please use organic fertizer

Organic fertilizers make slow and steady progress

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KURNOOL: Penetration by organic fertilizers and bio-pesticides has been slow due to the long wait needed for the result.

However, many farmers who switched over to bio-fertilizers are not complaining.

Vinnuthna fertilizers, a Hyderabad-based company, launched pilot project in Kurnool district by selecting demonstration plots in over 20 villages. Bio-products were supplied free of cost to farmers on trial basis. Representative of the company Ramesh Babu said farmers were asked to reduce their fertilizer and chemical consumption by 60 per cent and supplement it with bio-fertilizers and pesticides.

On the whole the savings per acre were calculated at Rs. 1,500 on fertilizer cost while yield was claimed to have increased by 10 per cent in the first year and 20 per cent the second year onwards.

Most of the farmers who were used to instant growth on account of use of urea and other chemicals were impatient to the slow result of bio-fertilizers. However, most of them agreed to the fact that bio-fertilizers and pesticides reduced pest attack and the plant remained healthier for a longer period.

Farmers of Devamada near Kurnool said the cotton crop which was cultivated under integrated pest management method was healthier and a drastic fall in pest attack was noticed. The ‘kapas' yield from the plots in the first and second picking was higher.
13 December, 2010

Banks explore out of court

Tirupur exporters, banks explore out of court settlement

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Tirupur exporters, who are facing a loss of Rs 300 crore from the foreign exchange derivative products of 2007, are exploring their options having gone through the doorsteps of courts, regulators, political leaders for three years.In recent days, the banks have come forward for an out-of-court settlement. “They (banks) want exporters observe 20-40 per cent. We want the banks to pay back the exporters on ‘no profit, no loss’ basis,” said Raja M Shanmugham, president, Tirupur Forex Derivatives Consumer Forum (TFDCF). The exporters were also invited by their foreign counterparts to share their experience in forex derivatives.The exporters, consisting of around 25 small to big companies, lost the amount after being ‘lured' by banks to purchase their derivative products to hedge the risk of currency exchange fluctuations in 2007-08. They have formed Tirupur Forex Derivatives Consumer Forum (TFDCF) to fight against the banks including ICICI Bank, Axis Bank and others.

Shanmugham said it has been almost three years since the foreign exchange (forex) derivative contract scam shook the industry, but they are yet to see a solution.

It all started during the second quarter of 2007, when the Indian rupee began to slide against US dollar and touched Rs 39 from Rs 46, in 15 days. Exporters began to lose profits and headed towards losses. It was at this point that some of the private banks came up with the complex forex derivatives promising gains, explains Shanmugham.

“It was with the encouragement and loans from banks that we came up in life, and they (banks) are like our godfathers. But these days, banks want to make money by cheating us and canvassed strongly for the products,” said Shanmugham.

Comparing derivatives to gambling, Shanmugam said, “Even in gambling the ratio of betting is 1:2. But in Tirupur it was 1:100. Naturally the entire economy is affected.”

“The exotic derivatives were gross violation of FEMA (Foreign Exchange Management Act) and it’s a case of gross misrepresentation,” said CA and forum member S Dhananjayan.

“My loss is Rs 27 crore. My capital is not enough. So we have joined the forum to get justice. We want a settlement on ‘no loss, no gain’ basis,” said 'Armstrong' Palanisamy, who alleged he was cheated by three different banks.

The banks sold a combination of various derivatives to the same exporter, without verifying if the customer had made prior purchase of a derivative. They also said no NOC needed, no collateral security needed, three year balance sheet that’s all, according to Shanmugam.

“They practically marketed the products door-to-door. They just asked the exporters to sign the stealthily designed contracts,” alleged Shanmugam.
13 December, 2010

cotton exports

Cotton exports less than half of registrations

....Breaking News.....
New Delhi, Dec 13 (PTI) Exporters have managed to ship out only less than half of the permitted 55 lakh bales of cotton, much to the relief of the domestic textiles industry which has been opposing the outward shipments tooth and nail.
The exports were allowed from November 1 and the entire quantity of registered 55 lakh bales was to be shipped out by December 15.
By now, only about 25 lakh bales have been exported and the government has to decide at the ministerial level whether to allow extension of time, Secretary in the Textiles Ministry Rita Menon told PTI.
Finance, Agriculture, Commerce and Textiles ministers are expected to meet within this week to take a decision on the extension of the time for cotton exports.
Menon said the government would also examine whether all the registrations were genuine.
"First, we are going to see what are the valid registrations. We will see the gaps, then we will have a policy decision," she said.
When the government had decided in September to allow cotton exports in the current season (October-September), the textiles industry was up in arms against the move, stating high raw material prices would harm it.
The industry in clusters like Tirupur went on a day long strike against these exports on November 19.
However, the Agriculture Ministry pushed for cotton exports saying farmers'' interest should be safeguarded.
The commodity prices in India have witnessed a rise of about 89 per cent in the fast few months, according to the government estimates.
This is despite projections of a record production of cotton at 325 lakh bales in 2010-11 against the estimated demand of 266 lakh bales.
Apart from fixing a threshold on cotton exports, the government has also imposed a cap of 72 crore kg on cotton yarn exports this fiscal to help the domestic textiles industry in view of rising prices in the global market.
According to industry sources, prices of cotton yarn have increased by about 85 per cent in the last nine months.
13 December, 2010

textile situation from Tirupur

Knitwear exporters in Tirupur close shop

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Around 20 per cent of the units, with revenues between Rs 1 crore and Rs 10 crore, have shut down due to rising cost of raw materials and other inputs.

The rising cost of raw materials and other inputs has resulted in the closure of a large number of small and medium and enterprises (SMEs) in Tirupur, India’s largest knitwear export hub.
According to industry estimates around 20 per cent of the units, with revenues in the range of Rs 1-10 crore, have closed down. The resulting job losses are estimated at 25,000.

A Sakthivel, president of the Tirupur Exporters Association (TEA), said that the town is directly exporting around Rs 12,000 crore every year. Apart from this, around 600 small units in Tirupur are doing job work for exporters based in Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore, the value of which is Rs 1,000 crore a year.

The tiny town houses around 675 units. This includes 150 units with sales revenues of Rs 1-5 crore, 350 units with revenues of Rs 5-10 crore, 100 units earning revenues of Rs 10-50 crore, 50 units with revenues of Rs 50-100 crore and 25 units with revenues of more than Rs 100 crore.

“Around 20 per cent of the units, which are in the first two categories, have closed down due to the increase in the price of cotton yarn and the non-availability of yarn – the raw material – in the domestic market. This ultimately led to job losses of about 25,000 workers,” Sakthivel said.

According to his estimate, the knitwear industry is likely to report a loss of round Rs 200 crore due to the increase in yarn price. The units say they have stopped taking new orders from customers, since yarn prices are not stable and neither is yarn available.

C Nataraj, director of Stencil Apparels, said, “Most of the units have stopped taking orders, since raw material is not available. This year our company alone will report at least 15 per cent negative growth.” He said his company has received Rs 5 crore worth of enquiries from overseas customers, but he is unable to convert it into an order.

The other challenges for small units are conducting research and development and adapting to frequent changes in customer requirements. “Earlier, there used to be only two seasons and now this has become 12 seasons,” – so frequently do designs change – said C Sekhar, who heads a unit with revenues in the Rs 5-10 crore category.

The other factors that are eroding margins are the costs of power, labour and dyeing. Industry representatives note that dyeing charges account for 8-10 per cent of total costs, compared to 3-4 per cent in competing countries. Pollution norms have also become stringent, and require companies to invest in effluent plants; this adds to costs.

Describing the current situation as “crazy”, D Prem, chairman and managing director of Prem Durai Exports Pvt Ltd, one of the largest exporters in Tirupur, said that to partially compensate for losses, the knitwear industry had increased prices by 15 per cent, adding that this would not be enough. “We have to increase the price by at least 30 per cent, but customers are not willing to absorb this.”

Sakthivel noted that the price of yarn today is Rs 250 per kg, an increase of 80 per cent from Rs 139 per kg in August 2009. However, “the concern is that despite the increase in yarn price, non-availability of cotton yarn is a problem,” he said.

In March 2010, the price of yarn was Rs 165 a kg, but when exporters started booking orders, textile mills stopped delivery of yarn for 15 days and increased the price to Rs 182 a kg, exporters complained. Exporters then began booking garment orders on the basis of this price, only to find that in mid-May 2010, mills had again stopped deliveries and increased the yarn price to Rs 202 a kg, they said.
14 December, 2010

textile project

Karunanidhi announces 2 major textile projects in TN

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The Tamil Nadu Chief Minister, Dr. M. Karunanidhi in the presence of the Union Minister for Textiles, Mr. Dayanidhi Maran announced two major projects in the textiles sector worth Rs. 46 crores in investments that also include land grant from the central government.

Participating via video link from Chennai, Tamil Nadu CM said that these two projects were part of Rs. 543 crores investments in many projects that will benefit the Coimbatore district in Tamil Nadu. The program launch was held at the VOC Park in Coimbatore in the presence of many Tamil Nadu state ministers, elected officials, central and state government staff and DMK party supporters. Probably, I would have been the only foreigner, of course an NRI attending this event.

Dr. Karunadhi although did not visit Coimbatore in person participated via satellite link; thanks to technology advancement. The Chief Minister laid the foundation stone for the National Institute of Fashion Technology's (NIFT) Specialty Center and inaugurated Sardhar Vallabhbhai Patel International School of Textiles & Management's (SVPISTM) academic building and new auditorium. The NIFT project is estimated at 25 crores and the SVIPTM project is worth 21 crores.

Talking to this scribe on the sidelines of the function, Ms. Monika Garg, Director General, NIFT informed that the land was gifted by the central government and the state government of Tamil Nadu has allocated 20 crores for the NIFT project. Ms. Garg also expressed NIFT's interest in forging collaborations with many foreign institutions and invited Texas Tech University, USA to initiate a Memorandum of Understanding in this regard.

Earlier today, Professor S. R. Pujar, Director of SVPISTM took me through a quick tour of the new auditorium building in Avinashi Road adjacent to the existing SVPISTM's administrative building. The new auditorium will have 500 people seating capacity and is about 25,000 sq. feet in area. The NIFT and the SVPISTM lands measure 13 acres in total and are part of NTC, which the central government has allocated for the two new projects
14 December, 2010

Cotton report

India likely to reduce exports of cotton on reduced output

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Owing to unseasonal rainfall in the main cotton producing regions, India, the world's second-biggest grower and exporter of cotton, may miss its earlier estimate.

According to D.K. Nair, secretary general of the Confederation of Indian Textiles Industry (CITI), output in the year started on October 1 may be 29.5 million to 30 million bales of 170 kilograms each, compared with 32.5 million bales estimated by the Cotton Advisory Board.

"There's a near-consensus that the crop will be below 30 million bales this year after the unseasonal rains and floods in some areas," Nair said. "A lower crop should prompt a review of the surplus availability and the export strategy."

A lower crop may prompt India to retain restrictions on exports, bolstering global prices that have rallied 72 percent this year. Cotton reached $1.5195 on November 10, the highest price since trading began 140 years ago, as adverse weather damaged crops in China, Pakistan and the US.

India's textiles ministry on October 11 halted registration of new export contracts after it got applications to ship 5.5 million bales, the maximum permissible this year. Louis Dreyfus Commodities, the top trader of cotton, and Cargill Inc. are among companies that won permits.

Meanwhile, there may not be more than 3 million bales available for export as rains last month in Gujarat, Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh, the biggest growers, damaged crops, Nair said. Shipments may total 2.5 million bales, less than 5.24 million bales permitted by the Textiles Ministry for export by December 15, Nair said.

The South Asian nation, a major supplier of cotton to China, will cap shipments of yarn at 720,000 metric tons in the year started on October 1 to bolster domestic supplies, the government said last week.

"There has to be some predictability about government policy related to cotton," Nair said. "Any review of export policy should be based on actual crop size," he added.
13 December, 2010

Cotton report

The government might review cotton export shipments so far this season before deciding on whether to extend the December 15 deadline for dispatching export cargoes, Textiles Secretary Rita Menon said today“First, we are going to see what the valid registrations are, then we will see the gap (between actual shipments and export allowed) and then we will take a policy decision,” Menon said.The government had capped cotton exports in the current marketing year, which started October, at 5.5 million bales to rein in local prices, which had risen about 50 per cent within a quarter in line with surging global prices.

It had allowed the textiles commissioner to start cotton export registrations from October 1.
14 December, 2010