Agriculture & Ind. Survey-Nov, 2012 Talk of a CEO

3 - Vol. 22, Issue 11 - 2012 - Agriculture & Industry Survey

C o n t e n t s

CONSULTANCY........................................................6Wanted / Offered

LAND..............................................................7Wanted / For Sale

TUTORBOARD....................................................................11Hire experts to train you!

Q&A..............................................................12

IN BRIEF....................................................13

NEWS.........................................................41

PUBLISHERS NOTE.....................................45

EDITORIALS................................................47

PERSONAL VIEW........................................49

VIEW FROM THE VILLAGE............................50

4

BUY AND SELLBUY AND SELLBUY AND SELLBUY AND SELLBUY AND SELLBusiness inquiries

received forbuying & selling

agriculture productsrecently.

R E G U L A R SR E G U L A R SR E G U L A R SR E G U L A R SR E G U L A R S

JOBS `WANTED’&

JOBS `AVAILABLE’LISTINGS

8

Other Highlights:ENTREPRENEURS...............19* Kumaraswamy Chemicals* Darshan Metal Spinning India* Harihar Agro Industries* Gokhale Agro Products

SPOT LIGHT........................20* Tapi Food Products* Atlanta Mart Pvt. Ltd* Unique Biotech Ltd

AWARD...............................29INCOTEC

AGRI ORGANIZATION........34Green India Agrivet

FOOD PROCESSING ............35King Food Group

HERBALS......... .....................35Maa Danteshwari Herbal Group

POULTRY ..............................36Rudras Breeders

DAIRY EQUIPMENTS............37Alfa Tech India

COMMODITY TRADING.........38VT Foods

HORTICULTURE.....................39Lawrencedale Estates and Farms

PRE - EVENT.........................40SIMA – International Trade Show

Buy MedicinalPlants Online

Visit

www.vmgmart.com

AGRITALK - FLORICULTURE...............30

Is open field flower cultivation anattractive business?During the 1990’s, big capital intensive floricul-ture projects took off in India. Some of themlike Karuturi have been a big global success.Many others faced enormous financial difficul-ties and struggled to repay their bank loans. Butwhat about less capital intensive open fieldflower cultivation? Is there a future for culti-

vating flowers without repeating the mistakes of the 1990’s?

SPECIAL FEATURE ON RICE PROCESSING MACHINERY

Page No.22

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M A R K E TP L A C EUseful agriculture

Products & Services14

�� Jeevika Food Machinery

�� Suri Engineers

�� Chintan Industries

��Ayassa and Sons Rice Mill

�� Buhler India

��R.L. Wason & Company

�� Perfect Equipments

�� Milltec Machinery

Agriculture & Industry Survey - Vol. 22, Issue 11 - 2012 - 4

Buy & Sell

To buy and sell agriculture products call 080-41698240 (Kavitha) or email : [email protected]

�� Wanted Mango SaplingsWe urgently need soft wood graftmango saplings near Bangalore.Please contact us at –

Chandramohan Kannusamy9986024554

[email protected]

��Wanted High Breed CowsWe are planning to start a farm inKarnataka about 70 Km away fromBangalore city, now we are in searchfor high breed cows which can pro-vide Milk average of 25 L/day, cananybody help us to locate the placewhere it will be available and alsoapproximate price also for the same.Interested suppliers please reach us–

Dileep [email protected]

��Wanted Banaba Leaf Dry PowderI am looking for Banaba leaf drypowder with 1%, 1.5%, 2% and 3%corosolic acid. Scientific name ofBanaba is Lagerstromia Speciosa.Interested suppliers can contact at-

Kunchitha [email protected]

��Wanted Berma Teak And Sandlewood Samplings/ SeedsI need Berma Teak seeds/sampling &Sandlewood samplings /seeds.Quantity required is 1cr/100000000each samplings. Interested supplierskindly let me know the rates and de-livery details at-

Mahadevaiahab [email protected]

��Wanted Kuranai RiceWe are in need of Kuranai Rice. Thequantity need is approx 25tonnesper month. It is an urgent require-ment. Interested rice suppliers hav-ing the mentioned rice variety cancontact us at –

Surendiran GR , [email protected]

��Wanted Agarwood Biological Induce-ment AgentI am a businessman from Myanmar(Burma) who is about to startAgarwood Plantation and Rubber Plan-tation. I am very new to this field andhave no experience. Now that I amstarting these plantations, I am look-ing for Agarwood biological induce-ment agent and good quality fertiliz-ers for Rubber plants. Therefore, Iwould be much appreciated if some ofyou could kindly direct me the way tothe right person and I am also open tothe sellers contacting me directly at-

Nyi Nyi Lwin Thein [email protected]

��Wanted Areca Nut PlantsI am in need of 5000 nos areca nutplants of 2 or 3 years old (big sizeplants). It is an immediate requirementhence the plants have to be purchasedas soon as possible. Any nursery orfarmer holding stock may contact megiving the details like age, size, priceand place with contact details. Theplants must be in poly covers.

G P Rao, [email protected]

��Wanted Cattle FeedWe are looking for cattle feed fromRajasthan, Punjab, Haryana andGujarat regions only like Wheat, Bar-ley, Bajra, Maize, Jwar, Seesam seed,Cottonseed de oiled cake, mustard deoiled cake, Soyabean de oil cake Ricebran, wheat bran etc. If you have anyof the products mentioned above, weshall be glad to buy them thus I wouldrequest you to please send us the pricelist of products which can be suppliedfrom your esteem organization. Weneed the quality products as thesecattle are dairy cattle (high milk yield-ing) thus the quality has to be supe-rior. For more info contact us at-

Anshul Verma, [email protected]

��Wanted Rubber TreeI have an immediate requirement of1000 ton rubber trees. I specificallywant it from any place in South zoneof India. Contact me with completeselling details like price, deliveryschedule and other details at –

Prabu S, [email protected]

��Wanted Vasica LeafWe require Vasica leaf in bulk quan-tity. All those interested in supplyingit may contact us with complete de-tails at-

Shailesh Patel, [email protected]

��Wanted Hybrid Coconut SeedlingWe are looking for hybrid CoconutSeedling(dwarf Type) sellers aroundChennai & Kanchipuram Area.People interested can reach us at-

Suresh [email protected]

��Wanted Exotic VegetablesI am interest to buy all kind of En-glish & exotic vegetables in one yearagreement basis for supplying res-taurant, supermarket. Interestedsuppliers please contact me at-

Jaya [email protected]

��Wanted CocoWe require export grade coco. It isregular requirement. Quantitywanted is minimum 10 tons. Suppli-ers can reach us at-

Raja Rajan , [email protected]

��Wanted VermicompostWe annually need around 40-50Metric Tons Vermicompost madefrom cow dung, good quality is amust. For more info contact us at-

Saurabh Tomar , [email protected]


Buy & Sell

To buy and sell agriculture products call 080-41698240 (Kavitha) or email : [email protected]

�� Solar Lantern for SaleWe are supplying solar led lanternbranded in variety for sale. Inter-ested buyers please contact us formore information at-

Jayaprakash.L, [email protected]

��Agri Products for SaleWe are an Indian business & tradepromotions and product sourcing &supplying professionals and offerthe following products for sale -1.King Chilli ( Naga Bhut Jolokia ) -the world's hottest chilli in variousforms seeds , dried pods , powderand flakes North East India .2.Citronella Java oil from North EastIndia3. Passion & wild apple fruit juice/squashes from North East India4. Basmati Rice & wheat from Punjab5. Organic fresh vegetables fromPunjab

For more information contact -Rabinder Sharma ,

+91 98553 53015, +91 9464825205, +91 7837207009

[email protected],[email protected]

��Coconut for SaleI have about 6000 coconuts for sale.Average weight of coconut is 600 -750 grams. The farm is located nearMandya. Kindly contact me if yourequire more.

Subramanian [email protected]

��Cocopeat for SaleWe are exporters of coir pith block,areca leaf plate and dry coconut. Weare supplying all these items inbulk/small quantity all over indiaand worldwide market. Buyers inter-ested to make the purchase pleasefeel free to contact us at-

G.Senthil Kumar, [email protected]

��Honey for SaleWe are the bulk suppliers of Agmarkhoney and fresh forest honey collectedfrom western ghats of Karnataka andfrom farmers and we also deals withbee keeping and also bee boxes areavailable with us. We also supplyhoney that is used only for medicalpurpose. If needed please contact us.We supply you for reasonable prices.

Evergreen+918088615676, +919448628361

[email protected]

��Drip Irrigation System (AGRO SPS)for SaleWe are leading Drip Irrigation dealerfor leading Agri product company. Wedo support the farmer to install theDrip and maintenance. We do help thefarmers to get the subsidy for the same.We are servicing in the followingdistrict:Tiruchy, Karur and Dindigul. Allthose who interested to make a pur-chase can contact us at-

Srikamal Srimurugan, [email protected]

��Dairy Farm Buffalo "Jafrabadi" forSaleWe provide jafrabadi buffalo for sale.If anyone want to setup dairy farm ofa Jafrabadi Buffalo. Please contact -

MD Juned [email protected]

��White Sandal Seeds for SaleWe are offering white sandal seeds forsale. The minimum quantity under-taken is 10kgs cost @ 12500. For moreinformation contact –

Vamsee, [email protected]

��Watermelon for SaleWe have bulk quantity of watermelonfor sale. It is KIRAN variety. Kindly letme know your interest for the same at–

Swapnil Shere, [email protected]

��Grass Cutter and Cotton PickingMachine for SaleWe are the Importer and Distribu-tors of Power Operated AgricultureEquipments in Tenali GunturDistrict,Andhra Pradesh. Grass Cut-ter/Brush Cutter/Paddy Cutters areavailable in low cost in AndhraPradesh. This Grass Cutting Machineis very useful for dairy farms easycutting system, This is the multipur-pose used Brush Cutter. This is 2Hp/7000rpm, 50.2CC, Petrol Operated.This is low maintenance machine,single person get 10 labor work in aday. It also cuts the all types of cropslike paddy and wet crops with lowcost.We also offer Cotton Picking Ma-chines for sale.This is Battery Oper-ated free maintenance machine. Thismachine picks cotton from theplants at the fields. It is easy oper-ated and light weight. For using ofthis machine this picks very freshcotton and don't need grading pro-cess. For further details contact –

B.N.Murthy Raju, [email protected]

��Wood Charcoal for SaleGood quality charcoal made on farmis up sale. People interested in mak-ing the purchase or looking out formore information can reach us at-

D Patel999 4647 385

[email protected]

��Banana Pulp for SaleWe are offering Banana Pulp usedfor making natural paper is avail-able for sale. It is excellent raw ma-terial for natural banana paper, ba-nana paper board and handmadespecialty banana paper making in-dustries. For further details contact–

Sadhan Group 9490873342

[email protected]


Consultancy ServicesConsultancy ServicesConsultancy ServicesConsultancy ServicesConsultancy Services

WANTED

OFFERED

Wanted Consultants for Packhouse DesignWe are looking for consultant who can help us to setup a packhouse to process vegetablesand fruits for export market in EU. It would be preferred if consultants have prior experi-ence in the same category. People interested in giving their services can leave your contactdetails for further discussion at the below given email address -San K [email protected]

Wanted Consultants for Landscaping and Fruit GardenI seek consultancy services for landscaping and fruit garden. Consultants who are open forgiving their services online shall be an added advantage. I am looking for impressivelandscaping and high profitable fruit cultivation. Consultants have expertise in landscapeand fruit cultivation may email me at below given email address -Bapuji MVL [email protected]

Wanted Consultants for Roof Top GardenI am looking for some guidance for making a roof top garden. I am residing in Vallioor,Tirunelveli district, Tamil Nadu. Help and guidance would be needed from the scratch likehow to proceed from the beginning to set up a roof top garden. Consultants who can give metheir knowledge at a reasonable price can contact me at –S Velavan 9840476428 [email protected]

Wanted Consultancy for Dairy FarmWe are looking for Dairy Consultants for Setting up and Management of viable Dairy Farmsof about 25 cows/Buffalo to begin with. The Consultants should have an exp of minimum 04Years and must have done consultancy on dairy technologies for setting up a dairy farm, weshall also like to Visit the farms which have been set up with the help of the consultancycompany.Key Role shall be- 1. Farm/Shed Design layout 2. Waste Management 3. Vermicompost4. Power Generation from Cow Waste 5. Fodder Production 6. Reproduction Management7. Basics of Clean Milk Production 8. Preparation of Project Report for bank loanInterested consultants fulfilling all the given requirements can contact us at –Anshul Verma 9873070141 [email protected]

Consultancy Offered for GuargumCultivationWe are Pioneer Company in the field ofGuargum cultivation inPacific Herb094228 81280, 097301 07163h e r b a l _ g l o b e @ r e d i f f m a i l . c o m ,[email protected]

Consultancy Offered for Medici-nal PlantationOur firm takes turnkey consultancy on plan-tation of medicinal plants from last 5 years.We guide plantation on Shatavari,Ashwagandha, Alovera, Spice Plants, Raremedicinal plants. We even provide our dedi-cated services to market the end produce.Our recent project is 10000 acres Eco-Herbal park development near Pune inMaharashtra. People looking for consultancyfor medicinal plants cultivation can contactus at-Ganesh [email protected]

Consultancy Offered for TreePlantationWe are a group of forestry graduate fromTamil Nadu, currently residing @Coimbatore. We are also involved in plan-tation establishment (all kinds of trees) for aminimum cost. It is different from contractfarming. We just help farmers in raising plan-tation with all the technical guidance requiredfor the specific tree crop. We also involve intransport of tree seedlings to the farmers land.The cost will be fixed based on the qualityof work we done on your farm. For moredetails feel free to contact us at –Prasad G [email protected]

Consultancy Offered for Aloe VeraCultivationHahnemann charitable mission society, an ISOcertified NGO, established in the year 1996is working in the area of commercializationof medicinal plants & assisting farmers incultivating such plants so that farmers get fi-nancial freedom.HCMS is promoting Aloe Vera cultivation allover India. HCMS has well qualified & ex-perienced technical staff for farming, settingup & monitoring Aloe Vera Cultivation. Theorganization has employed technical advis-

ers, Agronomists & field officers .HCMS hasits own grinding/packing houses, nurseries,warehouses and research institutes support-ing the smooth and swift processing.Aloe Vera and other medicinal & horticulturecultivation will be the milestone for thecountry’s development. Presently, farmers/individuals can contact us for cultivating thefollowing crops. Also contact us for contractfarming of the crops. For more details con-tact us at –Atul [email protected]

Consultancy Offered for OrganicFarmingI am an organic farming consultant and havebeen using the 1,000 year old Indian systemof VRIKSHAYURVEDA to convert farms, gar-dens, orchards and plantations from conven-tional, chemical production to organic pro-duction in a few months' time for the past few

years. Mango, banana, guava, pomegran-ate, orange, sapota, grape, strawberry andall types of fruit orchards will benefit greatlyfrom adopting this system and save upto 25-30% on current input costs.Similarly, paddy, wheat , pulses, cotton andoilseed farmers; growers of medicinal andaromatic plants, cut flowers and vegetablegrowers will get better quality and a higherquantity of production by adopting thismethod.Very little has been written about the systemI am using although it is as old as the hills. Iprefer to come and train the farmers andgrowers on their farms/orchards/plantationsby giving hands-on demonstrations. Oneweek is sufficient to learn the basics of thissystem. If anyone interested in learning moreabout this system and implementing it in yourorchard, field or garden please contact meat-Dr. Anjali Pathak [email protected]


Wanted Land in and aroundChitoorWe are starting a business in Chittoor inAndhra Pradesh, hence we are looking for5 to 10 acres land in the surrounding areaof Chitoor.We are fine with rockey land too. Interestedland owners ready to sell their land cancontact –Veena [email protected]

Wanted Land near Zaheerabad orSadaShivpetI am looking for the agri-land nearZaheerabad or Sadashivpet, no matter if itis in the interior of the village but it shouldhave the walkway,driveway that is it shouldhave good connectivity with the road, whichdoes not belong to any private farmer. Theroad to the land should be the govt road orgovt land. Land should be clear titled. Pricerange is 1Lac per acre. If anyone has orknows about it, please tell me. My contactdetails are-Vijay [email protected]

Wanted Land near MaduraiI am looking for 5-10 acre farm land nearMadurai. It can be 20-60 km away fromMadurai (preferably Theni, Batlakundu,area) easy approach to main road,Hospitals, near hilly place, good water withcoconut trees.Expected cost of the land around Rs 3 to 4lakhs per acre (ONO). The land should haveclear documents and no problem. For moreinformation contact me [email protected]

Wanted Land near BangaloreI am looking for exclusively an agricultureland within 100 km from Bangalore foraround Rs.1 Lakh. Interested sellers canreach me [email protected]

Wanted Land in Tamil NaduI am in need of 4 or 5 Acres of Agricultural/Farm Land in and around Tamil Nadu. Roadaccess and water facility is important. Low

Farm LandFarm LandFarm LandFarm LandFarm Land

WANTED

AVAILABLE

cost lands will be given preferences. Peopleinterested in this deal may contact me at-Saravanan Pakkiri [email protected]

Wanted Land in VadodaraWe require 1 to 2 acres land ina dn aroundVadodara city. The budget is less than 2lakhs It must be clear title and should havegood road connectivity. If someoneinterested to sell their lands in Vadodaracan contact us at-Dharak [email protected]

Wanted Agriculture Farm LandWe want 50 to 60 acras agriculture landsyadgir ,surpur , bellary ,siriguppa, near byriver ...price 80,000 /- to 1,00,000 /-interested parties please mail me at-Modukuri [email protected]

Wanted Land in RajasthanI am keep to buy agricultural land inRajasthan and would prefer if near Udaipurthough other places is also fine. Would liketo start with a small patch of upto 10 acres.Will ing to go beyond 10 acres ifeconomically viable. I will also appreciateagricultural consulting and partnershipoptions available. My contact details are-Anish [email protected]

Wanted Land in KeralaWe are in need of 10 - 15 acres ofagricultural land in Kerala, Karnataka,Tamilnadu. If you have please inform thedetails: [1] Location of the property; [2] Costper acre; [3] Your contact details. You canreach me at-Manoj [email protected]

Land near Kottayam for Sale30 acre property for sale near kottayam, Kallara, kottayam, the property consists of1) 50 cents of land and a house,2) 18 acres of paddy field and3) 12 acres of 'ring-bund' with plantain coconut and arecanut trees. The property is suitablefor paddy cultivation and fish culture or even for a Farm House. This property having hightourism potential, it can be easily convertible into a farm, organic or Ayurvedic touristcentre.The property has a pond custom-made for the fish culture. The 'ring-bund' surrounding theproperty has a large number of coconut and arecanut trees (around 1500 nos) and alsoplantain. There is separate electricity connection for agricultural use. Important Distance,Ettumanoor- 11.8 km, Kottayam - 22 km, Kumarakom - 17 km, Cherthala -25 km, Alappuzha36 km, Ernakulam 46 km, Vaikom - 17 km. For more details please contact -Sajan Suseelan 9048243665

Land in Theni for SaleWe have land in Theni which is up for sale. The total area of land is 5000 acres. It has goodfertilized soil and has decent water and road facility. To get more information contact me-Mithun K, 9952739459, [email protected]

Land in Roha-Tala for SaleI have a property in Tala. It is a complete table land and with proper road connectivityhaving access of around 30 minutes from National highway. The total area is 55Acres. Theexpected price per acre is 2.75 lacs. It is having clear title and is from single owner resale.It has good ground water and electricity access. If interested kindly contact me at-Pratik Kawale, 02141691998, [email protected]

Land near Bangalore for SaleWe have agricultural land for sale - 6.73 Acers with a borewell and electric service, Just120 Kms away from Bangalore and just 20 Kms away from Hindupur. The price isRs.250000.00 per acre. Interested buyers can contact us at-N.S Reddy , 9480093830, [email protected]


JOBSAgronomist

Job Description : Main duty would be to work ondevelopment of seeds, plant breeding, and seed pro-duction, Maximize crop yield and maintaining goodecosystem, Give agronomic guidance about water re-quirements, irrigation micro-nutrition’s scheduling andother crop-related practicesDesired Candidate Profile :Education should be B.Sc (Agri)/ MSc(Agri) /PhD inAgronomy / Agriculture / Plant Breeding / Agronomics.- Preference would be given to experienced personbut fresher can also apply- Willing to work @ Greenhouse Site- Having expertise in entire cycle of Greenhouse prod-ucts- Salary no bar for right candidateCompany Profile : Radhe Group having diversifiedbusiness portfolio including Greenhouses in Saurashtraregion of Gujarat . http://www.radhegroup.com/Contact Detail : Mr. Rajesh Nakum, Manager (Comm.)Radhe Green Hydroponics, Plot No. 2621/22, Gate No.1, Road D-2, Lodhika GIDC, Kalavad Road, P.O.Metoda, Dist. Rajkot – 360 021 (Gujarat – India) Tel.+91 2827-287888 X 336 Fax +91 2827-287887 E-Mail: [email protected] : www.radhegroup.com

Marketing OfficerJob Description : The candidate must be got-getterto market the new concept of marketing in Rajasthan'severy district for sales of organic fertilizer & org. pes-ticides & fungicides.Desired Candidate Profile : Education – Candidatemust have minimum graduation in any field.Salary – Not constraint for right candidate.Company Profile: We want to expand our businessin rural area, so we need Marketing officer in all dis-tricts of Rajasthan who could independently handle theinteractions with the farmers. We need any who per-son to get challenge to develop his field and earn asmart income life time.Contact Details: Khan Sali, [email protected]

Agriculture GraduatesJob Description : Candidate shall be open to workin office as well as field. He must be well conversantwith Telugu and English language.Desired Candidate Profile : Education – Candidatemust be an agriculture graduate.Number of Positions available – 05Company Profile: Pacific Herbs is the single sourcedestination for high grade Indian herbs, natural herbs,herbal extracts, and dried flowers. We are the knownas one of the most prominent exporter and supplier ofall types of medicinal and aromatic herbs.Contact Details: Kindly forward your resume/detailsto our email id directly at-Pacific HerbsAgro Farms Pvt. Ltd. Nagpur, Maharashtra, INDIACall - 094228 81280, 097301 07163,Hyderabad- 040- 4020 1340, Katni (MP)....Write- [email protected],

To publish your `job vacancies’ or ‘jobs wanted’ listing email : [email protected]

ONLINE MEDIA company requires

Graduate ladies with broadbandinternet at home and with excellentEnglish skills for tele-marketing.Flexi time 3-4 hours/day,work from home.

Contact: [email protected],080-41698240

Agronomist for Strawberry FarmJob Description: The candidate shall be responsibleto look after our hydroponics strawberry R & D work.He should be open to work at Bedathi.Desired Candidate Profile: Education - B SC (agri)Or M SC (agri) Salary - Rs 50000 plus 6000 + 4000per month.Contact Details : Interested candidate should emailtheir CV to below given email address.Zam Agrotech Ltd, [email protected]

Farm ManagerJob Description: The job involves candidate to takeup complete responsibility of supervising 35 acre farm.You will be responsible for daily overall supervision ofvarious ongoing farm operations.Desired Candidate Profile: Agriculture graduateswith field level experience in managing polyhouse unitsand willing to stay on the farm preferred but othersuitably qualified/experienced candidates can also

apply. Salary negotiable for the right candidate.Company Profile: The farm is located 15 Km fromMysore.Contact Details: All those who wish to take up thisjob can send their resume to- [email protected]

Sr. Manager / DGM / GM (horticulture)Job Description: 1) Assigns workers to duties, suchas cultivation, harvesting, maintenance, grading andpacking products, or altering greenhouse environmen-tal conditions. 2) Estimates work-hour requirementsto plant, cultivate, or harvest, and prepares workschedule. 3) Confers with management to report con-ditions, plan planting and harvesting schedules, andto discuss changes in fertilizer, herbicides, or cultivat-ing techniques. 4) Maintains records of employees'hours worked, and work completed. 5) Prepares andsubmits written or oral reports of personnel actions,such as performance evaluations, hires, promotions,and discipline. 6) Trains employees in horticultural tech-niques, such as transplanting and weeding, shearingand harvesting trees, and grading and packing flow-ers. 7) Inspects facilities to determine maintenance


JOBS

To publish your `job vacancies’ or ‘jobs wanted’ listing email : [email protected]

needs, such as malfunctioning environmental-controlsystem, clogged sprinklers, or missing glass panes ingreenhouse. 8) Observes plants, flowers, shrubs, andtrees in greenhouses, cold frames, or fields to ascer-tain conditionsDesired Profile: Education : UG - B.Sc - Any Special-ization, Agriculture PG - Any PG Course - Any Special-ization, Post Graduation Not Required DOCTORATE -Any Doctorate - Any Specialization, Doctorate Not Re-quired Experience: 10-15 years. Exposure to followingfields- 1) Team Handling 2) Landscaping & Plantationas per plan. 3) Execution of horticulture work - Trees,Grasses, Shrubs & ground covers. 4) Plant disease &insect identification & control. 5) Soil amendments toimprove fertility for plants. 6) Ornamental plant & grassnursery development for landscaping. 7) Operation ofirrigation system.Compensation: Best In the IndustryCompany Profile: Earth infrastructures is one ofIndia's most well capitalized real estate company.Strong financial support and engineering expertisemakes us a quality infrastructure provider with globalpresence. For more details visit - http://www.earthinfra.comContact Details: Vivek MathurEmail [email protected]

Executive - HorticultureJob Description: - Execution & inspection of land-scaping work at project sites. - Landscaping & Planta-tion as per plan. - Execution of horticulture work -Trees,Grasses,Shrubs & ground covers. - Monitor &Maintain plants and landscaped areas. - Knowledge ofplant species, characteristics, plantary process.- Inspection of plants as per specification.Desired Candidate Profile: Keyskills: Horticulture,Landscaping, Facilities, Maintenance Education: (UG -Any Graduate - Any Specialization, B.Sc - Any Spe-cialization, Agriculture) AND (PG - Any PG Course -Any Specialization, Post Graduation Not Required)2-7 Years experience in horticuture & landscaping.Specialization in agriculture, horticulture, landscaping.Knowledge of plant species, characteristics, plantaryprocess & maintainance of plants.Company Profile: Unitech Group has ventured intothe infrastructure business by launching Unitech Infra,thus leveraging its decades of experience and exper-tise in real estate. For more information visit - http://www.unitechgroup.com/Contact Details: http://www.unitechgroup.com/ca-reers/generalapply.asp?links=ca2

Farm Maintenance ManagerJob Description: To maximize production and therebyprofit to the farm by planning and organizing all farmmaintenance activities. You will immediately impact ondown time and take a proactive stance on maintenanceby making the most efficient use of all resources atyour disposal. In addition you will develop, implementand manage standard operating procedures, preven-tative maintenance programs and replacement plan-ning for a broad range of agricultural, industrial, andanimal feeding equipment.

Wanted Job in FarmI am a graduate from Hyderabad city having 7 yearsexperience in sheep & goat farming poultry farmingdairy farming etc. During my past assignment I hadjob responsibility for daily overall supervision of vari-ous ongoing farm operation. I can independentlymanage and take care of the farm responsibility.Along with the job I want accommodation at farm forme and my family. I expected minimum of fifteenthousand salary per month. Please contact me at –Ahmed 8790358516

Wanted Job in ViticultureI am an Italian agronomist specialized in viticulture.I have 10 years of experience and manage 750 acresin organic and sustainable management. I specializein precision viticulture and use of satellite instrumentsand proximal (Cropsensor NDVI). I am well versewith using GIS software. I have some experienceabroad: India and Turkey. I am looking for interest-ing assignments in company dealing in Viticulture.My contact details are-Davide Bacchiega 3474518346 – Gessate, Milano,Italy. [email protected]

Wanted Job in Organic FarmingIf any one of you looking for certification managerfor organic farming or non timber produce of forest,so kindly contact me at-Saumitra Dwivedi [email protected]

Wanted Job as Farm ManagerI am looking for farm manager job. I have 15 yearsexperience in farm management and cultivation. Mycontact details are –Satya Prakash Singh [email protected]

Desired Candidate Profile: Education: UG - B.Tech/B.E. - Electrical, Mechanical; - B Sc. Mechanical Engi-neering / Electrical Engineering. Experience: 7 yearsexperience in maintenance management of large in-dustrial company. Almarai company will not entertainany applicant without "farm maintenance" experience.Key Skills: - Must be a hands on manager.- Administrative capacity and man management skills.- Quick handling of correspondence and ability to readand absorb large quantities of job related materials.- Exposure to computerized stock control systems.- Proficient in the identification of engineering materi-als and machine parts.Company Profile: Almarai is the world's largest ver-tically integrated Dairy Food company with a turnoverexceeding $US 2 Billion in 2010 and a workforce num-bering some 23,000 employees. Operating throughoutthe GCC, our highly successful product range is freshlydelivered from over 100 depots to 40,000 retail outletsserving numerous happy customers. Our websitewww.almarai.com highlights the remarkable successstory of this dynamic acquisition of this hungry dairyfood giant. For more details visit – www.almarai.comContact Details: [email protected]


VMG MARTVMG MARTVMG MARTVMG MARTVMG MART

Compost Testing Kit

The compost testing kit is a handy and economicaltool for examining and characterizing the usefulproperties of compost and identifying theproblems that may arise with its use. The kitanalyses and characterizes the beneficial physicaland chemical properties of compost and alsobrings out the problems that may arise with theusage of that compost. It is a user friendly product.To request for a quote visit - http://bit.ly/Yglrv1

Veg Fru Wash 400 ML (3 bottles pack)

A Solution for washing vegetables &fruits to ensure that they are allpesticide free before consumption. Eatclean and live healthy with thissolution. Sold in packs of 3 bottles of400ML each. To know more about theproduct and request a quote visit -http://bit.ly/V1UOeh

Stevia Plants

A natural and healthy sweetener grown intropical climates, Stevia is a prime option forhealth buffs and diabetics around the world.Stevia plants available with completeguidance on cultivation. It is sold on basis ofnumber of plants. Read more and requestfor quote at - http://bit.ly/XOL9HI

Chilli SeedsOpen pollinated seeds, suitable fororganic farming.Sow seed 0.2cm deep inpots. Re-pot several times beforetransplanting into large final pots in a(preferable) or outdoors in a shelteredsite. It is sold on the basis of weight (KG).Get more information and also request aquote at - http://bit.ly/S9NOa5

Okra or Ladies Finger Seeds

Open pollinated seeds, suitable for organicfarming. Soak seed in warm water for two houSow 1cm deep in pots. Transplant it into largerpot in a (preferable) or outdoors in a shelteredsite. It is sold on the basis of weight(gms). Oneacre requirement 2kg. To request for a quotevisit - http://bit.ly/SX9iro

Soil Testing Kit

Certified to be functionaland beneficial by the IndianInstitute of Social Sciencesand other evaluation andtesting centers, the soiltesting kit supplies userswith the necessary physical,chemical and biologicalprocesses needed tomaintain healthy plant andanimal life. Use this kit todetermine the health of thesoil and how it will beexpected to perform whenseedlings are planted on it.To know more about theproduct and request a quotevisit - http://bit.ly/UbJ9nY

Agriculture Products Catalog

Order Products & Services Online at www.vmgmart.com


Hire experts to train you!

Expert - Exports & Imports of Vegetable Seeds & PlantsChat with an expert on the policies and formalities of Export and Import of VegetableSeeds and Plants. The expert can give advice on the following categories. 1) Majoritems of Vegetable Seeds: Local & Exports. 2) Branded Organic Vegetable Seeds likeTomato, Coriander, Cotton & others. 3) Kitchen Garden Packets: All major vegetableseeds especially for Kitchen Gardening and Terrace Gardens. Read more informationand fix the appointment at http://bit.ly/W0aZKt.......................................................................................................................................................

Expert - Dairy BusinessChat with an Expert on Dairy Farming. The discussion will include the following topics:Dairy Farm Planning • Designing of Farm layout • Designing of conceptual as well asarchitectural plans for Housing systems and allied components of the farm includingthe warehouse, milking parlour, vet. Pharmacy, ETT lab, small scale feed plant. •Preparation of Herd Development plan • Configuration and selection of farm and barnequipment • Configuration and selection of milking systems including bucketmachines, milking parlours, CIP and milk cooling systems. Project Finance Services• Feasibility study • Preparation of farm project report and bankable project report andmany similar topics. For the chat request visit - http://bit.ly/Traq95.......................................................................................................................................................

Expert - Mushroom CultivationChat with an expert on Mushroom cultivation. The discussion will include the followingtopics: 1. Introduction about Mushroom Industry. 2. Infrastructure Requirement. 3.Compost Preparation (Substrates, Formulations, Methods and Procedures). 4. SpawnProduction Technology and Procurement. 5. Mushroom Cultivation (CultivationMethods). Many more subjects related with Mushroom Cultivation could be discussedwith the expert. To know more visit - http://bit.ly/SaD9g6......................................................................................................................................................

Expert – Medicinal Plants CultivationChat with an Expert on Medicinal Plants cultivation. The discussion will include thefollowing topics: 1. Evaluate the basic knowledge and experience of the client abouthis project and the agricultural as a whole. 2. Keeping in mind client’s knowledge andskills, we provide them a general idea about the project and gradually we make themself capable to take their own decisions. 3. For MAP cultivation, we make them realizeabout need and importance of the specific soil types, agro-climatic and all set ofconditions w.r.t. the particular crops along with various other factors affecting cropproduction, so that they could better decide how to proceed further for right cropselection which is one of the most important part of any cultivation project. For one toone session with the expert visit - http://bit.ly/VzXXh3.......................................................................................................................................................

Expert – Green HouseChat with an Expert on Green house set up.The discussion will include the followingtopics: 1. Selection of site and prefix area for structure. 2. Size of investment. 3.Documentation. 4. Govt. procedure, agreement and legislation for subsidy. 5.Disbursement of payment and spot survey. Read more information and fix theappointment at http://bit.ly/SXhXdo.......................................................................................................................................................

Expert – Aloe Vera CultivationChat with an Expert on Aloe vera cultivation.The discussion will include the followingtopics: 1.Selection of site and Land preparation: 2.Planting material:3. Economicimportance:4.Cultural practices 5.Harvesting and Yields. For one to one session withthe expert visit - http://bit.ly/TQQrga

Visit : www.tutorboard.com


Q & A 1. Can I start with 3 cows initially? And can I get a loan for this and for followingthings?2. Going with Indian breed or some like Swiss, HF, Jersey.3.If Indian then what? And if Swiss or HF or Jersey?4.Hf has less immunity-think so, then Jersy will be better than that ,but in Haryanathey have been discontinued this breed for what reason?5. Have 7 acres of less water facility and 2 acres of medium water facility. Whatfodder will be best in this condition to grow?6. Is the following fodder is possible to grow in drip irrigation-napier, guineagrass, soundal tree and drum stick, melia dubai tree, kudirai masala, foddermaize, throughout the year?7. Because of labour shortage l manage to look after by myself but don’t knowmiking, So can I go for milking machine?8. What will be the water requirement for 3 cows initially and max upto 15 cowsin future?

DAIRY FARM – NEED INFO FROM ALL

“My question is that “Can I”

start a dairy farm????? I havechosen this because of heavypower failure in Erode, I can’tstart any other business. Mostimportant I am interested indairy farm. Still I have somedoubts..”

Kabilan from Tamil Nadu asks-

Responses received-[a] Satya writes -Nice to know that you would like start Diary farm business. I feelthat you have chosen correct one. I am also planning to set up dairyfarm in my paddy field near Rajamundry, Andhrapradesh. I feelthat there would be no loss in this business and also, the investmentwould be less compared to other business.Regarding cattle, I suggest to have only pure Indian breed buffaloesand cows as they have high resistance power to various diseaseswhen compared HF and other cross breeds. Further, it is possible toearn good profits on this business, if we can do it with care. Also,the milk is consumable product which is widely used in our dailylives.I wish you good luck!

[b] Guru writes –Hi Satya, I am also interested in Starting up a dairy Farm. I want tovisit your farm. Please let me know the details.

[c] Jaimin Patel writes - Hi Kabilan, For Green Fodder you Can go for Lucerne Seed.

[d] Sri writes -1. You can start with 3 cows to get experince. There will be minimumprofit.2. With India breed only you can make a social work not business.3. HF is known for yield. Jersey is known for quality of milk.4. Mixture of HF and Jersey is good option (few animals Jersey andfew HF).5. 1 acre =5 to 8 animals.6. Fodder - Napier Sprinkler or Raingun is good.7. It is not that difficult to milk animals using machine. You can usepressure gun to clean cow barn.8. If you have slightest doubt on water source don’t select that land.Many people have quit dairying because their bore wells driedout.

Join this discussion at - http://bit.ly/WNBYYQ

Many people are saying that it is difficult to survive in this field and make me little nervous and afraidof during this...is it true and for what reason they say this? And finally what will be my investment forthis and what will be my profit annually for the same 3 cattle? Thanks in advance!!!!!!!!

SEEKING HELP FROM LEMONGRASS EXPERTS

“Hello, I would like to know from experienced

lemongrass cultivators some practical data on”

Vatika_Herbs asks -

1. Oil yield in kG per 1 ton herbage of distillation tank2. No. of 1 ton tanks per acre from 2nd harvest.Recently I started cultivation lemongrass and yield varies 2.5 kg-3kg oil per ton of herbage and 4-5 1 ton tank per acre whichseems low to me...I shall be very thankful if experts pleasecomment and recommend some practical tips on increasingproductivity.

Responses received –[a] Srsasmal writes - Dear All, Please let me know the minimumarea do I require to grow lemongrass for commercial production.And also please let me know how much one needs to invest peracre for the expected result.

[b] Ponsanthan writes - Minimum 5-10 acre is required to grow.Distillation unit should be established which needs 3-4 lakhinvestment for a vessel, chilling tank etc. If any nearby distillationunit able to do job work, it can be used for some time.

[c] Aromedindia writes - Lemongrass (variety Krishna) has around0.8%-0.9% of oil. And the herb yield is around 250 quintal perhectare per annum, producing around 200-250Kg of oil perhectare per annum. Obviously your oil yield is low which can bebecause of some technical problem in your distillation tank orany other reason.

[d] Murjani writes - Hi Ponsanthan, Do you know the company thatmanufactures the equipment for lemongrass distillation? And alsoif you know what kind of income can be generated say from 5-10 acres of lemongrass cultivation?

Post your opinions/thoughts at - http://bit.ly/WNEHl2


In Brief

AP-TEC 2012After the triumphant finish of the firstAP-TEC Conference and Exhibitionlast March 2 and 3, a second AP-TECConference has now been scheduledto take place from December 6 to 8,2012, at Lam Farm, Guntur, AndhraPradesh. Hosted by the APTDC andCII with the help of Acharya N.G.Ranga Agricultural University and theAndhra Pradesh Government, theconference will provide people ofvarious farming industries to cometogether to share their growingknowledge in modern agriculturetechnology.The conference and exhibitionorganizers hope that this timearound, the people gathered will beable to pinpoint and counter

problems in quality food delivery. Atthe same time, they hope to pave theway to growth and prosperity for thisbooming industry. For a successfulconference, the organizers arekeeping the doors open to variouscompanies and organizations thatcater and offer services to variousfarming and agricultural sectors.For more information contact-M. Dinesh, Event Co-ordinator,AP-TEC 2012, HyderabadPhone: +91-40-27765835 / 837Email: [email protected];dinesh @aptdc.com

Break-Through in JasmineFlower StorageThough a popular item in the market,the Jasmine flower has also provento be a volatile one since its marketvalue goes down the moment the budopens out. Looking for a way toextend the timeframe of the Jasminebud keeping its shape, ThermchemFresh Packs made use of specialstorage backs utilizing importedbreathable membranes. Mr. Velu, thetrader involved, happily confirmed

that with the bags in the refrigerator,the Jasmine buds remained closedand crisp to the touch for nearly 36hours and could compete with newlyplucked Jasmine buds.The bags help to lower temperature,carbon dioxide, oxygen and ethyleneduring storage, thus keeping theflowers fresh. Similar experimentshave also been conducted on otherfresh produce with encouragingresults. With hype building aroundthis success, Thermchem is eager toshare the technology with farmersthrough government help.For more information contact-Shivkumar GanapathiTherm Chem Preservations PrivateLimited, ChennaiPhone: +91 44 26549495, 09444054501Email: [email protected]

Toshniwal introduces NewGeneration MixerToday, agricultural market andtechnological demands are changesaggressively hence need for newequipment with upgradedspecifications and presentation hasincreased substantially. To meet thenew age demands of the pesticideand bio-fertilizer industry, Toshniwalis now offering new generation mixingtechnology to help speed upmanufacturing rates while keepingcosts down.Using a series of paddles jointed ontotwo shafts in a double-drum housing,the Toshniwal fluidized zone mixer hasbuilt in shaft systems that mix inopposite directions. Peripheral speedin conjunction with the angled andoverlapping paddles easily fluidizesthe materials through a lifting process,which creates a virtually weightlesscondition in the double drums. Aspecial pin mill system has also beeninstalled into the mixer. The ToshniwalMixer, a tried and tested product, issuitable for all kinds of bio-fertilizer

and bio-pesticide manufacturingindustries.Further details from: M/S. ToshniwalSystems & Instruments Pvt LtdPhone No: 91-44-26445626 / 26448983Email: [email protected] /Web : www.toshniwal.net

Shri Raja Ram Tripathireceives 2012 FarmingLeadership AwardOrganic Herbal Farmer and Presidentof the Central Herbal Agro MarketingFederation of India, Shri Raja RamTripathi, was recently awarded thisyear’s Farming Leadership Award forhis innovative work in the Medicinaland Aromatic Crops industry. Workingin the Bastar district of Chatisgarh,Dr. Tripathi’s milestones includesuccessful technology transfer andmaximum crop value for herbalfarmers through a farmer’s federationcalled Maa Danteshwari. Since thefederation’s establishment, it hasgrown into 14 technical consultancycells in over 19 Indian states and hasaided over 20,000 farmers.Contact Details-Dr. Raja Ram TripathiMobile - 09039021265, 9630329000Email - [email protected],m a r k e t i n g @ m d h p . c o . i n ;[email protected]

Village SocietyEdited by Surinder Jodhka andpublished by Orient Blackswan inNew Delhi, Village Society is a volumeof essays that put the spotlight onvarious aspects of village life. Writtenby various experts and professors,the topics in the essays cover social,political and cultural themes that areconsidered typical of an Indian village.Some articles in the book also touchon debatable issues such as agrarianchange and the state of India’seconomy. To know more about thebook visit - http://bit.ly/Se7bOX


MARKETPLACE

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EntrepreneursDarshan Metal Spinning India

Established in 1978 by its mother company, Darshan Metal Industries,Darshan Metal Spinning India is located in Ashok Nagar, Kandivali.Having pioneered the stainless steel cookwareindustry in Jagadhri, Harayana, the companysells their products in Haryana, Punjab, andHimachal Pradesh through direct traders with anannual turnover of Rs. 1 crore. The proprietor,Mr. Varun Rakesh Goel graduated from the ForeSchool of Management with an MBA in marketingand has been in the industry for 10 years.Products : With many companies in the cookwareindustry, Mr. Varun admitted that their market share was not verylarge. However, the company remains confident about their products.Mr. Varun shares, “We make a special kind of cookware, which isencapsulated in a base that saves on cooking energy. Very fewcompanies in India have such technology.” In addition he said, “[Ourstrategy is simple] – good quality and reasonable prices.”Marketing and Future Plans: The company targets middle and uppermiddle class folk as buyers through the help of middlemen and thesimple recipe of quality and affordable prices. According to Mr. Varun,they also have a “no questions-asked full exchange” offer for theirproducts in case of any breakage. Depending on the order,customization of the product can also be made. Despite having difficultieswith finding good buyers and acquiring loans, Mr. Varun is confidentthat there is great prospect for the future of the products as they hopeto begin exporting to Mediterranean countries in the coming years.For more information, contact : Mr. Varun Rakesh Goel, Proprietor,Darshan Metal Industries, Shop No. 1, Dharmveer Building, Ashok Nagar,Kandivali (East), Mumbai 400101, Maharashtra India,Tel : 9896098898, Email : [email protected] : www.darshanmetals.com

Harihar Agro IndustriesSet up in 1999, Harihar Agro Industries is currently the largest exporterof Bawachi seed in India. Operating in Gujarat, the company alsocollects raw herbs and has an operational Ayurvedic medicine productionunit. The company’s founder, Mr. Nilesh is a Bachelors of Science in LLBand LLM graduate with 15 years worth of valuable experience.

ProductsHarihar Agro deals mainly in medicinal plantslike Bawachi, Ashwagandha, Coleu, Aloe Vera,Amla, and Pimpri. With the company’s localreach extending to Maharastra, MadhyaPradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Andhra Pradesh,Harihar Agro also caters to the high demandfor Aloe Vera juice and gel and Triphala, inIndia. The company uses only raw materials ofthe highest quality while keeping costs low tomake their products affordable.

Marketing and ChallengesAccording to Mr. Nilesh, Harihar Agro has come to face variouschallenges in the form of nature and labor. Government policies havealso proven to be a challenge. However, success is still to be found. Mr.Nilesh shared, “Our target customers are selected companies whosemarket share is high in the retail sector. Our business is based onproduct quality. If you give quality and competitive rates, then thecustomers are yours.”Future PlansPresently catering to huge companies like Patanjali, Natural Remedies,and Sunrise Exports, Harihar Agro is enjoying a fair share in themarket. However, their future plans are endless. “We want to start anew era in this field which gives a better life to farmers and public atlarge,” Mr. Nilesh shared, keeping in heart the mutual benefit becauseof the company’s expansion.For more information, contact : Mr. Nilesh S. Kulkarni, (M.D.) Neel SagarHerbs. Harihar Agro Industries, Tulshishyam Road, Nr. Market Yard,Dhari – 365 640, Gujarat – India. Phone: 2797 – 221199Mobile: 9960620080 Email: ni [email protected]: www.hariharagro.com

Kumaraswamy ChemicalsAlso known in the chemical production industry as KS Chemicals, M/S.Kumaraswamy Chemicals produces chemicals such as surface coatings,heavy automobile break linings and liquid resin binder. Established byTka. Karthik in 2000, the company was originally located in Kadampuliur

in Panruti Taulk, Tamilnadu, before relocating to L. N.Puram. Mr. Tka. Karthik graduated with a Bachelorsof Science in Chemistry prior to the founding of thecompany.Products : What’s interesting about the company’sproduct lineup is that they are all made from thesame raw material, Cashew Nut Shell Liquid (CNSL).Using CNSL, the company produces various chemi-cals and other products such as resins, friction dust,

and Cardinol. They also produce powders like exfoliated vermiculite,peralite and mica. Thanks to their high product quality and range, KSChemicals successfully supplies to all over India, from Delhi to Madurai.Challenges and Target Customers : After twelve years in the industry,Tka. Karthik shares that the only challenge the company now has to dealwith is the credit of some of their buyers. Production continues to runsmoothly, although Tka. Karthik does hope to have a fully automatedproduction process soon. Break lining, bio fertilizer, pain, lamination andbuilding industries are the main clients and target market of the com-pany.Exports and Competition : Although the company has delved into theexportation of their products, KS Chemicals only processes ordersoccasionally to clients in Malaysia and Turkey. When asked about thedifference of business dealings nationally and internationally, Tka. Karthiksaid, “Nothing much, but the export profit margin [is higher than that oflocal profit margins.]” Through quality and on time delivery, the com-pany maintains an edge over its competitors.For more information, contact : Mr.Tka.Karthik, Proprietor, 360/A,Chennai Main Road, L. N. Puram, PANRUTI (TK) - 607106, CUDDALORE(DT), INDIA, Tel : 04142 - 241642, 241647; +91-9003966594Email : [email protected]; Web : http://www.kschemicals.com/

Gokhale Agro ProductsGokhale Agro Products is a farming consultancy service geared to-wards the improvement of crop yield. The company specializes in theyield improvement of citrus fruits, pomegranates and mangoes. Anexception in the company’s area of specialty is their knowledge onimproving the yield of cotton crop. Mr. K.G.Gokhal, a chemistry graduate with experi-ence in both pharmaceuticals and agriculture,is the company’s technical consultant.AdvicePlant diseases are often responsible for lowcrop growth and survival. Mr. Gokhal sharedthat the number one way to avoid plant dis-ease is to put a special emphasis on the healthof both soil and plants through organic formsof silica, which help strengthen a plant’s natu-ral immunity. Mr. Gokhal also warned against fungal attacks that causemango inflorescence.OpinionsWith plant growth promoters flooding the market, Mr. Gokhal said,“Merits of such products depend upon individual product composition,time of use, and proper dosage.” He recommended non-invasive, out-side support for the plants in order to gain an advantage in the market.Additionally, he encouraged farmers to gain knowledge on more me-dicinal crops with high therapeutic and prophylactic values.Future PlansGokhale Agro Products has enjoyed reasonable success, having beenable to save many small pomegranate orchards. However, the com-pany still yearns to help farmers find solutions for crop afflictions. Mr.Gokhal shared that they hope to find the remedy for the devastatingCitrus Canker disease and help small cotton farmers to increase theirper acre yield in the next five years.For more information, contact : Mr. K.G.Gokhal, Technical consultant.GOKHALE AGRO PRODUCTS, Mobile: 9552132674,Email: [email protected]


Tapi Food Products was established in 1999 and is based in Surat,Gujarat state. Mr. Ghanshyam Lukhi is the owner of the firm. Itmanufactures fruit candies like Papaya Tutty Fruity, jellies likestrawberry, guava, tamarind, and green mango.The firm also manufactures fruit jams. It had a humble start andnow has established itself as a major manufacturer of PapayaTutty Fruity in the country. Just within a decade of its establish-ment, Tapi Food Products has made its presence felt in the marketfor its quality and innovative products. Now it is the largest pro-

ducer of Tutty Fruity in Gujarat.Besides Tutty Fruity, Tapi Food Products has now become a growing name for differentfruit based products such as Fruit Jam, Jelly products, syrups, squash, cordial, soft drinkconcentrates, Karonda Cherry, Ginger products, Amla products, and Orange Peels.The firm has got more than 20 state distributor networks and also has got export networksin Gulf and United Arab Emirates.Mr. Ghanshyam Lukhi says, “We are for the first time participating in Graintech exhibi-tion in Bangalore. We have got very good feedback and inquiries for our products. Alreadywe have got our distributor networks in South Indian States. But our primary concern is tocreate awareness about our products among the consumers in Bangalore, which is animportant hub for us. Our main competitor is Macro Food Industries. We are the secondlargest producer in India, after Macro, for the fruit jellies."Mr. Ghanshyam says, “We are proud to say that we are India’s first solar food processingindustry. We have also participated in International Solar Food Processing Conference2009, held in Indore. Our products strictly conform to quality standards as per FPO,Ministry of Food Processing Industries, Government of India.”For further information contact: Mr. Ghanshyam Lukhi, Tapi Food Products, No. 210-211, Sunrise chambers, Sardar chowk, minibazar, Varachha Road, Surat – 395 206.Gujarat. Telefax: +91 261 2551206 Cell: 073836 80150 Email: [email protected]: www.tapifood.com

Tapi Food Products

Unique Biotech Ltd

Atlanta Mart Pvt. LtdAtlanta Mart Pvt. Ltd., located in Hyderabadin Andhra Pradesh state is exporting all kindsof agricultural grains, rice, maize, wheat, sugaretc. It also engages in mineral explorationand exporting.The company’s vision is to be a dominantplayer in exports of Fine Quality of Agricul-tural commodities to all parts of the worldand execute contracts on time. It is focusedon providing the best of quality commoditieswhich is acceptable to clients across the world.The company’s quality process includes in-ternal quality management time combined withworld class quality certification companies likeBureau Veritas or any other Quality Certifica-tion companies as desired by clients.Mr. Chalapathi Rao P., Director of AtlantaMart along with his friends Mr. Surender Reddy

M, and Pramod Swargam established the com-pany in Hyderabad. The three Directors havegone to Philippines to explore mines and therethey realized that Philippines have rice re-quirement. So the trio decided to go into grainbusiness and that’s how Atlanta Mart Pvt. Ltdcame into existence. The company is incor-porated under the Indian Company Act, withprimary focus on exporting Indian grains,pulses and spices to various parts of the world.Atlanta Mart is also into the mining activi-ties which include trading of Iron-ore, cop-per, manganese and lead in various countries.India is one of the leading producers of rice,grains, pulses and spices and Atlanta Mart fo-cuses in exporting these products to Africancountries, Vietnam, Thailand, Philippines andChina.The company looks to participate in exhibi-tions where international participants are tak-ing part. Graintech exhibition in Bangalorewas the first exhibition that the company wishto take part where enquiries from foreign na-tionals occurs. Mr. Chalapathi Rao says theywould wait for the kind of responses they getin these exhibitions. Since foreign players aretaking part they are hopeful to get businessenquiries.For more information, contact :Mr. Chalapathi Rao, Director, ATLANTAMART PVT LTD, Plot No 59, BrindavanColony, Dr.AS Rao Nagar, ECIL Post,Hyderabad, Andhrapradesh - 500062, IndiaEmail: [email protected], Fax:040271442233 Phone: +919052431234 /04040119636 Mobile: +919620301234

Unique Biotech is into probiotic business. The company is headed byDr. Rathna Sudha, managing director. She is a Ph.D in biotechnology.It is headquartered in Hyderabad. The company manufactures 150cultures of probiotics. “Probiotics are useful microbial culture whichis used for improving digestions and developing immunity in humanbeings and animals,” says Mr. Dinesh Kurudkar, marketing manager.“Apart from this, we manufacture different types of cultures foranimal, poultry, and aquatic healthcare.”The company also exports the products to North America. Thecompany markets its products by attending exhibitions and givingpresentations to create awareness on probiotics. Through participa-

tion in exhibitions, the company aims to reach out directly to farmers. “Exhibitions are a goodplatform to meet the customers as well as the distributors,” says Mr. Kurudkar. The benefits ofprobiotics are they boost immunity and help fight diseases. “We have different applicationsfor animal healthcare and aquatic animal healthcare,” says Mr. Kurudkar. “Our product rangeincludes prodaxy, Prolact –P, UB Biosac, and UB Biochem for poultry, besides a range ofothers. First time in India, we have launched bio-sanitization which is very effective forsanitizing. Generally, sanitizers cannot be used three days before giving vaccination. That isthe time e-coli and microgenic bacteria multiply in the guts of poultry and the immunity getsdisturbed. But our bio-sanitization product, UB Biochem can be used safely even during vacci-nation. UB Biosac, which contains probiotics along with sacromycic boladict, is a new productfor controlling diarrhea." He adds, “In women healthcare, we have a lot of products likeLactobacillus, Bacillus Coagulans, Bascillus Subtilis, and Bascillus Sporogene, besides others.”The company does a lot of products to packaging manufacturing and contract manufacturingfor other companies. It is a WHO ISO certified company. “We have bio technology plant withno contamination, antibodies or pesticides. Ours is a purely probiotic company,” maintainsMr. Kurudkar.For further information contact: Mr. Dinesh Kurudkar, Manager-Marketing, Unique BiotechLimited Plot–2,Phase -2,Alexandria Knowledge Park. Genome Valley,Shameer pet,HYDERABAD – 50007 Email : [email protected] Mobile: 9392567518, 9963551853Phone: 91 40 23751346 , 47 www.uniqubiotech.com

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Special Feature on Rice Processing Machinery

Buhler supplies grain processing equipment, food processing equipment, chemical process engineering and die casting machinery. The global

headquarters of the Buhler Group is inUzwil, Switzerland. Under grain process-ing, Buhler manufactures production sys-tems and process technology for grain mill-ing, feed and oil seeds, grain handling, brew-ing, rice milling and color sorting. The com-pany operates in 140 countries and has over8500 employees worldwide.Buhler India was set up in 1992. The Indiaheadquarters and main manufacturing facil-ity are located in Bangalore. The manufac-turing facility in Bangalore employs morethan 500 employees. It manufactures riceand flour milling machines along with thecontrol systems, aspiration equipment andaccessories. Besides Bangalore, Bühler In-dia has offices in Delhi, Pune, Hyderabad,Kolkata and Raipur. The service centres arelocated at Kakinada, Jalandhar, Karnal,Chennai and Ahmedabad.Customized Solutions : Buhler In-dia also offers customized solutions andsystems to suit specific customer needs. “Itprovides the entire range of products andservices of the Buhler Group, such as equip-ment for rice milling, flour milling, coloursorting, animal feed technology, oil milling,grinding and dispersion technology and diecasting systems to the Indian market, com-plete with engineering, project managementand automation,” says Mr. Dipak Mane,president, South Asia.He adds, “We provide complete solutionsto the millers by supplying complete plantand equipment and cleaning/grading sectionsfor pulses, seeds, and spices, including en-gineering, erection and commissioning ser-vices.” The company also provides aftersales service throughout the life cycles ofthe equipment or plant.

Buhler IndiaIntroduces new UltraLine Series of machines for rice millingin India

UltraLine Series : Buhler recentlylaunched its new UltraLine Series of ma-chines for rice milling in India. The UltraLineSeries comprises UltraWhiteTM whitenerand UltraPolyTM polisher along with hullerand hull separator. The product line waslaunched by Mr. Nick Wilkins, directorsales, rice processing, Buhler Sortex Londo,and Mr. Mane.

Features of Ultraline SeriesMachine : “The new series improvesmilling process efficiency without increas-ing the costs,” says Mr. Wilkins, pointingout the features of Ultraline series machine:• High capacity• Excellent polishing performance at highcapacity.• Energy efficient operation• Extremely low processing cost per ton.• High head rice yieldChallenges Faced by Rice Indus-try : Predicting the trend in the rice pro-

cessing industry, Mr. Wilkins says, “Thepaddy processing industry is witnessing atrend towards the consolidation of millingcapacities, to improve cost efficiency.”Further speaking about the challenges facedby the rice processing industry, he says,“Half of the world’s population dependson rice as their staple food. The populationgrowth is concentrated in rice producingcountries. In the last 50 years, the area ofland harvested has grown by 33% whilepopulation has grown by 130% in the sameperiod. Global rice production is dominatedby China and India and these two countrieshave managed only 8% increase in output inthe last 6 years.”Adding, he says, “There is a demand forhigher quality by the rising middle classes.Also in developing countries supermarketsare increasingly opting for packing of rice intransparent bags. These factors are raisingthe benchmark for rice processing. Addition-ally the processing costs are increasing dueto rise in energy costs. Also more than 40%of grains are lost in post-harvest and pro-cessing levels.”

Application Mill : Buhler India has alsoset up an application mill in 2010 at Attibelenear Bangalore. The area of this productionfacility is 80,000 sq. feet.At this facility, Buhler manufactures the mainrice milling, machines, flour milling machines,coffee roasters along with the control sys-tems, aspiration equipment and accessories.The facility has a range of machines, auto-mation, and control systems, and as a resultit also serves as an in-house platform forhands-on training for the employees and wellas for their customer’s employees.

Our CorrespondentFor more information, contact :Mr. Dipak Mane and Mr. Nick Wilkins,Marketing & Business Development,Buhler (India) Pvt Ltd13-D, KIADB Industrial Area,Attibele - 562 107, Dist. Bangalore,Tel : 80 6777 0280Email : [email protected] : www.buhlergroup.com


R.L. Wason & CompanyEngaged in manufacturing grain testing lab equipments.Specializes in Digital Grain Moisture Meters. Located inJalandhar, Punjab

R .L.Wason & Company isbased in Jalandhar, Punjaband was established in 1999.It is the leading manufacturerand exporter of a wide range

of high quality grain testing lab equipments.The company also deals in Rice/ Paddy Labbut are specialists in Grain Moisture meters.The company emerged as one of the leadingmanufacturer, exporter, service provider andimporter of premium quality grain testing

lab equipments such as Handy Digital Mois-ture Testing Meter, Digital Moisture Test-ing Meter, Universal Moisture TestingMeter, Pocket Weighing Scale, Digital Ver-nier Caliper, Paddy Cleaner, PaddyDehuskers, Mini Rice Sheller, Grain Divider,Rice Polisher etc. It also imports HandyDigital Moisture Meters from Japan,Pocket Weighing Scales and Digital VernierCalipers from China.The vast experience and dedication of thecompany’s Chief Executive Officer, Mr.Ram Lal Wason has made the company’sgrowth manifolds in a short span of time.Under his guidance, the company’s prod-ucts are manufactured using high quality rawmaterials and incorporating latest technol-ogy. The products are customized as perthe requirement of the clients. The companyhas got an excellent packaging facility andthe products are delivered to customerswithin a period of 3-7 days. R.L.Wason &company is a proprietorship firm. It hasgot a permanent building measuring 900 sq.ft., and is situated in semi-urban area.

The company’s annual turnover is Rs. 80lakhs and the Digital Grain Moisture Metersare in great demand in India. The companyhas got two offices one is located in WestBengal and Head Office is in Jalandhar,Punjab. It boasts that the company has gotaround 15 service engineers and providesgood after sales service to its loyal customer’sbase throughout India.Mr. Wason says that they are not botheredabout the price as they are manufacturing

very high quality machines and provide ser-vice to these machines without time delay.Spare parts are no constraints to our cus-tomers as the company provides spare partsof all their machines.There are a lot of good moisture meter manu-facturing companies in Japan and America.They are technicallyvery sound. To get thelatest technology theR.L.Wason companyofficials visited exhibi-tions in Japan, Chinaand US. It entered intocollaboration with oneof the Japanese com-panies. Thecompany’s moisturemeter has got a consis-tency of + – 0.2 per-cent (10 – 17 percent).Now the company ismanufacturing a newtype of moisture meterthat is different from


the meters that are already existed in theIndian market.The company plans to open an office inAmerica as it has got a very good scopethere. The company officials have seen 2-3places to open an office there, but not yetfinalized. It has also got a plan to own amanufacturing facility in Japan for supply-ing their products exclusively to US mar-ket. Mr. Ram Lal Wason is a B.Tech in Elec-tronics & Communications Engineering. Hestudied in Dr. B. R. Ambedkar Regional En-gineering College (REC) Jalandhar, Punjab.He has got 14 years of experience in thisfield before venturing R.L. Wason & Com-pany in 1999.The company’s CEO, Mr. Ram Lal Wasonsays that the company’s motto is HappyCustomers. The company believes in mak-ing the customers happy and not just satis-fied. To keep their loyal customers happythe company strives to provide good qual-ity machines apart from giving good aftersales service.For further information contact: Mr.RamLal Wason, CEO, R.L.Wason & Company,Shop No. 4, 5 & 6, Near Sunrise Apart-ments, Deol Nagar, Nakodar Road,Jalandhar – 144 001, Punjab. Mobile:09915514230. E: [email protected]/ [email protected]: http://www.wasonmoisturemeter.com

Ram Lal Wason

ONLINE MEDIA company requires

Graduate ladies with broadbandinternet at home and with excellentEnglish skills for tele-marketing.Flexi time 3-4 hours/day,work from home.

Contact: [email protected],080-41698240


Perfect EquipmentsSupplies rice mill machinery. Plans to explore Easternand Northern states of India

Perfect Equipments was established in 1999 by partners, Mr.K. Kannan and Mr. A.Vinayagam. Mr. Kannan is themanaging partner. For the finan-

cial year 2011-12, the company has clockeda turnover of Rs. 21 crores.Perfect Equipments manufactures a rangeof rice mill machinery. The products includepaddy cleaners, pneumatic rubber sheller,paddy separators, rice whiteners, silky pol-ishers, rice plan sifters, rice graders, eleva-tors, bran separation equipment, bran blow-ers, airlocks, and cyclones, besides others.“Our rubber shellers, whiteners, and pol-ishers are very popular in domestic as wellas some overseas countries. Now we focusmore on paddy cleaners and elevators, sothat these quality products also can join theabove premier segment,” says Mr. Kannan.Market ResponseSpeaking about the market response to theproducts, he says, “Most of the domesticcustomers (around 80%) are price sensitive.We need to supply quality products at af-fordable prices, in which we are very suc-cessful so far. Yes, there is competition,which helps the company to grow in ahealthier way. Since our price is quite com-petitive to quality, we have the edge overothers.”He adds, “We try to implement the latesttechnology available in our products. Wehave in-house R&D department, which isvery fast in implementing the new tech-niques and also we are very receptive tocustomers’ / technical experts’ input on ourproduct quality improvement. This helps alot in implementing the new ideas. Whiledoing this, we ensure that the prototype isa successful one in all aspects, before it ac-

tually goes to the market.”Expansion PlansThe company has strong presence isSouth Indian states like Tamil Nadu,Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka andKerala. “We have installations inMaharashtra, Gujarat, Orissa, andWest Bengal as well. We plan to ex-pand our market in other eastern andnorthern states. In addition, we fo-cus to consolidate our position wherewe have less presence. At presentour export sales is 20% of our turn-over. This we plan to step up to 40%by the end of FY 13-14,” maintains

Mr. Kannan,Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Uganda, and Cyprusare some of the countries Perfect Equip-ments is exporting its products to. “Thereis good demand in overseas market in Asia,African countries, which we plan to exploreby appointing dealers and by participatingin trade shows that are relevant to our field,”he adds.Target CustomersThe company mainly targets rice millers,who are willing to try new technologies.“The new technology machines give excel-lent finish to the rice, with very minimumpercentage of broken rice during the pro-cess. This helps them to sell their rice at abetter price,” says Mr. Kannan, adding,“We give customized solutions based ontheir specific needs. At times we offer turn-key based installations, for those who areinterested.” The company advertises mainlythrough web advertisements. “For overseaswe appoint authorized distributors, throughwhom we get to know the trend and needsof their market,” says Mr. Kannan.Research and DevelopmentMr. Kannan maintains that the in-houseR&D department is working on four newproducts. “They are in the advanced stageof completing the trial runs. All of them willbe rolled out to market before Decemberend. Innovation is an ongoing process forthe survival of any business,” he maintains.Sharing his opinion about the latest tech-nologies offered in the industry, Mr. Kannansays, “The very purpose of new technolo-gies in modern rice mill is to ensure that themachinery produces the rice with highestdegree of glazing with bare minimum per-centage of brokenness.”He adds, “The investment of the machinery

should be affordable to the common Indianrice millers. Our products are very success-ful in this front. The end user benefits im-mensely due to the better price they get fortheir output rice, with less investment. Ourproducts are trouble free, durable and weoffer great support on service after sales.”ChallengesSpeaking about the challenges faced, he says,“Research on new products is an ongoingone, involving a lot of money and there is noguarantee that all your attempts will be suc-cessful. On production front, ever increas-ing raw material cost, and unscheduledpower cuts are the big challenges we face.We are comfortably placed in the market.”Future PlansSharing the company’s future plans, Mr.Kannan says, “We are expanding our manu-facturing facility by three folds, planning toadd state of the art machinery for manufac-ture, which is expected to complete in 12

months. With this facility in place, we aresure, our products will be one among thebest available in world. In five years, wewill have our presence felt in most of thecountries, where there is need for rice mills.”Mr. Kannan and Mr. A. Vinayagam are di-ploma holders in mechanical engineering.“We were classmates and worked togetherfor a company for three years. Then I joinedan MNC, where I worked in various posi-tions in design, quality, and vendor devel-opment for 7 years until we started our own,”informs Mr. Kannan.

Our CorrespsondentFor more information, contacy:Mr.K.Kannan, No.7, Multi Industrial Estate,Gerugambakkam, Chennai – 602 101.Off : +91-44-2382 0042, +91-44-2382 1512Telefax : 044 – 2382 0512Email: [email protected],[email protected]

K. Kannan



Milltec MachineryBangalore based manufacturers of customized grainprocessing, storage and packaging machinery

Milltec Machinery PvtLtd is the leadingtechnology providingcompany for ricemilling, roller flour

milling, maize (corn) milling and pulses pro-cessing plants. It was established in 1998 inBangalore, Karnataka state. Milltec alsoprovides complete grain storage and han-dling technology to the customers apartfrom color sorting and packaging solutions.It is an ISO 9001-2008 and ISO 14001 -2004 company.Milltec Machinery’s vision is to be a pre-ferred global company for all food process-ing solutions. The assembly shop is built inan area of 6,500 sq. meters in a vacant landof three acres. It is equipped with neces-sary tools, work tables, materials handlingequipment, measuring instruments, surfacetreatment equipment, grit blasting, pressur-ized paint booth and heating oven.The company has been established and runby technocrats with full-fledged design andR & D department. It is committed to pro-vide customer driven innovative solutions,to maintain hygiene standards in food pro-cessing & allied industries by offering qual-ity products to customers. The annual turn-over of the company is Rs.200 crores.Milltec’s main products are grains cleaningmachines, rice milling machines and dal mill-ing machines. It manufactures mainly ricemilling machines, rice whitener, silky pol-isher and grading machines and color sort-ers. The company boasts that their machinesare power saving (8-10 percent), low main-tenance and needs very less operating staffwith after sales service network.The company has a strong hold in rice mill-ing in south, central, west and east India. It

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has also got strong presence innorth and northeast states. Milltecexports their machines toBangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Pa-kistan and African countries.The company focuses more on tra-ditional rice millers. At present, dayby day the price of raw materialsis increasing. For instance, paddy,and the price of rice is also verycompetitive. So the customers isleft with no choice but to modern-ize the milling operations byadopting advanced technologicalmachines to reduce the operational

cost and to produce quality products.Milltec plans to introduce high capacity ricemilling machines like 15 tph and above, dalmilling and continuous dryer and parboilingplant and grain storage silos. Nowadays,

engineers.“Milltec Machinery is passionately com-mitted to deliver customer driven innova-tive solutions to save process loss and tomaintain hygienic standards in food process-ing and allied industries by adopting quali-tative practices,’’ Mr.Rasool opines.“Milltec’s vision is to be a globally pre-ferred company for all food processing so-lutions. It is committed to achieve the cus-tomer satisfaction by delivering the requiredproducts and services on time,’’ he adds.Mr.Rasool said “that the company is man-aged by professionally and technically ex-perienced employees numbering around300, who are ready to cater to the marketdemands every year.’’ He expresses confi-dence that Milltec is poised to become aglobal leader in near future.Milltec has established sales & service of-fices in India, Nepal, Bangladesh, Thailand,Sri Lanka, Vietnam, Cambodia and Pakistan.In all it has 60 service outlets with techni-cians to offer fast & effective after salesservices to its esteemed customers globally.Company also offers AMC (Annual main-tenance contracts).For more information, contact: Mr.A.N.Rasool, Manager – International Mar-keting, Milltec Machinery Pvt Ltd, 51/A,KIADB Industrial area, Bommasandra,Bangalore – 560 099. Karnataka. Tel : 08028016666, 27831128, 27835170,27835171. Mobile: 09663331603.Email: [email protected]: http://www.milltecmachinery.com/

customers mindset is changing day by dayand they want continuous improvement interms of quality and performance. So thecompany has got a big challenge and furtherChinese products are sold at a very cheapprice here. So it is a challenging task andmarketing our products. With continuousresearch activities the company plans to ex-pand production capacity by 30-35 percent.The company has also got to diversify inother areas like grain storage silos, dal mill-ing, wheat and maize milling etc.Mr. A.N.Rasool is the manager (internationalmarketing) of Milltec Machinery Pvt. Ltd.He is a BE in Mechanical Engineering withPGDBA qualification and got 22 years ofexperience in the field.Mr. Rasool says that their products are veryaffordable and competitively priced in con-sonance with quality and performance. Thecompany has got a largest and efficient af-ter-sales network with more than 60 service


A.N.Rasool



Jeevika FoodMachineryChennai basedmanufacturers of foodprocessing machineries

Jeevika Food Machine PrivateLimited (JFM), based inChennai in Tamil Nadu, was established in 2010. It is a dynamicand aggressive company

founded by Mr. T.Srinivasan to create a tech-nology revolutions in the food processingsectors such as Rice industry, Dal industry,Wheat industry, Maize industry, Nuts in-dustry, Spice industry, Frozen fruits & veg-etable industry, Dehydrate vegetable &fruits industry, Ready to eat food industryand Sea Foods Industry.The company’s vision is to attain high endachievements in Food and Grain processing

sectors. Jeevika Food Machine Private Lim-ited., is exclusively dealing in food process-ing machineries such as optical color sortingmachine, digital laser sorting machine, re-tort and microwavable pouches, pouch fill& seal machine and steam sterilization/ pas-teurization & roasting unit from the consor-tium of world class organizations from vari-

ous countries viz Italy, Belgium, South Ko-rea, Spain and France.Jeevika Food Machine Private Limitedbrings a fresh and innovative approach toservices in domestic and international sec-tors and act as an association between theend-users and the suppliers. Exceptionaltechnology coupled with extensive indus-

Suri Engineers Pvt Ltd started itsoperation in 1975. The company is engaged in manufacturing rice mill machinery. It is headquartered in Hyderabad, Andhra

Pradesh. “We cater to the needs of rice mills,offering manual operation, semi-automaticand fully automatic systems ranging from 2tons per hour capacity to 6 tons,” says Mr.V. Purnachand, regional sales manager, SuriEngineering, adding, “We have done busi-ness worth Rs.50 crores last year.”Range of ProductsThe range of machinery/equipment offeredby Suri Engineers includes:1. Mega paddy Cleaners2. Vibro De- Stoners3. Pneumatic Huskers4. Mega Whitener Vertex5. Paddy Separator6. Mega Silk Master7. Rice Sifter Legend8. GraderMarket ResponseSpeaking about the market response to theirproducts, Mr. Purnachand says, “Many ofour customers are repeat customers. Theyupgrade their machines from rice mill tomodern rice mills to latest rice mill. The ones

Suri EngineersManufactures high tech rice processing machinery.Headquartered in Hyderabad

who are our new customers are mostly re-ferral customers. In terms of price, we areone of the most competitive, offering hightech machinery at par with all the interna-tional brands at an affordable price.”The machines are manufactured in-house bySuri Engineering. “All our machines are madein our factory and are easy to maintain andare user-friendly. Availability of spares andafter sales service gives us an edge in themarket,” adds Mr. Purnachand.Market for ProductsIn the domestic market, the company oper-ates in all the states. “We wish to expandfurther in Punjab and Haryana,” says Mr.Purnachand. The company exports to all

Asian and African countries including SriLanka, Bangladesh, Nepal, Thailand,Myanmar, Vietnam, Nigeria, and South Af-rica. “All our machines are manufacturedon need-based requirements and are sug-gested on case to case basis,” maintains Mr.Purnachand. The solutions are arrived atwith one’s experience and R&D done onspecific region. However, information wasunavailable on their ongoing research anddevelopment programs, and also latest tech-nologies. There was also no informationavailable about their initiatives to expandfurther and their future plans. Mr.Purnachand is a PGDBM with 32 years ofwork experience in marketing and projects.

Our CorrespondentFor more information, contact :Mr. V. Purnachand, Regional Sales Man-ager, No. 4/4, I. D. A. , Nacharam,Hyderabad - 500 076, Andhra Pradesh, In-dia, Tel : (40)-27150282, Mobile:9704566466, Email : [email protected] : http://www.suriengineers.co.in/



try knowledge makes JFM the ideal choice.The company’s annual turnover is betweenRs. 40-50 lakhs.Jeevika Food Machine is representing com-panies such as ASM Advanced sorting Ma-chines SRL Italy, Visys Laser Sorting Sys-tems Belgium, Revtech Process SystemsFrance, Kotinpack Inc SouthKorea and Surdry SL Spain, for promotingtheir products in India. ASM Advanced Sort-ing Machines SRL., Italy is engaged in manu-facturing of color sorting machines more than30 years in the sector of optical-electronicsorters. ASM has a foothold in the marketas a benchmark for the food sectors such asRice, Dal, Wheat, Maize, Nuts, Spice, Seeds,Beans, breakfast cereal, Coffee, Tea, dryfruits, frozen fruits & vegetables, dehy-drated onions & garlic, dehydrated fruits &vegetables, etc., and non-food sectors suchas plastics, ores, minerals & salt. ASM Ad-vanced Sorting Machines SRL has suppliedthe color sorting machines in domestic mar-ket and abroad for various applications andproved its technology and vast experiencein food and non-food sectors.Price Sensitive CustomersNowadays customers are cost sensitive. SoJFM focuses on some strategies to keepcustomers falling under least price sensitivestage. For instance, reducing one Rupee ontomato will attract customers and it’s soldlike hot cakes, whereas reducing one Rupeeon a car will not make much difference andwill not please customers by any means.All the customers are always cost sensitiveand concentrate basically to buy productson cheap rates.Hence the primary challenge for JFM is tomake their products cost effective in thiscompetitive age.JFM’s main area of operation is southernand western parts of India and wish to ex-pand their business in the Northern parts ofIndia. The company’s target customers arerice millers, dal millers, spice & nuts manu-factures and exporters and also processedfood manufacturers.To attract customers JFM gives advertisingin magazines and participates in exhibitionsheld at various places in India. Target cus-tomers are offered customized solutions asper their requirements. It proceeds as Visit-ing the customer’s plant, Testing theirsamples in our pilot plant, Conducting tech-nical discussions and finally manufacturingand delivering the machinery.Future PlansThe company plans to set up a test centrein Chennai in the near future to conduct tri-als on various food grains. It has also gotplans to have networks in Asian countries

by 2015 for food and grain processing ma-chines.Mr. T.Srinivasan, a B.E. Mechanical gradu-ate is the founder and Managing Director ofthe company. He has got a 12 years of expe-rience in the field of grain and food industry.Mr. T.Srinivasan says that “India is the sec-ond largest food producing country afterChina. A huge investment opportunities ex-ist in the food processing technology andequipment industry. Food processing andpackaging sector is growing at 15- 20 per-cent annually. Major challenge before thefood processing industry in India is the lackof proper infra-structure. Only 2percent of agricul-tural produce ispreserved due tolack of storage fa-cility. Whereas inUS, about 70 per-cent is preserved.Indian food pro-cessing industryis a sleeping giantand governmentshould take initia-tives to awakenit.”He further adds, “the marketingchallenge faced byJFM is that we’rehaving troubleplanning the nextproduct becausewe’re so busysupporting theproduct we justlaunched. So weare planning tohave oneheadcount dedi-cated at least half-time to key activi-ties in productplanning.”He shares “ While

India has huge potential to become a leaderin the global food processing sector, thereare a number of challenges both in the for-ward and backward linkages in the country.New technologies to increase the perishinglife of vegetables and fruits, cold storage sys-tems and better packaging machinery aresome of the key areas where the industryand government should chart out plans forimprovement. Besides, the country shouldconsider benchmarking food quality andsafety standards to boost confidence ofpeople on these products.Mr. T. Srinivasan opines that latest tech-nology in the field of food processing in-dustry is the need of the hour. Unless ourtechnology is upgraded there is no future infood processing industry.For further information, contact -Mr. T.Srinivasan, MD, Jeevika Food Ma-chinery Co, 6/10, 1st Floor, Senthil AndavarStreet, Dhanalaxmi Colony, Vadapalani,Chennai-600 026, Tamil Nadu, India.Phone: 044-23622750 Mobile:09840341690Email: [email protected]: http://www.jfm.co.in

“ONE STOP SOLUTION FOR ALL YOURMILLING NEEDS”

Perfect EquipmentsNo.7, Multi Industrial Estate, Gerugambakkam, Chennai – 602 101.Off : +91-44-2382 0042, +91-44-2382 1512Telefax : 044 – 2382 0512Email: [email protected], [email protected]

“CUSTOMER SATISFACTION IS OUR MOTTO”

Rice Whitener1 - 6 TPH

Paddy Separator

Silky Polisher (Blower Type)

PneumaticRubberSheller

Combined PaddyCleaner

Elevator 2-10 TPH


Ayassa and Sons Rice Mill wasset up in 2008. The company has three partners andMr. Mukaddar Ali is one ofthe partners of the company.

It is headquartered in Kanauj, UP.The company supplies processed rice. “Ourmain business is rice. We purchase paddyfrom the farmers and sell it after processingit into rice.” The company mainly deals inarava variety of rice, which is a thick vari-ety of rice.Rice ProcessingThe rice processing takes 4-5 days. “Theprocessing period starts in October and goeson till March/April,” says Mr. Ali. The com-pany uses Indian rice processing machin-ery. “We bought it from Hyderabad,” in-forms Mr. Ali. He maintains that he is satis-fied with the performance of the machineryand says he has not yet faced any problem.When asked about the challenges faced, Mr.Ali says, “We faced many types of finan-cial problems, administrative problems, andlabor problems initially. There are manyproblems when you are starting out. Butonce you are established in a field, thoseproblems gradually fade away. The biggestproblem that I face today is the staff. Thestaffs don’t work as per my expectations.

Ayassa and Sons Rice MillEngaged in processing rice. Located in Kanauj, UP


Chintan Industries was foundedby Mr. P. S. Rathod in 1981.The company is headquartered at Vejalpur inAhmedabad, Gujarat. It manu-

factures machinery for rice mills, pulsesplants and food processing. Chintan Indus-tries clocks an annual turnover of approxi-mately Rs. 50 to 70 lacs.Range of ProductsThe range of equipment offered by the com-pany include rice processing machines, pre-cleaning machines, rice polishing machines,paddy dehuskers, automatic rice process-ing machinery, paddy separators, rubber rollshellers, de-stoners and agricultural equip-ment. “In addition to this, we offer modernrice milling machinery, paddy parboiling, drymaize (corn) milling plants, dal milling ma-chines and drying plants to the clients,” saysMr. Rathod, adding, “Mini rice mills pro-duced by our industry are in great demandin India and abroad.”Speaking about competition in the market,Mr. Rathod says, “We are giving latest tech-nology in small concept. For example, inmini rice mill we are using latest technolo-gies which are used in big rice mills.”He adds, “Accuracy is the mainstay of ourtechnology. Customers want only result.How they are going to get the result is mainthing that brings in the customer satisfac-tion and we have been successful in achiev-ing it.”

Chintan IndustriesAhmedabad based manufacturers of machinery for ricemills, pulses plants and food processing. Plans for offeringdigital technology for millers

Target CustomersThe company mainly targets customersfrom rural area. “We place advertisementson internet and through our references weare getting our inquiries. And also, we arekeeping touch with the latest technologyby attending seminars and trade fairs,” saysMr. Rathod.The company specializes in rice millingmachinery. “We want to expand our busi-ness on South Eastern states in India,” saysMr. Rathod, adding, “We have been export-ing to East African countries and Gulf coun-tries.” In future Chintan Industries wantsto expand its business in Mediterranean andSouth American countries.Chintan develops customized solution asper customer requirement and as per theirrequirement give suggestions to customersas well.

Future PlansThe company is planning to introduce a newproduct – digital technology for millers.Speaking about offering products with lat-est technology, Mr. Rathod says, “We areoffering color sorter and automatic packag-ing filling machines.”Speaking about their future plans, he says,“We want to make our manufacturing ca-pacity strong and make expansion in im-port sector also.” Mr. Rathod has done MSin IT and has 5 years of work experience.

Our CorrespondentFor more information, contact : Mr P.S.Rathod, Proprietor, A-3, Nirali Appt. Opp.Vastrapur Railway station, Vejalpur,Ahmedabad - 380 051, Gujarat, India, Tel :9725471772 / (79)-26932220/ 22747891,Email : [email protected], Web :http://www.indiamart.com/chintanindustries

There are very few people who take theresponsibility.” He adds, “Unlike other in-dustries we don’t face labor shortage.”Target MarketThe company supplies its products mainlyto the government. “We supply to FoodCorporation of India, which deals accordingto the standards. Government purchases70% and I sell the remaining 30% in themarket,” says Mr. Ali.Speaking about competition, Mr. Ali says,“These days the company that maintainsquality finds success in the market. Price isnot the main concern as it is decided by thegovernment. There is no change in that. Gov-ernment prices are issued in the season. Wehave to take care of the quality only.”Quality ControlTo maintain the quality of the rice the com-pany has to ensure polish quality and re-moval of broken rice. Mr. Ali adds, “Wehave to control the broken rice to maintainthe quality. We have to maintain the polishquality also. We take out all the rice that isbroken more than 22% out of the machin-ery. The rice that is broken less than 22%goes into the rest of the rice.”Explaining the process, he says, “We fit anet in the machinery which ensures that onlyless than 22% rice falls through it. More


Award

than 22% rice doesn’t fall in it.”Future PlansMr. Ali is happy with the response to theproduct. Speaking about his future plans,he says, “We have also planned a flour milland have started work on it in our building.We will start the flour mill by January, nextyear. The flour mill will have 150 tons perday capacity. The mill will produce flour,semolina, and choker, besides others.”He is also building infrastructure to accom-modate the mills. “A five storey building isunder construction. I have to order the plantmachinery now. The negotiations are un-derway. I plan to get my plant ready byMarch next year, so I can be ready for nextwheat season in April. We will start the pro-duction in the next wheat season in 2013,”says Mr. Ali.Regarding investment he adds, “The invest-ment in the building is around Rs. 2-2.5crores. The plant and machinery requires aninvestment of Rs. 3.5-4 crores.”Mr. Ali is planning on a plant of 150 tonscapacity to produce maida and 60 TPTflour. “It is a total of 210 TPT of capacity.”Mr. Ali has a bachelors degree in Arts. Hehas been engaged in the business since 2000.Future Growth ProspectsWhen asked about the future growth thecompany foresees in both rice and wheatprocessing, Mr. Ali says, “My entire ricebusiness is dependent on the government. Iwill depend completely on the market forthe flour mill.All the products from that mill will be soldin the market. There is a lot of competition

in the flour mill market. Production iseasy, but selling our products in the mar-ket is a little difficult. But people whohave a good quality product eventuallymake a place for themselves in the mar-ket. But in the beginning, the flour mar-

ket is a little tough.”Our Correspondent

For more information, contact :Mr.Mukaddar Ali, Partner,Tel : (991) 986-3000E : [email protected]

Integrated Coating & Seed Technology In-dia LLP (INCOTEC) receives NICCT In-dia business award 2012. Mr. RudolfThomeer, managing director of ING Bankand Chairman of the Dutch Trade BoardIndia presented the award to the winners.The winning company is a subsidiary ofthe Dutch parent company INCOTECGroup B.V. Using highly specialized andunique technologies company improvesseed quality which is new in Indian mar-ket. The technologies involve priming theseeds to improve germination, coating theseeds to improve ease of sowing and add-ing all kinds of actives and additives that

protect the plant and stimulate growth. Allthese technologies are aimed at improvingagricultural methods to help growers pro-duce more with less. INCOTEC has beenactive in India for more than adecade and is one of the front-runners in the field of seed im-provement and enhancement.Through this means INCOTECis contributing to the food pro-duction in India which is crucialfor the economic and social de-velopment of the country.ING Bank sponsors The NICCTIndia Business Award with thepurpose to recognize and stimu-late the economic relations be-tween the Netherlands and India. Entrepre-neurs who have distinguished themselves inthe area of India-Netherlands business cancompete for this award. Dutch and Indiancompanies having their operations in bothcountries can enroll for this competition. Itis open for all companies irrespective of itsmagnitude of business operations.The Award came into existence in 2009 andsince then it is held annually. Previous win-ners were Hyva Group, Vision Express andDanieli Corus. 2012 NICCT Award winner,INCOTEC had managed to pave the wayfor future Dutch entrepreneurs looking toestablish themselves on the rapidly grow-ing Indian market.Mr. Ram Lakhina, Chairman of the NICCT,addressed the Award Ceremony saying,“INCOTEC has successfully introducedDutch technical knowhow in seed coating

INCOTEC India bags NICCT-Netherlands IndiaBusiness Award

and treatment to Indian agriculture and thushelped an important sector of the Indianeconomy to be more productive with lessinput. The model followed by this companyin adapting cutting edge Dutch technologiesto the Indian situation; producing locally inIndia and selling products at acceptableprices, is a winning model which can beadopted by other Dutch companies whoaspire to enter the Indian market”.JanWillem Breukink, CEO & President ofINCOTEC Group BV told “We are veryproud of our Indian daughter, IntegratedCoating & Seed Technology India. We viewthis award as recognition and appreciationof all the hard work and effort that we andour colleagues in India have invested in In-dia- Netherlands business”INCOTEC® was founded in 1968 and has

been an independent company since 2002.INCOTEC's Coating and Seed TechnologyCompanies around the world provide prod-ucts and services for seed coating, pelleting,seed enhancement and analytical services forgenetic analysis and quality inspection.For further information please contact:Netherlands India Chamber of Commerce& Trade INCOTECWard Massa Ed NobelSecretary NICCT Manager Corporate Mar-ketingNetherlands India Chamber of Commerce& Trade INCOTEC Group B.V.P.O. Box 10 Westeinde 1072501 CA The Hague 1601 BL ENKHUIZENTel: +31 (0)70 344 15 66 tel: 0228 358000Fax: +31 (0)70 385 35 31 fax: 0228 358010E : [email protected] [email protected] : www.nicct.nl ; www.incotec.com


Agritalk - Floriculture

Is open fieldflower cultivationan attractivebusiness?During the 1990’s, bigcapital intensive floricultureprojects took off in India.Some of them like Karuturihave been a big globalsuccess. Many others facedenormous financial difficul-ties and struggled to repaytheir bank loans. But whatabout less capital intensiveopen field flower cultiva-tion? Is there a future forcultivating flowers withoutrepeating the mistakes ofthe 1990’s?

Benefits of Open Field Cultivation

Mr. Ganesh Prajapat,Executive Director,ACI Agro Solution,says, “Open fieldcultivation is a good

idea. The flower cultivation process mustbe clearly linked to the end user. There mustbe a clear chain of process like flower culti-vation, storage, processing, product devel-opment and marketing. Most of the agricul-ture produce are perishable in nature, withflowers being highly perishable. Open cul-tivation should be directly attached to thestorage and processing unit.”He adds, “In the open field cultivation,onemust be clearly aware of the climatic condi-tion. It is best suited in regions with mini-mum climatic variations, especially at thetime of blooming. Flowers are the preciousgifts of the nature that need extensive care.All the questions start and end with oneproblem: lack of proper training and guid-ance to the farmer. Risk minimization is veryimportant for the open cultivation.”Mr. Prajapat briefs the primary factors forflower cultivation:• The farm must be near the wholesale andretail market.• The farm must have clear sunshine.• The farm must be located at well aeratedplace.• There must be refrigerated storage facility.• The flowers must reach the end customereasily within 6 hours.

We invited members to share their opinions in theAgricultureInformation.com forum about the prospects of lesscapital intensive open field floriculture.

The Agri Experts participating in the discussion include:

• Mr. G. Ananda Rao, Agricultural Finance Consultant

• Mr. Atul R. Patwardhan, Floriculture Consultant

• Mr. Ganesh Prajapat, Executive Director, ACI Agro Solution

• The farm labor must be well trained.• The cultivation must be market oriented.• Diversification of flower cultivation is es-sential.• There must be diversification to generateregular income, seasonal demand flowers,essential oil extraction flowers, and exportpurpose flowers.

“Floriculture has great export potential andcan bring in foreign reserve,” adds Mr.Prajapat.Mr. Atul R.Patwardhan, ChintamaniConsultancy and Services, too avers, “Cutflowers have good market potential. By ex-porting, cut flowers growers/exporters canearn good foreign exchange reserve,” adding,“Open cultivation flowers have short lifespan. So if we store them properly and userefrigerated vans for transportation, then wecan increase their vase life.”Mr. G. Ananda Rao, Agricultural FinanceConsultant, says, “Floriculture gives amplescope for economic development of farm-ing community, and flower industry hasvery good prospects due to internal con-

sumption and export potentiality,” adding,“Any farmer with a land holdings rangingfrom 5 cents to any extent can start floricul-ture depending on the marketing opportu-nities available in the nearby towns. If smalland marginal farmers are going to take upcultivation of jasmine, crossandra, marigold,tube-rose, annual chrysanthimum and roses,

besides others, they can earn their livelyhood.”

Open Field Cultivation

AgricultureInformation.com member,Rajsekhar is planning to grow roses to

meet the local demand during marriage sea-sons. “I would also like to know the groundwork to be done. I have been to Kadiyamrecently where severe power crisis effectcan be seen with floriculture companies,”he inquires.Mr. Prajapat responds, “You have to firstidentify the end user of the flowers like thepeople involved in floor decoration, makingthe garlands, decorating the vehicles, andpeople having tent house business, besides



others. This will give you an idea about therequirement. Then you can identify the peakmarriage season. Your crop must be readyat that time for the flower plucking. Youwill have to work out on the post-harvestmanagement like who will deliver the plants,and who will collect the flowers. After thatyou will have to find out about your finan-cial situation such as what will be the cost-ing and the returns. You should also find outhow many types of the flowers they need.Then you have to identify the potentialflower growing land for your cultivation.”Mr. C Karuppanan of Madurai, TN, asks,“Could you kindly explain the prospects ofopen field cultivation of rose, like, the typeof rose, cost per acre, the financial returnand more?”Mr. Rao says, “Depending upon the scopeof marketing, farmers can start floricultureon their lands which are having irrigationfacilities. Depending on the following soiland climatic conditions farmers can selectflowers suitable to their local conditions:Roses• Soil Type – Well drained light soil• Temperature – Day time 30 degrees C ,night time 15C• PH of Soil – 6.5 -7.5• Open Field/Shade net/Poly House/greenHouse – open field/shade net/poly house /green houses• Remarks: If export potential is availablecan be cultivated in green housesGladiolus• Soil Type – Well drained Light, alluvial,black cotton soils• Temperature – Day time 25-43 degrees C, 16-18 night

• PH of Soil – 5.5 -6.50• Open Field/Shade net/Poly House/greenHouse – Open fields• Remarks – Hilly areas are more suitable

Carnation• Soil Type – Well drained fertile soils• Temperature – 5 – 18 degrees C• PH of Soil – 6.5-7.1• Open Field/Shade net/Poly House/green

House – Green House• Remarks – Throughout the yearChrysanthemum• Soil Type – All types soils , Sandy loam• Temperature – Up to 35 degrees C• PH of Soil – 6.2 – 6.7• Open Field/Shade net/Poly House/greenHouse – Field Cultivation• Remarks – PerennialJasmine• Temperature – Up to 35 degrees CMarigold• Soil Type – All types of soils• Temperature – 18-35 degrees C• PH of Soil – 7.0 -7.5• Open Field/Shade net/Poly House/greenHouse – Open Fields• Remarks – Winter, summer, rainy seasonGiving his opinion on flowers suitable forless capital expensive open field flower cul-tivation, Mr. Atul R. Patwardhan, floricul-ture consultant, says, “Gladiolus and tube-rose are the flowers suitable for least capitalexpensive open field flower cultivation.”

Investment Required

Member Nidhi Shivani who owns 3acres of land in Mysore district in

Karnataka asks, “Is floriculture profitable?Also I want to do something that is worththe investment.” Mr. Rao informs aboutthe capital requirement to start flower farm,“For open fields, the cost of cultivation willrange from Rs. 20000 – 30000 per acre forflowers like roses, jasmine, crossandra, gladi-olus, chrysanthimum, and marigold.”He adds, “Cost of poly houses/green houseswill be Rs.3 lakhs per 100 sq mts (Rs.120lakhs per acre). For raising rose flowers un-der greenhouse conditions in one hectare arearequires (fixed and recurring) Rs.275- 300lakhs.”Mr. Patwardhan says, “Farmers interestedto start production of cut flowers must un-

G.Ananda Rao B.Sc (Ag) ,Agricultural Finance ConsultantG.Ananda Rao is an agriculture graduate. He hadserved as Technical Supervisor in Tobacco Board andAgricultural Officer in Department of Agriculture, AP.He had also worked in different banks as RuralDevelopment Officer and Agricultural DevelopmentOfficer.According to him India has good growth prospectsin floriculture. He says, “As the climatic conditionsare favourable in our country cut flowers being exported to 87 countriesvalued at around Rs.500 Crores . There is ample scope for increasingemployment, lively hood and foreign exchange.”He can be reached at – G.Ananda Rao, Vijaya Agro ConsultantNative address-Mattaparru village, colony-bolletigunta, poduru mandal,west godavari district, 534265-AP, Cell-9703128495,[email protected]

Mr. Atul R.PatwardhanMr. Atul R.Patwardhan is Mechanical Engineer by education. His deepinclination towards agriculture and aspiration to help farmers motivatedhim to set up the proprietary firm, Chintamani Consultancy and Servicesin 2006 to provide consultation to farmers. Hesays, “I feel that in India if farmers will grow,then & then only our country will grow. I like toprovide appropriate knowledge to farmers. Iwork very transparently with farmers.”He feels India has good potential for Floriculturebusiness. He explains, “The market is large. Iffarmers can produce good quality cut flowers,then the chances of earning money are good.”“I would like to convey the farmers or promoterswho want to start Floriculture business that theyshould get into this business if they have interest in floriculture. Theyshould be prepared to devote time to take care of the plants. If thebusiness is made with great care, then production of cut flowers is avery good business.” concludes Mr. Patwardhan.Further information from – Mr. Atul R.Patwardhan, ChintamaniConsultancy and Services, Chintamani, Patwardhan Baug, 21/22Erandawane, Pune 411004, India, M- 08055751969Email: [email protected]


derstand the basics of growing cut flowers.They should also make survey regardingmarket before starting the business.”

Financing

Speaking about financing, Mr. Rao says,“For cultivation of flowers like jasmine,

marigold, roses, and tuberose (lily) on fields,financial help can be availed. Crop loans upare available (cost of cultivation is Rs.20000to 25000 per acre) with hypothecation offlower crops with third party guarantee.Farmers can avail short term loans up to Rs.3 lakhs with 9% interest with 2 – 3 % inter-est subvention.”“If cost of cultivation is more than 1 lakhfor short term loans as well as for term loans,mortgage of land /vacant site/building etc arerequired with at least 125% value of theloan availed from Bank for new agriculturalprojects.”“They have to produce the following docu-ments ascertain the unit cost of the project:1. Ryot Pass books2. Field Sketch3. Computerized Adandal copy4. Land Revenue receipts5. Encumbrance certificate for 25-30 years6. Legal Opinion (Bank’s empanelled law-yer)7. Valuation report of the property (Bank’sapproved valuer)8. Estimates for developmental structureslike ,Farm house,Godown,Workers quarters9. Land development, minor irrigation re-quirements poly houses/green houses

10. Quotations for pump sets/Drip systems11. Project Report"“Farmers have to bring 25% margin and askfor 75% of the unit cost as term loan,” headds.

Diversification from TraditionalCrops

Mr. Patwardhan feels floriculture business is good but it cannot be com-

pared with regular cereal crops cultivation.He says, “Wheat and paddy are required byus during our day to day life and they areessential. So farmers must grow them onregular basis.”Mr. Prajapat shares a news item from TheDaily Pioneer, where the center is asking

the states to diversify from wheat and paddysince these crops require a lot of water re-sources.He says, “Floriculture is the major focusarea for the diversification. The mild climaticconditions of these states can give very goodreturn.But the farmers are suspicious about thesuccess of diversification. It will require alot of new efforts, new technology, newknowledge, and new equipment. The farm-ers don’t know the technology for harvest-ing, storage and processing. The market isalso a big problem for the diversification fornew crop. “Adding, he says, “Yes, it is true the farmersneed the proper training. This will also openup employment opportunity for young ag-riculture graduates in the farming sector. Thepossibility of the new industry will openthe gates of employment in other sectorsalso. The open floriculture as per the cli-matic condition will help farmers in the costminimization and it will increase the profitof farmers.”Further speaking about government initia-tive, he adds, “Government is taking initia-tive to promote floriculture in India. Pleasego through the article below that was pub-lished in The Times of India for the same.”Mr. Patwardhan maintains though peoplesustained huge losses in floriculture in1990’s, things are improving and people arewilling to try floriculture again. “I have pro-vided consultation to farmers for rose culti-vation under controlled environment likepoly houses,”Further replying to Mr. Karuppanan’squery, he adds, “For growing cut flowersunder 1 acre poly house (medium tech ) –for cut rose the cots is Rs. 40 lacs, for ger-bera it is Rs.47 lacs, and for carnation Rs.50lacs ."

Government to focus more on floriculture, horticulture: SharadPawarTIMES OF INDIA, 11/09/2012

Union agriculture minister, Mr. Sharad Pawar has said thatthe union government will divert its focus from food grain

production to floriculture and horticulture, as farmers in Indiahave produced more than enough food grains to ensure foodsecurity.Mr. Pawar was speaking at a function organized by the Rosesociety in Pune on Saturday. He said, “Farmers in our countryhave worked hard and as a result all government godowns areoverflowing. In fact now the government has no space to storefood grains. This year India has exported 40 lakh tonne rice, 30lakh tonne sugar and 25 lakh tonne wheat to other countries. And still we have sufficientfood grains in stock”He added, “We have succeeded in resolving the food security problem and now the govern-ment is diverting its focus from food grain production. Now India needs to concentrate onfloriculture and horticulture. The government will help farmers to establish a chain of coldhouses and encourage them to grow more flowers and fruits with international market inmind”. “World over, the market for flowers and fruits is expanding. In over 600 billiondollar flower market, India’s share is minimal. Efforts will be taken to increase this share”said Mr. Pawar. He said that India stood second in the list of largest fruit and vegetableproducing nations in the world.



Different Flower CultivationMethods

Mr. Rao informs all types of flowerslike roses, jasmine, crossandra, tube

rose, marigold, chaina aster, crossandra,heliconia, and chrysanthimim cut greens(filler plants like golden rods and aspara-gus) can be cultivated in fields. Cut flowerslike roses, carnation, and gerbera are culti-vated in poly houses and green houses.Mr. Patwardhan further explains the culti-vation methods used for cut flowers. “Plant-ing material can be cultivated on beds madeup of soil and other required components,in the grow bags or in pots. Cultivation onbeds made from soil and other required com-ponents is a better choice,” he says.He adds, “Selection of variety is very im-portant. It requires lot of knowledge aboutthe trends in market. So the variety is eithersuggested by the Project Consultant or byplanting material suppliers.”

Training

Mr. Patwardhan stresses on trainingbefore taking up floriculture. “Train-

ing should be taken before starting the cutflower production. Training facility is avail-able with Agriculture Colleges. Farmers can-not understand everything about cut flow-ers business in this training program. Butthey can get basic knowledge about cut flow-ers cultivation. Before starting the businessfarmers also should meet floriculture con-sultants and under their guidance they shouldcarry out their projects,” he avers, adding,


“Training can be had from existing floricul-turists, farmers, nurseries, and research in-stitutes.”

Pros and Cons of Floriculture

Speaking about the pros and cons of floriculture, Mr. Patwardhan says, “If the

projects are done with care and if farmersare devoting their time in this business, thenthis is a good business. The flowers are deli-cate, so the cut flowers should be packedand transported with great care. The timerequired for transporting to the marketshould be minimum.”He adds, “Depending on the type of flow-ers to be cultivated the cost may range fromfew thousands (for SF/MF) to two to threecrores for greenhouse cultivation (large farm-ers). In flower cultivation higher profits aregenerated after meeting all the expenses.”Mr. Prajapat lists the benefits of floricul-ture: • The market is developing and expect-ing a blast growth • There are both regularand seasonal demand • The production ismore in comparison to the other field crops• 365 day employment opportunity • Du-ration of flowers cultivation is small in com-parison to field crops • Domestic marketsof flowers are strong • Export demand isalso increasing • Maximum utilization of theland • Government is providing assistancefor the sameHe says, “As per Assocham, the floricul-ture industry will cross the business of INR8000 crores within 2015. The current busi-ness is only of INR 3500 crores. The mar-ket share of Indian floriculture industry inworld is around 0.61 . Assocham is expect-ing this figure to go up to around 0.89.”“The current world business is 6 lac crores,which is expected to cross 9 crores within2015 with a growth rate of 15%. Rose ishaving a major share in the world floricul-ture business by around 75%, while the In-dian rose business is 65%. There is increasein regular demand from tier II and III cities.”“The major international markets are Aus-tralia, Germany, Greece, Italy, New Zealand,Netherlands, US, UK, and other countriesof Europe and the Middle East and the ma-jor domestic market is Ahmedabad,Chandigarh, Hyderabad, Surat, Kanpur,Lucknow and Patna.” “In this scenario, thefloriculture business is really highly benefi-cial. One must start it with proper infra-structure so that the post-harvest loss canbe minimized and make sure that the flow-ers are reaching at the final consumptionpoint in excellent condition,” he adds.

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Agri Organization

Green India AgrivetEngaged in organic agriculture projects. Registered officein Bhubaneswar, Odisha

G reen India Agrivet Limited(GIAL) was established in2010. It has its corporate office in New Delhi and the registered office in

Bhubaneswar, Odisha. The company wasfounded by Mr. Sunil Kumar Panda, MDand CEO, and late Mr. Sandeep Singh. Thecompany is engaged in organic agricultureprojects.Current Activities : Currently thecompany is engaged in running an organicproject, Adoption and Certification of Hor-ticultural Crops, through NHM atBhawanipatna, Odisha. “Under this organicproject, we have selected 5 villages in thefirst year and divided into 10 clusters foreasy operation and organic certification.Apart from above entry point programs,GIAL is assisting cluster bore wells, vermicompost pit, NADEP pit, planting of neemtree, training on good organic package ofpractices, training on hygienic storage ofpost-harvest production at the village level.And at district and state level, training onorganic certification procedure, training onhealthy production, village visit, farmer anddistrict administration interaction,” informsMr. Panda.Adding, “Our recent plan is to start withhub in village level and retail chain opera-tion of vegetables, cereals and pulses underorganic certified brands in about 40 stores.This year we have been again allotted with5 more villages and are planning to cover atleast 50% of the district under organic pro-duction in coming years.”Challenges Faced : One of the majorchallenges faced by the company is con-vincing the farmers about price protection.Mr. Panda says, “We cannot get the organicproduction equal to production through in-organic practices. “

He adds, “We have presented ourselves inInternational Organic Trade Fair atMauritius and BIOFAG, Germany. We areplanning to take these produces to interna-tional and domestic markets so as to give abetter price to farmers. Another issue is tokeep the farmers with us. Therefore we havestarted with E-OOFA (E Odisha OrganicFarmers Association) registration under So-ciety Act. We are also raising awareness aboutsafe food through TV talks with experts.”Organic Turmeric and Chilly :Speaking about procurement of organic tur-meric and chilly, Mr.Panda says, “Kandhmaldistrict in Odisha has been declared as de-fault organic area for turmeric. We have aplan to advocate chilly in our project placewhich will be grown organically. We are un-der IC 1 phase, therefore 100% organic pro-duction is expected by 2013-14. Tradition-ally farmers in our project site are growingchilly but not commercially. We can pro-cure Turmeric from Kandhmal district ifplaced with volumes of order. We can getturmeric and chilly though village commit-tees of Kandhmal. Therefore we have a sepa-rate mandate to advocate crop planning inour project areas.”Target Customers : The companyhas entered into an agreement with Future

Group, Spencer, and Reliance for trading.“We feel there is ample opportunity in In-dia. Present demand of organic product isonly in urban pockets. If production is good,prices can be adjusted accordingly. We haveplanned to retain only 10% of the profitand give the rest to farmers with no middle-man commission. We are also planning toset up an organic vegetable haat atBhubaneswar once full-fledged productionstarts. We are also focusing on getting com-plete certification through SGS,” says Mr.Panda. He adds, “We are entering the inter-national market through Mauritius. In Indiawe are planning to market our products inWest Bengal, Andhra Pradesh, andMaharashtra, which are logistically advan-tageous. We have also offices in C G andGujarat which can also be explored.”Marketing Strategy : The companyis planning to launch its brand by the end ofthis year. They plan to market their prod-ucts through media, special guest lectures,road shows, ads in movie theaters, and streetplays. “Keeping the organic produce at af-fordable price can give us success in domes-tic market,” says Mr. Panda.“In our system, we supply all the inputs,allied inputs, technical inputs, and advice toall the contracted farmers under our project,"says Mr. Panda.Storage & Transportation : Thecompany has tied up with Blue Star for coldstorage of products. “The first one of 7500Mts is at Khurda district in Odisha is. Inthis we have pre-cooling chamber, ripeningchamber, special vegetable cabins (2500mts.), fruits, wild minor produces can bestored. We have advised for de-humidifierand flushing for fruits and vegetables. Thesecond one is under JV with another partyat Bhawanipatna, of 2000 mts,” says Mr.Panda, adding, “Apart from these cold stor-ages, we are introducing cold chain vans foreasy transportation of produces.”Future Plans : In 2011, the Depart-ment of Horticulture, Govt. of Odisha, hasallotted the company 750 ha. “In 2012, an-other 750 ha has been allotted. We are ex-pecting an additional 3000 ha in the coming5 years. We can also plan to set up rice mill,dal mill, and vegetable processing units forvalue addition,” says Mr. Panda, an MBAby qualification.

Our CorrespondentFor more information, contact :Mr. Sunil Kumar Panda, M D & C E OGreen India Agrivet Ltd.MIG – 54, Phase – 1, BDA Housing Colony,Pokhariput, Bhubaneswar, Odisha, INDIA.Tel : 9438485388Email : [email protected] Kumar Panda


Food Processing / Herbals

King Food GroupShanghai, China based company engaged infood products trade open to help Indianartisan food companies enter China market

King Food Group was established in 2002. The companyis headquartered in Shanghai,China. The company is engaged in both import and ex-

port of food products. “Though our com-pany is relatively new, we have already madeconsiderable headway in the food industry,”says Mr. David, Director King Food Group.The company imports artisan food fromoverseas market and introduce them to ChinaMainland that includes Shanghai and Beijing.“We introduce the products in the marketsof first level cities.We have very good connection and very goodreach with locals that are here and consumersupermarkets here, so this is our business,”says Mr. David.The company also exports food productslike fresh fruits, vegetables, dried fruits, de-hydrated vegetables, freeze dried fruits andvegetables, spices, herbs, and organic food.“We have our factory in southern provincewhere we manufacture various kinds of driedfruits, and spices. The aforementioned areour two business categories,” adds Mr.David. The company has not yet enteredthe India markets. Their past experienceswith Indian companies have not been good.Quality ControlSpeaking about quality control, Mr. Davidsays, “We have our professional staff whohandle quality. We have our QA and QC forthe local firms from whom we source ourraw material. We are also HACCP, andGMP certified. We help to train our work-ers in-house on how to operate our machin-ery and our manufacturing unit more pro-fessionally. Also every year we let lots ofour customers visit our factory and give usprofessional advice. We also hire consult-ants for our factory.”Mr. David believes that the Indian marketholds potential for their products. “We hopewe can expand our market in India too. Inthe mean time we can help Indian artisanfood company enter China market.”Future PlansIn future, the company plans to continue tofocus on their import and export business.“We will help a lot of artisan food compa-nies enter China market. We can supply themthe distribution and promotion services, aswe have good relationship with local dis-tributors and channels. Meanwhile, we will

focus on our product quality, and try to getmore competitive in our price and quality."Mr. David has bachelor’s degree fromQingdao University, Shandong Province.“Even during my university life I did part-

time jobs as a salesman in our factory. Ourfamily has one factory that mainly manu-factures the agriculture foods. All this gaveme the foundation in the food industry. Iwould like to develop our agriculture busi-ness in my hometown,” avers Mr. David.

Our CorrespondentFor more information, contact :Mr. David, Director - China,Email : [email protected],[email protected] : www.kingfoodgroup.com

Maa Danteshwari Herbal GroupOne of the first herbal farms in India. Located in Raipur

M aa Danteshwari HerbalGroup was established in1995 in Raipur, BastarDistrict, Chattisgarhstate. It is founded by

Dr. Rajaram Tripathi. The Group’s main prod-ucts are Organic Herbal, Medicinal & Aro-matic plants, Rare and Endangered speciescultivation etc. The Group’s annual turnoveris Rs. 10 crore (approx).Maa Danteshwari is the firstHerbal Farm in India, since es-tablishment the Group has intro-duced several varieties of plantssuch as Safed Musli MDB- 13 &14, Lemon Grass MDL-14,Stevia MDS-13 & 14. The Grouphas tie-up with Multi NationalCompanies in 13-14 countries,having strength of 22,000 farm-ers including tribals. It has tissueculture lab and also provide consultancy ser-vices on developing hi-value herbal farms forsmall and large corporate companies.The plants that are grown on black soil areSafed Musli, Brahmi, Sarpgandha and Stevia.And in red soil, root crops, aromatic plantssuch as Lemon grass can be grown. WhereasSafed Musli and Stevia can be grown in boththe soils. There are many medicinal plantshaving demand in global market such as SafedMusli, Mulethi, Brahmi, Google, Lemon grassand Stevia etc.Dr. Rajaram Tripathi is a B.Sc., LL.B, MA(Economics), MA (Hindi), MA (History). Healso got Recognition as Ayurved Ratna. Hegot 17 years of experience in farming Or-ganic Herbal Medicinal & Aromatic plants,rare and endangered species cultivation. Nowhe is the CEO of Maa Danteshwari HerbalGroup. Dr. Rajaram said that in the next five

years Indian medicinal plants grow by 16 per-cent in global market. India can become aleader in this industry.Dr. Tripathi says, “For the company’s goodwork and achievement President of Indiahonoured our company. Chief Minister ofRajasthan also honoured our company for itsexemplary services. Apart from this, MaaDanteshwari got the Best Exporter Award,

Earth Hero Award by RBS andmany more. The Group is grow-ing Herbal farms in Middle East,Gulf country & African country.Its Organic products werelaunched all over India. More-over, today we have departmentheads for our plantation, Pro-duction, Research & Develop-ment, Marketing, commercial &Administration sections. Morethan 20 managers, 30 supervi-

sors and around 150 staff are working in thecompany spread all over India.”He further adds, “Our target customers aremainly Domestic & International ExportTraders & Farmers. We identify the demandthrough National & International data base,media & websites. Our main competitors areChina, Indonesia, Thailand & Multi NationalCompanies. About Lemon grass, there are fourdifferent types of Lemon grass plants for dif-ferent uses, with different percentage ofcietrol. One of the variety is MDL-14. Thereis tremendous demand in global market andwe are the major supplier & exporter of thisplant & product.’’According to Dr. Rajaram there are manymedicinal plants that got demand in globalmarkets such as Safed Musli, Mulethi, Brahmi,Google, Lemon grass and Stevia. Growth ofIndian medicinal plants industry is by 16 per-cent of global market, with a highest diver-sity in India having 80 percent of market. Heconcludes, “In medicinal plants, India can bea leader in this industry.’’For further information, contact: Dr. RajaramTripathi, CEO , Raipur. Chattisgarh.M – 09039021265, 09630329000W: www.mdherbals.comE: [email protected],[email protected]


Poultry

Rudras BreedersDriven by passion for Chicken, Mr. Satish Kumar establishedpoultry farm in Jolarpettai to earn his livelihood

Rudras Breeders poultry farmwas the brainchild of Mr.Satish Kumar in 2009. It wasstarted in the year 2010 inJolarpettai in Vellore district,

Tamil Nadu. Mr. Sakthivel S, is the propri-etor and Manager (Business Development)of Rudras Breeders. Satish wanted to start abusiness to contribute value to society andto earn livelihood. He ventured into thisbusiness in 2009. Mr. Sathish’s passion waschicken. He used to purchase chicks in re-tail from farmers and fellow people in andaround Jolarpettai. His passion was open-ing a quality country chicken farm. So, hevisited farms of other people, and traveledfar off places in Tamil Nadu to get first hand

information about hatching chickens. Afterinitial setbacks in this business, the firmmakes an online presence throughwww.agricultureinforma-tion.com a yearback and now the firm is sending their chicksto far off places in India like New Delhi,Jamnagar, kota etc. The company is grownand committed to serve any number ofneeds to its repeat customers and thus thesales improved gradually over a period oftime. What started as a small 16 X 11 sq. ftfarm is now 800 sq. ft big farm and another1,500 sq. ft farm will be operational shortly.There are bigger broiler chicken business gi-ants. But Rudras Breeders main concern washatching country chicken. It was not pro-duced in mass and not sold in mass in TamilNadu. The firm decided to go for hatchingcountry chicken and purchased small flocks

to start with. The firm’s vision is to becomethe largest quality pure country chickenprovider by the year 2017. So, the firm isinching towards their goal step by step daily.As the demand is more, the firm decided toenter into tie-ups with fellow farmers whohatch country chicken and adhere to thefirm’s standards and quality.To start the firm in a small way,Mr.Shakthivel borrowed Rs.4,000 from hisfriend Mr.Thiayagarajan. The firm faced alot of hardships during the initial stages ofits operation. Mr. Shakthivel picked up thenuances of rearing chicken initially by read-ing books and getting a one day training.One dedicated supervisor to supervise 3,000birds and one helper to clean farm and its

equipments per 1,000 birds is what is neededto start with. One can starts poultry farm ina small way with an initial investment ofRs.30,000 and monthly operational cost ofRs. 4-5,000.A piece of advise to the startersPick any of your passion or whatever youbelieve in. The main thing one wants to dois that start in a small way. One should notworry about returns, cash flow or margins.If one is doing the business means money isdefinitely coming out of that business. Talkto them or learn about that business. EvenRudras too started and failed twice. So thefirm learnt the lessons without losing much.After the initial setbacks is overcome, thenext step is to sell your products. Oneshould go for networking. Networkingmeans meeting people and asking them how

to sell your products to bigger players inthe market. In marketing, one should get ridof shyness. To attract customers one shouldgive discounts also. In this way one can in-crease their customer base. When the cus-tomer base is solid then there is no questionof looking back. The show goes on. For bet-ter on-line presence even Rudras tried manybut www.agricultureinformation.com gavenew customers and thus the business isflourished. For Rudras’ success the firm re-members the agri portals help.Rudras Breeders thought that the farmerswere their customers. Today the companyboasts that apart from farmers, IT engineers,lecturers, chicken hobbyists and unem-ployed youths were their customers. Thefirm’s goal is to sell at least 10 chicks to anyone who wants to rear chicken in their back-yard. So the firm is open to all.The firm’s first breakthrough came when itsent 10 chicks to Salem successfully andgot repeat orders from the customers. Whenchicks are delivered in small numbers thecustomer bears the cost. When the firm getsbig orders the firm bears the transportationcost. So the firm built a very strong rela-tionships with many frequent travelers, de-livery vans and other means of vehicle own-ers to deliver the chicks safely. To transportlive chicks and hatching eggs safely is im-portant. So the firm has a cordial relation-ship with transport owners and deliveryagents. Chicks are delivered across the coun-try through mini lorry, bus, delivery vans,rail and by air.Health and hygiene of chicksHealth and hygiene is the most importantthing in chicken rearing. One should not belazy in this because the smallest negligencewill cost chicks’ life and money. The firmmaintains bio security measures. It cleansthe farm twice a day for wet litters, feederswashed once a day, litter changed once aweek. Lysol is sprayed and spilled feed isremoved now and then to stop flies and rats.Fencing to the farm should be strong to pre-vent predators like cats, dogs and raccoons.Vaccination on specified days to chicks is a

Sakthivel S


Dairy Equipments

must to prevent diseases.First two months of a country chicken rear-ing is most important. The firm feeds stan-dard manufactured feed till two months old.The firm gives variety of feed viz veggies,spinach and worms etc. Maintaining healthand hygiene of chicks is the prime concern.The latest technology has also crept intopoultry farming. They are automatic feeder,drinker and gas brooders.Mr. Sakthivel S., is an MCA graduate fromAnna University, Coimbatore. He is theproprietor and Manager (Business Devel-

opment) of Rudras Breeders.Mr. Sakthivel says that the toughest periodin rearing chicken is summer as the heat in-creases the chicken is prone to diseases.Cooling the chicken by spraying water onthe roofs, supplying lemonades to thechicken and sometimes we have to spraywater on them too.“The firm has got many big plans. By mid-2013, we are going to add excellent countrychicken breed. By 2017, the firm will have alarger country chicken breeder with customerservice team, healthy, pure and quality coun-

try chicks and chicken providers in India.Rudras R & D, Rudras pet feed division,Rudras aquarium, Rudras kennels, Rudraschicken food restaurants were in the pipe-line,’’ Mr. Sakthivel concludes.

Our CorrespondentFor further information contact:Mr. Sakthivel, Rudras Breeders, 40/9, BabuRao Street, Edayapatti, Jolarpettai – 635851. Vellore district, Tamil Nadu.Mobile: 09943330061.Email: [email protected]: www.rudrasbreeders.com

Alfa Tech IndiaPune based manufacturers and distributors of automaticmilk collection systems

As a provider of machineryand technology for grass rootlevel milk collection in dairyfarming, Alfa Tech India wasestablished in 1984 by its

proprietor, Mr. Milind Bhandarkar. Withthe company operating out of KhrishiBhavan, Alfa Tech India is currently enjoy-ing an annual turnover of 25 crores. Mr.Milind, a practiced and knowledgeable me-chanical engineer, oversees the operationsof the company at large with a team thor-oughly educated in agri and dairy technol-ogy. Also proving beneficial to his cause,Mr. Milind has a long history of experiencein the dairy industry.ProductsDealing primarily in the distribution andmanufacturing of automatic milk collectionsystems, all of Alfa Tech India’s productscontribute to the reduction of milk adultera-tion through the measuring of added water,fat, and CLR of the milk during collection.The company guarantees regular results ofclean and healthy end produce from the dair-ies. Mr. Milind shared, “Our products aretamper proof and give accurate read-ings, helping farmers [compute] theright price for their contributions.The complete automation also facili-tates end-to-end dairy and collectioncenter administration.”Another feature of the company’s au-tomatic milk collection systems is thesupport for remote administrationand cloud integration as well as theintegration of milk tanker docks andbulk coolers. “Our system comeswith a “hand-device” model withbuilt-in battery,” added Mr. Milind.Included in the company’s productlist and services are herd management,

double/single bucket milking machines, milktesting units, and scan milk parlors.CustomersThe high quality of Alfa Tech India’s prod-ucts has rewarded them with a wide andloyal consumer base, both in the local andinternational market. With their machineryproving to work efficiently for at least 10years with low maintenance requirements,farmers see a huge return on their invest-ments. Mr. Milind happily shared, “We have[great relationships] with small farmers somuch so that they usually directly approachme. Besides them, big dairy companies andco-operatives [such as Gokul, Warana andSchreiber Dynamix Dairy] are our regularcustomers.”Another part of the company’s appeal totheir customers is the exemplary level ofcare they give their clients such as the offerof customized solutions. “We make certainchanges [to our machines] as per [thecustomer’s requirements], we give tailormade solutions, especially for software,”explained Mr. Milind. Even with so many

competitors in the industry, Mr. Millind isconfident that Alfa Tech India’s productsare the best in today’s market.Future PlansWith various improvements constantly be-ing made in the dairy industry, Alfa TechIndia has invested much time and effort inkeeping themselves informed and makingtheir own advancements as well. Accordingto Mr. Milind, milk analysis these days areconducted on the basis of fat/SNF presentin milk through photovoltaic or ultra sonictechnology. He also foresees key changesbeing made in milking machines, herd andfarm management, and more accurate prac-tices in milk analysis. Part of the company’splan for the next five years is to really pushtheir research and development program.“We [started manufacturing milking ma-chines] 2 to 3 years back and now we arestudying our farmers’ condition, our animals,climatic conditions,” said Mr. Milind. Alfa

Tech India also hopes to implementinfrared technologies in milk testingand the next generation of farm man-agement systems in India in the fu-ture.

Our CorrespondentFor further information contact :Mr. Milind Bhandarkar, Proprietor,Alfa Tech India, Fourth Floor,1717, Zenith Complex, ShivajiNagar, Opp. Krishi Bhavan. Pune-41100 5.Mobile -9822020999Email – [email protected] ,[email protected] – www.alfatechindia.com


VT FoodsExporters of dehydrated onion and garlic to overseasmarket. Located at Mahuva, GujaratD ealing in dehydrated food

products, ChimanbhaiVeghela in Mahuva, Gujarat,established VT Foods Private Limited in 2007. The

company finds its humble beginnings in thelocal markets where it gradually began togain recognition and higher claims in themarket share. Now, the company has a 5 to6 Crore annual turnover with 75 to 100employees during the peak season, givingthem enough market power to expand toexports. Mr. Manish Joshi is the company’smarketing manager, a graduate of BusinessCommunications with a certificate in com-puting.Products and ReachVT Foods Pvt Ltd focuses on the produc-tion of food items that are made from on-ions and garlic only. One of the offerings ofthe company is dehydrated onion and gar-lic, which boasts an 18 month long shelflife. The dehydrated onion comes in variousforms such as kibbled, powdered, minced,chopped and granules. Also produced bythe company are toasted onions that aremade from red onions to give it more heatand a more appealing color.The company typically sources their rawmaterials from the APMC, a market that isopen to all farmers to sell their produce at.However, VT Foods does keep an open mindto farmers who have chosen to abstain fromselling their fresh produce at the APMC.Farmers interested in selling their goods tothe company are welcome to contact them.Due to high demand, the company producesapproximately 900 – 1000 MT of produceeach year. 99% of the total product is ex-ported to various countries in Europe andRussia under the VT Foods brand while theremaining 1% is sold locally in India. VTFoods ensures high quality on all of theirproducts through the proper control ofmoisture, hygiene, foreign matter andpracticing controlled packing methods.ChallengesDespite their success, the company stillregularly faces challenge in production,marketing and even exporting. For ex-ample, the competition in their field istough, with competitors continuouslylooking for means to get an edge on eachother as only the top quality providerscan sustain themselves in the market. Mr.Manish explained, “We have to providebetter quality produce to the internationalbuyers to sustain ourselves in the mar-ket.”The company runs into problems withexportation because of time and thechange of government policies. Often, VT

Foods had trouble with finding empty con-tainers on time for their shipments, whichresults in late deliveries to their customers.Additionally, the drawback policy of theVKGUY was recently lessened to 1% fromits original 5%, an exportation policy thatwas very beneficial to manufacturers. Main-taining the quality of the produce can alsobe an issue, thus visual checks are routinelyimplemented upon receiving of the raw ma-terials.MarketingVT Foods puts a tremendous amount ofvalue to its marketing team, which trulyserves as the company’s backbone. For in-stance, the company heavily relies on itsmarketing team to edge out their competi-tion, many of which have also begun to ex-port, competing for business in the interna-tional market. It was the marketing savvyof the team to properly present the highquality of product that led the company toreceive repeat orders from various interna-tional buyers. Marketing representatives inRussia have also proven to be extremelybeneficial to the company.Due to Russia being such a large market, thecompetition in the country is fierce. Themarketing team utilizes technology to itsfullest extent in order to communicate withinternational clients and to identify the ex-isting level of demands. The companystresses the importance of every marketingrepresentative having extensive knowledgeon their product in order to successfullymake sales.Target Customers and GrowthThe company targets spice users, food pro-cessors, big malls, various traders and end

users as their target customers. Casting awide net is a great help to the company’ssustainability and ensures a steady clientbase that the company expects will be fil-tering orders in year round. Mr. Manish said,“Most of our customers ask for a productwith their specifications in mind. We checktheir specifications and see if its matchesthe standard specs of our products beforeconfirming an order.”Though the company has already achievedsuccess and sustainability in the market,they seem to foresee some challenges in thecoming year. “We still have not had any rainthis year so we expect there to be very littlecrop growth in the coming year. Due to theexpected shortage of raw materials, we areassuming that the prices for these materialswill rise,” Mr. Manish shared.Milestones and Future PlansWhen the company was first founded in2007, its main goal was simply to reach ahigh enough market share that they wouldbe able to begin exports.

Though the road was not always easy,VT Foods has achieved their exportationgoals and has been able to increase theirreach to even more foreign markets. De-spite the hardships that the companyexpects to experience in the next year,they are still committed to furthering thecapabilities of the company.Mr. Manish shared, “We expect to doubleour turnover within the next 4 to 5 years.”For more information contact :Mr. Manish, Marketing Manager, VTFoods Pvt Ltd, G-9, Swami VivekanandComplex Vasi Talav, , Mahuva, Gujarat– 364290, India Phone : +91-2844-294290 Mobile : 9978136555E-mail : [email protected]: www.vtfood.com

Commodity Trading

Manish Joshi


Lawrencedale Estates and FarmsProducers of organic vegetables. Located in hills of NilgirisL awrencedale Estates and Farms

Pvt Ltd was founded in 2008and run by the core group offive professionals from different fields. The company’s

Founder Director Mr. Vijayaraghavan P.,comes from property development back-ground. The other founding members are Mr.R. Manoharan from the farming community,Mr.K.P. Nair from the IT background, Mr.R. Balakrishnan and Mr. L.K. Narayananfrom the financial background.Lawrencedale Estates and Farms Pvt Ltd isa farming company located in the hills ofNilgiris, which is situated at an altitude of900 to 2636 metres above MSL. TheNiligiris district is basically a Horticulturedistrict. The British were keenly interested

in Horticulture. They introduced many veg-etables which had its origin in Europe. Thesevegetables are suitable for European cuisineand became very popular in India.Organic VegetablesThe company deals in Organic farming, Re-search farming, Agro processing, Marketingand Farm tourism. It promotes communitybased farming systems and also extends handto the needy and the poor. The companyproduces Potatoes, Carrots, Beetroots, Rad-ishes, Cabbages, Purple Cabbages, Brusselssprouts, Turnips, Beans, Peas, Cauliflow-ers, Lettuces, Leeks, Artichoke, Herbs,Spices, Strawberry, Pear, Plum and Tea. Thecompany grows Carrots approximately 20tonnes per acre per crop/ two crops in ayear. 7.5 tonnes of exotic vegetables per crop/ 3 crops per year.Farming MethodsThe company invested Rs.5 crores with 30acres of land directly owned and 50 acresunder community farming. Multiple cropsand mix of traditional and modern farmingtechniques are the plus points of the com-

pany. It uses Micro sprinkler irrigation sys-tem. Apart from other organic fertilizersavailable in the market the company usesfarm yard manure and organic manures likepanchakavia & dasakavia.The company uses hi-tech washing systemsto wash vegetables like carrots, potatoes,beetroots etc. It also strives to grow newvarieties of vegetables under research farm-ing unit.Community Based FarmingThe company works with local farmers byhelping them sustain and improve their farm-

ing methods and production, get better val-ues for their produce and improve their live-lihood. Lawrencedale creates awarenessabout the dangers of using chemicals in theconventional farming methods and highlightsthe farming community about organic farm-ing. The company at present is not export-ing their produce but it is in the pipeline inthe near future.Research FarmAgriculture is one the most cost effectiveways to improve environment. Knowingthis the company has got its own Researchand Demonstration farm facility. The com-pany employs 10 skilled and 25 unskilledstaff.Future PlansThe company has not yet started farm tour-ism activity, but plans are there to start bythe second quarter of 2013. It has got plansto expand farming activity and likes to own50 acres of own land and 100 acres of com-munity farming by 2014. The company hasgot its own marketing strategy and sells theirproducts under the brand names Ooty Fresh

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CalicutVijay Book Stall Tel : 0495-2360783

KottayamDevi Book Stall Tel : 0481-2822322

ThiruvananthapuramSree Devi AgenciesTel : 0471-2330936

WynadModern Book House

Tel : 04936-220570/221615/2620570

ChandigarhPunjab Book Centre,

Tel: 0172-701952 Fax: 0172-701952

Organics/Ooty Fresh.The company also extends its hands to theneedy poor and neglected people and pro-vides them with shelter/ food/ education andopportunity to become self reliant. Thecompany contributes a percentage of theirincome for the purpose.The company’s Founder Director P.Vijayaraghavan says that agricultural sectorin India is an unorganized sector especiallyin farming. There is good future for the or-ganized farming with proper understandingof the technology and market demand. Onemust understands the farming practices,study the market demand, latest technol-ogy before implementing it.Mr. P.Vijayaraghavan studied Automobileengineering. As he did’t get the job he gotinto construction and property developmentactivity. Later on he got interested in farm-ing and other related activities while travel-ing in and around Nilgiris and thus he cameinto this field.

Our CorrespondentFor more information, contact :Mr.Vijayaraghavan P, Founder DirectorLawrencedale Estates and Farms9A, Higgins Road, OOTY, THE NILGIRIS,TAMILNADU, PIN 643001 Tel : 09443020020 Email : [email protected] : www.lawrencedale.com

Horticulture


Pre - Event

Announcing the exhibition - theupcoming SIMA – the mostpopular international tradeshow in the agricultural world(agricultural equipment and

livestock farming) will be held in Paris France from February 24 – 28, 2013.This is the 75th year of the trade show andaims to be a meeting point for all the keyFrench and international players in theworld of agriculture.The event will be held at the Paris NordVillepinte Exhibition Centre for 5consecutive days.The 75th SIMA is just 4 months away andpromises to be:A Unique Trade Show��Agriculture Professionals from acrossthe globe will have the chance to exploreagricultural equipment, products andservices for livestock farming, large scalefarming and specialist farming along with400 dairy and beef cattle under one roof.�� The most INTERNATIONAL of allthe agricultural shows - In 2011, there were50% international exhibitors, 25% ofvisitors from 123 foreign countries, 300delegations of international buyers andopinion leaders and more.The SIMA 2013 event will be puttingspecial emphasis on the following:1. All forms of agriculture:These include intensive farming, integratedfarming, sustainable farming and organicfarming on large, small as well as mediumsized farms.

2. Activities and practices that have a world– wide reach which include:• The SIMA International Forum: Thisforum will have a global audience and globalorganisers who will bring forwardpresentations that address major themes inthe field of agriculture. These will beoffering an international and extendedvision. The Forum and its events will beled by speakers from different countriesacross the globe.• The organisation of agriculture relatedopen shows, auctions and salespresentations for dairy and beef cattle.An Innovative ExhibitionThe SIMA Innovation Awards are organisedevery year at the SIMA Expo. This is ameans of recognising and rewardinginnovative & forward looking agriculturalequipment. Over the last 50 years, thefollowing have been awarded prizes asdecided by a special panel of internationalagriculture experts:��Robotic milking machines��GPS systems��A hydrogen fuelled tractor��A vehicle synchronisation systemAn Unparalleled BusinessPlatformThe SIMA Trade Show is an ideal venue todevelop business relations. Recordsindicate that 67.4% of visitors make atleastone purchase. The highlights of SIMA 2013are round table discussions, workshops,meetings between exhibitors anddistribution networks among others.

A Forward Looking ExpoSIMA is an open agricultural platform. Forits 75th exhibition, SIMA is planning aprogramme of conferences and workshopswhich will focus on topical subjects withhigh added value to give all visitors acomprehensive view of the agriculturalsector.Welcoming InternationalParticipantsSIMA 2013 brings you the following foran even more enjoyable visit:��The Welcome Pack: You can downloadyour visitor ’s badge fromwww.simaonline.com, consult theinteractive map to plan your visit. You caneven make a booking for lunch at the show,reserve specific catalogues. You can alsoorganise your transport, accommodationand evenings out in Paris – you can planthe whole trip online well in advance.� � Official website of SIMA -www.simaonline.com – This is a bilingualFrench and English website with all the keyinformation available in 9 other languages(Arabic, Chinese, Dutch, German, Italian,Japanese, Portuguese, Russian andSpanish) to cater to an internationalaudience.��The International Business Club –The membership of this club is available toall international visitors. The facilitiesoffered include a personalised welcome,guided tour of the show, documentation indifferent languages and much more.SIMA Snapshot� 1,302 exhibitors including 50%international exhibitors from 41 countries��1,550 brands��300 European livestock breeders��400 dairy and beef cattle��209,800 professional visitors, including25% international visitors from 123countries�� 22 official visits by internationalrepresentatives��300 foreign delegationsSIMA in 2013 will be the key event forhigh performance sustainableagriculture worldwide to help everyone– whatever their size and wherever theycome from – to produce more and better!For participation please contact:Ms. Rasika Vad Project ManagerPromosalons,C/o IFCCI, French Bank Building, 4th floor,62, Homji Street, Fort, Mumbai 400001.Tel: +91 22 66100401Mail: [email protected] Fax: +91 22 67479760Visit www.simaonline.com for furtherinformation

SIMA – International Trade ShowAgricultural equipment and livestock farming trade show tobe held in Paris, France from February 24 – 28, 2013


NEWS - Latest news and developments

Indo-Israel jt. venture in TN!TN to set up modern nurseries for horticul-ture crops, cut flowersTN to upgrade 56 State horticulture farms

The Tamil Nadu Governmenthas launched projects to up-

grade horticulture and floricul-ture output in the State as partof an India-Israel joint venture.According to an official pressrelease, the Government haslaunched two projects to set upspecial nurseries for vegetablesand cut flowers. A nursery forvegetables and fruits is to comeup at a cost of Rs 10.18 crore inDindigul District and the facil-ity for cut flowers in Krishnagiriat cost of Rs 8.80 crore.The projects were launched bythe Chief Minister, J.

Jayalalithaa.The State Government also an-nounced Rs 14.23 crore projectsto upgrade infrastructure facili-ties in the 56 State-owned hor-ticulture farms to enable themto produce more, quality seed-lings using modern technology.

An Indian scientist!Transformed farming in Latin America!

Indians being honoured in countries of their adoption is nowscarcely news, especially with the growth of the white collar

diaspora. But Mohan Kohli, honoured by Paraguay earlier thismonth, is different. Having worked under the legendry Norman

Borlaug at a time when agricul-tural research was yet to slip en-tirely into the domain ofcorporates, Dr. Kohli has got rec-ognition for nearly four decadesof unremitting research to stepup wheat production in a wideswathe of Latin American coun-tries, including Brazil, Argentina,Uruguay, Paraguay, Bolivia and

Chile. On May 18, Dr. Kohli walked up the dais at San CarlosUniversity in Asuncion to receive an Honorary Doctorate as amark of gratitude from Paraguayans for transforming their countryto a net wheat exporter — production increased from a meagre30,000 tonnes in 1978 to 1.2 million tonnes today.Thanks to Dr. Kohli's efforts, Paraguay earned $230 million fromwheat exports last year.

Agricultural lands becomesensitive topic!SEZ land norms to beeased?The government has so fargranted approval for setting up588 SEZs, of which 386 SEZsstand notified.

Many key changes are in theworks to change the con-

tours of the Special EconomicZone (SEZ) policy and boostgrowth across these units. Fol-lowing a discussion paper lastNovember, the commerce min-istry has prepared a draft SEZpolicy, detailing revision in theminimum land requirement forthese zones, easier contiguitynorms, clarity in land sale andtransfer, relocation of the zones,development of infrastructure,extending focus market schemesto these units and exit policy fordevelopers and units, amongothers.Commerce Secretary S R Rao isslated to meet his counterpartin the Revenue Department,Sumit Bose, later this month tofirm up the changes in the SEZpolicy, it is learnt.The minimum land requirementfor multi-product SEZs may bebrought down to 250 hectaresfrom 1,000 hectares now, while

the maximum area would remaincapped at 5,000 hectares, ac-cording to the draft policy thathas reviewed. For multi-servicesunits, SEZ for a specific sector,port or airport, the ministry hasproposed reducing the minimumsize to 40 hectares from 100 now.In the case of north-easternstates, union territories andsome hilly states, the minimumarea requirement may be broughtdown to 50 hectares from thecurrent 200. Reduction in theSEZ land requirement will comeas a significant relief to devel-opers.

China is India’s biggest tradepartner!India-China tradereaches 75 billiondollars last year!

The trade deficit with Chinasoared by two-thirds to

$40 billion in 2011-12, close to70 per cent of the $75.6 billionof bilateral trade.While China’s exports to Indiawere $57.5 billion, India’s were$18 billion.Rafeeque Ahmed, president,Federation of Indian ExportOrganisations, is currently lead-ing a delegation to participate inthe China Import and ExportFair (Canton Fair), held biannu-ally in Guangzhou.As many as 210 countries hadparticipated in the sping andantumn editions of the fair,which had generated business of$74.8 billion in 2011.Ahmed said the cost of produc-tion in China had gone up 40-50per cent over the past two years,which has opened markets forour manufactured products.We have recently started export-ing household and lifestyle prod-ucts to China and are looking atpenetrating the country withmore highend products likeautomobile components, phar-maceuticals, handicraftsand readymade garments” hesaid.An India-China Joint Group onEconomic Relations, Trade Sci-ence and Technology has beenset up to address the wideningtrade deficit.

Biotech news update!Hybrid seeds biotech seedsmarket!Set to expanddramatically!

Hybrid seeds, includingbiotech seeds, represent

new business opportunities inIndia based on yield improve-ment, according to UshaBarwale Zehr, chief technologyofficer of Maharashtra HybridSeeds Company.“Approximately 7,000 plantspecies are estimated to be usedfor human consumption, ofwhich just four crops - wheat,maize, rice and potato - providehalf of the total world food pro-duction and 15 crops contrib-ute two-thirds. Many of thesecrops are grown in India,which has the potential to be-come a major producer ofbiotech rice and vegetables,”she told Business Standard.It is estimated that by 2050, the


NEWS - Biotechnologyworld’s population will exceed9 billion, up from 7 billion in2011. This means farmers willneed to produce 70 per cent morefood on less land than ever be-fore. Across the globe, this in-creased demand for food, to-gether with demand from com-peting uses, has been placingunprecedented pressure onmany agricultural productionsystems. Increased urbanisationand limited water resources haveconstantly added to this crisisand the potential of climatechange impacts are just begin-ning to show, demanding imme-diate attention and action, Zehrsaid.“Over 55 per cent of the netsown area in India lacks irriga-tion facilities and hence, farm-ers rely wholly on rain water forcrop growth. Water stress is themost important abiotic stressaffecting the production of cropslike maize and rice. Nearly 6.7million hectare of farmland in thecountry has been affected bysalinity, with Gujarat, UttarPradesh and Maharashtra hav-ing the highest percentage of af-fected land area,” she added.According to a Corporate Cata-lyst India survey, of the totalshare of 14.5 per cent that agri-culture and allied sectors con-tributed to India’s GDP in2010-11, agriculture alone ac-counted for 12.3 per cent, fol-lowed by forestry and loggingat 1.4 per cent and fishing at0.7 per cent.Stating that greater varietal andspecies diversity would enableagricultural systems to maintainproductivity over a wide rangeof conditions, Zehr said on Sun-day, the benefits of Bt cotton,the first genetically-modifiedcrop to be approved for com-

mercial cultivation, were evi-dent.According to the latest report bythe Council of Social Devel-opment, India has moved frombeing an importer of cotton toone of the crop’s biggest export-ers in the world. The growth rateof cotton area, production andyield between 2002 and 2011increased 4.91, 9.25, and 4.95per cent respectively, ever sincethe cultivation of Bt cotton inIndia began in 2002-03. Theaverage returns from Bt cottonat the all-India level was Rs65,307.82 per hectare. At theall-India level, 76 per cent offarmers reported that the quan-tity of pesticide usage on Bt cot-ton had reduced over the yearsand 71 per cent said that ex-penditures on pesticides for Btcotton had also declined.“The need of the hour is to lib-erate agriculture from theclutches of climate change and

to utilise biotechnology to meetthe growing food needs. India’sfood security depends on pro-ducing cereal and legume cropsas well as more fruits and veg-etables to meet the demands ofa growing population with ris-ing incomes. To achieve this, thecountry needs a productive,competitive, diversified and sus-tainable agricultural sector toemerge at an accelerated pace,which includes plant biotechnol-ogy,” Zehr said.

Horticulture newsPomegranate grow-ers seek special debtpackage!Bacterial blight has wiped outpomegranate crop in variousdistricts in Karnataka.

On the lines of Coffee DebtRelief Package, pomegran-

ate growers have urged theUnion government to announce

a special package for them toovercome the financial distresscaused by the bacterial blightdisease that has wiped out cropsin various districts of northKarnataka.A delegation of Koppal districtpomegranate growers, led by theformer Minister and CongressMLA Amaregouda Bayyapur,called on Union Minister forAgriculture Sharad Pawar inNew Delhi on Thursday andexplained to him the plight ofgrowers on account of crop lossdue to bacterial blight disease.

With the world populationall set to exceed 9 billion

in less than 50 years, there willbe increasingly greater demandson agriculture, according toCalestous Juma, an internation-ally-recognised authority in theapplication of science and tech-nology to sustainable develop-ment worldwide.“Clearly, the task at hand is tosignificantly increase agricultureproductivity on the existing landwhile conserving natural re-sources. Therefore, it is criticalto maximise the agriculturaltoolkit, including plant biotech-nology, to feed the world fordecades to come,” said Juma,professor (practice of interna-tional development) and direc-tor (The Science, Technologyand Globalisation Project) atHarvard University.The original goal of plant bio-technology, was to improvecrops and minimise the environ-mental impact of agriculturalactivities. But, it (plant biotech)has also displayed the potentialto enhance nutritional benefitsof many foods.“Admittedly, the major cause of

“Biotechnology crops spread faster” - Harvard professor says!No alternative to biotech crops for the future!There is a 94 fold increase in biotech crops between 1996-2011!

global malnutrition is not foodshortages. It is the absence ofessential nutrients from diets anddysfunctional foodgrain distri-bution systems in the develop-ing nations,” he said, adding thatbillions of people worldwide

Stating that while biotech insect-resistant crops like Bt cottonand maize reduce the need forpesticide use, saving farmerstime and money, Juma said her-bicide-tolerant crops had signifi-cantly reduced the back-break-ing work of weeding and pro-moted sustainable practices likeconservation tillage. “Moreover,drought-resistant crops have thepotential to allow re-vegetationof lands no longer suitable forcultivation,” he said.According to studies, the uptakeof biotech crops has seen one ofthe fastest adoption rates for anyagricultural technology in his-tory with it rising from 1.7 mil-lion hectares worldwide in 1996to 160 million hectare in 2011,accounting for a 94-fold in-crease.“Over 16.7 million farmers from29 countries grew biotech cropsin 2011, with over 90 per cent(15 mn) of them being small, re-source-poor farmers from devel-oping economies,” Juma said.

suffered from conditions likeanaemia, blindness and ricketsdue to a lack of essential vita-mins and minerals like iron andvitamin A and D.Nutritionally-enhanced biotechcrops like ‘Golden Rice’ (betacarotene-enriched rice) have thepotential to deliver the neces-sary nutrients to large popula-tions in a cost-effective manner.


NEWS - Latest news and developments

World's urban area set to triple by 2030?“More than half the global population already resides in cities.This number is projected to increase, with 60 per cent of the popu-lation living in urban areas by 2030,” UN Under-Secretary Gen-eral and Executive Director of the United Nations EnvironmentProgramme Achim Steiner stated.

The world’s total urban area is expected to triple between 2000and 2030, with urban population is set to double to around 4.9

billion during the same period. This urban expansion will drawheavily on water and other natural resources and will consumeprime agricultural land, according to a new assessment by the UnitedNations Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD).

India may benefitfrom Ukraine ban onwheat exports !

Ukraine’s move to ban wheatexports from November 15

could trigger demand for the In-dian grain. Wheat exporters seea potential rise in Indian ship-ments.“The Ukraine export ban willdefinitely benefit us. However,it all depends on how the Aus-tralian crop, scheduled for har-vest next month, shapes up,”said Anil Monga, Chairman,Emmsons International Ltd, aDelhi-based exporter.Ukraine is one of the top 10 glo-bal wheat exporters, which sawits harvest decline by a third dueto drought this year.The fact that Indian wheat hasalready been accepted in theWest Asian market should ac-celerate the exports. Wheat ex-ports have crossed three milliontonnes, a bulk of which has beenby the private trade. So far, In-dian exports have been to Ko-rea, Taiwan, Yemen andneighbouring Bangladesh, SriLanka among others. Majorbuyers of Ukraine wheat suchas Egypt and West Asian nationshave covered their requirementtill December-January.“This is the best time to get ridof old stocks for the Govern-ment,” another analyst said.Wheat stocks in the Central poolstood at 43.15 million tonnes,as on October 1, about threetimes higher than the 14 mt ofthe normative buffer.Reutrs reports : A United Na-tions aid agency has purchasedabout 40,000 tonnes of wheatof Indian origin to be shipped toEthiopia via Djibouti and otherports, according to Europeantraders.

The Indian tractor market is expanding fast!

TAFE remits $65.01 mn in US Agro CorpIndia’s tractors to export to USA!

TAFE, the Chennai-basedglobal tractor major, has re-

mitted $65.01 million (aroundRs 342.44 crore) in the US-based $8.8 billion farm equip-ment major Agco Corporation.It may be noted TAFE has anongoing collaboration withMassey Ferguson, now ownedby Agco Corporation for over50 years. “The money has beenremitted and this is towards busi-ness relationship with Agco Cor-poration and to tap internationalopportunities.”TAFE has an understanding withAgco Corp, a Georgia-based

(US) farm equipment maker, fordistribution in the US, in certainmarkets in Africa, Turkey andother countries. Agco also holdsa 23 per cent stake in TAFE

which is headed by MallikaSrinivasan, who has been on theAgco board since last year.TAFE also said that it is partici-pating in the development of theCenturion family of tractors(50-125 hp) along with AgcoCorporation and plans to expandits international footprint.n 2011-12, TAFE sold 20,396units across 73 countries.Last year, exports contributedaround Rs 1,200 crore to theoverall turnover of around Rs8,021 crore and the companyexpects this proportion to re-main more or less the same.Presently, TAFE manufacturestractors from 24 HP to 100 HPin air-cooled and water-cooledplatforms.

In view of the crop loss, the del-egation urged Mr. Pawar towaive crop loans borrowed bygrowers from cooperative insti-tutions and nationalised banksin the State. In a memorandumsubmitted to the Minister, thedelegation said that due to delayin extending the special debt re-lief package to pomegranategrowers by the Union govern-ment, the growers have been re-sorting to various types of agi-tations such as road blocks andhunger strikes in Koppal andother districts.Pomegranate growers have beenurging the government for thelast two years to waive theirloans. On account of drop inproduction, prices of pomegran-ate touched Rs. 150 a kg in Ban-galore.

Indo-Africa Millet NetworkTo work with farm-ers for boosting out-put!

National Convenor of Millet Network of India P.V.

Satheesh said millet productionin India has declined 50 per centin the last two decades, prima-rily due to lack of incentives tofarmers and adequate policybacking. “We have been seekinginclusion of millets in the PublicDistribution System as one way

to boost production,” he said.A group of environmentalorganisations and NGOs fromIndia and West Africa launchedthe Indo-African Millet Net-work at a side-meeting of the on-going UN conference on biologi-cal diversity.

India emerges as a dominantagro exporter?Export of wheat to Iran!Iran raises qualityconcerns!

The government is workingon a proposal to export

wheat to Iran from states suchas Madhya Pradesh, instead ofthe traditional sources of Punjaband Haryana, due to qualitycontamination issue.A team of senior officials fromthe Union food ministry haverecently returned after extensivediscussion with Iranian officials

to negotiate a deal for supply oftwo to three million tonnes ofwheat annually from India. Thenegotiations ran into some prob-lems after Iran expressed con-cern over the presence of“Karnal Bunt’ rust in Indianwheat. This is a fungal disease.“There have been some com-plaints of presence of ‘KarnalBunt’ rust in wheat produced insome areas of Punjab andHaryana and it has been a prob-lem,” agriculture minister SharadPawar had told.



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Publisher's NotePublisher's NotePublisher's NotePublisher's NotePublisher's NoteIndian economic reforms take wings?

Only for the urban sector, urban elite?Why there is no agri/rural media of any significance in India?In a country that always takes pride in the Green Revolution!See the new challenges!The vast tracts of agricultural, forest lands are being taken away for mining,power plants etc.

Agri/rural sector is being squeezed into more and more defenseless shrinking spaces!The London-based Financial Times (FT) recently carried a long article on India'sbooming media scene. There is something like a 10 crore English speaking, En-

glish-reading public for the Indian English-language newspapers. The Times of India, FTconcedes, is the world's No.1 newspaper! Also, when it comes to the Indian languagenewspapers, they are also booming, and they overtake TOI, and TOI comes only as thesixth largest sold newspaper in India.But then what about the credibility of the Indian media, both the print and the TV newschannels?Oh,they are the most prone to corruption of all sorts!Indian media has not much credibility!Which country has much media credibility?Though the FT didn’t pose that question, we like to pose it here?Certainly, the UK press-both print and the TV, has some degree of high credibility. Maybe next we might put the USA, may be the French and even the German media.The Western liberal traditions have much to do with their media credibility too.In India, there is now so much condemnable fall in standards!The paid-news is now a menance and menacing proportions of the Indian media fall is nowwidely seen and spotted out. The Press Council (with a much admired no-nonsensechairman) seems not capable of doing anything about this media corruption.Now, as for the agri, rural media scene, it is as good as dead or plainly unequal to thechallenges of the times.Now, with the new economic reforms, announced, the agri/rural sector is very likely tolose much with the latest round of talks and discussions within and outside the variousministerial groups.This magazine, in its 25th year of publication, may be one of the few survivors ofthis squeeze!What chance for the agri/rural future in this country?When the audacious scene is that those who are simply cut off from the rural people, thevery people whom are variously described by the power-hungry urban elites who in theirbid for arbitrary power could muscle into the rural vote-banks promising the moon andmay try to take over huge quantities of land with no room for any chance for the genuinerural survivors.We, the publishers of this magazine, are directly engaged in agricultural cultivation! Thisis not for publicity sake. But to send it the message that full-time politicians, the politicalclass now have also become the country's new generation or new class of new capitalists!The new oligarchs, the new wealth creators, if not the genuine entrepreneurs. Those whograb agricultural lands, those who are in power or who have just lost power and yet theyhad engaged while in power in grabbing agricultural lands cheaply and had resold or holdingback those very lands for future high prices.The examples are now abounding in many instances.Some are high profile cases, why high celebrity cases!So, we need not elaborate when we ask: what chance for the future of genuine farmers?Genuine, traditional farmers, farming communities a new charter of rights to protect andalso prosper as farmers in this new emerging and threatening environment where there isso much competition to accumulate wealth, usually, more agriculture properties are beinggrabbed (acquired legally is a very improbable current scenario).Now, we need some definite legislation to protect individual farmers, traditional farmers,also the so-called big farmers!There is a conspiracy of silence when it comes to defend the traditional farmers.



Land acquisition bill draft cleared now?

EditorialA major Cabinet reshuffles?

So many controversial features it has?Yes, big corporates have expressed strong reservations andquestioned the wisdom of the many provisions

Some of the major infrastructure projects are delayed as long as216 months. First, the very name change. The British enacted

old 1894 land acquisition bill didn’t seek the consent of the farm-ers. Those days have long past gone.Today, we live in a democracy where the voice of the people is verystrong and also on the very day when we talk of this topic, we havereverberations all over, over the land "acquired" by such high pro-file names like the Gandhi family and also other big names, most ofthe names are big political leaders. The accusers are also no less

powerful. Apart from Arvind Kejriwal, the leader of the Indianagainst Corruption, we have now such persons like the formerHaryana Chief Minister, O.P.Chautala who has dragged in RahulGandhi, apart from Robert Vadra. Now, BJP President Nitin Gadkariand also NCP leader Ajit Pawar are all making the rounds.So, land acquisition and that too agricultural land, however, youcan manipulate and however you justify is going to be a highlysensitive and highly, politically speaking, explosive issue for daysto come. So, the newly proposed land acquisition bill, called nowLand Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Bill(LARR) isnot going to be an easy thing.Already fears have been expressed, from Larsen and Tubro toMukesh Ambani to others, like the M&M and Raheja and DLF, the

What is the rationale? The aim and timing?

To accelerate reforms and growth?Or, a gamble, desperation and divert public attention?

What about major election-eve issues like corruption, lack ofdirection and momentum etc?

Yes, the recent major cabinet reshuffle, at the face of it, looks like amajor change? What is this major change and where is Rahul Gandhiin all these changes?A look at the facial expression of Rahul Gandhi who was seatedprominently at the Rashtrapathy Bhavan, honestly, gave an im-pression of a very confused and disturbed face. A face that seemedto say: I have no clue whatever!Yes, the younger faces, most of them anyway, are also honestly notRahul's finds, so they say. They were like Scindia and pilot andothers were family inheritors of the political legacy that is what theCongress party culture these days have led to.You can see the murmurs, nay,even open expression of disap-pointment of the seniors likeDigvijay Singh, a man with amass base and a claim to the topjob. In fact, if at all, only a per-son of the mass base of some sort in the entire scenario is onlyDigvijay Singh.Even Renuka Choudhry expressed her disappointment. Her juniorcolleague as a spokesperson, Manish R Tiwari got some rehabilita-tion. One or two hard questions are in order here. Whose brain isbehind this selection process? Certainly, we can say this is notManmohan's choices. He may be honest but he has no moral au-thority or any real authority. He simply carries out the orders ofanyone who is his superior or superior as he perceives it, right?So, we can say with some openness or some bluntness for the sakeof some moral clarity for the unsuspected general public that thisexercise smacks of Sonia Gandhi's own inarticulations, so to say.Sonia Gandhi and her son have locked themselves up in a world oftheir own. The party they represent today has no reach whatever.So, we see her own very narrow understanding of the pulse of thepeople. Sonia imagines, we are sorry to say so, that with the sort ofcorporate support she has managed over the years, with hugefunds and infrastructure at her disposal and with a cheering coteriearound her she can go on and win one more round of elections.This only gives some rationale for the sort of names and the castesand the weak spots, like AP, why even HP and other parts wherethe party goes for elections might give a fight. So, there are enoughnumber of the high and mighty, the maharajas and their families,

kith and kin politics is very much here in the new cabinet.So too the very many nondescript faces from AP.Also, for Sonia Gandhi and her son, there is no idea of what is Indiaeven. No representation to the big states like UP, Bihar and evensuch states like Gujarat and TN which were once the very bastionsof the Congress culture and nationalist spirit. Sonia Gandhi alsoseems to have failed to persuade her son to take a plunge. Evenhere, the very role and the very idea of Rahul Gandhi taking over asthe future Prime Minister seem dim day by day! Why?After all, India is not a small country. India is not what SoniaGandhi and her very disintegrated party structure gives an idea ofas on date. The Congress party already has disintegrated into manyregional parties, like NCP and Trinamool and others which, alongwith some other outfits, are basically national parties but for thelack of proper representation and recognition, the regional outfitshave gone their own ways. Who knows, once the current coterieand the clique dissolve, they have to, otherwise how long they can

hang on without the mass baseand mass following?So, it is anybody's guess howlong Rahul Gandhi can affordto hang around without a ratio-nal role and a clear articulation

and can still make up at the last count. Politics, as we have oftensaid in these columns, is never static. Time and tide wait fornobody. You can’t have even Manmohan Singh for long. So, somereplacement for Singh might come very soon, may be even beforethe 2014 general elections. After all, if we go with this cabinet teamfor whatever good it might perform in the rest of the next fewmonths, it is the duo, Sonia Gandhi and Manmohan Singh whowould go before the public can ask for support. Then, what theduo have to say as of now? What about the haunting ghost of themega corruption scandals? For what the Opposition parties arethere? They would surely and certainly ask these very uncomfort-able questions? So, the choice for the Manmohan Singh govern-ment is narrowing. He might go down, as he is reported to have said(and then suddenly corrected) fighting!Fighting what? The mega corruptions? Or what else?Yes, the Indian polity under Manmohan Singh would be describedby historians as the most corrupt government he had presided over.That would be his legacy. Yes, it is very disappointing to see howungraciously S.M.Krishna, one very sedate face, who was shuntedout so suddenly. Also, how Salman Kurshid, in the face a ragingcontroversy was elevated so suddenly, after the many names, in-cluding Rahul, Karan Singh and Anand Sharma were doing therounds!

A desperate response to a desperate situation?One thing about this mega reshuffle is it has not muchpolitical sense nor any positive thrust. It is a desperate

response to a desperate situation!


Oil and gas exploration industry!

Editorialones who are very much intothe big infrastructure and hous-ing projects have all spoken outexpressing their strong reserva-tions. What reservations?First, the political overtones.The current controversies on thefight against corruption mostlyrevolves round the acquisitionor buying of the prime agricul-tural land, conversion, mutationinto non-agricultural use andthen getting it converted into commercial projects. These have seeneverywhere involving huge corruption at many levels.So, says A.N.Nayak, whose L&T is into building the Navi Mumbaiairport: the very RR mandate, rehabilitation and resettlement, aburden that is now sought to be cast on the builder is near impos-sible and possibly might inflate costs, in the case of Navi Mumbai,by about as much as Rs.4,500 crores!Also, the other implication?This is still very undefined. The bill will pass through the nextParliament easily? Doubtful. Yet, see already how the major politi-cal parties have positioned. The Congress claims it has kept up itspromises. This is just for the next election propaganda.BJP wel-

comed the draft.According to the data availablewith us, we can see that theeconomy is slowing down. Onereason is that many of the bigticket infrastructure projects,airports, roads, ports and otherbig projects are leading toprojects delays, cost over-runsand time over-runs etc.Over some 7.35% of theprojects are held up owing to

delay to settle the RR issues.So, what chance the land acquisition bill would really contribute ormake a difference to the current vitiated atmosphere.Unfortunately, all the big names of politicians, the ministers andMPs who are associated with the land acquisition draft themselvesstand to be exposed.Each political party, if it aligns with its opposition counterpart, asproved in the Gandkari's alleged links with the NCP and also withthe Haryana government's links with the builders and the politicalscions who are playing into this land grabbing game, then it isanybody's guess if we simply take these legislations at their facevalue. It is a sad day at the end of the day, indeed!

Where Jaipal Reddy failed? WillVeerappa Moily make quick decisions?

Why Jaipal Reddy was moved out of the PetroleumMinistry? No point blaming the corporate sector clout. We

need quick and positive decision making and also drawing FDI inthe sector in a big way! Let us be mature and take pragmatic deci-sions. Reliance Industries'(RL) freedoms to operate the oil and gasexploration in a free and unrestricted manner was blocked byMr.Reddy. The minister had his own reasons. But, finally, it wasthe lobby power of RL did the thing!RL is known for its highly political pressure tactics, an old hand inthis business, so the minister has paid the price. Reddy became thepetroleum minister in Jan 2011.Today, he is out. Oil and gas explo-ration is a highly competitive area where the biggest players are allin action! Yes, today’s politics in New Delhi is more weakened andthe UPA-II needs more and reliable friends in high places! RL is aknown high-power operator at the highest levels of the govern-ment. At all times. Not just now only!Oil and natural gas industry in India is changing fast.Major players from Italy, Australia and UK and in India are nothappy with the delays and restrictions and a peculiar bureaucraticbehaviour. The ministry under a known doctrinaire minister wasfound to be obstructive and restrictive to large scale private play-ers. Everybody in New Delhi knew that Mr.Jaipal Reddy, a formersocialist (we don’t know his present stances on many issues) musthave been allergic to what RL was doing.It wanted to raise the price of gas. There is a steep decline inproduction. The once prolific KG D6 gas block off the AP coastalso came under the scrutiny ofCGA. The company resistedfurther intrusion into its activi-ties. Reddy said no and that iswhy he paid the price!Already, Mr.Reddy must have

known the real problems. He must have taken a broader picture.Foreign players were already facing the heat. They too resisted thebureaucratic hurdles, delays etc. There are reports some of theexisting players like Shell and Vedanta are also unhappy with theministry. Mr.Reddy must have managed the RL and other players.Whatever might have been case, he should not have created ob-stacles.When it comes to the final word, the government (which everyonein Delhi knows is under the thumb of the big corporates and RL isthe government's biggest benefactor). So, Reddy was given themarching orders! By whom? Everyone also knows the person whomust have taken such a decision!Only those who know the ways and means of the big player knewthat in matters of getting things done in New Delhi corridors ofpower there is no one to match the manipulative power of the RIL.Even the Tatas, more so under the very-soon outgoing Ratan Tataburnt their fingers and got caught under the former telecom ministerand also featured in the Radia tapes and got bruised so much. EvenRadia quit her job as a lobbyist!There are enough information and write-ups in the Indian press toshow that the Indian bureaucracy is at its worst when it comes tounderstanding the high priority in oil and gas exploration sector andthe need for quick decision making.The so-called New Exploration licensing Policy (NELP) whichended state monopoly in oil and gas exploration, the policy wasdecided upon in 1997/98 to boost local exploration and productionwork, and also to attract foreign players, by all accounts seem tohave not produced desired results. In the context of some of thebiggest names in the international oil and gas exploration sector,

some like (1) the NEP didn’tsucceed in its objective. The laststraw was Jaipal Reddy's short-comings for the delay in movingthe RIL request forward. Whatcaused the final break?

Farmers’ consent to be manufactured?The 66 per cent consent from farmers, the rest under

obligation to sell at 4 times the price in rural areas, twotimes in the urban areas is also fraught with so manyissues. The 34 per cent of the farmers might hold up,

the independent purchaser, a builder might buy theland for pure speculation. How to prevent that? Near

impossible?Yes, it looks so as explained by the big builders theother day on the TV chants. Then, the role of the

government.

Role of private investors critical!India imports 80 per cent of its crude oil needs, Indiaspent 140 billion dollar bill on oil imports, up 40 per

cent from the previous year. India missed its oilproduction targets in the 11th plan by 14 per cent.


Personal ViewAmerica, India and China

The dilemma facing Indian democracy todayWhat is common for them in economic and political arenas?China is in transition to a new leadership change!In a peaceful manner! China is ahead of India in economic growth.How do we assess our own performance?

The time seems appropriate for asking such a question.A question that is heavily laden with serious issues ofpeoples of the respective countries as well as for someof the big global issues of ending global recession andpromoting economic growth and no less in promoting

political stability and international peace.The three countries, incidentally, are on the cusp of change, politi-cally, where USA is facing a Presidential election or re-election ofPresident Barack Obama and in China too where there is a politicaltransition in early November, when the current fourth generationleaders, both the Chinese President and the Premier make room foronce-a-decade change of leadership. In India, no less, is the verysensitive issue of a regime change! The 2014 General Election, forthe Congress party and for the Indian people, seems unlike otherprevious elections!This too in a democracy like India, the world's largest democracywhich is again unlike other democracies of the world. In the UK andthe USA the tradition of democracy is well-defined and well-settledin terms of periodic, in the caseof USA a two-term of eight yearsis the maximum that is permit-ted to a President. In the UK,the tradition is for a periodicchange through elections, as inIndia. Even there lately, as in thetwo unprecedented instances ofMargaret Thatcher and TonyBlair, the two were "ousted”, a sort of place coup by the PartyMPs!In the case of India, there is now a sort of development, it looks likean unprecedented development at that where the Prime Minister is"nominated" by the party president and also the Party Presidentherself, was not elected even by some pretence but nominated by acoterie of party functionaries and in the Indian case, these develop-ments are clearly undemocratic, as we understand it.The consequences of the Indian development in the democraticpolitics of the country are very serious in the sense the futureseems very uncertain as far as the democratic practices are con-cerned. There is no clarity as to when the Party President wouldchange or is there any certainty who would succeed the incumbentPrime Minister. May be, the next general election might throw upsome clue. Is this a happy development for Indian democracy?In the USA, as the Presidential debates showed there is an oppor-tunity given to the people to assess what the Presidential candi-dates have to offer for the people, there are opportunities for thepeoples ,from the audience who participate in the debating hall toask some direct questions and get answers and clarifications fromthe contesting candidates.In China, of course, there is no such opportunity. There is no pressfreedom either there. But there is one distinct difference from thecommunist China's governing mechanism, as it has evolved in thepost-Mao era. There is the nine-member polit bureau and whosemembership is also a secretly constituted group within the party.

But in spite of the secrecy prevailing, thereare some recent changes in Chinese society and politics(as we no-ticed during a recent brief visit to that country) that point towardsan easing, if not strictly an opening)of secrecy in politics and muchelse in society, economics, even the expression of protests andgatherings of people, even in such public places like the Peking'sTiananmen Square and elsewhere. Yes, there is muchauthoritarianism in very many areas. But the old style Mao-typeof even the Deng-era type brutal show of state power is given wayto more subtle, if not more benign, easing of restrictions on theway people go about and conduct themselves in public places.There is so much happiness and satisfied faces we could see every-where. Of course, in the prevailing restrictions and censorship, wedon’t know for sure what extent this expression of happiness orhedonism, as some foreign media portrays, in China.But there is for sure an easing of the dictatorial tendencies. At least,there is a dual leadership under the President and the Premier, thereis also the nine-member polit bureau and over and above there is the

massive parliament-type as-sembly every now and then.There is unrest vastly in thecountryside and we have readmuch about the number of suchrural protests growing. Thereis now much urban migration,foreign travels by students andother peoples and also the coun-

try is not free from unrest in many Border States. Not just in Tibetonly. The point is that the internal party rebellions are there (as therecent expulsion of BO showed) also there is the high profile courttrial of Mr.Bo and judegement that seemed not state-imposed, aswe might imagine. Anyway, my point is that even in CommunistChina where we suppose there is party dictatorship, today’s Chinaseems vastly changed or changing fast. And now, in the face ofmounting number of mega corruption allegations, allegations thathave come to the door steps of the Prime Minister and ,alas, theParty President as well! This is quite an alarming situation!Though we have elections, this time, we are confronted with theprospect of seeing an imposing of a member of the ruling party, adynastic type of imposition of another hand as the next PrimeMinister. A dynastic succession and a crony oligarchy, crony capi-talism is all we have in India as our choice?If not, what other choices available to the people?Indian democracy follows the Westminster model. This means,two major parties or two major groupings of parties must putforward before the people two ideological approaches to solve theproblems of peoples. As it is, the two parties, the Congress and theBJP, one centre-left and another centre-right don’t have well-ar-ticulated visions. First, Indian democracy must get its real strengthfrom the peoples' free choices.The political class, both national andthe regional ones, are so provenly corrupt, there is very little tochoose from.

V.Isvarmurti, Founder & Chairman

The dilemma todayThe incumbent PM, a very respected name once and

now, faced with massive corruption charges, at his verydoorstep had chosen, as a tactic, to brush asidecorruption and had announced a rash of radical

reforms! So, what do we do? We get distracted andvote for the party again?

This is the dilemma facing India and Indian democracytoday.


View from the VillageView from the VillageView from the VillageView from the VillageView from the Village

China is now on everyone'sminds. The big leaders, thecommon people, not just inChina and India but even inother countries and peoples,

from Japan to South China Sea countries.We have just been to China and back from aweek-long holiday. Ever since the return wehave been reading every piece of literatureon China, from established classics by suchauthorities like John King Fairbank (Thegreat Chinese revolution:1800-1985),Edgar Snow (Red Star Over China) to thelatest expose of sorts by Jung Chang andJon Halliday (Mao: The Unknown Story).Even Jung Chang's earlier autobiography(Wild Swans) were adding to our under-standing to the present day China's mindset.These sort of books are of course not avail-able in China at all, though we visited theShanghai' biggest bookstore in search ofEnglish books. Alas!There were none of the books any devel-oped country would sell and enlighten thecitizens. In Kuala Lampur, we were sur-

prised to findone of theworld's big-gest bookstores, asgood as any inthe West.Sowide choicesof subjectsand titles.Now, we arein the midst

of remembering, both in India and also inChina of the 50th year of the India-Chinaborder wars.Reconciliation?Though China had put out the message ofreconciliation, saying that China and Indiaare partners and there is room for everyoneto live and do one's job, there are enough topoint out that the Chinese authorities arenot yet ready to really to realise that it isonly by way of openly discussing and talk-ing things out, there could be a permanentsense of people and relief.This, the Chinese authorities haven’t done,it seems. There are reports, as reported byone leading Indian newspaper which has aPeking-based correspondent, there is astrong feeling in Chinese foreign policymaking that the India's borders with Chinathat India’s something like some 4000 andodd km long borders are not settled yet.The LAC (Line of Actual Control) can't berecognised as the legally defined borders.Also, China continues to hold on to an am-biguous stance on India's sovereignty in

India-China thoughts

We have to engage with China, no other way!India has to live with China: in trade, diplomacy and also of coursein true understanding of the people and the country's new rulers.

Arunachal Pradesh, in Jammu and Kashmirand also more seriously in Akshin China.So, the so far held, something like the four-teen rounds of border talks haven’t achievedany tangible results.Also, there is also clear statement by "Indiathat it won’t accept LAC".So, there is a real, unresolved border prob-lem, border dispute with China.Also, there are reports, the latest put outjust a few days ago by the Indo-TibetanBorder Police (ITBT) that China had vio-lated India air space thrice this year!So, what India should be doing?Of course, we have to engage with China,engage continuously and also in many widefields. India and China are to hold their an-nual Strategic Economic Dialogue (SED) inNew Delhi in the last week of November,both countries launched a renewed push toaddress a ballooning trade deficit which, of-ficials say, is beginning to increasingly strainthe trade relationship.China indicated its willingness to providebetter market access by promoting India asa partner-country at a major automobilecomponents’ fair. Indian officials said theywould, on their part, do more to supportinvestments in China and help equip com-panies, which are often unaware of the spe-cific challenges of the China market, to makemore robust entries.India has identified information technology,pharmaceuticals and the engineering indus-try as sectors where it will push exports.The Indian Government and the Confedera-tion of Indian Industry held a first-ever “In-dia Show” to promote Indian companies atChina’s biggest auto expo.While India has expressed concerns on mar-ket access, China, on its part, has expressedworries about barriers to investment in In-dia, on account of security concerns, and aspate of anti-dumping investigations filedby India. Chinese officials say India has filedmore cases than any other country. Nextmonth’s SED, scheduled to be held on No-vember 26, will grapple with some of theseissues. Of course, there are certain new ob-servations. One, there is a radical changeinside China today.In the place of one-man dictatorship we sawunder Mao, why even under the formidableDemg, we see today there is a more "demo-

cratic"(?) inner-party democratic decision-making. In recent days we saw the expul-sion of BO Xilai, as he became too radicalto the central leadership. And his equallypowerful wife Gu Kailai was put on trialand faces a suspended death suspension formurdering an English man, a businessmanof the family. So, there is some opening orweakening of the dictatorial hold of theparty machine on the political top leader-ship. The Noble political transition also sawa shift to a new generation, the fifth genera-tion leadership. Third, we also see increas-ing internal pressure for more freedoms.We ourselves saw so many freedoms of thecommon Chinese citizens these days.Trade deficit, trust deficitThere is, first, the India-China trade. Be-sides, the trust deficit, we have a huge tradedeficit as well. China is India's biggest tradepartner and the bilateral trade has soaredfrom a few billion dollars to the current 74billion dollars!There are also other indicators, the latestbeing the expose of top leaders like the cur-rent premier When Jiabo family in someillegal wealth acquisition!Such reports one might not expect someyears ago. Not now, it seems.CorruptionThe New York Times expose is being dis-cussed in Hong Kong based newspapers andit also spread to China means there is defi-nitely some change in internal politics.So, as China becomes more economicallypowerful, it is now the world's second larg-est economy, India’s per capita is estimatedas 1,500 dollars while in China it is esti-mated as 5,000 dollars.So, with more incomes, the Chinese citi-zens now travel abroad, Chinese studentsare now the largest in the US universities,there is a new affluent middle class in China,the malls are overflowing with consumers,with all top international brands are sold inChina. There are all the French luxury goodbrands in Shanghai. There are also three high-end luxury car brands, with their showrooms. Rolls-Royce, Porsche, Maseroti!So, we have to engage with China, comewhat may!

V.Isvarmurti,Founder & Chairman

Agriculture & Industry Survey

Documents

Agriculture & Ind. Survey-Nov, 2012 Talk of a CEO