Water needs-Food industry Vs Agriculture, opposing pressures!

Soda which is the international name given to sweetened fizz drinks like Coke and Pepsi is gain in troubled 'waters"; literally! These beverages are focus of attention from health critics as well as conservationists who blame the bottlers for over utilization of water and environmental pollution through the sludge they let out. Farmers are agitating wherever the soda plants are located because of their fear that such massive extraction of ground water causes water shortage affecting their livelihood. Interestingly the two soda giants are also courting controversy in their own country, USA because of the widely held perception that their products sweetened with sugar cause many health disorders including obesity. Because of their vice-like grip on the political class that rule the country, they are never restrained from hawking their "potion", especially to young kids. In India the Delhi Government has laid red carpet for foreign investors in the hope that their investments will generate significant employment in the country. Unfortunately the impact of this open arm policy on the common man is never kept in mind when such FDI proposals are cleared. The Coke bottling plant to be set up in Gujarat is in the news recently because of the reckless policy of the state government in allotting huge volume of water from Narmada river which is supposed to be meant for agriculture sector. Here are the details of the drama unfolding in that state and the common man is just a mute spectator on the sidelines unable to do any thing to stop this loot of public water resources.

"Soft drinks giant Coca-Cola is finding itself in troubled waters, again. After rows over water usage at its plants in Kerala and Uttar Pradesh, it is now the turn of its Gujarat factory.Congress leader Ahmed Patel has questioned the Gujarat government's decision to allot to a Coca-Cola plant over three million litres of water a day from the Sardar Sarovar Dam, even as many villages in Sanand go without water.In a letter to Chief Minister Anandiben Patel on October 10, Patel expressed concern over her government's September decision and noted that the dam had been built to provide water to drought-prone parts of North Gujarat, Saurashtra and Kutch. Patel highlighted concerns raised by non-government organisations and citizens' groups over the alleged daily effluent discharge of 450 kilolitres by the plant, which executives of the multinational beverage company said were baseless because the unit was located in a no-effluent industrial cluster. Coca-Cola India executives did not want to get drawn into the controversy. They said the company had taken all approvals for the plant and any response to Patel's letter should come from the Gujarat chief minister, to whom it was addressed. The plant, being set up by Hindustan Coca-Cola Beverages, the largest bottling partner of Coca-Cola India, will be the company's second unit in Gujarat. Coca-Cola has a plant in Goblej in Kheda district, its second-largest in the country after the Dasna unit in Uttar Pradesh. The Gujarat government has allotted 185,000 square metres to the company to make sweetened aerated drinks like Coke, Sprite, Fanta and Thums Up".

Governments never seem to learn any lesson from past experiences as evidenced by the attitude of the Gujarat Government in allocating precious natural resources especially after the humiliating retreat of this soft rink giant from Kerala a few years ago because of the same problem. Politician-industry nexus is not new in India and diversion of water from dams built for irrigation to sugar mills and breweries in Maharashtra is another example of this nebulous practice. A moot question that the country faces is whether a health debilitating beverage industry can be given priority over food production when half the population in the country does not have adequate food to satisfy their hunger? No body is denying the fact that food industry is invariably water guzzlers because huge quantity of water is absolutely necessary to maintain safety and quality of the end products. But locating them in proximity to irrigated agricultural lands cannot be condoned. It is not understandable why these synthetic beverage manufacturers are forced to make nutritionally better products rather than easily salable junk foods like potato chips and sugar sweetened drinks. If this trend continues India may be following the foot steps of America where one in three citizens are obese with bloated bodies spending billions of dollars for treating their diseases!

V.H.POTTY
http://vhpotty.blogspot.com/
http://foodtechupdates.blogspot.com

INNOVATIVE GREEN HOUSE TECHNOLOGY-WHAT ABOUT COST ECONOMICS?

How to feed an anticipated population of 9 billion by the middle of this century? There are views and views regarding the strategy the world has to adopt in the coming years but none can provide any degree of assurance whether adequate food will be produced to feed the above population. Neither the Discredited Green Revolution, blamed for destroying the soil health or the much touted Genetic Engineering technology can be the answer as the experience so far has been far from satisfactory. Against this context the new innovative approach being tried out in the Netherlands using wholly artificial atmosphere, seems to hold great promise though the development is still in its early stages. Most impressive is the relatively low requirement of water which is a scarce commodity already due to over exploitation every where in the world. Probably other countries also should pitch in to bring the innovation to fruition. Here is a take on this new development.

"To feed so many people may require expanding farmland at the expense of forests and wilderness, or finding ways to radically increase crop yields. Meeuws and three other Dutch bioengineers have taken the concept of a greenhouse a step further, growing vegetables, herbs and house plants in enclosed and regulated environments where even natural light is excluded. In their research station, strawberries, yellow peppers, basil and banana plants take on an eerie pink glow under red and blue bulbs of Light-Emitting Diodes, or LEDs. Water trickles into the pans when needed and all excess is recycled, and the temperature is kept constant. Lights go on and off, simulating day and night, but according to the rhythm of the plant – which may be better at shorter cycles than 24 hours – rather than the rotation of the Earth. In a larger "climate chamber" a few miles away, a nursery is nurturing cuttings of fittonia, a colorful house plant, in two layers of 70 square meters (750 sq. feet) each. Blasts of mist keep the room humid, and the temperature is similar to the plants' native South America. After the cuttings take root – the most sensitive stage in the growing process – they are wheeled into a greenhouse and the chamber is again used for rooting. The process cuts the required time to grow a mature plant to six weeks from 12 or more. The Dutch researchers say they plan to build a commercial-sized building in the Netherlands of 1,300 square meters (14,000 sq. feet), with four separate levels of vegetation by the end of this year. After that, they envision growing vegetables next to shopping malls, supermarkets or other food retailers.

Meeuws says a building of 100 sq meters (1,075 sq. feet) and 14 layers of plants could provide a daily diet of 200 grams (7 ounces) of fresh fruit and vegetables to the entire population of Den Bosch, about 140,000 people. Their idea is not to grow foods that require much space, like corn or potatoes. "We are looking at the top of the pyramid where we have high value and low volume," he said. Sunlight is not only unnecessary but can be harmful, says Meeuws. Plants need only specific wavelengths of light to grow, but in nature they must adapt to the full range of light as a matter of survival. When light and other natural elements are manipulated, the plants become more efficient, using less energy to grow. "Nature is good, but too much nature is killing," said Meeuws, standing in a steaming cubicle amid racks of what he called "happy plants." For more than a decade the four researchers have been tinkering with combinations of light, soil and temperature on a variety of plants, and now say their growth rate is three times faster than under greenhouse conditions. They use no pesticides, and about 90 percent less water than outdoors agriculture. While LED bulbs are expensive, the cost is steadily dropping. Olaf van Kooten, a professor of horticulture at Wageningen University who has observed the project but has no stake in it, says a kilogram (2.2 pounds) of tomatoes grown in Israeli fields needs 60 liters (16 gallons) of water, while those grown in a Dutch greenhouse require one-quarter of that. "With this system it is possible in principle to produce a kilo of tomatoes with a little over one liter of water," he said.

The researchers were able to demonstrate unequivocally the technical feasibility of the new approach with successful working system already in place. What is needed is to commercialize the innovation and prove its economic viability in no uncertain terms. It has to be appreciated that the system does not need dangerous chemical protectants and is totally independent of the weather conditions any time of the year. Probably the World Bank and FAO should explore the possibility of investing in setting up a joint program in collaboration with the Dutch scientists to expedite the development and bring the benefits to countries which are hard pressed to provide enough food to their population. Retailers should also pitch in by supporting the program because many big retailers with resources can set up such growing facilities near their consumer out lets so that many fruits and vegetables can be brought in most fresh condition to the fresh produce shelves with minimum lapse of time between harvest and sale.

V.H.POTTY
http://vhpotty.blogspot.com/
http://foodtechupdates.blogspot.com

WAKING UP OF THE "KUMBAKARNA"- A NEW PULSE POLICY IN THE OFFING?

A giant is likely to proceed more cautiously than others because of the logistics of limb and body movement and India fits into the description of a giant at least from the population angle. There for politicians of ruling group always justify slow progress and huge time over-run in almost all developmental activities citing the "giant" size of the country! Of course they forget that China is a bigger giant than India but it still manages to move at a frenetic pace aspiring to become the most powerful economic power in the world. After seven decades of independent existence those who control the destiny of the country at present has "discovered" that water scarcity is here to stay and there is need to conserve water! Here is a take on that.

"Concerned over the depleting groundwater table in Punjab and Haryana, the Centre is planning to increase the procurement of oilseeds and pulses, both less water consuming, from the two states. The aim is to make farmers prefer these crops over paddy, in what may be seen as a shift in the Union government's food policy. And instead of Punjab and Haryana, the government would promote paddy cultivation in the eastern states of Bihar, Jharkhand, Orissa and West Bengal, said Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar. Pawar, however, said that a formal decision in this regard would only be taken after taking into confidence the state governments of Punjab and Haryana and farmers. "The government proposes to procure horticulture produce, pulses and oil seeds from the two states, and farmers will get higher price (MSP) for these crops than what they get for paddy. We will, however, continue to procure wheat from here," he said.

One never knows whether the statement by the most "dysfunctional" minister in the Union cabinet was expressing his personal opinion or it is going to be a policy that will be implemented soon. It is a mystery as to what prevented the government so far from procuring crops raised with less water that could have conserved precious water. One may recall that it was just about 2 decades ago that GOI launched with much fanfare its much touted Mission on oil seeds and pulses investing lot of money obviously to tide over the never ending shortage of these critical commodities but nothing came out of it due to callousness and disorganized, uncoordinated efforts of multiple agencies. Production of both these crops remained stagnant with GOI resorting to imports on an ad hoc basis, as a fire fighting operation. Is it not a shame that the same government is talking about oil seeds and pulses now as if it is a new problem? Probably democracies like that in India can thrive only when people have short memories and politicians are able to recycle the same "trash" over and over again with none being able to call their bluff!

V.H.POTTY
http://vhpotty.blogspot.com/
http://foodtechupdates.blogspot.com