palm (NypaJmore ~ecently. , on a large scale. They would use

,the sugar to make alcohol, and,;-"then mix it with petrol, savingmoney on oil imports- as the'

./ Waterlogged habitats produce a Brazilian government is doingrich collection of plants, many of with, its programme to producewhich have -potential for orie or fuel alcohol from sugarcane.

YOIANA,OCtober 1-15, 1_' .,

Attitude towards wetlands ischanging. but not fast enough. The\'alues Of these environments arenmvbeing recognized and translatedinto protection laws. regulationsand manag~ment plans. In thede\'el~ped countries. scientists.engineers. sociologists. economistsand\ managers are hecoming,specialists in.wetland ecology andwetland management. But in

(Contd. on"page 12)

YOJANA, October I-lIS, 1890

account of specific locatipnaluniqueness. Coastal wetlandsabsorb the first fury of ocean"storms when they come ashore,and the forested wetland of the"Sunderbans is 'anexcellent pointer"in this ~ontext. This forest standsas a barrier for the Calcutta-facingcyclone frequiently coming fromthe Bayof Bengal, and thus divertsit towards MidI!apore, district of.W.B. or Bangladesh. The reasonseems to be very simple. Thecomparatively heavier atmospheretypical of ihe Sun(Ierbans forcesthe cyclone towards low pressureregion of either Midnapore or,Bangladesh. It is really amazing"how great service this wetland hasbeen providing for the survival ofthe cityof t~lcutta.

Roleofwetlands in en\'ironmentalrescue assunles significance"" on

Flood MitigationWetlands reduce the danger of

flooding by intercepting andstoring run offwaters. And riverinewet depressions are significantin this regard. Marshy and tow-"lying lands of urban outskirts canalso help faciitate urban drainage.~Calcutta isa case in point. The cityslopes from west to east and itsentire drainage runs int"othe vastmarshy depressions in the easternfringe. During the last severaldecades due to rapid"urbanization,some of these -low-lyinglandsltavebeen filled up. That iswhy, severalareas in the east and south-east ofthe "city e~p~rience" severewaterlogging in the monsoon.

8"

Swamps and marshes, onceconsidered as the sources ofdiseases, can actually help maintainwater quality. absorb tQxicchemicals" and clean up 'pollutedwater, and el'en act as naturaltreatment plarits. That is whyscient~sts call them "Nature'skidn"eys"hecause of the functionsthey perform" akin to animalkidneys.

Diversity in bird life is theessence of wetlands. Myriad ofaquatic birds. both local "andmigrants. visit these habitats.However. the importance ofwetlands is not always related tonumbers; some are vital groundsfor rare species. For example. thebird 1ianduary at Bharatpur(RajasthanJ offers habitat "forexotic migrants from Afghanista'n,Tibet. China and' Siberia. In viewof this. in India, several wetland-based wildlife Sanctuaries andNational'parkShave been established.Nature's Kid"ney .

also on each other, through the Nutrient (mainly "nitrogen)complex food-chains. And in many enrichment of water bodies fromcases, the well-being of human agricpltural run-off poses hazardsbeings depends on the existenceof to aquatic life. Wetland soilsone species only. Many rare and favour denitri(ication~ a pro~essendangered species live in and "through which a substantial pOrtionaround wetlands. While some life- of this nitrogen can be removed.forms thrive only in these habitats, Moreover, wetland plants have""others spend part oftl:teir life cycle been shown to remove thesefor specific purposes like nesting, nutrients. These plants havefeeding or breeding. biological and biochemical devices

which can immobilize, transform" The swampy forest of the "Sunderb3ns is the largest remaining and fix toxins of water, preventing

high proportion of them fromhabitat of the renowned Royal entering the food-chain.Bengal tiger which thrives there.This forest also gives shelter and Nowadays, aquatic plants aresecurity to a large number ot proving an asset in the treatmentendangered animals. The of sewage and polluted water.,Sunderbans is able to protect Water hyacinth, notoriously calledani~als not so much because it is the "Bengal terror" in India,protected. but because it is a wild although considered a nuisance is.land inaccessible to people. These now extensively userlas apoIJution Global Valueanimals not necessarily need filter. This plant absorbs nutrientswetland, but they do need large .such as nitrogen, phospohorus Wetlands may be significantstretches of wilderness .•such as - and potassium and other toxic factors in the glo"bal cycles of"!be_liuncier~ans. This picturesque substances' di~ectly from water. It, atmos~heric nitrogen andlanciscape,' /particularly during can take out more than 75%of the -carbond!oxide. Today, to increasetidal inundation (when soil-' lead in the contaminated water in"" crop productivity, nitrogen-rich"dwelling animals take shelter on just 24 hours. fertilizers are being used in excess.treesl signifies how far the Nature The residual nitrogen later oncan be cruel on the one hand and That wetlands" meticulously finds way into water bodiesbeautiful on the other. detoxifywaste water can be proved through run offwater. Waterlogged-

by taking the case of East Calcutta's soils by,virtue of their denitrification4,000 acres of sewage-fed marshy- property return a part of thislands. Wastes from the city flow. nitrogen to the atmosphere. andinto water "hyacinth' studded thus help ma~ntain the world'slakes and ponds which serve as available nitrogen balance.na.ural oxidation tanks.

Peatlands are 'sinks' for carbon.The conversion of these lands toagriculture- changes them from"carbon sinks to carbon sources.and releases .carbon- into theatmosp'her~. This process posesquestions " of. global concern"because the planet is alreadv"threatened by incre'asing loads ~fatmospheric carbon dioxide.

Management

Housing- AManageable Challenge,Deepak Budan.

'yo.rAN~.Oetabe.l-1S, 1_'The policy emphasises the.immediate need to reverse the

Housing, Finance'

8

declining investment. It was only'hy stepping up the investment at .:;once in the shelte,' ~or and urban. infl'astructure an~ incre~ing it at. a steady pace thereafter, that thereean he any hope oJ a siginificant(~hange in the housing situation.Out oJ the Rs - 77,49(-; cmreproJlosed fOt' t1w housing" seetor "during the Eighth Plan U990-95),10per ~nt should tJein ~e ,public,sm"tol". The share of. financialinsitutions and pro\'ident fundsh.ould go Up!u 20 per cent of theannual ilwestment. '

Dwelling on the lack of financialresources, the policy. says ,thatsurprisingly the rate of hoseholdsavillgs in. the country was quite.high. As per the estimates of the'Central Statistical (i)rganisation,the urban savings in 1985-86wereRs. 13,000 crore and the ruralsavings.were Rs.6,125crore. Thereis, therefore, a considerable scopefor capturing the potential savingsthrough schemes linked 10guaranted loans and aeeess tolegal shelter. The formal systemcovers only 20 per cent of the totalfinancial needs of households.The sources of informal savingsare seen to be 'cash and bankdeposits, assets like jewellerv.loans from friends and relativ~sand to a small PllOportionof fundsfrom money lenders. '

The Government plans to bringa,bout appropriate changes in theapproaches of the existing financialinstitutions .so as to make th~mmore responsive and accessible to~ouseholds. The National Housing.Bank INH81would be encouragedto conentrate on the promotionand regulation of housing financeinstitutions in the public and

rent contml laws, and uf enactingnew laws 1iJ<P.Ihuse pennittingownership uf apal'tmenfs ~TC. ,Thenew 'document'en\'isageS!for. theGovernment a role of the facilitat';~'and creatur of an environment inwhich indh'idtlals themselves cantake initiath'es tu huild Iheirhouses.'

The IlHWdoc'ument has madf',special focus on the decli~ing rateof invest ment in the housingSl~ctor and suggested variuusinno\'cttin' methods b~ wllil'hindividuals' sa\'ings, could hetapped to give a buost .to huuspcunstl'ltelion. In tenus of illv('st-menl, the pulir~' says. the problemsepms tn he stCl~gering.If the goal ;of 'shelter for all' is 10 be achieved. ;the, "/'al investment -' in; housing .would ha\'/! tohe rasised hl' u\'er35 'per n'n. each year, -

The overall magnitude of th(~housing p~hlem eonfronting thecountry was estimated for a spanof 20 years from 1981to 2001 to be'233I~kh dwelling units in terms ofhack log and 638 l.ikh new dwellingunits 10 meet the incrementalhousing needs of the growingpopulation during the period. Thetotal investmp.Ilt required duringthe period for hoth removing thebacklog of housing needs upto1981and creation of new housingstock or additional moms for theincreased number of households,was estimated at Rs. 1,90,000croreal constant priees based on 1985 'cost, excluding, investment oninfrastructure and services ..After:excluding estimated capital'formanon over 1981-90, theestimated investment over 1991-2000at 1985prices would he about. Rs. 1,40,000crore.

The new draft' has followed anearlier policy document presented.in the Parliament in May, 1988which recognised the need for the r

policy to be reviewed periodically'so that it could be dynamic enoughto meet the emerging needs anddemands of the socio-economicconditions, as well as the diverseneeds of different regions in thecountry.

BYREI.EASINGTIIE DRAFTunNational Housin~ Polie\' ill cadvJune, the Nalional Fro~1 ,Go\'ern--ment fulfillpd <l niajorcommitlllf'lltcontainc{1 in the Action Plan:announced In' the Prime Minisler.~Suhscquentl~:. four ,mgional'conferences,. of expcl'ls and,professionals' were organised toallow a nationwide debal(; on thedocument hefore its adoption as'the final blueprint I'm' action.During the process, the nation','was relim'ed to learn the optimisticasscssment of the Pl'llan Develop-ment Minisier. M,' Mur'asoli.Maran, "I belie\'e that housing fgrall .is a manageable challenge,given the concel'led efforts of the,people, public and private sectors,"

The present draft has, besidesreCognising ,housing as a basichuman need, spelt out the dauntinghousing scenario of the countrymore vividly. The draft containsfib'Ures which bring' out howinvestment in the sectOl'has fallenover the years, and point to theinevitability of devising newinvestment strategies. The draftshows the poor availability ofdifferent traditional buildingmaterials and suggests the problemcan be solved by adopting alternativematerials which are cheaper and,no less durable. To tackle the legalconstraints, the draft indicates thepossibility'ofGovernment amending.the ~Jrban_Land Ceiling Act and

An interesting feature of thenew document is that it not onlylays down minimum housingnorms but also maximum norms_In rural areas, the size of the plotsholJld not he less than 85 squammetres but not more than .200square metres. In urban areas thesize of the plot should not be lessthan 25 square metres (which canbe reduced to 20 square metres inlarger cities) but not more than 120square metres. These norms are,however, proposed to be periodi-cally reviewed and progressivelyimproved.

Since much of the housing'activity in rural areas depends onbiomass, the strategy for housingin rural set~lements is proposed tobe based onregenerati0l! and'protection of the natural resourcebas~, ensuring the access of thepeople to these resources,strengthening and developingtraditional build~ng systems. skills,

. (C~ntef on p~gei2)Vo.IANA, October I-US, ),990

I

Norms

housing activity. A review of theUrban Land Ceiling Act had shownthat in its prese'nt shape. it hadfrozen thefandmarket,.pushed upland prices, generated corruptionand had- no} achieved any of thesocial purposes for which it wasenacted, The policy says that rent. conirol laws would have to beamended to. protect. existingtenants from 'arbitrary evictionand provide periodic rentalincrease in line with cOst of livingindex. The Mjnistry is evaluatingthe amendedJiJelhiRent ControlAct and hasiwriiten to all States, and Union Territories' to considerthe desk ••bility of amending theirlaws on the lines of the Delhi Act.The policy recognises that a majorreason for withdrawal of vacantpremises from the rental market isthe difficulty faced by landlords insecuring possession ,of theirhouses for self-occupaiion. Thepolicy. stresses the need foramending State CooperativeSocieties' Actswhich were archaicand were yet' governing thefunctioning of the housing.cooperatives. also,

Re8hap~ngThe~wsIthas been recognised that legal

infirmities had come in the way of

organised sector includingindustry, to provide housing fortheir employees. appropriatefiscal incentives would heextended~.The present tax system enCoUragesdiversion of investible resourcesinto high .income and I~xuryhousing. The high rate of return onluxury housing should be reducedby specific measures includingwithdraw'll of existing taxconcessions for owner 'Occupiedand rented luxury houses.- Incen-. tives would-. be .given to promotethe manuf~cture of new buildingmaterials and components producerIout of agricultural, industrial andother viastes 'and those whichsubstitute or reduce the use of-scarce resources like wood' and-energy-intensive materials lik~iron, steel and cement.

: .18

Incentives-

Giving a picture of the pooravailability of the traditionalbuilding materials, the policy. document said, the country would

As declared by the Finance need to have an additional housingMinister in his Budget Speech for stock of 218 lakh units during the1990-91. there was case for Eighth Plan period. This would

. require nearly 132 miilion tonnes. introdu~ing a timebound schemeto promote the UJideclared income of cement but the availabilityand hidden wealth 10 be used for would be only about 115 millionone or more social purposes such tonnes. Similarly. as against theas .slum clearance. building of requirement of about 15 millionhouses . for lower' and .middle tonnes of steel, the availability

would be a little over 11 millionincome groups ~te.'. In the pastalso. various measures had been tonnes. There ~ould be a shortage

of 54,898 million bricks and of 13-adopted to bring in black money' million cubic metres of timber.through. bearer bonds, capital This showed that if shelter ~as to~ains bonds and Indira Vikas Patm.Th Gov t

. - fl' t b nds be proVided to all within a shorte ernmen may oa 0 . h . . .. '. _ tIme, t e country would have to go

and debentures. the proceeds of. . . fi b 'Id' . Ih. h' Id b d . I. £ . In or newer UI Ing materIa s

w IC co.u e use entIre y lor h' h Id he did h' gh. - .. . :w IC COll eve ope t rou110usmg the poor. provided the .' -,

f f d,' t d' -th research and development efforts

source.s o. un s Inves e In e At t th .. I'I d

. '. . J I presen • ere IS an annualOll s were not. questlonetJ. T le , 'I b'I'tv f'-?5 '11'd

'I d . . I . I' a\aI a I I 0 - ml Ion tonnes of,etm eproposa s are- lemg fI h' . , "-k d- t t' . t d th yas. about three nllihon tonneswor e ou . 0 In 1'0 uce e f' I' ..' .'

h sh rtl' ocoa washel'Y rewcts. 25 nllllion

sc erne 0 \ . f . - h -, . tonnes 0 rice usk and twoseveral fiscal measures are million tonnes of red' niud from

outlined bv the Government aluminium plants.Similarlv. ther~wl-iic;h.. can -be implemented.to is considerable availahi'lit\; ofdime" m~m'_funds towards housing_ materials like jute stalk ..ba~boo.The incentives 'under the la\\'s saw mill' waste, gt'Oltildnut shellrelating to' taxation, Of income .. and ~~ne tailings.wealth and gift\\'mIld he rationalisedto channelise savings into hC)ltsingfinance instiiutions and promoteil)\;~stment in housing activit~'.' In~*dm: to metuce employers in the

.private sector. mobilisation of'household savings, increasing theaccess of different income groupsto loans for different shelteractivities, increasing the reach ofthe poorer sections to housing.loans. and to concentrate onrefinancing the operations offinancing institutions andcooperatives engaged in housing.The .Home Loan Account Schemelaunched hy the NHB with theintended objective of mobilisingRs. 1000 crore per annum from thehpusehold sector .by attractingvery small amounts which can he apotential source. of housingfinance. In the rural areas, wherethe bulk of the problem lies. thefinanical needs of new constnlction.and upgradation have to be built'into the District Credit Plan andthe op_erations of the rural cooper-atives and Land Mortgage Banks.

Food Processing: Thrust Area For-Export And Foreign Collaboration

M.L Gboslial

,II,

'employment --near their home-steads as would have migrated tourban areas in search of employ-ment.Though consumer goods

industry in general IS accorded Alow priority, food processing hasacquired the distinction of a thrustarea of development for exports aswell as domestic consumption.The policy guidelines provide forenll)' of large houses as well as,foreign collaboration. Accordingly,all food processing industriesother than milk foods, maltedfoocb and flour excluding itemsreserved for small scale sector andall items of packaging for foodprocessing industries excludingthe items reserved for small scalesector , have ,been placed' inAppendix-I industries which are'open to MRTPand FERACf')mpanies.Similarly, to achieve economies ofscaIeand to obtain higher~uctionlevels the facilitv of broad bandinghas been extended to all fruit andvegetable products and aUprocesSedfoods excluding the items reservedfor the small scale sector. Anumber of items of foorl processingequipment, which are notindigenously ava-ilabIe, have beenplaced under OGLon concessionalrates of customs duty.

Among the tIlrost areas ideJ:)tifiedfor export promotion are processedfoods including fruits and vegetablesas also marine products especiallyin value added forms. Technologytransfer and foreign investment,are permitted. The normal 40%limit of foreign equity IS relaxed-with higher export obligation.100%export oriented units in oroutside export processing zonesand engaged in food processingcan also be 100%foreign owned.

The problem of the farmer andthat of the processing industry hadbeen engaging the attention of theUnion Government which took. api@neering step by ,creating aseparate MinislJYof Food ProcessingIndustries in July 1988. 'the newMinisll)' was first of its' kind in thedeveloping countries with. focuson intergrating the interest of thefarmer and the industry to prombtebetter utiiisation of agriculturalcommodities, greater value .addition to rural produce, generation'of massive employment in ruralareas, enhancement of the netlevel of rural incomes and inductionof modern technology in foodprocessing. Another' specificobjective of the Ministry was to'convert the large scale wastages offruits and vegetables into usefulfood items,' thereby augmentingthe nutritional standard of people'sdiet. Promoiing agfu-basedindustrialisation in rural areaswould also help to absorb suchwomen and youth in gainful

ACCORDING TO 1981 census adds to their vulnerability despiteabout 525 million people or 77 per, rural electrification and road-cent-of the total population lived in cum-rail transport net work.5.671akh Indian Villages. The rural According to reliable estimates,eco'n'omyrevolves round agricul- nearly 30 per cent of fruits and 'ture which is the principal means vegetables valued around Rs. 3000of livelihood for nearly 85 per cent crores are wasted. every year foroftherorallabourforce. Agriculture, lcick of adequate processing,because of its seasonal character, 'preservation . and marketingfails to provide gainful .employ- "facilities. The magnitude ofment on a continuous basis. production loss can be preventedAgricultural income is ~epre~sed or at least minimis~~ by improvingon aooount ofuneronOlDlc holdings . post-harvest, techn~logy/handlingand low crop yields. The <fate of besides forging direct linkagesagricultural labour is worse in with the processors or marketing'terms of employment and income. outlets. Our fruit and vegetableAs a_re~ult, there is large scale processing industry functions at 38uneInployment and under-employ- per cent of capacity utilisation onment., Since employment and account of seasonal availability of~ncome are closely related, a large raw materials.number of rural people- about 40per cent remaIn below the povertyline, reflecting insufficient employ-ment avenues for growing popula-tion. The emerging situationunderlines the need to developsubsidiary activities allied toagriculture as also agro-basedindustries ..~

The development profile of the _rural sector requires to' beintegrated with the local resources. 'The lead might come from. theregional cropping pattern gettinglined WiJh agro-climatic ronditions.Although significant break-through i

has been achieved by GreenRevolutiOJi, the same is stillconImed to a few crops in northernstates of Punjab and Haryana.,However, most of the farmers areunable to take fiilladvantage of thesignificant growth in agriculturalproduction including foodgrains,

'( fruits -and vegetables 'i because ofinfrastructure and organisationalconstraints. The highly perishablenature of fruits and vegetables

Foreign collaborations are beingallowed to utilise cooperatives offanner producers for the purpose.of provision of raw materials andeventually 100%export. In deepsea fishing, joint ventures will bepermitted with established foreign.companies.

Fiscal incentives have also beenextended to food processing andpackaging under the centralbudget for 1989-90. It is also apriority sector for bank :fin~nce..

The Indian ago-food industry isgiven access to imported stat':-Of-.the -art technology both for capitalequipments and processedtechnology. This industry is also. encouraged to set up joint.ventures abroad.. These .jointventures may .export our semi-processed food, process them.fu~her and market them. in those::ountries. .

The number of foreign collabora-Hons in food processing totalled 30during the five year period 1982to1~86,. giving an average of 6. approvals a year. Another 16collaborations were approved in1987,11 in 1988and 15 in 1989.Th~participating foreigo. companies

(Contd. from page 81

India, the status ofwetland scienceis alarmingly poor. So little isknown about the structure andfunction of these environmentsthat the approach for protectionappears non-existent. Successfulmanagement demands .muchmore basic information <\bouthqw.wetlands function. In view of this,

(Contd. from page 10)\ .technologies and. materials andwhere unavoidhle, ensuring therehabilitation of people uprooteddue to national projects.

The fourregiona.J conferences•.m~ommended various steps to.case the hOllSillg. shortages.

are from. USA, UK. FRG, Japan..Switzerland, France, Holland,Swed,en, Greece, Mexico andSingapore. The collaborativeprojects envisage production of awide range of food products'including snack food... breakfastcereals. health food. extruded'foods, be\'erages. processed fruits,vegetable products, marineproduets and deep sea fishing.

Food processing industry has. not made much headway inspiteof diversification into manufacture'of read v-to-eat extruded food. sO\'a.bean products, cocoa products,.vegetable based high proteinfoods and processed fruits andvegetables. Its prospects arelinked with future demand,production em'ironment at homeand abroad. On the domestic front.much will depend on the changing..consmer tastes/life styles in thecourse of urbanisation and theindustJY'sresponse to the emergingsituation. To push up exports andto augment foreign exchangeearnings Indian industry shouldhave a competitive edge- i;' terin~ .of quality and price.

The 35 Point Action Plan of theGovernment has inter alia provided.

it .is therefore suggested that ourdecision-makers. and plannersshould draw plans to identify theareas of future research thrust inwetland sCience and initia~e.interdisciplinary studies involvingdiverse wetland types. To achieve.real succeSs, wetland sciencemust be tagged with the existingeducational curricula. Raisingpeople's awareness of wetlandsand com.incing them or"their real

Among them was a suggestion fortapping hlack money tocouhtershortage of housing finance. Itwassuggested that the Reserve' Bank ofIndia should treat housing ,aspriority sector. Emphasis shouldhe more on reducing the cost ofhousing by \'arious steps like.'hetter land utilisation .. reducedcost of sen'ices. higher densities .

for an allocation of at-least 50 percent of investible resources in theagric,ult!1ral and rural sectors _ofthe economy beginning from 19'90-91annual plan. Processing of fruitsand vegetables could lend strongsuppOrt to the Government'sproclaimed taskofpovertya11C\-jationand employment generationthrough rural development andpromotion of small industries. Atpresent hard~l 0.3 per cen" of thecountry's fruits and vegetablesproduction is processed fordomestic consumption and export.The processed production consistsof Jain&.'jellies, fruit juices/pulps,ready-to. serve fruit beverages.pickles and dehydrated vegeiables.Production of these items has goneup from 1.4 lakh lonnes in 1984to1.8 lakh tonnes in 1986. of whichabout one-third was exported.Developmeqt of' industry byintegration of fruit and vegetableproduction wi,h processing ~ndmarketing would make a valuablecontribution to strengthen therural economy in terms of output,employment and income. 0

•••••e .author is BconomicAdviser, I.I.C., New Delhi

value will be another effective wayof conservation. And .scientistshave a clear responsibility in thisregaFd- a responsibility to highlightjust ho\v important wetlands. areand in way which non-scientistscan udnerstand.

The author is a ResearchScholar, Deptt. of Botany,

University of Calcutta,

promotion of low cost materialsand encOuragement to incrementaloonstI1Jction by individuals~ It isagreed that the public secf()I'should continue to providehousing for the poorest sectionsand disadvantaged grotips whocould not afford to secure hind orhouses under the present system..._'yo.lANA. ~ober 1-15, 1999.

" 'Voluntary Agencies and. Rural Uplift

~. D.K. Ghosh"

Mutual Distrust

ment programmes will jeopardisethe importance of PanchayatBodies:

It is observed that out of 50samples, 39respondents i.e. 78percent, believed involvement ofvoluntary organisations in rur!!1development .affairs is sure tojeopardise the importance ofPanchayati Raj institutions.

The Panchayatrepresentatives "_.feel that if voluntary organisations.are involved~.in the process .ofdevelopment, their rel~tionsliipwith these ~organisatio~s will be-competitive.

,Regarding capability ofvoluntcuyorganisations to undertakedevelopment works, 24 out of 50, thought they are partially capableand 23 maintamed that they areno~capable at all fo~.undertakingdevelopmentcil worics.

In fact these experiences arenothing new as traditionally "ruraldevelopment bureaucracy usuallydoes not like the development ofautonomous instituiions.... themajority of voluntary agencies,depending mainly on Governmentfinanc-e are -simply extensions ofth~ Government bureaucracy. Ifthey have not heen captured bybureaucracy, they have - beencaptured by the rural oligarchy,the local politicians and/orcriminals. In view of these hardfacts of life, the theoretically-conceived advantages of' thegrowth of a voluntary sector do notmaterialise, except in a few isolatedpockets." The air of suspicion andmutual distrust permeate therealtionshipbetween the govern-mental officials mainly at lower

!upgrade their skills and givethem the tools to attain economicseIf-reJia~ce. For achieving betteri~pact tne Seventh Plan documentemphaSised that there should'be mutual trust and understandingbetween Government and voluntaryagencies at the village level. Butexperience shows that mutual.trust it yet to take shape.

For assessing the involvement ofvoluntary organisations in ruraldevelopment work&, a study w~conducted .inNadia District, WestBengal. In the state Panchayati Raj. institutions have deep roots invillages and' are involved in allwiilks of' development works in .villages. Panchayat members(villa~e and block level) wereconsidered as the respondents.Fifty of them were taken assamples for the present study. The'questions were concerned with,(a) whether involvement ofvoluntary organinsations arehelpful, (b) Whether theirinvolvement is likely tojeopardise the mportance ofpanchayats, (c)the form of relatio-ship with voluntary organisationsand (d) the capability of voluntaryorganisations. Table 1 to 4 carrythe response. ,"

It can be seen that out of20 GramPanchayat Pradhans, 15 were ofthe view that involvement' i of,voluntary organisations in ruraldevelopment works will riot behelpful, whereas out of7 Savapatisof Panchayat..samitis (at Blocklevel) 4-supported this view. Sofaras officials at block level areconcerned, out of 23' sarttples 9-responded this way. Over 50 percent ~f the respondents thought.'that, Involvement of voluntaryorganisations ,in rural develop-ment works may not be helpful.

Whether involvementofvoluntmyorganisations in rural develop-

ININDIA,THEREISthe traditionof rendering voluntary service forthe uplift of under-privileged andweaker sections of society. Thisaspect of voluntarism in develop-ment process in rural areas istestified by the works and teachings,of Swami.Vivekananda, RabindraNath, Tagore and. MahatinaGandhi. The basic philosophy,behind voluntarism is: "The life of-the community pervades the life ofthe individal, the happiness of the,community is conducive to the'happiness of the individual, anindividual cannot at all existwithout his community. Thiseternal truth is the basis oflife." In.the post Independence era, there,was a significant increase in the,number of voluntary agencieswith the launching of CommunityDevelopment Programme. C.D.P.envisaged voluntary participation"of people in rural developmentworks in the form of Shramadan.hi f~ctthe programme w,,"sdesignedto ensure economic and sodalpro~s for the whole community.

If we look back, it can be seenthat -till the Sixth Five ¥ear Plan,voluntary organisations wereconsidered charity and welfareactivity organiSations..The Seventh,FiveYearPlan sought aD operational:aIT~geinent for promotion ofvoluntary efforts primarily in the~eld of' rural development.Voluntary organisations weregiven' the "freedom to plan theirown schemes and followmethodology .'fh.ey think best totac~le' poverty in villages they arew9'rking in." SlresswasJaid .on'.professionaIisirig voluntarism.;.Thevoluntary organisationl> wereurged to mobilise locally availablehuman 'and financial resources,_iC:Ientifythe poor farmers; ruralartisans, Scheduled Castes andScheduled Tribes,' agriculturallaJJmirers and bonded labourers,

/

YOIAl¥A, .Oefober.l--IS, 1_ 13

".r

be worshipped through service ofthe poor, the wretched, the do~trodden. The organisation enthusespeople for working on communitybasis.' A variety of activities froin'remedial to' developmental havebeenundertakenby thisorganisation.

Not. responded .' 'Total samplesYessuitus of respondent

level of hierarchy (implementation question is how far these organisa-level)and voluntary organisations tions be allowed to play their role.at local level. The State machinery On this depends to a great extenthas.many limitations to ensure the the success or failure of ruralwelfare of all its people. It has developmentplans as their partner-'been increasinglyfeltthat organised ship would help linking socialforms of popular participation action with state action.make development stable and In this connection the activitiesinculcates a feeling of community .and experiences of som~ reputedbelonging though which only the voluntary organisations deselVewhole process can be revitalised. m~ntion.The Societyfor EducationProperly organised voluntary Welfare and Action Rural (SEWA)efforts m~ygo a lor:g.~ay to~ards working)n thefieid of communityaugmentmg the .facIlItIesav.atlable developtfient is presently engagedto the commumty for helpmg the in heaithcare. SEWAis inspired byweakest and th.e most needy. But the philos0!1l!Y.lfuttGoJlcaILbesb"

_ - ;----4'able--t-----:: .. - . . \ .<'Whether IIIIvolvement ofvOlUiUarYcJrgiiil8BtloDID rural development w111-..e"

helofulNo

. Pradhan GramPanchayats

. Savapat~ .l'anchayat.Samitis ..Block Development

.Officers 'Village level worllers

"fotal

Status-of respondent

Pradhan Gram PalfchavatsSayapatt'i>i1nchayat Sa~itis'Blltck Developmenl OfficersVillage'

Pradhan GramPam,haval'savapati Pancha~'atSamilis .BI~ck De\'"lop!OentOfficers .Village level worllers

Cordial

2

Cooperati\'~

5

3

2

••

. Competiti\'e

13

3

49

Toial 7 14 . 29

Pradhan l;.",iniP;\ncha\'alss:l\'apaii PanchayalSamilisBInd, O;'\'('lopnll'Ill iOfficersVillagelevelvvorkers

Total

x

x

xX

X Z4

13

15

23

lCX

Z3

YD.'ANA. ~ i-IS, 1880

•

Eliminating An Inhuman Practice

BhabatoshChakraborty .

Training ProgrammeThe Scheduled Castes Develop-

ment Corporations in variousStates are playing a vital role in therehabilitation of the displacedscavengers. They are providingmargin. money loan, subsidy andbank loan for rehabilitating thescavengers in various trades andoccupations. Mahatma PhuleScheduled Castes DevelopmentCorporation, Bombay has also setup a training centre in ThaneDistrict in Maharashtra for trainingof the liberated sqavengers.

The contents of the trainingprogramme for scavenl{ers and.sweepers, however, vary fromState to State depending UPOli.theavailability of trade arid occupationand. avenue for employment. Forexample, the Bibar Government isproviding training to the displacedscavengers in selected trades likemotor mechanism, electricalrepairing, motor driving, leatherwork, cane work, shorthand and.typing. . Similarly, States UkeMadbya Pradesh and Rajasthanare getting the scavengers trained-'through the industrial traininginstitutes.

From the year 1981-82, morethan 15States have started schemes'pertaining to the liberation ofscavengers. In 1981-82Maharashtra,Uttar Pradesh, Tamil Nadu,Andhra Pradesh and Bihar startedthe scheme in about 240 small andmedium towns. Madhya Pradeshtopped the scale by introdUcing itin 98 towns. D

Anamount of Rs.42.97 crore hadbeen released by the. UnionWelfare Ministry to the States and.Union Territories till March 1989,as Central share for conversion ofdry latrines. Rs. 10 crore was.released in 1989-90for conversionof dry latrines in 264 towns. Underan Action Plan, a provision of Rs.23 crore has been made for thisscheme to cover 500 towns during1990-91.

Since 1980-81about 3.17 lakh drylatrines had been converted intowater-borne latrines .in 226 townsin 19 States and about 10,200scavengers liberated and rehabi-litated. The new Centrallysponsored scheme will speed up

CONVINCEDTHATTHEinhuman the process of eliminatilig this'practice of carrying nightsoil and inhuman practice from thefilth physically by the scavengers country .. Under the scheme, thecontribute considerably to .. Union Ministry provides financialperpetuate the practice of' assistance to State Governments. untouchability, Government has and Union Territories on 50:50embarked on an ambitious scheme btrant basis, for the cOIl\~ersionofto convert all tradionaldry latrines drv latrines into sanitarv ones oninto waterborne latrines. The th~ condition thatall the displacedscbeme also has provisions for scavengers and their dependents.providing new wet latrines to the would he rehabilitated in alternative,public at highly subsidised rates employment. . .. and by rehabilitating scavengers The equal share of 50 per centby offering them alternative jobs. has been provided by the States

Social. Discrimination and Union Territories either fromtheir State budget or through loans

The inhuman practice of canying from HUDCO. The Governmentni#(htsoil in ba!,!ketsand buckets on provides 05.0 per cent as su bsidyone's head is still prevalent in and 50 per cent of the cost as loanmany parts of the country not only. to householders for conversion ofspreading insanitation but .also dry latrines to implement theperpetuating social discrimination. scheme at the muni~ level.Although no concrete data is Moreover, the States and Unionavailable regarding the .exact ,Territories have been asked by thenumber of dry latrines in the Centre to release 10per cent of thecountry and the number. of Special Central Assistance on the, sca.vengers involved, it is roughly incOlfle generating probtrammeestimated that there are about 53. reserved for. vulnerable btrouPSlakh dry latrines in the country .. like sweepers, scavengers, bondedMoreover, about 30 per cent of the labour arid de-notified, nomadicurban households do not have any and semi-nomadic tribes.latrine facility at all. During theSiXthand Seventh Five Year Plans,the programme was taken up onlyon selective basis in small andmedium towns.

YO.lANA,Detobe.1-1I1, 1880 . 15

Funds Management -In IRegio~al'-Rural Banks: A Case, Study .

- ,.," ,"I

of June 1985was 16 per cent in,'the total loans extended to the.RRBs as agciinst their expected'share of 30 per cent ..In the case "

,,'of one spmisOr'ba-nk, 'the/per"'centage was ilslow'as one:percent." ~ne~ally~ 'is.P~~".~;;t~e percentage was less thanhalfof the expected share inthecaSe of many ,sponsor banks."

'o";.y in th~ fi~t f\¥O yearS ofth~study' period' have' the borrowmgsmmi tile' sponsorb.mk exceeded'

J, -c' . ,1_0 _'." "'._ J".,..>

30 per ,cent ,of the Bank's totaladvances_ "theteafter the trerid .

! . . -., . -: .' - ~.

indicated that thee, is a strongp~ssibili~ . of the",' percent~ge,further falling e\:en below 15.,per, 'ceni. ' " ' .' .

".-.r- .•

1 l:

Dr. Noorbasba Abdul:apd M. Jyotl1i

. ... '" > .-: .-_. .,

Regio;'alH~raIBahk~ ~h'ave'a.viiat'ttj;~'in the,provision of credit to the rural poor for self-emploYfTl~t. Tfl~ all.thors speak ~fthe are~sof concern in the fimctioning ofiRRBs andcall for a more cautious approach in themanagement of funds by BRBs in general 1 /! "

and th~ loss-making ones- in particula~. A 'case study' of Chai,ny~ 1'Grarri~e1JaBank,' .~_, r,Tenali"Ae is an indicator in this.:direction. ,"~,'

to ilie weaker sections: It is indeed ;,heartening that the advances'whicr. were ju~t 41.5 per"cerit' of"the total assets'in 1983~as.77 per":cent at the end of ~~t.: 19~9: ;

,Smaller BorroWings "I, 'L

The contribution ofINABl\RDto' ,the Bank's total, honwingS . ispicking up" reducing the burden: i

:on the sponsor Bank. While, the I'

, SpOnsor Bank aJ.ld NABARDhave "cqntJibuted to the borrowings of .,the Bank in 45:55 ratio in 1983,'it.rose -to ,z4:7~ at the end of'September 1989. It is found ,that ,the borrowings from the SponsorBank was about 35 percent of theadvances in 1983,' which came"down to just 14 in 1989.Au6esame'time, borrowings form. Ni\BARD,'. The'proportion'of 'balances 'tOl

A bFeak-up of ,the liabilities of Slightly .picked up to 48 per' cent on 'deposits fell fromm.5 in 1983-to'the Bankshows that the borrowings the advances in 1987,which again 44.7in 1988arid 32.7in 1989.-S1ump'of :theBank have outpaced deposits. delcined to 44 per cent in 1989. ~ in this ratio indicates the' Bank'sIt can be observed front its data boiTowings of the Bank OCCUpied. ability to deplay most oOts deposits,that ,borrowings multiplied by 20.2 ~nly 58.6 per cent oBhe'advances: , towards advances 'by reducing its'times; whiledeposits went up by . at the end of Sept. 1989;(78 per imiestment in the' balances with,only 15 times. cent in 1983). It IS below the other banks. At the,end:of Sept.'

expected targets. Therepott ofthe 1989. NJ:'BARD an.d Spon.!>O,I'.:BankWhile', the value of the total' ,,' 'WorkingGrouponRRBsU9861, has W~re slla.ring]the' Raqk's qal~n,ces \

assets has gone up by 14,3 times, observed: : :' .. :, '.' ;-" in 16:84 ratio. .. .advances and cash assets of the" ,.\ 1 "'. ",' , ,'" ,\. i,Bank rose. up by 26.6 times and 8.6 "Tne sponsor ban~ ,have;qoL. "Auhe allln~ia level, most ofthe~fimes 're~eCtjvelYl indicating met their full share, in the ."' profit"makingRRBs ~ used 10better utilisation of working funds refinance provided to the,RRBs... maintain hugeamounts'of balancestowards the provision of advances Their average ~hare at !he :end:. with 'other banks; compared tothe

, 'THERE HAS BEEN A growing.realisation of' the Significance' ofRegional Rural Banks (RRBs!in therural credit sYl'tem as the mostpotential- agencies to promote thecause of the' rural poor. However,it. is urifortunate that RRBs ingeneral are plagued with decelera-tion ,in ,their viability andprofitability. Latest statisticsshow that 196 RRBshave shown atotal ,loss of Rs. 193 erores, and,most of them have eaten away.their share capital long back. Thispathetic situation, calls for a morecautious and efficient management,of funds by RRBs in general andtheloss-m~ng RRBsi~ particular.

'j

An appraisal.of management offunds in Chaitanya .GrameenaBanldCGB),Tenali, Andhra Pradeshhas been' attempted, •as a Casestudy. The CGB (refferred to as'the Bank'), was opened in 1983, tocover, Guntur district of the Stateand has corisistently bden yielding.losses ~illto date, without showingany ~sitive signs of recovery inthe m~arfuture. Adetailed analysisof the trend, in the mobilisation'and, deploy'ment of 'funds of theB,ank is attempted in this a.."1:icle.SOurces of funds for the!purpose Ofthis study are confined to onlydeposit~ and bormwings and useof, funds to 'advances' only.

YOIANAi«Jct~ 1-15,.1_'. • ',.' ~~'z>:,..:,~ ~ ~.:.. ~,-":.,£~'~;'~&~""...•-

(Contt! on page 20)-. -

Yield Rate on Advances;

Even though the growth • 'ofadvances of a Bank presents anattractive record, the yield rate onadvance should also be reasonabieand remunerative. With this endin view, the vield rates on advances

. of the Ba~k under study, are-computed and furnished in the~aIysis data, .which in tum

.discloses one significant fact thatthe Bank is losing its yield rate onadvances. The yield rate of theBank declined from 14.39in 1~ tejust to.31 in 1989.This faliingyieldrate suggests the declining efficiencyof advances in terms of .,iQterestreceipts. The phenomqnon may be-.attributed to tbe faCt that the-quantum of advances is mountingup rapidly and dis-pr.oportionatelycompared to the interest thereon.This is one of the most basicreasons for the losses of the Bank.

_ A hird's 'eye view of thecomponent-wise informationreveals that the ISB Industries,Services and Business sector has

'been consistently yielding more'than proportionate interest to itsadvances. while the Short Term _Loans category was continuouslyshowing a 100ver p_ro~rtion of

showed it at 54 per cent and 42 "he respective actual rates ofper cent in the case of loss- interest offered by the. Bank, themaking RRBs. . • former happened to he lower thanThe balances with sponsor hank .the latter through-out the studyto total desposits of the Bank period.

constitued only 15 per cent at While the average rate ofinterest. the end of Sept. 1989.Howeyer, .on .'term deposits constituted less

t'lese percentage were 51.43 -than 85 per cent in the actual rateand 33.65 for profit-making in 1983, it went upto about 99 perRRBs and loss-making RRBscent in 1988,thus leaving a marginrespectively. of 15 per cent and one per centThe balances with Sponsor respectively to the Bank. Similarly,Bank alone aceounted for more the average rates of interest 'Onthan 84 percent ahthe -end savingsdepositsalsopresentedfarof Sept. India level however, the. . lower values. The data revealedprofit-!Dakings BBBsshowed 96 that while this percentage hasper cent while 79.Zper cent was been at the lowest level of 38 inworked out by the loss-making . 1985~if increased to ;if significantBBBs. level of more than 68 per cent inIt is found out frOman analysis of 1988,thus providing savings in thethe viability of all the RRBs in interest rate to the tune of 62 perIndia as at the end of Decem her, cent and 32 per cent respective!y .1986 that one uniform reasonfor iJ'Cumng-loJ's was the. lowlevelofbusiness and non-judiciousallocation of resources andIJOITOwings.

Composition orDeposits -

The. earlier analvsis on theliabilities of the Bank during ~estudy penod has revealed that theBank was depending more onIJOrrowings: It was also seen thatthe growth rate of bOITOwings~ar.outweighed that of the depoSits.As a logical step. it is relevant to.analyse the composition of thedeposits to assess the respectivedegree of influence that the termand savings deposits played.

\'\'bile the average rate of intereston term deposits worked out to9.90 per cent, the average rate onsavings deposits was"3.76per cent"at the end of 1988. When theseJlereentages were compared with

.Findings.The above findings of the Study

Bank may be compared with thosewhich are worked out hy the RRBsat the national level as on 30thDecember, 1986. Some of them.are:

The borrowingS ..of the Bankwere constituted, 24 per centand 76 per cent respectively by:.Sponsor Bank and NABARDasin 1989.At the all India level, therespective percentage were 24and 68 for. profit-making RRBs

and 28 and 70 in the case ofloss- While the savings depositsmaking ~, h h'gh f

constituted tel er segment 0 .- The horn.voingsfrom sponsor the total deposits upto 1986,it was

bank and NABARDconstituted the. term deposit component14 per cent and 44 per cent of which had higher share of totaltot~1advances in 1989.At the ~IJ deposits since 1987. For example,India level, the respectl\'e in 1989,of the total deposits of thepercentages ~ere 13.2 and 37:1.: Bank, term d~posits constitutedfor profit-makmg RRBs and m more than 62 per. cent.the case of loss-making RRBs14per cent and 35.5 per cent.The total balances to totaldeposits of the bank constituted32.7 per cent at the end of Sept.1989. However, the All Indiaaverage for profit-making RRBs

joss-making counterparts. One of. the recent studies of selected RRBsat the national level showed thattheir balances with other Banks aspercentage .of their deposits weremore than 76 per cent for profit-makinl( Banks and less than 62 perceilt in the case of Joss..makingbanks.The rationale behind nurturingthis sort of c~lture by RRBsin theirfinancial administra';on is purelycommercial rather than socialconsideration. /

Whiie the percentage ofbalar:'ceswith NABARDto the bOITOwmgs'from it has heen at a VCIY low e~b,.the percentage of balances ":lIthsponsor bank to the borrowmgsfrom it worked out to a three-digit figure. For example,

. these percentages relating toNABARDand Sponsor Bank were30.6 and 15'0.2respectively in 1983and 7.46and 150.27 in 1989. Thistendency clearly indicates' thatwhile the Bank is getting morethan NABARD, it is depositingmore with its sponsor bank.

17

'Questions

Punjab Agriculture: SC,ope of,'

BnergyCoDservatioDAmarjit Singh

Energy audit of wheat and paddy Crops inPunjab has shown that these are consumingmore energy, more non-renewable at that,'leading to cost escalation:ln this study, theauthor notes that there is significant scppefor effectiJ!.g economy. He underlines theneed for creating better awareness andstreng-thening the e~tension net-work forthe purpose.

IN THE AGRICULTURALsectorparticularly in the green revolutionareas, with the, rising trend inutilisation of hybrid seed, intensiveirrigation, larger Qosesof cl1emicals,fertilizers, insecticides, pesticidesand increasing level of machanisa-tion, .the corresponding input ofenergy has increased manifold. Tofurther elaborate this point, ittakes 60,000 MT of energy toproduce one tonn~ of nitrogen,8qO~00MT of energy to produceone tonne of farm equipment and36,000 MT of energy to lift ,onehectare metre of 'Water- frommoderate depths.' Similarly, toproduce other agricultural inputssubstantial amounts of ,en~rgyare,required. ' .

In Punjab, during .greenrevolu~,tion period. i.e, 1970-71to 1987-88thenumber of tubewells had increasedfrom 1.92 lakhs to.over 6.83Iakhs.Similarly, the number of tractorsreached upto 2,39,1£1 in 1987-88

.. from 50,664 in 1970-71. Theconsumption of chemical fertilizerswent up from 213 thousandsnutrient toniles to 1,112thousands«nutrient tonnes during this period.Like\\'ise net an~airrig.iied incJ'Caseli.from 71 per cent ,to 88 per cent."Electricity consumption ill agricul:ture went up and accou,nted for 41

18

per cent of the total electricityconsumption .of tne ,State.

In the light of abOvegiven situationa few questions arise. Whether the -Punjab agriculture has reallybecome energy intensive? Whatare the shifts in energy consumptionpattern and what are the remedialmeasures which can be taken forenergy conseIvation in agriculture?In this paper an attempt has beenmade to study the structural shiftsin energy consumption forproducing wheat and paddy, theprincipal and energy intensivecrops of Punjab. -

So far the time series data ofenergy consumption for variouscrops are not available. The studiesconducted in the past were eithervillage level studies or presentedonly a particular area. Data used inthis paper have been taken fromtwo sources. For the year 1973-74the energy required to produce;wheat and paddy .has been'worked out from the farm manage~-ment studies conducted by Depart"'ment of Economics and Sociology,Punjab Agricultural University(Il.A.U.l I.udhiana'. In these studiesthe physical quantities of various

inputs per hectare have beengiven. These physical quantitieshave been converted into eneq,'Yunits Le. mega joules. For the year1984-85 the data have been takenfrom - the stuidy conducted byDepartment of Farm Power andMachinery, P:A.l;J. Ludhiana. So,the two' samples on which thesestudies were based are differentand th~reforenot strictlyromparable ..However, due to the lack otcomparable data ..these can beused to have a crude estimate oftrend, and' structural shifts inen~rgy consumption pattern inagriculture. . .

Wheat

The source-wise energy require-m'ent for wheat production hasbeen shown in Table 1. The totalenergy input from various sourceswas to the tune of 14,910 MT in1973-74and increased to 18,762MTin t984-85 accounting for 25.84 percent increase during this period.The maximum increase was -noticed in the energy from fertilizerswhich increased from 4,981 perhectare to 8,14~ MT per hectare.The contribution of energy fromfertilizers increased from 33 pel"cent to 43 per' cent in the totalenergy input. Though the energyinput from diesel and electricityincreased in absolute terms yet thepercentage share in total energyinput remained almost same.

, There was a sharp decline in th~contribution of human and animalenergy both in absolute terms andin percentage. The share of humanenergy in the. total enerm' inputwas 7.0'9per cent in 1973-74whichdeclined to 4.92 percent in 1!)s4-85. Likewise, the share of animalenergy declined from 6:75per centto mere 1.47 per cent. The share ofmachinery in the total energy. input increased from 0.85 per centto 1.56 per cent during the studyperiod. Overall, the input in theform of renewable energy declinedfrom 3,618MT per hect.are to 2,650MT per hectare. The percentage.share of renewable energydecelerated from ~.27 per'cent to

YO.JANA,October 1-15,1990

Table 2

Table 1

Bnergy Requirement to produce a unit of output

, Source-wise energy Input during 1973-74 and 1984-85 (MT/ha)

'Studies on energy'conservation

in 1984-85.Increased energy inputsfrom diesel and fertilizers weremainly responsible for this increase.Similarl~ energy from electricity,chemicals and machinery witnesseda substantial increase. Like wheat,the share of renewable energy, came down from 17 pet cent to 14per cent ,and share ,ofnon-renewableenergy increased from 83 per centto 86 per cent in the total energyinput. The ana.ysis of energy inputper unit of grain productionshowed that there was an increasein energy input per unit of grainproduction: The energy requiredto, produce one kilogramme ofpaddy was 5.31MTwhich increasedto 5.86MTduring the study period.Interestingly, though the. totalenergy input per unit of grainproduction increased,' therenewable energy input per unit ofgrain production decreased from0.91 MT to 0.84MT. Overall; paddyproduction J>ecame more energyintensive.

It is clear from the energy auditof the two main crops of Punjabthat energy intensity in Punjabagriculture has increased and non-renewable commercial energy hasreplaced the renewable energy toa significant extent. This hasresulted in the escalation of cost ofproduction in agriculture. So,there is a nee~ to, look into thepossibilities of energy conservationor saving without affecting agricul-tural productivity. Research is onto develop the technologies for, onergyconservation . and veryencouraging results are. coming,out. Results of some of the studiesare ~venbelow.

Paddy1973-74 1984-85 % increase

Idecrease'

to 16 per cent decline in non-renewable energy input. Thus, theabove facts clearly show that. theconversion efficiency of energyinto' output have increased overtime and shift has also beennoticed from renewable to non-renewable commercial energy.

Wheat1973-74 1984-85 % Increa-

se/decre-ase

14.12 per cent. In contrast, thepercentage share of non-renewableenergy incre-ased.

Though enerb'Yconsumption perunit of area increased, the averageenergy input per kilogramme ofwheat declined from 6.07 MT to4.48 MT during 1973-74 and 1984"85, accounting for 27 per cerit Paddydecline as shown in Table 2. Here, Table 1 shows that total energythe decline noticed was more input to the paddy crop was 21,596sharp in case of renewable energy, MT per hectare in 1973-74whichi.e. 57per cent decline as compared' increctsed to 3¥10 MT per hectare

Source crop Wheat Paddy1973-74 1984-85 1973-74 1984-85

Human 1057 923 1697 2158(7.09) 14.921 17.86) (6.46).

Animal 1007 276 907 349(6.751 tt.471 14.201 tt.041

Diesel 4366 5142 5076 9789,129.28) (27.411 123.501 129.30)

Electricity 1799 2398 'i~l1!t ~9375tt2.071 tt2.781 (36.61, (28.06)

Seed 1210 1411 630 638(8.121 (7.521 12.921 tt.91)

FYM 344 40 .466 '1657(2.31/ fO.21) (2.161 " (4.96)

Fertilizers 4981 8145 4673 8600{33:411 143.411 (21.64) (25.74)

Chemicals 20 134 27 46.6(0.13) (0.71/ (0.131 (1.39/

Machinery 126 293 201 378(0.851 11.561, (0.931 (t.13I'

Total 14910 18762 21596 33410(tOO.OOl ttOO.OOl ttoh.oOl ttOO.OO/

,Renewable 2618 ,2650 3700 4802(24.271 114.121 tt7.131 114.371

Non.Renewable tl292 16112 17896 28608175.731 185.881 (82.871 (85.63)

Total Energy Input 14910 18762 25.84 21596 33410 54.70 Vyas and others conducted(MT/ha)study for village Hambran ofYield of the Crop (KgI 2458 4183 70.00 4005 5696 40.12Punjab tow~rk out the possibilitiesAverage Energy input 6.07 4.48 -26.19 5.31 5.86 10.36'

IKgI of energy conservation by wasteRenewable Energy inJll!t 3618 2650 .26.75 3700 .•1102 29.78 and residue recycling. The studyIMT/Kgl

. revealed that with the proper J,Average renewable 1.47 0.63 -57.1" 0.91 O.M .7.69 recycling of8,500 tonnes of biomassenergy inputlKg tMTJavailahle in a village there can be aNon-renmvahle energy 11292 16112 42.68 178m, 28602 •.;g.82

input IMT'hal saving of 3,442 GJ of commercialAverage non-rene\vahlc ".59, 3.115 16:12 "All 5.112 14.09 enerh'Y and the farmers can alsoenerf,'Y j"l'"!'kgsave Rs. 2.86lakhs which they have

YOJANA, October I-US, 1990 19

to spend to purchase the:commercial inputs.

In Punjab, as mentioned earlierthe number of tubewells are

- increasing at a very' fast rate butthese are being operated at a lowerlevel of efficiency. Sondhi andothers found that with slightimprovement in the functioning oftubewell system there can be asaving of 175 million' KWIJ of,eleetrlc energy of Rs. 21 cronf.and 1,16,000KLof diesel oil worth'Rs. 414 crore per year in Punjab.Similar results have been obtainedby improving tbe efficienq ofothe.' farin implements andmachinery.

The flow of water in Katchachannels 'cause immense loss of. .water. According to a study 30-40

•per cent of water losses. are onlydue to katcha linings. Sandhu triedan alternative pipeline system andfound 'that these losses can bebrought down to a very largeextent and the capital cost incurredon pipe lining can be recovered ineight years.

Other StudiesSimilarly, there are many other

studies which have focussed uponenergy sa\~ng in agricultureproduction hut the measuressuggested in these studies are yetto be adopted by the farmers. Thishas been due to several reasons.Firstly, the farmers are not awareof. the future implications ofenergy intensive agriculturewhich they will have to faceindividually or collectively such as

scarei!y . of energY whIch mayfurther increase' energy - prices,environmental pollution etc.Secondly, the capital costs ofimproving efficiency of machinery .and water conservation are quitehigh which is beyond the reach ofmajority of ~e farmers. Thirdly,the farmers' will ad~pt only thosetechniques having economicadVantage. Many tedmiques sugge&-ted for energy conservation doesnot fulfil this condition. Fourthly,proper recycling technologie~ forcrop biomass are yet to bedevel~Ped ..For-example, .the ti~ebetWeen harvesting ~'!~sowing ofcrops has been narrowed downand the farmer has' no alternatiVeexcept burning the availablebiomass especially after theharvesting of crop by combineharvesters. But for saving energythis biomass is needed to berecycled in Ihe soil. Fifthlv, thE'aUe"rnatiyetechnologies de"e"lopedfor energy conservation sfiouldsimplifY the farm work. Thetechnologies based on commericalenergy have considerably simplifiedand eased the farm work. So thefarmers will be reluctant to adoptthat technology which complicate!';the farm work.

suggestions.Keeping in view the above given

. obstacles following measures aresuggested to give a boost to theenergy conservation. and . toreverse the trend which haveincreased the dependence oncommercial energy:

- The awareness should be createdamong the farmerS about the long-run implications' of energyintensive agriculture. Extensionservices and the means of mas.scommunication can be' used forthis purpose.

- Adequate credit facilities shouldbe. provided for imprqving.

effiCiencyof machinery and forpopularising the means ofwaterconservation.

- Benefit-cost analysis fromfarmer's . anKle ~hould bec.arriedout before recommendingthe technology and the researehefforts should be directed tobring down the fixed andoperational costs.

- Technology for recycling ofbiomass other than dung shouldalso be developed.

- While developing technologydue attention should he paid totbe work simplification aspect.

- Lastly, a study on large. scale isrequired to find out the shifts in_energy consumption pattern,mvel'ing different crops andvarimls al,tro-dimatic zones ofthe Punjah Stilte. a

The autbor is AssistantProfessor in the Departmentof Economics and Sociology-,

Punjab AgriculturalUniversity, Ludhiana.

(Conrd. from pa,ge 17):, Allied Activities category, however~vere due to the conversion of crop

interest to its advances. While the loans, which postponed theISBcategory which accounted for.; interest receipts of 1986 to 1987. It isonly 9.0. per cent of the total obvious from the above analysisadvances in 1989, contributed thattheinvestmentofadvancesonabm~t 20 'per cent to the inte~st ISB category is more profitablereceIpts of the Bank, the L TL. compared to the olher sectors.category though aCCl;mnted for •about 70 percent oftotal advances, In sum, the Bankunder referencecontributed only 57 per cent of the.. is facing serious crisis on theinterest receipts. The fluctuations. viability front. Themana~ement_of

. of interest in Agriculture and inflow of funds espeCIally the

deposits and hqrrowings andoutflow towards advances presenta mixed record of performance.The Bank has to go in for a morecautious and efficient nianage~ment of mobilisation and deploy-ment of funds, if the present trendis to be reversed. 0

The auth~rs belong toNagarjuna University,

Andhra Pradesh.

YWANA, Octobei- I-IS, 1880

~mpactof Dryland Development. Prog'rammeon Cropping Pattern-A Case study

T. Narasimha Reddy, H.G.Shankara Murthy and H.S~Vijayakumar, '

Watershed technology envisages, amongother things, shift in the cultivated area,from less remunerative crops to high-yielding ones. Such a change in the style ofland utilisation is designed to improve thelevel of income and employment in the'Watershedareas. The authors have made anearnest attempt to analyse how far .the,Dryland FarmingDevelopment Programmeinfluenced the cropping pat~ern in BijapUTDistrict of Kamataka. Their observations.

Results

It could be seen from Table 1,that the total cropped area underaUthe crops increased marginallyby 0.43 per. cent following theadoption of dry farming develop- ,ment programmes, whereas, thearea under cereals and fibresshowed a decline of 10.73 and 9.37per cent respectively. The area'under pulses and oilseedsincreased by 46.40 per cent and46.14 per cent. This Could beattributed' to the shift from less

Primary data related to the areaof different crops grown by thesample farmers was collected forthe year 1988-89. It was subjected_to tabular analysis. Secondary datarelated to the area of differentgroups of crops over a period ofyears from 1970 to 1988 wascollected from the Depa:rtrnent ofDistrict Statistical Office. Annualcompound growth - rates werecomputed.

one vin~ge and therefore thisvillage was selected. Two vilIag£;swhich were easily accessible andlocated at minimum distanc~, 'covered by DPAP were alsoselected. In addition to theseseven villages, three morewere .chosen from outside thewatershed areas for the purpose ofcomparative evaluation.

For sampling of farmers, five percent of -the farmers covered bveach watershed were included oiJa, random sampling basis. In all,

, 150 farmers were selected, 75 from'Chahdakavate watershed, 7 fromVarnal watershea, zsfrom DPAPwatershed and 43 from adjoiningareas.

Methodology

After identifying the watersheds'-some villages were selected from-each watershed. In the Chandaka-vate watetshed, four villages f20per, cent of total) were selectedwhere the programme wasimplemented in they_ear1985. Thewcttershed at 11amal covered only

CONSERVATIONOF SOIL ,and,~~lter-is"lfutile exercise unless it isput to productive u';;e.So',there is .need for changing the croppingpattern and shifting to new varietiesof crops to meet the excess cost. incurred in la~d development'activities_ In the Seventh FiveYearPlan the Watershed Developt:J1ent,Piugramme was- introduced notonly to develop the land but alsobring. about changes in - cropproduction activities_

In. this artiCle. -an attempt hasbeen made to analyse how-farlhedryland farming developmentprogramme . -influenced thecropping pattern. in a typical dIy. fanning Bijapur diStrictinKarnatakawhe~ .coritinuousefiorts havebeen made in this direction.

To analyse the objective of thestudy, a multi~stage samplingprocedure was adopted. At theinitial sta~e ~ijapur district wasselected because .•:of its droughtprone character with widefluctuatir)Ds in annual rainfall. Inthe second stage specific water-sheds were selected based on theirimportance. It was decided toevaluate the impact of the water-

Watershed technology is' sheds which were taken up underexpected to bring about shifts in Drought Prone Areas Programmecultivated area from less . lDP~). Chandakavate watershedremunerative crops to high-yielding was selected to provide guidelinescrops_Such a change in the pattern for achieving the desired objectivesof land utilization seeks to improve' with minimum friction betweenthe levelof Income and employment different categories of functionariesin the watershed areas through -~ntromng .the diverse fields of,greater integration between activities. The watershed at Varnalvarious ser;tors of the economy of 'waschm~en as it was sponsored by

"the inhabitants res'iding in the. the 'University of Agriculturalareas. ' Sciences, Dharwad.

Fi~res in, braCkets indicate percentage of respective totals

Cropping p.tterDadopt8dby &amplef_en In different w•••••• bella of. B1Japurdistrict during 1988-89

.,Table 1

Imp.'Utof OPylandF_lag Dentlopment Pro••••mme on "rea.nd CroppingP.tte ••••during 1870-71. to 1987-88 iii BIJ.pur district

Areltin1UJCrop groups 1970-71 to 1974-75 to 1974-75 to 1984-8$ to

1973-74 1987-88 , . 1983-84 1987-88

Cereals 9,OS,526. 8,11,052 8,22,943 7,81,324Pulses 90.850 1,33,004 1.29,980 1,40,564Oilsepds 1,71,157 2,50,136 2,05,635 3,61,389Fibre Crops 1,90,210 1,72,382 1,97,030 1,10,763

Total -13,60,743 13,66,574 13,55;588 13,94,040

Table 2

J

did not have the requisite facilitiesto obtain credit to overcomp. tIle

. resourcp constraints. They alsodid not hm'e the advantage ofseeing the demonstrations carriedout hy the extension agencieswithin the watershed al'eas andwere therefore, unable to reducethe risks of crop failures.

B~tween the different watersheds, Yarnal showed the mostremunerative cropping pattern:33:46 per cent area was devoted tooilseeds and 19.29 per cent tointercrops. In the case ofChandakavate and DPAP water-sheds,. the corresponding per-centages foroilseeds were 27.46and 23.04 per cent. Regardingintercrops, the difference in thepercentage area, compared to thatofYarnal was evelTgreater in bothChandakavate as well as DPAP.The intercropped'area accountedfor 8 per cent compared to 19.00per cent in Varnal.

The percentage of the areadevoted to cereals was found to be37.01 in Yarnal compared to 62.1per cent in DPAP and 47.16 percent inChandaj{avate. This couldbe due' to the fact that Yarnalwatersh~d was started on a cleanslate with the definite aim ofraising productivity levels of cropsand incomes of the farmers andFocussed its attention on thosecrops which could provide better.returns. DPAP, in contrast, did nothave this objective. It aimed at.providing immediate gains inincome and employment to thefarmers which could not be shownby following the traditional pattern.Changes in the cropping patternwould require more investmentand more time. In Chandakavate,the majority of the sample farmersbelonged to the large farmercategory and they could meet thehigher costs as well as the risks offibre crops apart from the;technologi.cal advantages .theyenjoyed. .

It was further observed that thecropping int~nsity of outsidefarmers worked out to only 104.64in contrast with 123.53 for Yarnal,112.26 for Chandakavate and 109.65 .for DPAP. This was. due to the

. .(Cuntd. on.P"8e 24J

YO.JANA,Odo ••••• 1-18, 1-

a .markedper cent to

oilseeds " registpredinCl'ease from 12.5818.30 per cenL

,It is observed from the,Table 2

thai the percentage of grosscropped area de\'oted to cereals byoutside farmers was found to bemuch higher compared towatershed farmers. For pulses,oilseeds and fibre crops, - the,corresponding percentages werefound to be lower. This could beattributed to the lack of initiativeto experiment with new varietiesof crops. They still followedtraditional practices and cared fortheir food and feed requirementsrather than for sale of surpul~s in.tIl(' -mal'kt'ts. As a coilsequence,cereals ,were given priority in theircropping decisions. So far as fibrecrop is concerned, it is more riskyand capital intensive. Farmers .•living outside the watershed areas

(In beet __ )

'" 'WatershedsCrop groups Chandaka. Yama; .DPAP TotJJl outside the

\"at" .watershed

. Cereals 223.71 15.01 65.16 303.88 117.65i47.161 137.011 (62.701 (49.111 (57.981

Pulses 45.32 3.19 1.53 50.04 9.2519.5SI (7.87/ ti.471 13.091 (4.561

OiJseeds 130.24 13.57 23.94 167.75 '44.29(27.461 133.461 (23:041 127.111 (21.831

Fibre crops 38:'23 0.96 4.80 43.99 9.2.~(8.061 12.:161 (4.621 (7.101 14.S6)

Inlel'Cr0ps 36.84 7.82 8.49' 53.15 22.46(7.771 (l9.29( 18.171 18.591 111.071

Gros.o;cropped area 474.34 4lt ..'i.'i 103.92 618.81 202.90(l 00.00 I :100.00J (l00.001 (lOO.OOl (l00.001

Net area 422.55 32.82 94.77 550.14 193.89cropping intensity 112.26 123.53 109.65 115.30 104.64

•'emuner!ltive crop~ (coarse cerpalslto more remuner.ath'e crops likeoilseeds and pulses.

The growth rates' for cel'eals is-0.88 and fibres -5.25 which arefound to be negati\'f~, the latteralone being significant at 10 percent level.In contrast, pulses with1.07 and oilseeds with 6.99 arefound to he positive, the latteralone being significant at 5 percent level. '

The percentag(' of arpa devotedto cereals and fibres had declinedfrom 66.76 per cent to 59.36 percent and from 13.98 per cent to 12.61per ,cent respectively during pro-gramme pe~od. In contrast, thepercentag€;l area devoted to pulsesincreased from 6.68 per centduring the pre-programme periodto .9.73 per cent during theprogramme. period. Thecorresponding percentage'. for

•

Milch Animal Scheme in Drought-ProneAreas:A Case' StudyDr. K. Jayacbandra

.Milch-cattle rearing in.drought-prone areasholds promise as it helps in ensuring steady.income and reducing dependence em.agriculture. In the present case study, theauthor notes that this scheme finds favourwith small and marginal farmers as well.The author makes . some concretesuggestions for making the scheme moreeffective.

INDROIJGHT-PRONF.•.il'(~ascattleis not just a source of farm poweror family food supply. hut the. major and often the only soul"(:eofcash income as the agriculture.yield is low and erratic. Chittordistrict in Andhra Pradesh is oneof the drought-prone areas whichhas consider •.lhle scope for the-develop,!,entof animal hushandry.It is iherefore aimed underDrought Prone Areas Programmesand Arogyavaram Development.Sodety to encourage farmers to..take "such suhsidaty occupationslik(~cattle rearing, sheep rearing,'poultry etc. to help them inst•.lhilising their income ann toreduce their dependency onah•.•.iculture. Under ArogyavaramDevelopment Society, loans areprovided for milch animals, diggingof wells. pump sets etc. to identiJ)rheneficiarie!~ in order to provide .them with an additional source ofincome so as to bring them ahovt.the poverty line.

M. Ranemma, a widow, lives in.the village of Dubbiganipalle,Chittm' district, Andhra Pradesh ..She possesses 35 cents of wet land, .and 2.5 acres of dry land. She has-I'(~ceiveda loan from ArogyavaramDevelopment Society.' The loanhas heen give" through IndianRank. Chinnatippasamudhram.She purchased a crossbred cow.with the help of a field' officer ofIndian Bank in October, 1988. Hewas satisfied with the process ofpurchasing the milch animal,considered to be of good milkyielding bred. .

Ranemma knew very little ahoutliabilities, terms and-QOnditions ofthe credit institutions. She hasrepaid the whole loan amountwithin a vear in instahnentsthrough the MilkCollection centre:There'is no veterinary centre in thevillage. The distance between theveterinary centre and the

village is 2' miles. A veterini.lryofficer visits this place twice orthrice a month, but she prefers togo to Veterinary hospital atChinnatippasamudhram forgetting veterinary aid.

Ranemma sells milk to Milk.ColJection Centre of AndhraPradesh Dairy Development Co-operative Federation Ltd., whichis located at a distance of 1112K.M.The centre huys milk on the basisof fat percentage. She deliversmilk to the Milk Collection Centreat 7 a.m. and 6 p.m. She growsdryland crops in her. 2.5 acres ofdryland which yi~lds dry fodder .She purchases. feed and fodderfrom Chinnatippasamudramwhich is nearer to her village. Sheprovides h'l'Oundnut cake, rice-bran and mineral mixture as cattlefeed. She normaily gives 4 Kg. ofmineral mixtur,4 Kg of Rice braqand 1 Kg groundnut Cake.

.BCO;ll~.'~8 9' Milcb,Animal

Ranemma did not have milchcattle earlier. Under Arogyavaram .Development Society,shepurehasedone milch animal. The followingfigures show the economics ofmilch animal. .

The average milk yield per day is8lhlitres. She gets an average ofabout 240litres of milk per month,which comes to Rs. 960 per monthat Rs. 4.00 I?er litre. She consumes

Dan)' ReceiptsIn 'the present study an attempt

"is m•.tde to study the impact ofmilch animal scheme on ruralpoor. This is well illustrated withan example. .Conclusions andsuggestions are drawn for makingtile scheme a success in this area.

YO.JANA,October I-IS, 1890

Item

Milk soldPersonal.consumption. .

Table 1

Quantity in Lirres

8.00

l/Z

Average price

4.00

4.00

TOtal value (Raj

3Z.00

Z.OO

.:&3

with villagers and officers ofthe animal husbandry depart-ment, the following suggestionsare made to make the MilchAnimalProgramme more effective in thedIstrict.

Distribution of milch cattle isonlY a part of the scheme forimproving 'economic cOndition ofthe weaker sections in ruralareas. The important aspects to bewell attended for the' success ofthis programme are veterinarvC()verage, animal husband£)'extension activities, fodder andpasture .development ;centres,creation' 'ofinfrastructure facilitie~'for supply of cattle feed atsubsidized rate, marketing of .:nilketc. In order to keep the cattle inhygienic condition it is necessarvto provide subsidy to th~beneficieries for erecting cattlesheds.

Also, the ,Government shouldprovide finance for milch animaland feed at subsidised rates. Therules should be relaxed to someextent for getting loans throughDRDA.

Economic analy~is of rearingmilch cattle done by the animal ,husbandry department in the'areaindicates that as compared tograded buffalo, crossbred 'cowsdefinitely give more net incomeper animal. Therefore, thepossibility of distribution of cowsunder DRDA needs to beexamined. a

The author is Lecturer ins.v. Universi!y, Tirupathi

more progressive cOmpared 1(;

that of DPAP farmers.

Form the .analysis ,of secondarydata it was found that there is acontinuousdec1ine 'in the ,areaunder fibre crop. Improved varietiesof this crop should therefOre bedeveloped with a package ofpractices which suited to Bijapurdistrict to ensure that there is nofurther reduction in the~area ofthis crop. . ,0

The authors belong toUniversity of Agricultural

8ciencetillDharwad.

suggestions

hours and her son four hours forlooking after the animal.

Ranemma and her family thinkthanhis job is easier than worldng'in other_fields. Her son prefers to100Lafter. ':tis ownaniinaL Shegoes to 'tfienearhy field to cutgreen btrassfor the anilJlal o~ly fora few days because there are norains during the whole year.Before they got the milch animalshe used ~o meet theminimu~'needs of her family with difficulty.'Butafter taking this occupation, bereconomic position has been.improved considerably. She hasrepaid the .loan amount within ayear. In the village she is con~ideredas a creditworthy person, and shegets petty loans from the villagerswith little difficulty. She and themembers of her family can affordto have hetter clothes and foodthan before,,The benefits derived from the

milch animal are twofo'ld. Besidesmilk, she gets manure for her,fields. Earlier, she faced someproblems in keeping the milchanimal as Jhere was no propershed. But now she has overcomethe problem.Dairy farming has provided her

with gainful employment andregular cash income throughoutthe year. She thinks that thisprogramme can really help theroral poor. '

Based on the findings'of this,,c.asestudy and informal discussions

476-00.

Rs.180-00:102-00 ;,48-00.146-00

Rs.~)(1O-00(10-0020-00

The objective of all the waterShedprogrammes would be to introducedesirable cha!,ges in the croppin~

(ConteL from page 22J pattern followed by farmers awaydifferences in water, and soil from the traditional and lessconservation measures adopted in rerimnerative crops :and' directedthe watersheds which had made it towards commercial Crops..Evenpossible by introducing double within the group of cereals, thecropping in these areas. From this aim is to shift from coarse cereals,point of view, Varnal watershed like jowar and bajra to wheat.;showed the best results. Outside Judged by this criterion, the;the watersheds, double cropping." analysis ofthe cropping pattern ofw,!s observed on a very limited, the different watersheds showed.scale, greater success at Varnal comparedConclusipo. to Chandakavate.'DPAP had not

~ade any impact and improvementin this respeet whatsoever. Infact, the cropping pattern followed.byoutside farmers was found to ~

Tot.al expenditureper nlonth

Mineral mixtureGroundnut cakeRice branDry foddm"

lotal income pet"mont.'l It>>O-oO

She collects the cost of milk fromthe Milk Collection Centre at theend of every fortllight. Dairyfarming has created new employ-.ment opportunity for her familv.;In her family she and her son lo~kafter the animal. They were partlyunemployed before getting the,.milch animal. Now,she spen«!s five

For feeding concentrates to theanimal. she spends Rs., 330 permonth. It indudes mineral mixture,groundnut cake, rice bran etc. Fordry fodder she spends Rs.'146 permonth. For green fodder she does'not have to spend anything because.she gets it from the field. Ifwe putthe value of wages for getting'gree~ grass it comes to RS.90 permonth. The following figures:show clearly the total expenditureper month per animal.

Price of milk sold'Pel1iOnalconsumptionCO\l'dung nl.mures

1'2 lill"('milk pm' da\' tOJ' hel"famil\"which comes to Rs~(;0 pel"montl~.The cow dung manm'(' fetches Rs.20,per month..}A- ":'~'

""'

Dr. K. Seahaiah and N.Adikrlshnaiab '

CODsumerAudit

Un.derlining the importance of the subject,.the author notes, itwill help in assessing the.responsibility of.the producers towards the~onsumers. it is ":lore than an academicissue and if followed with due seriousnesscan 'pave. the way for changing business.environment. The best strategy in the long .rUn is protection of self-interest byconsumers themselves.-~- .

Despite the government lIegisla-tiveand administrative) measuresthe diCtum~caveat emptor'lbuyerbeware). instead of'Caveat Venditor'lseller beware} Seems to prevail illwhich the consumer finds himself .. This is partJy due to' the fact.thatlaws lack teeth and abound inloopholes. The enforcement officiah;too contribute to the ineffectivenessof law' by !heir I(eneral attitude.Further. all these measuresruuindependently without a coordinatedand integrated effort.

The Essential SelVicesMaintenaru;eAct, 1958; 11. The MRTPAct, 1969;12. The Household .Electrical

, Appliances' Act 1976;, 13. ThePrevention of BlackMarketing andMaintenance o( Supplies ofessential Commodities Act,' 1980and 14. The Consumer ProtectionAct, 1986.

Besides. there ar,e hundreds ofstatutoiy' orders an'd notificationsseeking to selVe the interest of thecbnsumer in one way or theother. ' '

Consumer Complexities

EvelY consumer .has to beassumed to be rational' andsovereign in purchasing. possessingand enjoying the products and,selVices. However, the consumeris, neither rational nor sovereign.For example. a ~Ilsumer cannotsee, smell, touc& or feel thepesiticide .residue .in his food.unless someone' tells, about. thedanger. It is then only he begif!.Stoexhibit his discontent and frusta-tion. HistoricalJy it is evident thatcountless goods. subo-standard andunsafe' have been produced andsupplied 10 the .consumers.without their knowledge ..

'The pUrChase~ made by aconsumer often are not based on,sovereignty as they are made oncompulsions due to the physical, .biological and social limitations.The individuals' cannot overcomethese 'limitations as such' they.continue topu1'(jha~ with all their'dissent and: discontent. Further,the purchases' are flot made ontheir pe~onal judgement butby •..following the advice of others~

In India, there is no dearth ofconsumer protection laws. SOmeof them are: '

pJ!lduction mechanism, longrange planning and. effectivecontrol, on the one hand andconsumer . consciousness' and.co,!sumer. Iresistance in' anorganised way on the other, isexploited. by the producer anddistributor. by adopting variousstrategies. In a developinl( economylike India where there isabUndant labou~ unequaldistribution of income, scarcity of.. capital and lower technologicalapplication, the .consumer issupplied the products and selVicesof low quantity and quality at.higher price resultillg in exploitation.In this article an attlenipt has

been made to analyse the aboveissues and sugges~ an alternative LaWS. galore 'approach viz., 'consumer audjJ',to proVide an integral farmewofknot only .to review, appraise andl;heck the activities of businessand' government in selVingand protecting the interests of theconsumers but al~ to awaken the 1. The Drugs and Cosmetic Act.consumer collectIvely. 1941). 2. The Drugs' Control. Act,The philosophy of an enterprise 19Sf.}. 3. The Industrial IRegulation

'isbased upon marketing while the and.Development) Act, 1951; 4. Thephilosophy of m~eting depends Indl~n. ~tandards, Institutionupon the conumer satisfaction.ICertIficahon Marks} Act, 1952; 5.The idea of consumer supremacy Th~ DI:~~ and Magic Remediesand consumer. sovereignty is IOblectlOnabl.e Advertisem!'!ntslfaJladous. The consumer has been Act 1954; 6. The preventio~ of foodexploited both in developed and (~dult~rati0I1) Act. 1954; 7. Thed~veloping countries in vcuying EssentIal Comm.odities Act. ~955':degrees. Amnsum~in an advanced 8. The Standards of weights andcountry like U.S.A. with high, Measures Act. l?:m; 9, The Tradetechnology and low cost' of _I,acndM~rchandlse Act. 1958; 10.. .

'. \ ~m'E DIVORCEOF PRODUCER"

fro.rt \ consumer has mad~ the.. explOitation of the consumer easythrough various methods and'means.<-. adulteration, short-'measurement, undel'-weighment,Qver-pricing etc. The enactment of .consumer protection' laws andresistance of consumers in severalways could .not make muchheadway in remedying the injusticesof business. T~is is partly due tothe,' complexities of consumerb~haviour and partly due to lack ofintegrated effort.

YOIAlU, Deto••••. I-I., ••••. 'as,/

The '.uthor.a belo ••• toS.V.Unlye~lif, Tlrupatbl.

•symbols of dedication and' self-l~ssness. In the, country.sdemocratic !;letup, it will be better, if the party-based Panchayatl Raj ,,institutions act as adVisors and-implementation ofdifferentworksbe left to voluntary'organisations.

, The autho ••is Assistant'•••••~ Office ••, D~R.D.A,

Nadia, West Bengal.

YCUANA,oetobe •• 1-1., .- .

liiil consumers,(iv) academicians.Iv) laWYers.Ivil chartered accountants,

andlviil social service and voluntary

o~ganisations.Representatives of these sectionswould be responsible foren~agingthe necessary staff to conductconsumer audit once in every tWoor three yeaJ:"S.The organisation ofaudit should be developed inthree-tier-or four-tier local level,district level,state-levelor Nationailevel. .The overall control ofconsumer audit finallyshould rest. with cOnsumers.

It is a well)established fact, thatwhether in boomor in depression,advancement 'flr underdevelop-ment, mopopoly or monopsony,whether the object of productionis profit or not whether the meansofproduction ~ public or private, .whether the market is free orplanned it maltes no, differencefor' consumer exploitation aslong as the conaumlr is gullibleand susceptible, Then, what is theway out .? .The answer is' 'selfprotection', with. 'seif.-interest:DependenoeonQthenleanneverbethat effective.Hence,the protection,C?f,consumer interests by them~selves is the best strategy in thelong run, Further, .such strategyshould be comprehensive andintegral, covering aU the issue!,co,ncemed at all lEWelsof activitythrough a preventive and curativ('device like consumer-audit.

iii business men,liiI trade union"

system: In that case, the problemof coordination with voluntary,,()rganisatiofts may crop up. Ifeffective l~age is' not .madebetween these two people'sinstitutions, d~elopment worksin rural India cannot deliver thegoods to the peOple.There maybesome weakneSses in voluntary'organisatiops, they may not bewell-cOOrdinated but 'they are

Consun:ter audit is requiredhasically for disclosing theconsumer performance of anundertaking. Without consumeraudit, the management also may, not be able to face the challengesof the consumers who will bewelltrained ,throu~h consumer-education in future. Consumerauditing need not the viewedsimply as an academic issue but isa practical and pragmatic proposi-tion in the ever chanwn~ businessenvironment.

. (Contd. from ,.. 1lf)

etc. Be~id~ these IcOnstructiveprogntOlmeS,voluntary organisa-tions may provide managerialsuppOrt to the commumty. It i~likelythat tJtePanchayat System.isstrengthentd .during the EightbPlan through party-basedelections':for different :tiers of Panchayat

Futher, very few consumers arerational when influenced by the'likes and dislikes due' to theoperation of psychologicalforces.For example, a consumer behavesas a different person while buyinghis/her groceries', and while,buying the l!}>stictiJr'~\ltomobi1es.

Co••••••• Audit'As an integrated measure to

"over-eomethe complexities,a new_ controiling device-' 'ConsumerAudit.:...is suggested here. Auditsare not new to business activities.. In general the audit should.TraditiOnally,!theyare meant for cover the following issues:

ra~ewan:.aevaluationof"sOmehusiness activity: Though they, 1. The nature of business and itshavelong been used inaccotinting missiQnsand financialoperalions• they are 2. The nature of ntark~ting.now~ iPmanagement, environ- . cOvering pricing, advertising._ment' m~npower '.personnel; research and development,.. mai'ketinl{etc. distribution and promotion.

3.'Government -legislative andAco~sumeraudit is'asystematic. administrative ~'asures.

criti~al'.andw1biased review and 4, Prevailingethical val;s,. .appraisilr()f'ih~ basic objectives, 's. Prevailing state of SOCI I audit., policies,p~dures. methods and . marketing audit and si,uationalprogrammes of an enterprise. . audit. . !

govertlIrient '.and voluntary '6. The consumer expectations.organisationsservingand.prpt~ng 7 Th '.'the consumer interests. In (xher" e consumer education etc.words, it is an impartial and The appraisal should be anindependent. inquiry 6mde to integral programme' of all the'assesSthe nature and extent ofthe . activitiesofall the groupsdone at aresponsibilities discharged by the time. Though it is an after-the fact,business, government and other review of the activities of all the.agencies towards consumers so as ~up~ related to the consumeJ;.itto avoid and mitigate their involveS an evaluation of thegrievances and' tension.' , effe,cts of alternative courses ofThe review4nd appr~isal must action before a decision is arrived

cover the objectives,policies at;/ .procedures ' and,' method:>,p'I'O-grammes and strategies of all the. Theagencytoorganiseconsume~.groups, viz business, government ,audit. shouldco'mprise ~e.crossand voluntary organisations like section of the society drawing .consumer assochitions.oooperative representath'es' frOm:societies etc.. from the vieWpointof their seIVlces rendered andprotection provided for theconsupler. '

28

,

"GingerProduction: Problems and Prospects

Dr. Vigneshwara. V.

in the 70s India enjoyed a monopolyinthe production and export of ginger andginger products. The position has sincechanged with the emergence of othercountries in the field. What are thereasonsfor this declining trend? Whatare the probable remedih? The authoranswers these through this article.. .

drinks or non-alcoholic beverages, vitaminised efferve-scent @nger powder for use in soft drink; alcoholicbeverage~, ginger preserve, ginger candy, lime gingerpickles and ginger as flavourant in some food products,are also known to be popularly used. G~er. oil- isprin:uiriiyused as a food flavour and as a flavouring agentin soft drinks like gingen-ale, bitters, carbonated drinks,cordials, liquors etc. Ginger oil finds use in the prepa-,ration of e.ssences for pharmaceutical purposes. Fresbginger converted into fme paste and after mixing withsugar. lime juice or acid and water is being utilised in themanufacture of soft drinks.

27

World ProductionIndia is the largest producer of Ginger in the world

followed by Thailand and Japan respectively. The totalproduction of Gmger in the worid in 1980-81 was about141.73 th6usandtonnes which has increased to 359.6thousand tonnes ,during the period 11)86-87. Country-wise production of Ginger for,the year 1986-87 is given inTable I, which indicates India's share in the worldproduction of Ginger at about 35%, which is far below"the percentageo{ production in 1980-81 which wasaround 65%.

Tabl~ 1 reve3Is that countries like Bangladesh,Thailand & Japan are emerging as the leading Gingerproducing countries in the world. Almost all the countrieswhich prodUeeGinger have been showing a positive trendin the production except India"

.<\rea,Production & VieldIn India the cultivation of Ginger is done in almost all

the states. However. Kerala accounts for about 40% ofthe total production followed by Meghataya, Sikkim,West Bengal. Kamataka, Arunachal Pradesh, Himachal

"Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Manipur & others. As far as\ area under Gin~er is cOncerned, Kerala covers about 30%of the total area under Ginger in' India followed byMeghalaya and other states: As far as average yield perhectare is concerned, it is as high as 4739 kgs/ha in'Sikl?m. 4132 kgs/ha in Mehgalaya and 2750 kgs/ha inKerala whereas in the remaining states yield/hais lowerthan the all India average.

The overall_trend in area, production and 'producti-vity/ha is shown in Table 2. In 1970-71 the total are~

/

GINGER IS THE RHIZOME OR root stock of "herbaceous perennial 'Zingiber Officinale'. It is one ofthe important and ancient spices of India 'who is the"largest producer of dry ginger in the world. Apart fromIndia "the other countries which produce Ginger' areJapan, Jamaica, Indonesia, Bangladesh, Fiji, SouthKorea, Thailan. etc. In India the cultivation of Gingeris undertaken in almost ~ery state:-

TheJ'(~are several varieties grown in different parts ofIndia. hnportant a!Jlongthem are Maran, N~dia,Kal-akal,'Wynad, Ernad, Ri<Hie-Janerio, Thingpw, China, Poonaand Tofengive. Of these, Maran, Nadia and Karakal havehigher dry ginger recover while for vegitable ginger Ri<rde-Janerio, China, Wynad and Maran are preferred. Allthese varieties differ in shape and size. rhizomes. yiel,ds,moisture content, flavour quality etc. '

The harv~sting of ginger differs according to its enduse which may be as a fresh green type for flavouring, for'preserves or as a dried spice. The spice ginger is the dried"ginger prepared after partially peeling off the outer skin ofraw ginger and then sun ~ng for 10-12 days. Anothertype of ginger is called the bleached dry ginger which isprepared by dipping the peeled ginger into a solution offresh slaked lime and then drying in the sun. Dry ginger isused for the manufacture of products like ginger powder,oil & oleoresin while fresh ginger is used for preparingcandied ginger. '

uSesGinger has a distinctive, spicy, penetrating flavour

and is largely used in foreign countries for the manufac:-ture of Ginger oil, Ginger essence, Ginger oleoresin or,Gingerin Besides, starch from spen~ ginger, ginger soft

';yo.'ANA, October i-IS, 1990

r

nnder production- was 21.59 thousand hectares and theproduction was 29.59 thousand tonnes which hasincreased to 40.80 thousand hectares in '1980-81.Further the total area under this crop has

. increased to 53.69 thous'and hectares in 1987-88, andproduction has reached to about.135.46 thousand tonnesduring the same period which clearly indicates a positivegrowth 'rate.

ImportDry Ginger and other ginger products were imported

rrom the other Ginger producing couritries of the world inthe initial years to meet the internal requirements. Weimported 156 tonnes of Ginger in 1970-71, valued atRs. 878 thousands and the maximum volume' of 1644tonnes, import was made during the pe5iod 1981-82valued at Rs. 6.160 thousands. Presently our imports ofGinger and its products are negligible.

ExportThere is a high demand for Ginger and Ginger

products in the International market. India exports themajor part of its production to the countries like SaudiArabia, Yemen Federal & Arab Republics, U.S.A.,U.A.E, u.K. etc. The High 'Income oil exporting'countries have been the major importers of Ginger fromIndia over"-theyears. Saudi Arabia alone imports nearly40% of ~ur exports. As a whole. Saudi Arabia, Kuwait-&U.A.E. import nearly 52% of our exports. In terms.of value also they contribute about 55% of total ex~rtearnings of our Ginger exports.

In 1970- 71 the exports of Ginger in terms of volumewas 3,156 tonnes valued at Rs. 26,094 tJx>usands and .this reached to the maximum level during the period1978-79 to the extent of'14,515 tonnes valued at.Rs. 1,43,172 thousands. Then mi, it has declined sharplyand the lowest volume of 2,627.63 tonnes valued at

Rs. 48,898.75 thousands was observed during the year1987-88, which is the lowest since 1970-71. However.export has increased to 5,198 tonnes valued Rs. 9.22crores in 1988-89 which is as high as 97.7% in terms ofvolume and 88% in terms ofvalue over the previous year.The ups and downs in ginger exports is mainly because ofpoor production or yield and iritense competition fromcountries like China, Taiwan, Thailand, South Korea etc.The fl~ations in internal productivity minimises thescope for export.

Export of Ginger oleore~ins and Ginger oilsGinger oleoresin is the extract of ginger powder using

solvents like acetone or ethylene dichloride. It containsboth the essential oil and the resinous part contributing tothe aroma and pungency respectively. It is a dark brownviscous material. Ginger oil is obtained by steamdistillation of dry .ginger powder. We export these twoproducts of Ginger to countries like U.S.A., German<Federal Republic, Australia, France, U.K., Netherlands,Japan, Holland, GDR etc. U.S.A. is the major unporterof these products followed by GF Republic and Austra-lia The available data on th~ export of Ginger oleoresins.and Ginger oil as shown in Table HI reflects that thevolume and vallie of these exports has been increasingover the years.

ProblemsHowever, there are certain problems which are

responsible.for the ups and downs in production as well as'in ~r exports. These are:(I) Non-availability of qualitative seeds minimised the

scope for improving production. The existing varietiesused in cultivation are not: based upon .the agrocli.-:matic oonditions and are used bV the fanners withoutknowing about the productivity~ .

Table I

Wortd Produc1ionof Gin~r

Country

lndiaJapanJa.maicaIndonesiaBangladesh

. FijiSierra LeoneSouth KoreaMauritiusThailandMalaysiaTotal including others

1980-81Productionin tonnes

90.8313.500.902.0021>02.001.00.NANANANA

141.73

% of shareout of theTotal

64.089.520.631.411.411.410.70

100

1986-87Productionin tonnes

127.0067.400.5310.5029.003.601.00

'20.220.5488.61

1.20359.60

% of shareof thetotal

35.3118.740.142.919.061.000.275.620.15

24.640.33100

Source: D of Coooa, Arecanut &. spices D't, Calicut.

. YUIANA, OcfollJer 1-15, 1990

Table 2, .

Year Area in '000 ha Production in '000 tonnes AV~rBgeyield/hac. in kgs.1970-71 21.59 29.59 13711971-72 24.59 34.79 14121972-73 22.88 33.63 14701973-74 24.86 38.46 15471974-75 24.14 37.91 15731975-76 27.20 . 45.15 16601976-77 25.65 43.39 16911977-78 36.02 71.70 19911978-79 40.80 75."2 • 18561979-80 41.42 7I.l4 17171980-81 40.45 82.44 2038. 1981-82 4I.lI 89.71 21821982-83 44.72 90.83 20311983-84 48.96 12I.31 24781984-85 SUI 133.86 25991985-86 53.52 138.02 25791986-87 52.65 136.01 25831987-88 53.69 135.46 2523

Source: Collected from various issues of Indian Spices Journal.

Table 3

Export of Ginger oleoreslns and ••.U&Om India

Q -Quantity in KgsV= Value in Rs. '000

Year

1973-741976\771977-781978-191980-811981-821982-831983-841984-851985-86

Quantity \(in kgs)

501962608391045541gl6350549193938512500

Ginger OIeoresinsValue

in Rs. lOOO

5354170217921099223116423305 .4759.5065

Ginger OilQuantity(in kgs)

11410471287122836367.6478640347321498441200

Valuein Rs.'OOO

45641935570025501587340438381246350145

SoUrce: DG of CI & Statistics. Calcutta

(2) ~b~em of pests and diseases limits the production'm this sector. Pests like'shoot borer, leafroller scaleinsecticides etc. and diseases like soft rot, leaf s~t areresponsible for'the variation in productivity.

3. Drying of ginger in many states appears non-practicaldue to economic and climatic conditions. The harvest-ing period of ginger synchronises- with mid-winterperiod in states like Meghalaya. Mizoram, Manipuretc .• and thus, sun drying, which is most economicalmethod followed in Kerala, is not possible. Even ifthey dry ginger in the sun when the ~ temperatureis between 10 to ITC .•the drying occurs superficiallyand water content inside the rllizome gets locked up

,.YO.lANA,October 1-1., 1880

due to the dry outer surface and due to long dUnltionof exposure. the incidence of Asperqills species offungi occur which results in the contamination ofaflatoxin 'in the resultant dried ginger. Due ~ ,the.presence of aflatoxin, the ginger becomes unaccep-table for human coJ,JSumption.and does hin. passthrough Food & Drug Administration checks of meimporting countries.

4. Most of the growers sell green ginger (fresh) to sub-Dalals and Dalals. who are the agents of commissionagents of secondary madret or wholesale TerminalMatkeL The various steps involved before the gingeris sold in the terminal market thfTIu~ thp t>lVIlrerS

'Cmlln. o~ page 3J) -

, Z~

To Keep our Islands Intacts.s. Chaoa

fAMOUS FOR ITS picturesque ~uITOundings, theAndaman and Nlcob~ Islands- the emerald Islands-are also known for the richness of its flora and fauna.The tropical climate, high humidity and well-distributed rainfall have blessed the territory with aluxurient forest cover. which extends from thewater's edge to the' hill-tops.

Till now, the floristic and faunal surveys in theIslands have been' confined to the easily accessibleareas. Complete inventory of the flQra and fauna is,therefore, still not available; Out of around 2300species of flowering' 'plants listed so far, 206 areendemic to the Islands. Similarly of thl1.55 species ofmammals, 20 are en~emic. Of the 242 species andsub-species of birds, 95 are endemic and out of 81species of reptiles, 25 are endemic.

The Islands with a~ut one-fourth ofthe country'scoast-line also encompass nearly one-third of itsExclusive Economic Zone. ~Morethan 2900 speciesiQ.habitthe rich coastal marine areas, which includenearly 600 species of fishes, and. many species ofcorals, sea pens, chitons, polychaetes, molluscs,starfish, sea turtles, mammals and a variety of snakes.The Islands are alsb the richest repository ofmangroves in the country-perhaps one of the richestin the world. More I than 40 species have beenidentified here, out ofwhich 25.are exclusive species.The mangroves are spread over an area of 97,300ha.

I

The complex and sensitIve eClrsystem of theIs!ands is today. under great pressure. It started in thepost"independence period, when the Government,faced with a gigantic national problem of settlemeritof refugees, undertook extensive colonisation andsettlement schemes. The problem. was further.compounded by settling people haphazardly. Thericheat ever-green forests were cleared from thevalleYs and Flat landS all over;

NBEDBD -A SOUND STRATEGYThough the iife support systems are still largely

intact, the so called developmental activitiesundertaken in the post-independence period haveinterfered with the health ofthe environment: Unlesscertain trends are checked, before it is ~oo .late,permanent damage is likely to be caused to the fragileeClrsystem. There is, therefore, an urgent need forsincere introspection of policies being pursued for-the development of the.Islands and to chalk out anenvironmentally sound development strategy, which. is realistic and pra~atic. No doubt, such a strategy .

. I • .'

•

must take into account the basic needs and ~ainful .employment of the local people.

Land being a very limited andrtlost precious'resomce in the Islan~ had to be used very judiciously:.The future development strategy for the Islands hasto take into consideration the ways and means ofutilising every .Inch of the land already cleared. T~achieve this, there is an urgent need for a detailed soil -and land capability survey anH taking up .extensivesoil conservation measures, especially on the slopesunder cash crops like cocoilUt,iarecanut, rubber etc..Unless these measures are introduced intensively,1the poor yields from the cash crops 'will not improve'and land will contin~ to. degenerate further.A Lot of other steps are also to be taken includingintroduction of multiple cropping, water harvestingetc.

Another factor affecting the well-being of theIslands is the misplaced emphasis on the develop-_ment of roads. Road construction not only destroysthe luxurient forests but also makes the interior areasmore accessible and susceptible to eheroachmentsand general degrada~ion, besides loosening of thesoil and causing' landslides. This, in turn, causessiltation of streams, creeks, sea coast etc. Haphazardquarrying of sand and metal from the easily accessibleareas has also added to the problem. Selection of -.quarry si.tes for sand.and stones has to be done very:carefuliy keeping the environmental aspects in view.

THB FORESTS

. Though the forest cover, as assessed by the ForestSurvey of India from the satell'ite imagery, extendsover '9\.96 per -cent of the territory, the reserved andprotected forests form about 86.2 percent of the area.Nearly 50,000ha of revenue land still support pristineforests. .

Fifty percent of the forest area, specially distributedthroughout the territory 'has' been set aside in theform of Tribal Reserves, National Parks and Coastalbelt.s, where no forestry operations are being under-taken. This will serve as the gene pool reserveconsidering the. biological.diversity of the areas. 94WildLife Sanctuaries and' 6 National Parks(including- a Marine National Park) besides a_Biosphere Reserve have been notified to protect theunique flora and fauna of the Islands ..

Being a renewable' resource, 'scientificallymanaged forests can be used for meeting the needs ofthe local population without causing any degradation

,YO.lANA, OCto•••••.I-I., 1_

Suggestions1. There is a need to supply qualitative high yielding

varieties of Ginger seeds to the cultivators and thevarities should be supplied on the basis of .agrocli-matic conditions. The Horticulture Deptt. can c0n-duct necessary surveys and arrange short trainingcoursesforthe farmersto appraiSethemof tilevariousaspects of cultivation, fertilization, harvesting andlIlarlteting.

2. Supplyof Pest co~l sprays,chemicalsfordiseasescaD improve productivity. These can be suppliedeither through<»-operativesocietiesor throughFair.Price shap.,.

~. To tideovertheproblemofCOntamination:of at1ato~by SHIt ;hying and to minimise loss, the alternativemethods like mechanical drying or dehydration ofgingerby artificialheatingcan bnprovethe qualityofdry ginger.The imancial institutionsshouldaSsistthefarmers since the cost of adoPtingthese methods ishigh. More and more Research and DevelopmeJll.activitiesshould be undertaken so as to provide lowcosi mechanical devices 8nd technology to the far-mers.

THB'MARlNB SCBNE

The influx of population is another major aspectwhich needs' immediate and serious attention of the'authorities. Lan~ being limited and the eeo-systemhighly sensitive, the islands have limited capacity towithstand the poulation pressure. Although only 38islands, out of 306,are inhabited, the population hasincreased alarmingly from 30,000 in 1951 to over 3lakhs in 1989.Unless this trend is checked on priority,all measures taken for protecting the environmentwill be nullified.

to the eeo-system. Th~ great success achieved in Nearly 2,500 sq. Ian has been notified as Tribalre-stocking'the harvested forests, through aided Reserves, where the local tribals.enjoy unrestrictednatural regeneration has made the Forest Department rights to the use of land, forest produce and other .

. give up the system of clear felling and raising teak or facilities. Andaman AdimJanjati Samiti has also beenothermonoculture plantations, in the year 1978.More. established to look after the welfare of the primitivethan 50,000 ha. of harvested forests have been re- _tribes. The Administration's pollcy of housing thestocked by following the natural regeneration Andamanese and Onges in' permanent houses attechnique. Strait Island and tittle Andaman Island has generated

some criticism. The Great Andamanese~s a vanishingMangroves are of cOnsiderable importance and tribe, whose numbers have reduced from 5000to 29

nourishmenttoavarietypfmarinefauna. Nearly4000 in the last 100 years. Had the Administration notha.of mangroves fall within the revenue and alloted provided them with houses, coconuts, rations andlands which enjoy little protectiOIi. Most of the medical aid, they would have. disappeare.'d by no.wedamage has occurred in such areas, especially thoseadjoining the habitations. wftile legal support for theprotection of mangroves outside the forest areas lContd. from page 28needs to be formulated, the degraded areas can be erode the actual amount.reali.sable bY the grower.profitably utilised for prawn/fish culture t~ boost the ':5. Further Agmark grade specificatioosof gingerpres-earriing of the local people. cribedunder the AgriculturalProduce (Grading and

Marketing~Act, 1937 are only for Kerala grown'gingerand not for gingerof other states like, Kama-.taka, West. Bengal, Him~chal Pradesh, Rajasthan,Orissa, Madhya Pradesh etc.

. The aboveproblemscall for immediatesolution.The.followingsuggestionsare put forth to solve the existingconstraints and thus increase our export.'i.

As far' as the marine eeo-systems are concerned,there has been wanton collection of corals and shellsin the past from the accessible (X)astalbehs which hascaused extensive damage. Coral ~efs _have ,al!QOsuffered from siltation, besides from' tourisi boats,snorkelling, uscba-diving dredging etc. Constructionofbreak-watersj wharfs and jetties is also contributing

. to the environmental degradation in its own way.There is; therefore, an urgent need for undertaking a .detailed slirVeyof coral reefs in the Islands:

The Administration has since banned collection of.corals.Collection of sea shells is permitted only fromwithin th~zones beingauctionedbythe Administration,With the est~blishment of a separate Wild LifeWing,the Forest Department has taken up the survey otcoral reefs within the Wandoor Marine National Parkbeside~the survey and protection of turtle nests inthe Marine National P~ and Cut Bert Bay.

,I

4. The co-operativesshouldpurchase the product fromevery producingarea so that farmers get a f~ pricefor the produCt..The Agmark grade specificationsof ginger may beextended to all the states to facilitate assessment ofquality and easy marketability. 0 .

The author 18 ~.in Bconomlcs, Vtvekananda College, ;

Puttur, Karnatalta •.

Because of the fragile e~system,the islands arenot cast for tourism as a maIn industIy. Tourist.pressure is alSolikely to burden the already strainedshipping facility because of t~e dependence ofS.Islands on the mainland for proVisions. At present,the tourist conceqtration is generally coJ!finedto PortBlair and the Marine.National park though there aremany equally interesting places. Dispersal of touristsis necessary oothin the interestoftourists as well as,for environmental conservation ..

81

Service Area Approach - A BO,on to

Ru•.al. DevelopmentKrishnan. C

THE ,THREE ASPECTS OF the Service A.'c••approach are Service: liplift of specific numhm" ofvillages, proximitx and continuity of villages to thebranch and, stm.tingthe cJ'(~ditplanning pro(~essf.'omvillage level. , ' "

As pe."the new stmtegy. each hank bmnch in ruralareas w-illbe allott(~da specific .1I"eafor its operation.The oVeI~alldevelopment of that area is the exclusiveduty of that particular branch. Again, the BranchManager is the nueleus of this approach. He is giventhe duty of conducting periodical survey of theresources and needs of the area in whi~h he is, working. In this way each branch ~anager in villagesprepare credit plans and finally, it 'will add up tomake the District Credit Plans (DCPsl. The ServiceI\J;-E:la Approach is being implimented since April lastyear.

, In India, there are about 5,76,000 villages.' Thesevillages are to be serviced by 42,000 rural branches ofcommercial and regional rural banks'. That is, a ruralbank branch has to cater to an area of 15to 25villages.Though this. approach appears to have somesimilarity. with the .Viiiage Adoption Scheme',introduced in 1970s, it is 'entirely different. UnderSAA a particular area is entrusted to a particularbranch exclusively. No other branch is allowed tooperate there. '

FeaturesTheJir:st important feature is that. the bank branch

will cater to the overall c,levelopment of it;oommandarea. Secondly, the br~nch manager has a'pivotal roalto play. As he is closely' connected with the .'m'alcustomers, he can use his capability to, solve theproblem of his o~rating area. Thirdly. unlike othm"schemes, S.A.A.envisages the co~on:lination •••ul (~o-,ope~ation of other agencies also in the process of'rural development. Again. the continuous survev ofthe potential of villages provides sufficient malisticdata base of the econoniy. .

Though this approach has dcvelopmentalimportance. it is not f.'ee from,\,-pmhlcins, and

32.

limitations. Fitst, this approacll does not give any roleto the cooperativebanks to cater to the rural needs. Asan institution working in the interior areas since thebeginning of this century, the co-operatives should nothave been excluded from' the purview of S.A.A.Secondly, this new approach has a clear say over theprovision of credit, but, it 'keeps quiet regardingdeposit. That is. a person is entitled to g~t credit oniy(rom one branch. But, he is permitted to deposit inany branch. This'may not be practicable in actual life.

Third1y. the bank' branches of municipal andurban areas are completely excluded from thisapproach. .

Fourthly. S.A.A. has some problems, when,Implemented-in States like Kerala, where banks aremore than villages. For example, iit Kerala, therewere 2,387 rural and semi-urban bank branches in1988. But there are only 1447 villages. So, in thisconditIOn, unlike the national level position, a bankbranch in Kerala will cater to the needs of three or.four wards (a~iIIage is usuallydevided into ~numberof wards according to population) in a village: Thismay limit the functioning of a big commercial bank in-to a small area. These limitations' are to be solvedwithout delay. .

In spite of all these, we can hope that. the 'ServiceArea Approach',' as a strategy with emphasis on grass-root level'planning, will be a boon to the process ofruml development. 0

Research Scholar, Deptt.of Economics. University of

C~licut.

A Special rebate of 16 per cent tnsubscription ofYojanaisgivento students,'.techers and libraries on production of a,certificate to this effect from theirinstitutions. Subscription may be sent byM.D.,Postal Order or Bank draft to theBusinessManager, Public~ipns Division.Patiala House, NewDelhi~\iO001.

YO.JANA,October I-US, 1990

j Book Review]

Planned ,Development of Resourees in aDevelopingRegion by V.P.Sinha, Inter-India.••••.blicatlon., NewDelhi,188S,P"ea383, PrieeRs.300. /,

source '(43.20 per cent) of inigation. No doubtinigation increses agricultural production, but it ~somakes sustained and successful cultivation of crops .Transportation linkages are exammed in the next-chapter.

The plan of integrated development of ~Sourees ispresented in Chapter 11. Integrated rUral develop- ,ment implies development of all secto~ of the rurale<;onomy arid society. 'The author favours thehierarchy df settlements. apPI'Qach. In, fact, thepresentation of the method for an integrateddevelopment of the district is a major highlight of thebook. His method of measuring t~e int~grateddevelopment is particularly' instructive. O~ the basisof summation value of ranks, the author nas worked'out a final index of integrated rural development.This is an original contribution of the author. He hasalso done a co-relation matrix of different variables.:Inigation has high co-reiation of 0.94with agricultural,production: Hence, irrigation is highly nee.ded.Chapter 12 gives the summary and conclusIOns..Important lesson to be leaI"llt is that the lop-sideddevelopment of a region becomes infructuous.Hence, the authorities should lJY to developresources on a planned basis with equal emphasis onmanagerial control, technological assistance,institutional help and .!ocal participation. 0

S.M.Shah

Sikh Shrines in India by G.S. RaildhR,PubUahed by the Publlcatlo.. Divlalon,,Ministry of Information and Broadea.tingPages 109;Price Rs. 32/-.

Differentreligions and social1leIiefs have overtimeenriched the flow of co~posite Indian culture. Thecontribution of Sikhism ~ proved to be rather vitalin tills connection. The Sikh ,movement is a greatlandmark in the religious histol)' and bas always left a 'deep and lasting impact on the Indian society.

The book under review is a fresl! written versioncontaining far more information than the previous:edition.However, the introductol)' ,chapter 'TheSikhs' and. Appendices I, II and III of the previousversipn have been retained in view of their immenseinformative value. Appendix IV giving thechronological order of the Sikh Gurus along withtheir dates of birth, installation and death is ratherinformative.

The first chapter on 'The Sikhs' is refreshinglycomprehensive and narates alI the important

This is a vel)' good hook but with an mvolved and aclumsy title. It takes a resource inventol)' of thedistrict and highlights the problems and prospects ofresource development in a backward region where.cultivable land is scarce and pressure of populationhigh. The method adopted in the study is synoptic-regional analysis.

Integrated resource development planning is thesole aim of this project which was' compiled after a.collection of huge data from' the field, statisticalanalysis' and scientific appraisal of the availableresources for the welfare of the society. The authortries to search out the present distribution and futuregrowth potential of resources. An attempt has also.been made to suggest feasible and practical plan withthe help of integrating different resources of theregion so that a viable economic system may evolve inthe area under study. He makes an extensive use ofmaps, figures and diagrams to illustrate the problem.

, The author 'proceeds methodically in his chapterpresentation. In Chapter I, Introduction, he states the ,problem. In Chapter 2 he reviews the literature andpresents the hypothesis for resource planning. The'physical setting and location is describe in Chapter 3

The district has a population of more tllaIl ~3.14Iakhs, its density being 419 persons per Sq. KIn.Growth of po luIation between 1971-81was'2O.75 percent. Only 27per cent of population was urban. On an,average, there were 937, females for 100Q males.'Emigration for work, chiefly towards the coal fields ofChhotanagpur and the tea gardens of Assam, is'high, Only 18.98per cent of the population are able toread and write.

After describing thus the human resources inChapter 4, the author goes to describe the forestresources in Chapter 5. Land resources are examinedin Chapter 6 and water resources in Chapter 7

Rice is' the most important crop of the district.Nearly one-fourth of the gross cropped area is doublecropped.' The average area per holding is as IdI"v as1.40 hectares. Eighty twp per c~nt of holdings arebelow .2 hectares, making the djstric~"of marginalcultivators and small farmers. It is an ironv of fate that: ten blocks in the district are flood affected Whereas 'eight blocks are,droughtprone. Tubewell is the chie~

-yOJANA,Oetober 1-15, 189033,

M.K. Ghoshal'

YOJANA,Octo~r 1-16, un,o

Rural BconomiC8by I.C.DhiDgraJPubli8bed bySultan Chand 6: 8008, :&3, Barye GaaJ, NewDeIhL BllWeDthBdition 1988, Price 88. 30•••

The book has undergone eleven revisions since itsfirst edition was released in 1982. Written by afaculty member~of the Economics Department ofBhagat singh College, New Delhi, the book has beenstructured to cover the new syllabus of the IndianInstitute of Bankers, Bombay for Part-I Examination.It is designed to meet the requirements of students,for the paper on Rural Economics. The focus of the.book' is party on rural development paramente~and partly on credit institutions catering to' ruralproblems. Th~re are 18 chapters in the book dealinglwith topics such as rural population, laboUr, poverty .and unemployment, rural infrastrUcture and,industry, land utilisation,. agriculture and alliedactivities, green revolution, mechanisation, landreforms, agricul!urill prices, marketing, exports,,rural in~ebtedness, institutional ag«mcie-sandrural finance. Since a very large canvas of subjcts,.programmes, problems _and issues relating to ruralsector/sub-sectors has been compressed within 425.pages, the' students can get basic knowledge andgeneral awareness about rl!ral economics includingthe national policy on rural development. SerioUs .students interested in in~depth analysis andspeCialisation need supplement Ihis book by readingadvanced publications, various plan documents ~ndofficial reports.

Urva8hi sadhwaai"

CONTRIBUTIONS To POST-KBYNBSIANBCONOMICSby S~ICIahaa RaoJPubUalied bySterliag Publi8hen Pri. Ltd. L-IO,GreeDParkBxten8ion, NewnelhillO 018. Pint Publi8hed1987. Page8 77. Price 88. 80.00.This book is written in six chaptets, each

focussing attention on one ortwo'aspects. Starting offwith a prologue to upderstand the central theme ofthe'Past-keynesian thought, the book goes on todelineate' the main, schools of thought-elassic3Iincluding ,Marxian, Neo-classical and Keynesian.There is a very good description of the salientfeatures of the Post.-Keynesian school as also, thecontribution of one of the pioneers of theschool, Sir Roy Harrod. In fact, Harrod initiated theprincipal task of the Post-Keynesians to reconstruct.the economic theory in the dYnamic setting. '•The debate over the causality and equality of

savings and investment has ~en critically reviewedin subsequent chapters, stressingthe damage done tothe development. of eConomics (especially to theLDes possessing abundant real resources) due to themisconceived notion of savings. There is also a usefuldiscussion on Joan Robinson's view to provide analterpative theoretical framework. It is well-knownthat she along with Harrod, Kaldor, etc., undertookthe task of generalising the- General Theory so thatlong-run problems of capital accumulation andgrowth can be analysed; 'm,eaningfully. Her chief

concepts and the idealogies related to Sikhism and .concern was to liberate economic theory from thethe Sikh philosophy, the importance .of their holy mud of static economic theory:book- Guru Granth Sahib,. the management of theSikh shrines etc. The book then goes on to give acOmpact profile of the major sikh shrines in India. Services rendered bv Neumann andSraffa to theThe success of the book lies in the delightfully'lucid' development of post-Keynesian Production andand simple presentation of the architectural style of Theory of value have also been.appreciated. Thethe different Gurudwaras. This induces the reader to post-Keynesian Pricing Theory including the one.visit some of the shrines, so vividly depicted. The based on ~-up can be fitted into their framework,historical details associated with each shrine make' .especially into the Sraffian analysis. The book endsvery iQteresting and ab~rbing reading. The author up with a brief reference to tentative solutions. to.haS also given a brief outline of the shrines in Pakistan minimise the, instabi!ity problem in a country's

and Bangladesh in the Appendices. economy.An added feature of the book is that it is rather This small bookhas much to say on the contemporary

pictorial and nasa #tdOtlnumtJer of photographs and and9n-go~n~ thought pnx:esses

in eco~omic theory.coloured transparencies of some of the important _T~edescnptlon has been Illqstrated WIth examples, .,Sikh shrines in India. 'I:hese not only add to t~e value . diagrams' ~nd fi~res. It ~ust enthuse all manner,of the book but also enable the reader to get an idea of of econ~mlc theo~sts to budd up models relevant tothe architectural style and. shape of the sacred developmg countries of the world.monuments. Navin ChaDdra •••••hl

. The book is reasonably priced ,and is free oftypographical eITOrs.However, maPs showing exactlocations could have ma~e the picture more specific.This book would make useful reading for all thoseinterested in the study of sikh society and will surelyprove to be a good guide for pilgrims of sikh shrinesand tourists.

34

Oil From Forest Trees

The estimated production of Oilfrom forest tr.ees during the last yearwas 1.5 lakh tonnes. The averagepercentage of oil recovery rangesbetween 12.5 per cent in the case ofSal and 35 per cent in the case ofMahua. Action has been initiated forincreasing the collection, processingand development of oilseeds of foresttrees.

Performance By RailwayProduction Units

The major production units of"' Indian Railways have registeredgood performance during the first

I quarter of the current financial year.The performance of ChittaranjanLocomotive Works and DieselLocomotive Works, Varanasi matchedthe targets for the period. Productionin the Rail Coach Factory, Kapurthalaexceeded the target. Production inthe Integt'al Coach Factory, Peramburwhich was slightly behind target isnow picking up and the shortfall willbe made up in the coming months.

Chittaranjan Locomtive Worksproudced 35 locomotives during thisperiod against the target of 35.'Similarly, Diesel LocomotiveWorks,Varanasi aisoachieved thetarget of producing 34 locomotivesduri~g April-June, 1090. The RailCoach Factory, Kapurthala produced94 coaches against the target of 90.The Integral Coac-h Factorymanufactured 205 coaches againstthe target of 217. However, there wasa shortfall in the production ofwheels and aXles at Wheel & AXlePlant, Bangalore on account ofindustrial problems. It pro~uced11037 wheel sets against the target of14100.

The output of MaintenanceWorkshops exceeded the t ••rgets. Themaintenance output of steamlocomotives registered 197 numbers"against the target of 195. It was 159for diesel locomotives against thetarget of 128 and 79.7 for electriclocos against the target of 86.

Revitalisation ofCooperatives

Special emphasis has been laid onpromoting cooperatives for theeconomic development of theweaker sections, particularlywomen, Scheduled Castes andScheduled Tribes, fishermen andlandless labourers.

The cooperative sector hasacquired commanding heights in thefield of agricultural credit andmarketing, sugar production,dairying, oilseeds, hand loom,spinning, etc. The total agriculturalcredit disbursed by cooperativesocieties registered a quantum jumpfrom Ks. 745 crores in 1970-71 to 8s.5442 crores in 1988-89, while thelevel expected to be reached by 1989-90 is projected at 8s. 7071 crores. Thevalue of the agricultural producemarketed by the cooperatives duringthe year 1988-89 inereased to arecord figure of 8s. 5,418 crores. The.cooperatives distributed 35 lakhtonnes of fertilizers which is over 32per cent of the total distributed in thecountry. During the same period,cooperatives produced 58 per cent ofthe total sugar and 20 per cent of thespindlage. There are over 60;000dairy cooperatives which havecovered practically the entire ruralarea of the country. Significantprogress has similarly been made bythe cooperatives in. the sectors ofoilseeds, housing and storage.

t-----,----------~".;"..c.----------..:..--------------J

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