The latest development in the ongoing saga of decontrolling sugar from government control is Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar meeting the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Thursday to present a case for liberating the sector. Earlier the parliamentary panel on food and agriculture had recommended against sugar decontrol, saying that it will harm both farmers and consumers.

The sugar industry, at present, is controlled by government, by specifying the quantity to be sold in the open market and through public distribution system (PDS) every month. With the imminent bumper crop, which will be ready in two months’ time, the move to decontrol sugar is gaining momentum.

The presentation made by Mr. Pawar to the Prime Minister is believed to include plans and methods Food Ministry will be adapting to free sugar industry from governmental control. Mr. Pawar is understood to have discussed the beneficial outcomes of the move for farmers and consumers.

Among the proposals put forth by Food Ministry is doing away with the practice of setting monthly quota for sale of sugar in open market and through ration shops. Now, sugar mills are bound by law to sell 20% of the sugar produced to government for sale in ration shops. To meet the sugar requirement for PDS, the ministry has advocated purchase of sugar from the open market.

It is believed that the Food Ministry has proposed to give freedom to farmers to sell their produce wherever they want to, instead of the present practice of selling sugarcane to specified mills.

Earlier, Mr. Pawar had hinted that despite decontrolling sugar industry, the government would continue to fix Fair and Remunerative Price (FRP) for sugarcane to protect farmers from exploitation. This is the minimum price to be paid by mills to buy sugarcane from farmers.

The Indian industry body, ASSOCHAM has sent a proposal to the External Affairs Ministry to facilitate Indian farmers exploit the opportunities for agriculture presented by some African nations. A few of these countries are offering land on lease for 99 years for free to overseas farmers and countries like China, South Korea and some Arab countries including Saudi Arabia have already made their mark with mega-farms in these countries.

“Hoping to address the huge issue of food shortage, these countries have begun inviting overseas farmers to come and cultivate their lands. These governments are willing to lease land free of cost for 99 years,” said D S Rawat, Secretary General, ASSOCHAM.

The African governments, while offering free leased land, have not placed any restrictions on crop selection or sale of produce. The overseas farmers are free to cultivate any crop and sell it in either domestic market or export the harvest. This makes the arrangement beneficial for both parties concerned.

“It is a win-win situation for the farmers and for the African governments,” says Om S Tyagi, Director, ASSOCHAM. He adds, “Since the lease is for 99 years, it means that a farmer is in control of the land for his life time. It means land for roughly around three generations.”

China, South Korea and Saudi Arabia have already jumped on the bandwagon, established huge farms and begun cultivation of land. A few Indian farmers, mostly from Punjab, have bought land in these countries on their own initiative and set up individual farms. However, according to ASSOCHAM, this endeavor will be more productive if undertaken on a larger scale with the support of Indian government.

The African nations actively canvassing overseas farmers are Sudan, Ethiopia, Zambia, Kenya, Madagascar, Senegal and Mozambique.

An herb from the Latin American country of Paraguay, named Stevia, is being proclaimed as the answer to the country’s rising sugar prices and bulging waistlines. The zero-calorie sweetener not only can replace sugar as a sweetening agent, but also can act as a flavor enhancer in food and beverages, claims Sourabh Agarwal, MD, Stevia Biotech Pvt Ltd.

Mr. Agarwal is enthusiastic about introducing stevia into Indian market, reeling under unprecedented high sugar prices. He said, “If you’ve ever tasted stevia, you know it’s extremely sweet. A white powder extracted from the dry stevia shrub leaves is approximately 200 to 300 times sweeter than sugar.”

“It is a zero calorie sweetener and without any side effects. It can replace sugar in every aspect,” he added. He points out that the herb is tried and tested by centuries of use as sweetener and flavor enhancer in its country of origin.

Another favorable aspect about stevia is that it can be grown in diverse climatic conditions. Mr. Agarwal is upbeat about the chances of stevia in India. “The climatic condition in our country is suitable for its cultivation,” he said. “It is easy to maintain and can grow anywhere. For commercial farming of stevia, one needs to make sure of factors like temperature, soil type, water type and availability and planting material for maximum yield with a great quality.”

Mr. Agarwal stressed the herb’s advantages for diabetics and in weight loss industry. He said that clinical studies have established the curative properties of Stevia for diabetics by helping reactivate insulin-secreting cells.

Stevia is widely used as a sweetener in Japan and as a dietary supplement in the US and Canada. Stevia Biotech is seeking governmental permission to start its commercial cultivation in the country.

The food standards agency of the United Nations, Codex Alimentarius Commission (Codex) has framed new norms for melamine contamination in food items. Though the norms are applicable to exported Indian foods, it may not have much impact, as melamine is not common in India.

Melamine contamination had created great furore recently in China when baby milk powder was found to have high levels of melamine in it. It resulted in over 10,000 children falling sick and four dead. Earlier, pet foods made in China were recalled from the US market following detection of dangerous levels of melamine.

Presence of melamine in food is unavoidable, as it comes by contact from the containers used to store food items. However, traces of melamine present in foods do not pose health hazards. Only when the levels of melamine reach high concentrations, it is toxic. Codex has specified the maximum melamine levels permissible in food items. For baby foods, it is 1 mg/kg, while for all other food items, it is 2.5 mg/kg.

Melamine is a hard synthetic substance used mainly in making kitchenware, tableware, can coating and countertops. Even when melamine-coated containers are used in the manufacturing of food items, the melamine content in the food won’t reach toxic levels. This happens when melamine is added deliberately to foods to make them appear thicker. When melamine is added to watery milk, it will look richer and full of protein. Unfortunately, usual tests cannot detect the presence of melamine and would tag it as protein.

When consumed in large concentrations, melamine can cause renal problems. Hence it is banned all over the world.

Martijn Weijtens, chair of the Codex Committee on contaminants in foods said, “Establishment of maximum levels will help governments differentiate between low levels of unavoidable melamine occurrence that do not cause health problems, and deliberate adulteration – thereby protecting public health without unnecessary impediments to international trade.”

Codex has also specified maximum levels of aflatoxins, carcinogenic fungal toxins in foods and has given a code of practice to prevent contamination.