India's Agrarian Crisis: A Farmer Commits Suicide Every 30 Minutes

An Indian farmer commits suicide every 30 minutes. About 200,000 Indian farmers have killed themselves over the last decade, according to media reports quoting India Rural Development Report 2012-13 released in September this year.

The report, prepared by a government-funded Infrastructure Development Finance Company, was released by India's rural development minister Jairam Ramesh. It says 65% of India’s poor live in Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Assam, Jharkhand, Odisha, Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh in 2011-12, a significant increase from 50% in 1993-94.

More recent news indicates that the crisis is continuing unabated. About two-thirds of the farmer suicides are being reported from 5 states: Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh. Other states are not immune. Indian Punjab has seen nearly 7000 farmers kill themselves in the last decade. Gujarat, the home of BJP's Prime Ministerial candidate Narendra Modi, reported 60 farmer suicides in 2012-13.

A report by Center for Human Rights and Global Justice blames failures of biotech crops, particularly Bt cotton, for the tragedy. The report also says inadequate policy responses are contributing to the crisis. Others believe it is caused by poor irrigation. They say that cotton requires a lot more water relative to other crops. It takes 25,000 liters of water to produce one kilo of cotton, about 50 times more than to grow a kilo of potatoes, according to a report in Forbes magazine.

The problem of suicides appears to be at least in part due to the fact that India's value added agriculture continues be among the lowest in the world. Unlike India, Pakistan managed to significantly raise agriculture productivity and rural incomes in 1980s through a livestock revolution. Economic activity in dairy, meat and poultry sectors now accounts for just over 50% of the nation's total agricultural output. The result is that per capita value added to agriculture in Pakistan is almost twice as much as that in Bangladesh and India.

Adding value is the process of changing or transforming a product from its original state to a more valuable state, according to Professor Mike Boland of Kansas State University. The professor explains how it applies to agriculture as follows:

"Many raw commodities have intrinsic value in their original state. For example, field corn grown, harvested and stored on a farm and then fed to livestock on that farm has value. In fact, value usually is added by feeding it to an animal, which transforms the corn into animal protein or meat. The value of a changed product is added value, such as processing wheat into flour. It is important to identify the value-added activities that will support the necessary investment in research, processing and marketing. The application of biotechnology, the engineering of food from raw products to the consumers and the restructuring of the distribution system to and from the producer all provide opportunities for adding value."

Although Pakistan's value added to agriculture is high for its region, it has been essentially flat since mid-1990s. It also lags significantly behind developing countries in other parts of the world. For example, per capita worker productivity in North Africa and the Middle East is more than twice that of Pakistan while in Latin America it is more than three times higher.

Agriculture Value Added Per Capita in Constant 2000 US$--Source: World Bank

There are lots of opportunities for Pakistan to reach the levels of value addition already achieved in Middle East, North Africa and Latin America.These range from building infrastructure to reduce losses to fuller utilization of animals and crops for producing valuable products.  Value addition through infrastructure development includes storage and transportation facilities for crops, dairy and meat to cut spoilage. Other opportunities to add value include better processing of  sugarcane waste, rice bran, animal hides and bones, hot treatment, grading and packaging of fruits, vegetables and fish, etc.

Agriculture Value Added Per Capita in South Asia, North Africa and Latin America--Source: World Bank

Pakistan's growing middle class has increased demand for dairy, meat and various branded and processed food products. Engro, Nestle, Unilever and other food giants are working with family farms and supermarket chains like Makro, Hyperstar and Metro Cash and Carry to respond to it by setting up modern supply chains.

Growth of value added agriculture in Pakistan has helped the nation's rural economy. It has raised incomes and reduced rural poverty by creating more higher wage jobs. It has had a salutary effect on the lives of the rural poor in terms of their ability to afford better healthcare, nutrition and education. Doing more to promote value added agriculture can accelerate such improvements for the majority of Indians and Pakistanis who engage in agriculture and textiles and still live in rural areas.

Here's a Democracy Now video on Indian farmers' suicides:


Related Links:

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Most Indians and Pakistanis Employed in Agriculture and Textiles

Pakistan Leads South Asia in Value Added Agriculture

Pakistan Among Top Meat and Dairy Consuming Nations

Upwardly Mobile Pakistan

Comparing Pakistan and Bangladesh

FMCG Boom in Pakistan

Agricultural Growth in India, Pakistan and Bangladesh

Pakistan's Rural Economic Survey

Pakistan's KSE Outperforms BRIC Exchanges in 2010

High Cost of Failure to Aid Flood Victims

Karachi Tops Mumbai in Stock Performance

India and Pakistan Contrasted in 2010

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World Bank Report on Rural Poverty in Pakistan

USAID Report on Pakistan Food & Agriculture

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China's Trade and Investment in South Asia

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When Ayub Met JFK 50 Years Ago..

I was a little child growing up in Karachi when the news of JFK's assassination was received with great shock and extreme sorrow in Pakistan. That was 50 years ago today. Just a couple years earlier in 1961, Pakistan's President Mohammad Ayub Khan had  made a successful state visit to the United States. He was warmly received at Andrews Air Force Base near Washington DC by US President John F. Kennedy and First Lady Mrs. Jacqueline Kennedy. 

President John F. Kennedy and Jackie Kennedy receiving President Ayub Khan

I saw the pictures of President Ayub Khan meeting with the US President John F. Kennedy as did other Pakistanis. There were also many photographs of young JFK and his beautiful family splashed across the front pages of major Pakistani newspapers during and after the visit. The sudden loss of the young American president in 1963 was deeply felt as Pakistanis viewed images of his beautiful young widow and two little children mourning for their loved one at his funeral.

President Ayub Khan, his daughter Nasim Aurangzeb with President and Mrs Kennedy

US-Pakistan ties were extremely close in 1960s. President Ayub was extended the rare honor of being welcomed by the US President and the First Lady at the airport when the PIA airplane carrying him landed in the United States. He was also given the privilege of addressing a special Joint Session of the US Congress where he received standing ovation. Later, he rode an open top car in a ticker-tape parade in New York City with tens of thousands of Americans lining the parade route and cheering him.

US followed up the visit with a massive assistance program which helped bring about the Green Revolution in Pakistan. The world's largest continuous irrigation system was built along with huge dams with US aid in 1960s. In addition, there was a major industrialization program started under state-owned Pakistan Industrial Development Corporation (PIDC) with US help.

Here's how Pakistani economist Dr. Ishrat Husain recalls Pakistan of 1960s:

"The manufacturing sector expanded by 9 percent annually and various new industries were set up. Agriculture grew at a respectable rate of 4 percent with the introduction of Green Revolution technology. Governance improved with a major expansion in the government’s capacity for policy analysis, design and implementation, as well as the far-reaching process of institution building. The Pakistani polity evolved from what political scientists called a “soft state” to a “developmental” one that had acquired the semblance of political legitimacy. By 1969, Pakistan’s manufactured exports were higher than the exports of Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia combined. Though speculative, it is possible that, had the economic policies and programs of the Ayub regime continued over the next two decades, Pakistan would have emerged as another miracle economy."

The decade of 1960s is called by economists as Pakistan's Golden Sixties. It was the result of good governance and significant help from the United States at the height of Cold War.

Both US and Pakistan still have close ties but these are marked by significant mutual distrust. People of goodwill on both sides can help reduce some of this mistrust to improve relations. President Kennedy said  in his 1961 inaugural address: "Ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country". It is still as applicable to both US and Pakistan today as it was when he said it.

Here's a video of President Ayub Khan's 1961 visit to the United States:


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India's IT Exports Figures Highly Exaggerated

A 2005 study by US General Accounting Office (GAO) found that Indian government's figures for software and technology exports to the United States were 20 times higher than the US figures for import of the same from India.

U.S. General Accounting Office looked at the 2003 data showing the United States reported $420 million in unaffiliated imports of BPT (business, professional, and technical) services from India, while India reported approximately $8.7 billion in exports of affiliated and unaffiliated BPT services to the United States.

US-India IT Trade Discrepancy Source: GAO 

The GAO found at least five definitional and methodological factors that contribute to the difference between U.S. and Indian data on BPT services. First, India and the United States follow different practices in accounting for the earnings of temporary Indian workers residing in the United States. Second, India defines certain services, such as software embedded on computer hardware, differently than the United States. Third, India and the United States follow different practices for counting sales by India to U.S.-owned firms located outside of the United States. The United States follows International Monetary Fund standards for each of these factors. Fourth, BEA (Bureau of Economic Analysis) does not report country-specific data for particular types of services due to concerns about the quality of responses it receives from firms when they allocate their affiliated imports to detailed types of services. As a result, U.S. data on BPT services include only unaffiliated imports from India, while Indian data include both affiliated and unaffiliated exports. Fifth, other differences, such as identifying all services importers, may also contribute to the data gap.

In theory, India follows what is known as BPM 6 (MSITS) reporting method for software and information-enabled technology services (ITES) which counts sales to all multinationals, earning of overseas offices, salaries of non-immigrant overseas workers as India's exports. In practice, India violates it. BPM 6 allows the salaries of first year of migrant workers to be included in a country's service exports. India continuously and cumulatively adds all the earnings of its migrants to US in its software exports. If 50,000 Indians migrate on H1B visas each year, and they each earn $50,000 a year, that's a $2.5 billion addition to their exports each year. Cumulatively over 10 years, this would be $25 billion in exports year after year and growing.

There has neither been any acknowledgement nor any correction of the Indian government's methodology for reporting software and IT services exports since the GAO report was published in 2005. This raises serious questions about the accuracy of India's claims of $60 billion to $70 billion IT software and service exports being currently reported. If the 20X exaggeration still persists, the Indian IT exports could be as little as $3 billion to $4 billion today based on the US methodology.

Pakistan IT Exports BPM 5 Method Source: State Bank of Pakistan

Unlike the Reserve Bank of India's claimed BPM 6 methodology, the State Bank of Pakistan uses a much more conservative BPM 5 reporting system which does not include sales to multinationals located in Pakistan and earning of overseas offices and salaries of non-immigrant Pakistani overseas workers in Pakistan's exports figures. If the State Bank switched to BPM 6 method, Pakistan's software and IT exports of $294 million for 2012-2013 could easily become at least $5 billion.

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Pakistan Leads South Asia in Agriculture Value Addition

Livestock revolution enabled Pakistan to significantly raise agriculture productivity and rural incomes in 1980s. Economic activity in dairy, meat and poultry sectors now accounts for just over 50% of the nation's total agricultural output. The result is that per capita value added to agriculture in Pakistan is almost twice as much as that in Bangladesh and India.

Adding value is the process of changing or transforming a product from its original state to a more valuable state, according to Professor Mike Boland of Kansas State University. The professor explains how it applies to agriculture as follows:

"Many raw commodities have intrinsic value in their original state. For example, field corn grown, harvested and stored on a farm and then fed to livestock on that farm has value. In fact, value usually is added by feeding it to an animal, which transforms the corn into animal protein or meat. The value of a changed product is added value, such as processing wheat into flour. It is important to identify the value-added activities that will support the necessary investment in research, processing and marketing. The application of biotechnology, the engineering of food from raw products to the consumers and the restructuring of the distribution system to and from the producer all provide opportunities for adding value."

Crop Yield Comparison. Source: Kleffman Group

Although Pakistan's value added to agriculture is high for its region, it has been essentially flat since mid-1990s. It also lags significantly behind developing countries in other parts of the world. For example, per capita worker productivity in North Africa and the Middle East is more than twice that of Pakistan while in Latin America it is more than three times higher.

Agriculture Value Added Per Capita in Constant 2000 US$--Source: World Bank

There are lots of opportunities for Pakistan to reach the levels of value addition already achieved in Middle East, North Africa and Latin America.These range from building infrastructure to reduce losses to fuller utilization of animals and crops for producing valuable products.  Value addition through infrastructure development includes storage and transportation facilities for crops, dairy and meat to cut spoilage. Other opportunities to add value include better processing of  sugarcane waste, rice bran, animal hides and bones, hot treatment, grading and packaging of fruits, vegetables and fish, etc.

Agriculture Value Added Per Capita in South Asia, North Africa and Latin America--Source: World Bank

Pakistan's growing middle class has increased demand for dairy, meat and various branded and processed food products. Engro, Nestle, Unilever and other food giants are working with family farms and supermarket chains like Makro, Hyperstar and Metro Cash and Carry to respond to it by setting up modern supply chains.

Agriculture Value Addition in South Asia. Source: World Bank

Value Added Agriculture Per Worker. Source: World Bank

Growth of value added agriculture in Pakistan has helped the nation's rural economy. It has raised incomes and reduced rural poverty by creating more higher wage jobs. It has had a salutary effect on the lives of the rural poor in terms of their ability to afford better healthcare, nutrition and education. Doing more to promote value added agriculture can accelerate such improvements for the majority of Pakistanis who engage in agriculture and textiles and still live in rural areas.

Related Links:

Haq's Musings

Most Indians and Pakistanis Employed in Agriculture and Textiles

Pakistan Among Top Meat and Dairy Consuming Nations

Upwardly Mobile Pakistan

Comparing Pakistan and Bangladesh

FMCG Boom in Pakistan

Agricultural Growth in India, Pakistan and Bangladesh

Pakistan's Rural Economic Survey

Pakistan's KSE Outperforms BRIC Exchanges in 2010

High Cost of Failure to Aid Flood Victims

Karachi Tops Mumbai in Stock Performance

India and Pakistan Contrasted in 2010

Pakistan's Decade 1999-2009

Musharraf's Economic Legacy

World Bank Report on Rural Poverty in Pakistan

USAID Report on Pakistan Food & Agriculture

Copper, Gold Deposits Worth $500 Billion at Reko Diq, Pakistan

China's Trade and Investment in South Asia

India's Twin Deficits

Pakistan's Economy 2008-2010

Latifullah Mehsud Arrest Led to Killings of Hakimullah and Haqqani?

Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan's Deputy Leader Latifullah Mesud's arrest in October by Americans in Afghanistan was soon followed by the killing of TTP leader Hakimullah Mehsud in North Waziristan and the assassination of Haqqani Network's Naseeruddin Haqqani in Islamabad. Are all three of these events connected?

It now appears from various reports that Latifullah Mehsud was working closely with the Afghan intelligence to carry out terrorist attacks across Pakistan. But Latifullah and Hakimullah were also in contact with Naseeruddin Haqqani to communicate with Pakistani government to plan peace talks.

Apparently, Latifullah had been working for Afghan intelligence for several months which has now been acknowledged by the Afghan government. It is also known that Afghan intelligence has close ties with Indian intelligence.

Latifullah's arrest and interrogation helped Americans track down both Hakimullah Mehsud and Naseerudddin Haqqani who were wanted for the murder of American spies and soldiers in Afghanistan. Americans also wanted to disrupt both the TTP and the Haqqani network because of their close collaboration with Al Qaeda in Pakistan to plot attacks against western targets. Such collaboration in the past has resulted in the deaths of several CIA agents at Khost forward operating base in Afghanistan, deaths of hundreds of NATO troops, and Pakistani-American Faisal Shehzad's failed attempt to bomb Times Square in New York.

Here's a video discussion of recent events:

https://youtu.be/xtHV0ciRQoo





Hakimullah Mehsud killed; Reaction in Pakistan; India’s Mars mission from WBT TV on Vimeo.

Viewpoint from Overseas host Faraz Darvesh discusses with Riaz Haq (riazhaq.com), Sabahat Ashraf (iFaqeer; ifaqeer.com) and Ali Hasan Cemendtaur Hakimullah Mehsud’s killing in a US drone attack and the reaction in Pakistan, why PTI wants to stop NATO supply; and India’s mission to Mars.
This show was recorded at 1 pm PST on Thursday, November 7, 2013.

New York Times Cartoon 

حکیم اللہ محسود ڈرون حملے میں ہلاک، پاکستان میں مختلف ردعمل، عمران خان کی ناراضگی، پاکستان تحریک انصاف کی دھمکی کہ وہ نیٹو سپلاءی بند کردیں گے؛ ہندوستان کا خلاءی جہاز مریخ کی طرف روانہ، فراز درویش، ریاض حق، صباحت اشرف، آءی فقیر، علی حسن سمندطور، ڈبلیو بی ٹی ٹی وی، ویو پواءنٹ فرام اوورسیز، امریکہ میں پاکستانی، سلیکن ویلی، سان فرانسسکو بے ایریا

पाकिस्तान, कराची, विएव्पोइन्त फ्रॉम ओवरसीज , फ़राज़ दरवेश, रिअज़ हक , सबाहत अशरफ , ई फ़क़ीर, अली हसन समंदतौर, दब्लेव बी टी टीवी, सिलिकॉन वेली, कैलिफोर्निया, फार्रुख शाह खान, फार्रुख खान

পাকিস্তান,  করাচী,  ক্যালিফর্নিয়া, সিলিকোন ভ্যালি, ভিয়েব্পৈন্ট ফরম ওভারসিস

Виещпоинт фром Оверсеас, Цалифорния, Карачи, Пакистан, Фараз Дарвеш, Риац Хак, Сабахат Ашраф, И-фаяеер, Али Хасан Цемендтаур

، رياض  حق ، إي  فقير ، صباحات  أشرف ، علي حسن  سمند طور ، فيوبوينت فروم  أفرسيس ، كاليفورنيا، كراتشي  ، باكستان ،

പാക്കിസ്ഥാൻ  കറാച്ചി  കാലിഫോര്ണിയ  വീവ്പൊഇന്റ് ഫ്രം ഓവർസീസ്‌ ഫരശ് ദര്വേഷ്  രിഅശ് ഹഖ്  അലി ഹസാൻ സമണ്ട്ടൂർ  ഐ ഫഖീർ  സബഹറ്റ് അഷ്‌റഫ്‌

પાકિસ્તાન,  કરાચી,  ફરાઝ દરવેશ,  રીઅઝ હક, સબાહત અશરફ, અલી હસન સમાંન્દ્તૌર, કાલીફોર્નિયા, વિએવ્પોઇન્ત ફ્રોમ ઓવેર્સેઅસ

पाकिस्तान, कराची, विएव्पोइन्त फ्रोम ओवेर्सेअस, कॅलिफोर्निया, फराज दरवेश, रिअश हक़, साबाहत अश्रफ, ई फ़क़ॆर, आली हसन समंद तूर

פקיסטן, קראצ'י, קליפורניה, הטליבאן, האיסלאם.

Audio of the program is here:
https://archive.org/details/HakimullahMehsudKilledReactionInPakistanIndiasMarsMission

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Big Pay Day For Twitter Investor Suhail Rizvi

Suhail Rizvi's 15.6% stake in Twitter was worth $3.8 billion at the end of trading on Thursday when the social media company went public on the New York Stock Exchange.

Suhail Rizvi Photo Courtesy: Valley Wag

Suhail Rizvi was born in India and graduated from the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton Business School. He started and sold a telecom company soon after, and with the proceeds financed the buy-out of an electronic manufacturing business of a Puerto Rico phone company whose annual revenue he boosted from $10 million to $450 million by focusing on higher end products, according to Times of India.

Suhail Rizvi moved with his parents to the United States in 1971 when he was only five. His father Raza Rizvi taught psychology at Ellsworth Community College in Iowa Falls, Iowa, where Suhail and his brother Ashraf, who is a hedge fund manager, went to school.

In addition to Rizvi Traverse Capital's  $3.82 billion, other big winners of Twitter IPO include Evan Williams $2.55 billion,  JP Morgan $2.19 billion,  Spark Capital  $1.46 billion,   Benchmark Capital $1.42 billion, USV $1.25 billion,  DST Global $1.07 billion,  Jack Dorsey $1.05 billion,   Dick Costolo $344 million, and Adam Bain $80 million.

Rizvi Traverse's other major investments include a controlling interest in Playboy and music rights organization Sesac, as well as stakes in news app Flipboard and Jack Dorsey's digital payments company, Square. Sources told CNBC that Rizvi invested $100 million in Facebook before its IPO and sold its shares earlier this year. It also has sold its equity stake in talent agency ICM, and in "Twilight" producer Summit Entertainment, which sold to Lionsgate.

Rizvi's biggest individual client is Prince Waleed Bin Talal of Saudi Arabia who invested $300 million pre-IPO in Twitter through Rizvi Traverse. Rizvi also invested JP Morgan Chase's $400 million pre-IPO in Twitter. Rizvi is reported to have used personal connections in Silicon Valley to purchase these stakes from Twitter employees.

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Marvel to Launch Pakistani-American Girl Superhero Comic

The new Ms. Marvel’s real name is Kamala Khan, a 16-year-old Muslim Pakistani-American girl from Jersey City, New Jersey. “Kamala has all of her opportunities in front her and she is loaded with potential, but her parents’ high expectations come with tons of pressure,” says Marvel's press release. “When Kamala suddenly gets powers that give her the opportunity to be just like her idol, Captain Marvel, it challenges the very core of her conservative values.”

Source: Marvel Entertainment

Kamala Khan as Ms. Marvel is the first comic book character from Marvel Entertainment who is both female and Muslim. It is part of the American comic giant's efforts to reflect a growing diversity among its readers.

The new Ms. Marvel series is mainly the work of two women: G. Willow Wilson, a convert to Islam who created the character, and Sana Amanat who edits it.

Here's how Wilson describes the main character of the comic: "Islam is both an essential part of her identity and something she struggles mightily with. She's not a poster girl for the religion, or some kind of token minority. She does not cover her hair –most American Muslim women don't—and she's going through a rebellious phase. She wants to go to parties and stay out past 9 PM and feel “normal.” Yet at the same time, she feels the need to defend her family and their beliefs".

Ms. Wilson says the series is “about the universal experience of all American teenagers, feeling kind of isolated and finding what they are.” Though here, she told New York Times, that happens “through the lens of being a Muslim-American” with superpowers.

Source: Marvel Entertainment

Elaborating on the superhero character, series editor Sana Amanat said the following in an interview published on Marvel.com website: "As much as Islam is a part of Kamala’s identity, this book isn’t preaching about religion or the Islamic faith in particular. It’s about what happens when you struggle with the labels imposed on you, and how that forms your sense of self. It’s a struggle we’ve all faced in one form or another, and isn’t just particular to Kamala because she’s Muslim. Her religion is just one aspect of the many ways she defines herself".

The Marvel series is set for launch in February, 2014. Earlier this year, Pakistan's GeoTV launched Burka Avenger. Its superhero is a mild mannered school-teacher who fights feudal villains and terrorists getting in the way of girls' education.  Burka Avenger series is inspired by the story of Malala Yousufzai, a Pakistan teenage school-girl who  miraculously survived an assassination attempt by the Taliban in Swat valley last year. Malala has since become an international icon for girls' education worldwide.  The United Nations declared Malala's 16th birthday this year on July 12 as Malala Day to focus on girls' education.

Here's Stephen Colbert on the new Ms. Marvel:

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