Plastic Crate Saga is not surprising bearing in mind the lawmakers are on speed!

It is hardly surprising that battle lines are drawn on the enforcement of the Plastic Crate transportation edict. I reported this a few days ago (8^th December) in my previous blog entry that it was about to erupt. The government should have known better. You cannot change a lifetime of habit by an edict. It may take about 2 years.

So we all suffer due to government intransigence yet again. Yesterday 250g carrots cost Rs100. Can you think of US$4 a kilo of carrots! When I lived in the US in a farming area of the San Jaochim Valley a whole plastic crate of carrots was the same price, how ironic!!

What next? It was interesting that the Minister was extolling on TV yesterday that he has informed his officials not to prosecute farmers bringing produce in gunny bags if they come in Landmaster Tractors!! lest he would face mounting protest. He has therefore singled out the ‘large transporters’ for particular blame.

It must be said that Johnston Fernando, the Minister of Consumer Affairs maintained on TV yesterday that up to 40% of produce was lost in transport alone, and that the farmers would receive a greater income under the new policy. I dispute both facts. The farmers will receive no greater income, as they do not lose. They sell at farmgate. They are too poor to transport except in a few instances. The lower volume loss in transport may actually result in lower prices to the farmers!!

For farmers, the disadvantage of transport in crates as opposed to the current system in their tractors outweighs the advantages in a max of 5% of produce loss in their transport to the nearest wholesale purchaser. It is typical that the authorities have no clue about all the steps in the food chain, and have just taken a report out of context, without realizing all the steps in transport. I have dealt with this topic at length a long time ago as well, and my thoughts are still the same. If the Minister read my blog a while ago he would not have made such a fool of himself.

It is the trader mafia that calls the shots. The consumer and the farmer pay the price. Please keep the farmer out of this. He must have a higher unit price for his produce, and the continuing instances of oversupply that depress the prices to suicide inducing levels will not be changed by the plastic crate policy. As a transporter and a retailer as well as a home delivery specialist I can say that very often at the retail level a substantial amount of produce is wasted due to the lack of storage (refrigeration) facilities. That is a problem that is again not addressed by the plastic crate policy.

If you are a fruit stall with bunches of banana for sale, how much wastage of unsold banana do you think you have? It averages about 25%. So the trick is to educate them in the use of the excess unsold banana. Research into making some food items using overripe banana should be an important priority for ITI. I remember, making banana fritters from this but there are only so many fritters you can eat. Is there a method to make frozen fritters cheaply and popularize it?

Getting back to the main aspect of my report IT IS to find a compromise both parties can live with, as a face saving move. Now that the battle lines are drawn and Johnny does not want to look a fool in the same way he threw away thousands of coconuts from Kerala into the sea, and made a cut on cheap and unsellable eggs from India he is now into his umpteenth scandal. I also heard today that some close connection of his is involved in the manufacture or at least of marketing of the crates at Rs1750 each even though it is sold on a monthly payment basis not exceeding Rs100 a month. Who is kidding whom? People who purchase this know that the interest is built into this price already.

I was very sad to see these crates being thrown from the top of lorries yesterday on the TV news. I know they can be damaged and transportation suffers as the stackability of these crates is also an issue along with the volume that can be carried in a cost effective manner.

The Compromise should be to sell the crates at a subsidized rate of Rs500 each for immediate purchase. Anything more is prohibitive as most of the vegetables carried in each crate are of lesser value than the crates themselves. The cost of road transport is in essence the difference between profit and loss, and the market economy cannot justify the increased requirement of vehicles to transport lower weights unless someone subsidizes them. So the government which has no clue as to how the market economy works, must try and understand why these traders are protesting vehemently, and the consumers and farmers suffer for different reasons.

I am afraid in this the President intervenes and the consummate politician that he is will climb down on this demand and shift the blame completely onto Johnny who could lose his portfolio at the next cabinet reshuffle. I still believe some good will come out of this, it will get farmers, traders and consumers to think through the problems in wastage, and find solutions to all the problems, by not transferring the blame a trader led protest, and find solutions for the most cost effective means of reducing the massive wastage between what is grown and what is consumed. IT IS NOT ALL A PLASTIC CRATE ISSUE. So how about a good rail transport policy to shift volumes that the road system cannot hope to do without more congestion?

Plastic Crates and Eating Bread, the Cretins Rule OK

First there was the direction for the umpteenth time from Johnston Fernando that from December 11^th, that is the day after this Saturday, Poya anyone caught transporting fruit and vegetable in bags will be prosecuted using the full force of the law.

Then there was the usual off the charts saying from the Prime Minister that we should ban the import of fruit, and that the price of wheat flour should be increased to a level where no one can afford it.

In summary these are the people who we have elected to lead this country and no one seems to raise an eyebrow, let alone stand outside one’s house with a placard saying we must get rid of these cretins as it gives a mad man a bad name!

Is it that we believe they are totally mad? and so ignore them or do we accept what they say and wait for them to act on their say so? Either way we seem to have lost our voice of reason even to point out the absurd and vilify the sayer so they just shut up.

I have used plastic crates from the day I transported my fruit and vegetables. I had to pay a fortune for these crates even then, and I had to protect them with my life from being stolen while my pick-up truck was unattended. Yes we would all like to have plastic crates and transport in plastic crates, but unless we can both ensure that there is a proper mechanism and accountability for the crates, in the back and forth transport mode, much in the same way we paid a Rs50 deposit when we used a Tomato wooden box in transporting tomato, there is no way we can adhere to this requirement. When a plastic crate costs Rs1000 we do not want to exchange a nice new crate for a decrepit one. Especially as there are many different types and sizes. At least the Tomato box was a standard size and quality!

The other significant point is the transport lorries are not built for crates. When you take the same weight of produce in crates you need a minimum of a 100% increase in the volume for transport, which the current trucks cannot accommodate. They may have to be high sided being able to stack the crates up to the heavens to transport. If the weight is compromised the haulier will have to charge that much more per kg transported. To him the wastage or loss in transport is not the issue, it is taking as much as possible weight wise to make his trip economical. The wastage of course is a national issue, but we must come up with a holistic solution. I have always recommended overnight rail transport as that system can carry the volumes better than road, and it will also be more environmentally acceptable too. However we must work towards it, though at present we are not geared to it. We must ask why this rule that has come into effect for nearly a year has not been acted on despite the numerous threats by the same minister. Well is this latest outburst a repeat of this? The idea is good Minister, see how you can implement it practically given the ground situation, and not make asinine statements each time you get hot under the collar!

As for the Prime Minister he still has a head of jet black hair in his eighties and is known to make statements when he in a pique. On a serious note, if we ban the import of fruit then we do not give our consumers a choice. We do not necessarily protect our own production as it is usually fruit that we do not grow that we import. Of course we have farmers who complain that due to the cheap apples, people do not eat papaya. Sometimes many of the imported fruit is much cheaper than local fruit such as mangus, and mango that are at astronomical rates. If we ban the import of fruit then these same fruits will become more astronomical.

Is the Prime Minister assuming that when the prices rise, when imports are banned, we will grow more fruit. That is only on a long term trajectory, where in the short term only wealthy will be able to imbibe in a mango! I am not sure if there is a tax on imported fruit that does not have a local substitute, but a nominal tax is acceptable, though I see that Pakistan is complaining that we have put exorbitant taxes on fruit and vegetables we import from them. Primarily Oranges and Potato.

I grow fruit. I have problems with the distribution system, once my home delivery business was aborted due to an accident. A banning of imports is not going to change anything, it may pay for my inefficient production methods, and I will have less incentive to be more efficient. We should not be in the business of making the farmer more inefficient, we must make him more productive. This will not do that.

As for the Wheat Flour being priced out, then bread will become unaffordable and we will have to eat rice and rice based products only. Of course there may be more research into making more foods using rice flour as a substitute, but it will astronomically increase the prices of short eats and fast food.

Wheat flour is already taxed heavily, yielding the government a lot of tax income. However in an era where people look for convenience often unable to get home in time from work in order to cook a rice meal, they prefer to buy a snack at take outs. The working public will be further inconvenienced as rice based cooking is more time consuming. The person staying at home can cook his three rice meals!

King coconut water – the wonder drink – cure for all ailments

One of the great tragedies of nutrition in Sri Lanka is the lack of appreciation for both the King Coconut (Thambili – some friends call me thambili!) and Coconut (Kurumba) water as a liquid refreshment. If one google’s this you can find numerous references as to its incredible powers over ailments and wellness.(e.g reference - http://www.nutrition-and-you.com/coconut-water.html)

I have a few hundred king coconut trees on my property, but am finding it increasingly hard to sell it. When I returned to Sri Lanka in 2004, I was able to sell about 8000 nuts a month, both from my property and those of my neighbors. I worked hard going around plucking the nuts and taking them to market in Colombo myself with a man Friday. I personally carried bunches to the kades on the road, chatted with the kade mudalali and generally had a one to one with my customers. They usually buy a bunch at the rate of Rs15 each and sell them for between Rs25 and Rs30 a king coconut.

Since of late, I have lost all the business due to my accident, and lack of transport, however till then I was steadily losing my customer base, because all the one man sales outlets were removed courtesy of the UDA or Defense Secretary which both amount to the same person. He removed them as they had no permission to sell this on the public highway. He is technically correct, but did not afford them an opportunity to get the license or permission. Instead he gave permission for people who obtained a DIMO Batta from leases at People’s Bank at Rs30K a month(they are struggling to make the payment) to sell their wares like the Coca Colas in those places. They are either people more favorable to the UPFA and were some of the people helped by the Divi Neguma. Does he spare a thought for those whose livelihoods were lost, who amount to the same number of people?

More importantly, while other countries scramble to get hold of this refreshment due to its nutritional benefits, we in Sri Lanka are moving in reverse, removing the chances available for the smalltime entrepreneurs like myself and my customers to exist selling the most wholesome beverage on the face of the earth. This is what is called economic growth by the Sri Lankan Government. In this pursuit of America Centric policies of cleaning up the roads and permitting orderly establishments, by preventing University Students from partaking in a healthy drink between classes is tantamount to even obstructing the freedom to learn. I know when I have a cool ‘thambili’ that refreshes me, I feel more energized in the pursuit of whatever activity I may indulge in at the time. I am sure this holds true for students or any passers-by who trust a King Coconut over any bottled beverage.

Milk! Have you got milk? Oh what I would do for a fresh glass of unadulterated milk!

Two of my cows in Godagama, Meegoda have just calved. The man who takes care of the cattle, decided to play a game of passive aggressive behavior against the supervisor and decided not to milk the cows. That is a serious problem as cows that are bred for milking must be milked, preferably twice daily, as otherwise they could be prone to disease as their calves can only drink a certain quantity.

In the case of local animals, most are not milked as they are grazing herds that lead a nomadic life and calves and mothers are taken out of pens in the morning and taken to far off grazing lands before they come home for the nights. I realized this when one of the boys who came to work for me from Ampara said that his family have a herd of over 100 animals and none were milked even for home consumption. The wealth is in the head of cattle, and whenever they need money they sell a bunch of animals for the best price they can get at the time. No doubt they end up in some abattoir to be eaten for flesh!

So we had to rush around to find a solution. Finding experienced people to manage a small herd is now impossible in Sri Lanka. They either have their own animals or once they get efficient and earn a decent income realize it is too much like hard work and change careers to easy and better paying jobs like security guards in Colombo doing night duty! So the next best was for me to use the services of a person who has his own animals, to come to my cowshed (too late in the morning) to milk the animals, and for him to take the milk along with his to the chilling center. Though his skill means he takes twice the volume of milk my lazy geezer could manage with his dexterity, I only get a fraction of the money per liter though with double the volume, it is still a better total income than the former state.

Two issues arise from this actual example. We are expected to become self sufficient in Milk production, by two principle means. One by large scale operations run with professionals, with a huge capital investment that requires a return, the other is from small timers with a few animals, who have to work very hard once they get the skills and knowledge of taking care of a herd, something that takes about 5 to 10 years of practical experience. The latter scheme has no future due to low productivity and few considering this as a livelihood. Simply do a survey of the government vets all over the country and get their first hand opinion of the “kiri goviyas” within their jurisdiction to get an opinion of the real deal. The overwhelming evidence is that despite the heavy emphasis by the State to develop this sector it is destined for failure. We are about to import many heifers from Australia or New Zealand. Who are we expecting to distribute them to?

Why is the arsenic issue dragging on? It will not go away on its own steam!!

The Lakbima newspaper on Sunday carried another article about the Malaysian accredited laboratory that carried out tests on unnamed pesticides sent to it by the Ven Athureliya Rathena, which had confirmed the existence not only of Arsenic, but also of Mercury and Cyanide.

Whilst not disputing the accuracy of the results of the said laboratory, one must always qualify this by being able to make a relative study of the acceptable norms. After all we all consume arsenic, mercury and cyanide everyday, but in proportions that are generally too small to make any effect on our bodies and is present in many of the foods we eat irrespective of whether they are grown organically or with the use of pesticides. So in order for comparison we must know if the amounts represented in the article are too high or normal. I cannot comment on this as my knowledge does not extend to the levels of arsenic that is found in naturally occurring substances which we ingest nor do I know the acceptable levels before the body can treat it as either poisonous or liable to be toxic.

It is surprising that all the pesticide companies have kept "MUMM" about this fact so far fearing to tread on this murky subject hoping it will die a natural death. I am not happy with this stance as it smacks to ignorant me as being one done out of self interest as any word uttered in defense will exact revenge from the anti pesticide lobby and hence the course of action to say nothing is the best form of defense.

We must put this topic out of our system as it has caused so much anxiety amongst people and nothing has been done to allay their fears as the government seems inept at explaining to our public who lack an element of common sense due to the poor education that does not teach them to think. This goes back to the lack of the ability of the general public to sift through information in order to make a judgment for themselves without being prompted by interested parties with their own agenda. When will we ever get out of the brainwashed tag attached to us, and have instead the thinker tag attached instead?

It is just this sort of behavior that enables interested parties on both sides of the debate to make hay while the poor consumer, and farmer is left in the lurch and be accused of a numerous litany of wrongs, few of which he is able to understand!

It is time that the Government takes upon itself the responsibility of explaining what is and is not acceptable and what they or others should do about it with regard to this issue as we all want to improve the quality of the food we eat with reduced amounts of harmful substances that affect our health. We cannot make this judgment until we know enough about the issue in order to make the choices in favor of our health and those near and dear to us.

Until such time this is done we are groping in the dark not knowing whether what we use and what we eat is good or bad and what are naturally occurring that we can do something about and what are man induced that are harmful and not and come out with a compromise acceptable to all of us.