Who is Making the Oil Fume ?

Out of curiousity .. Do muslims believe in genetic science or are they like creationists ?

and also ..

http://www.ls9.com/

to inspire any upcoming Pakistani genetic engineers ?

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/environment/article4133668.ece

worth a read...

Vengat, NKG and Majumdar:

Subsidies soon become cretch, and inefficieny sets in while competition is removed. India cannot change the ground reality of smaller land ownership. NKG's point that it is difficult to create higher productivity in smaller land ownersip may have merit. Subsidies make it only worse and, do not lend themselves to let real problems come out in the open for the market to address. Even worse, politicians step in and use it to get votes.

For the last 18 mos., I have been involved to automate their financial settlement and quality processes for one of the largest potato marketers in the U.S. This involvement has been educational for me. I discovered that growerers are exempt from the U.S. anti-trust laws to organize themselves together and negotiate prices from larger buyers of their products, suppliers of fertilizer and even get financing. Otherwise these buyers, suppliers and bankers could dictate their terms.

They, thus, create manageable "middlemen" who are owned by farmers.

In the process some of these "middleman" have been able to develop huge brand names like "Land-O-Lakes", "Ocean Sprays". They are able to take their branded products directly to the shelves and bring in greater profits in their hand. These "middlemen" work on a fix percentage to cover expenses, rest is distributed among the members. In many cases "middlemen" smoothen out income peaks and valley in a year, and provide regular monthly income to farmers, even when their supplies are seasonal.

AMUL butter is an Indian example.

More profits in farmers hand has been a key driver in the U.S. This has been a balancing force in the agri-Industry, where farmers still rely on farm subsidies.

The U.S. farm subsidies are not as bad as they are in Europe and Japan. Europe uses subsidies as a barrier against outsiders to enter. In Japan, farm subsidies are almost like drugs, which have made their smaller farms addicted to subsidies.

I think entire food supply chain in India is inefficient. Even though it now caters almost billion people market. One of the largest markets in the world. Methods and organization has changed very little.

The land has not increased, the distribution / PDS has not changed. I do not know about financing of farm business part in India.

Increasing productivity up and down the food chain is the only way out. Please correct me if I am wrong that the last increase in farm productivity was due to better seeds and fertilizers.

Indian PDS is too bureaucratic to be an efficient market maker and set prices, but it does. India can re-examine, its "Mandi" market to make it more efficient through application of technology to automate many processes.

Majumdar's point that Indian food habit is different, but don't you think that it may make India more land dependent for its food?

There is no easy answer for India, this should, therefore make it more urgent to take a fresh look.

A strong case can be made to allow market forces to play a role.

Granted land ownership cannot change, but water rights may possibly be organized to increase farmer coordination. In San Luis Valley in Colorado water rights are controlled by the state and local government.

I realize that this can potentially bring corruption and organized violence in Indian farms. Therefore, India may need to find its own solution.

Market making / price neogtiations can be removed and given to farmers to organize themselves, instead to single PDS. Farmers can play an active role in the making of "Mandi".

PDS rather than being vertically integrated into a single bureaucracy can be re-organized to make movement of grain and food related items more efficient.

Current PDS, as I understood, came into existence because food was not moving fast enough to the consumers. Let them get back to the basics.

Increasingly government will be poorer in India, and market will be richer. Thus subsidies would be like asking a poorer cousin to pay. There may be a need to bring this back to the market from the Government.

Majum, Veng...
I am also from farmer family(Large/Medium Land Owners of pre-communist era of West Bengal). My Great Grandpa was owner of 1/3 of a village in two different places (total around around 3-4 square KMs). Anyhow that has changed.

Nkg,

Farming doesn't need subsidy, its the consumers who need the farmers to get subsidies. If the government would stop indulging in correcting the prices of farm produces, farmers will do good.

Maju Anna, Nkg

The problem with us is we expect farming to gratify us the same way modern professions does. Fyi, my dad is a graduate Engineer, he chucked the government job early in his career and got into farming.

Nkg,

Re: 78

You can discuss this with Vengy Garu on PM/UP/email. His family actually farms.

Regards

Re: # 64
Majumder...
The solution is not so simple. Sometimes high productivity takes toll on nature and costs very high subsidised input. You reduce subsidy from farm inputs, farming is not at all lucrative. Furthermore, high productivity is mostly realted large organised farming (though in West Bengal, CPI(M) tried to project in different way). I feel, India can not improve farm productivity like developed world...

Re: # 59
Now Saudi Arabia is blaming USA for oil price rise.....
There is no severe cut is supply line, which can create such a price hike. US commodity cartels are manipulating price...

We are yet to hear from Russia....

Couple of years back, on Sunday Times, noted economist Swaminathan Aiyar opined that, ONGC should not go for bilateral agreement to purchase oil fields in Africa. Africa is prone to political turmoil, when they find new natural resource ("Blood Diamond"). It may be very unreliable (Nigeria and Chad). It is better to purchase middle east oil with current market rate....
If Saudi accusation is true, then ONGC approach looks better than the open one....

Re: # 74

{Oil producing countries would certainly protect their asset values from deflating to keep inflation out of the world economy.}????


{I do think these countries will bear the most burden of the cost of Iraq war. America will sell them peace dividends of longivity in their control over oil assets.}

Possible but speculative.

Re: # 73

(Euro's launch price was 89 US cents.)

Wrong, go check again starting January 1999.

Re: # 73

Zeemax sahib:

All this keep strengthening my point. Oil producing countries would certainly protect their asset values from deflating to keep inflation out of the world economy. I do think these countries will bear the most burden of the cost of Iraq war. America will sell them peace dividends of longivity in their control over oil assests.

#61 Posted by anil,

Euro's launch price was 89 US cents.

Re: # 61

Hi anil,

Euro started trading at US$1.15/Euro and then drifted lower to 90 cents/Euro.

Hi Ijaz,
You know you are talking to a loony in #68.
Having fun in Isloo? Hey what is the rumor mill like in pindi.. Send me an email!