Building a generation of cooperatives
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By Pramit Bhattacharya, Mint, New Delhi
May 17–In a nation where farmers are giving up land, and sometimes their lives, in desperation, Anil Shinde of Bhatwadi village in Nashik district of Maharashtra decided to give up his factory job and take up farming.
Shinde faced derision two years ago when he quit his 10-year job as a helper in a glass factory of Larsen and Toubro Ltd in nearby Sinnar. Yet, his move back to the farm seems to have paid off, as his monthly income from his 10-acre plot has increased fivefold, to ’25,000, thanks to the modern farm practices he has adopted.
The 32-year-old Shinde has also helped organize farmers to form a producer company in which he is now a director, even as he is finding followers among young men who are leaving their city jobs to take up farming.
Hardly looking the part of a company director, Shinde sports a perpetual expression of amazement as he narrates the story of his life, the firm he helped found, and the man behind his success: social activist Sunil Pote.
Pote, 40, heads a non-governmental organization (NGO) Yuva Mitra and has spent the better part of the last decade in Sinnar block, mobilizing farmers to make farming more remunerative. The Devnadi Valley Agricultural Producers Co. Ltd, a 550-farmer-strong producer company that Pote has created, buys farm inputs at bulk rates for its members and will soon open retail outlets after tying up with firms to sell crops and packaged food directly to consumers. A graduating student of the US-based Kellogg School of Management, Bryan Lee, is in talks with the company to set up a processing unit as a joint venture between his start-up social enterprise named Kisan First, and Devnadi Valley.
Small farmers do not have adequate bargaining power when they are either buying inputs or selling their produce to traders. Incomes suffer. Low bargaining power both in the market for inputs and outputs leads to worse prices for small farmers, studies by Food and Agriculture Organization show.
A producer company helps small farmers consolidate their buying and selling, and earn more. The number of such producer companies in India, with farmers as sole shareholders, has shot up, nearly doubling to 270 over the past year. Western Indian states such as Maharashtra, with a history of rural cooperatives, are leading the surge.
Read More»Seeing green
By John Stucke, The Spokesman-Review, Spokane, Wash.
May 17–COLFAX — A wet spring has led to optimal conditions for the region’s new crop of winter wheat.
And if prices hold, farmers are poised for another good year.
Agriculture has been a rare economic bright spot during the last several years, in many ways helping to sustain a regional economy beset with job losses and a slack housing market.
As recently as late February farmers were fretting about drought. Snowfall was light and predictions of a weak crop abounded, said Tom Mick, chief executive of the Washington Grain Alliance.
Then the weather patterns shifted and wave after wave of storms brought enough rain and snow in March to break moisture records.
The late-summer harvest should reach the five-year average of 145 million bushels.
“Things are shaping up great,” said farmer Brian Largent, who acknowledged recently he was grateful for some sunshine to aid in planting other crops such as chickpeas. His family has been farming fields in the Palouse since 1934.
While winter wheat — seeded last fall — remains the dominant crop, many area farmers also plant wheat, barley, chickpeas and lentils in the spring.
The Washington wheat crop was worth about $925 million last year. The industry reports that it created about 25,000 jobs in industries such as transportation, product and machinery sales and service in 2011 — far more than the 3,800 people who are considered “wheat growers.”
Mick said agriculture appears to be a safe bet for the next two decades as the world’s population climbs and farmland continues to disappear.
“Wheat is one of the world’s basic staples, and right now the supply and demand is favorable” to farmers, Mick said.
There will be fluctuations, he said; the market for agricultural goods is complex and interrelated, and includes competitive trends from other crops as well as global weather patterns.
Mick noted, for example, that in Kansas, where wheat has long been king, farmers are now harvesting more corn than wheat.
Farmers in Oklahoma and Texas, meanwhile, seem to be getting a reprieve from a stubborn drought and could add millions of bushels of wheat to the market.
Read More»SMALL BUSINESS EXPO: Exhibitors will be on display at Wicker Civic Center
By Alexa Milan, The Sanford Herald, N.C.
May 16–SANFORD — Sanford’s annual showcase of small business returns to the Dennis A. Wicker Civic Center today as about 100 exhibitors gather for the 24th annual Central Carolina Small Business Expo and Marketplace.
The Small Business Expo is organized by a steering committee led by the Sanford Area Chamber of Commerce, Central Carolina Community College’s Small Business Center and the Civic Center, and the event is sponsored by Central Electric Membership Corporation, WFJA/WWGP, Wright Travel and The Herald.
The Expo kicks off from 8-9:30 a.m. today at the Civic Center with business to business hours. The invitation-only business to business show provides small business owners with an opportunity to network before consumers arrive.
“It’s a nice quiet time for a business owner or HR person or purchasing manager to come in and have more one-on-one time with the exhibitors without all the hustle and bustle,” Chamber of Commerce Marketing Director Jennifer St. Clair said.
The business to consumer show runs from 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Wednesday. Admission is $2, or a donation of three cans of food.
The show will feature about 100 exhibitors showcasing what their businesses have to offer.
Want to go?
What: 24th annual Central Carolina Small Business Expo and Marketplace
When: 8-9:30 a.m. today for invitation-only business to business, 10 a.m.-4 p.m. business to consumer
Where: Dennis A. Wicker Civic Center, 1801 Nash St., Sanford
Admission: For business to consumer hours, $2 or three cans of food
More information: (919) 775-7341 or www.sanford-nc.com
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(c)2012 The Sanford Herald (Sanford, N.C.)
Visit The Sanford Herald (Sanford, N.C.) at www.sanfordherald.com
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Read More»Oil price still falling as supplies grow
By CHRIS KAHN
NEW YORK – The price of oil continues to decline as supplies grow in the U.S.
Benchmark U.S. crude on Wednesday fell by 57 cents to $93.41 per barrel in New York. It dipped to a seven-month low of $91.81 earlier and is down about 12 percent overall since the beginning of May.
Brent crude, which helps set the price of oil imported into the U.S., fell by 87 cents to $110.58 per barrel in London.
Prices fell after the government reported that U.S. oil supplies grew last week by 2.1 million barrels. That’s more than analysts expected. Storage levels are now the highest in nearly 22 years. Prices tend to decline when more oil is available.
Oil prices tumbled this month as the economy appeared to cool, and major producers like Saudi Arabia delivered more supplies to the world market. Analysts and investors are also concerned about Europe’s ability to trim massive government debts. Voters in France and Greece recently ousted many top officials who supported spending cuts and other reforms. If the eurozone cannot solve its debt problems, it will weaken an economy that consumes 18 percent of the world’s oil. It also could contribute to a global banking crisis that would hurt the U.S., China and other countries.
At the pump, U.S. retail gasoline prices were flat at a national average of $3.73 per gallon, according to AAA, Wright Express and Oil Price Information Service. The price of a gallon of regular has held steady since Friday, though experts say the average pump price could fall as low as $3.50 per gallon by the Fourth of July.
In other energy futures trading, heating oil lost 1.6 cents to $2.917 per gallon, while wholesale gasoline was virtually unchanged at $2.9476 per gallon. Natural gas rose 8 cents to $2.578 per 1,000 cubic feet.
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Read More»Oil drops to lowest level in 6 months
By CHRIS KAHN
NEW YORK – The price of oil dropped to a six-month low Tuesday on concern that economic uncertainty in Europe could hurt demand for crude.
Benchmark West Texas Intermediate crude fell 80 cents to end the day at $93.98 per barrel in New York. Oil hasn’t finished this low since Dec. 19.
Oil has fallen 11 percent so far in May. Recent signs of global economic weakness in Europe and elsewhere have raised questions about the strength of energy demand.
Among recent developments:
– In Greece, party leaders again failed to form a government on Tuesday. They disagree about whether to accept more international bailouts and continue with painful spending cuts. This raises the possibility of Greece leaving the European common currency and undermining Europe’s already fragile economy. Data released Tuesday show that only growth in Germany kept the eurozone from falling into recession in the first quarter.
– Economic reports in the U.S. have been mixed. On Tuesday, the government said consumers held back a bit on spending last month, even as gas prices declined. That follows reports showing moderating economic growth, a slowdown in the pace of hiring and a decline in gasoline use.
– China, the world’s second-largest oil consumer, last week reported a sharp decline in both investment and industrial production growth for April.
Experts have been reining in forecasts for global oil demand in the near-term. At the same time, Saudi Arabia and other oil-rich countries have increased production. That combination has helped put pressure on oil prices.
For Tuesday, the big question was where Europe is headed.
“Investors don’t know what to make of Europe,” independent analyst and trader Stephen Schork said. “Greece is an absolute mess, and that’s translating into a weaker euro.”
The euro fell to a four-month low against the dollar Tuesday. A stronger dollar makes oil more expensive for investors trading in other currencies.
In the U.S.,
gasoline prices were flat at $3.727 per gallon, according to auto club AAA, Wright Express and Oil Price Information Service. A gallon of regular unleaded has dropped by nearly 21 cents since topping out at $3.936 in early April.
Read More»Bank of America expands short sale incentive to $30,000
By Tampa Bay Times, St. Petersburg, Fla.
May 16–Expanding a program that began in Florida, Bank of America plans to entice more distressed homeowners across the county to sell houses in short sales by offering up to $30,000 in relocation money.
The bank tested the program in the fall in Florida, where more than 11,000 homeowners agreed to participate.
The new plan, announced Tuesday, will pay borrowers between $2,500 to $30,000 for moving expenses when a short sale is finalized. The bank expects the greatest response from customers in Florida, California, Nevada and Arizona — states hit hardest by the foreclosure crisis.
Florida homeowners who didn’t enroll in the test program can now apply for the new plan.
The relocation money will be based on the home’s value and mortgage amount. To be eligible, the short sale must be initiated by the end of this year and close by Sept. 26, 2013, the bank said.
The Florida-only program targeted 20,000 homeowners and paid between $5,000 and $20,000. The bank was also waiving the difference between the unpaid mortgage and amount of the short sale, which allowed homeowners to walk away without still owing the bank a big chunk of money.
Since October, Bank of America has rolled out multiple initiatives to speed up short sales and to prevent foreclosures. Last month, it announced plans to approve some short sales in less than 20 days.
The bank serviced 1.1 million Florida mortgages, of which about 253,000 were delinquent as of late last year.
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(c)2012 the Tampa Bay Times (St. Petersburg, Fla.)
Visit the Tampa Bay Times (St. Petersburg, Fla.) at www.tampabay.com
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