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.

June was a letdown for farmers awaiting monsoon rains, as the month received 16% less rainfall than the forecast. The only solace is that compared to June 2009, there was a 60% increase. The India Meteorological Department (IMD) attributed the deficiency in rainfall to unfavorable local weather conditions, which weakened the monsoon winds that arrived in the country on schedule.

Though monsoon arrived in the southern coast of India by the beginning of June and progressed on time to central and eastern parts of the country, it weakened by mid-June and did not reach the northern states on schedule. However, IMD is standing by its forecast of near-normal rainfall for the four-month period of south-west monsoon, saying that monsoon will revive soon and the deficiency will be compensated.

Ajit Tyagi, director general of the IMD said, “I stand by the forecast of normal monsoon. We are hopeful of a revival by July 2 or July 3.” IMD has predicted fairly widespread rain or thundershowers for most of the north Indian states in the coming days. This means that the south-west monsoon is more than two weeks behind schedule in most northern states.

The delayed monsoon is prompting farmers to postpone planting crops. The most affected is the soybean crops in central India. Rice planting may also be delayed in Punjab and Haryana, if monsoon plays truant. With the monsoon refusing to strengthen, government is reluctant to remove curbs on export of wheat and rice, despite the country having massive stocks of the same.

The hesitant start of the south-west monsoon is giving sleepless nights to policymakers, already bogged down by rising inflation. The recent deregulation of petrol prices may further worsen the situation.

The uncanny relation of agriculture and economy is pressuring government to draw up district-specific contingency plan to overcome the vagaries of nature. The past years have witnessed weather playing a major role in agricultural output and thereby in the country’s economy.

Agriculture, accounting for 16.6% of the GDP and employing 52% of country’s total workforce, is vastly affected by the unpredictable weather patterns, mostly blamed on global warming and the ensuing climate change. The tumbling effect on economy is becoming too grave for the government to ignore of late. Indian Council for Agricultural Research (ICAR) in tandem with state agricultural universities has come out with a contingency plan to get over this eventuality.

Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana, the government initiative in combating unruly weather-related disasters, has prepared a draft manual for 89 out of 600-plus districts in the country. This is awaiting approval and validation by agriculture experts.

This draft manual divides the country into five zones and further into districts in formulating the contingency plan, which is considered more effective than a single plan for the whole country. In the manual, alternative plans are suggested in crop selection and cultivation methods, when the climate turns abnormal. This includes less or delayed rains, unseasonal rains, floods or excessive rains, above-normal temperature and frost.

ICAR is being assisted in this work by Central Research Institute for Dryland Agriculture (CRIDA), an affiliated organization based in Hyderabad. The contingency manual for each district would have details regarding basic agricultural statistics and soil mapping. It would also contain information on livestock and fisheries, which is vital in disaster management.

“Each district would have a scientific document at the disposal of district collector for adaptation in case of eventualities,” says B Venkateswarlu, director, CRIDA.

The contingency manuals are expected to be ready in a year.