UPDATE ON PRESIDNT, PM MEET Kathmandu, 1 Nov.: President Dr. Ram Baran Yadav Thursday asked Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai to bring a budget only with consensus of opposition parties. The premier told president of efforts his and Maoist party’s effort at consensus. The government chief quoted the head of state as saying ‘there was no alternative to consensus’. The president and the premier discussed a budget and current political issues and efforts at consensus. nnnn BAIDYA MAOIST FACTION TO PROTEST DEVELOPMENT OF POWER PROJECTS THURSDAY Kathmandu, 1 Nov.: The Mohan Baidya-led CPN-Maoist on Wednesday said it will launch protest programmes against "Indian intervention" in Nepali hydro resources from Thursday, The Kathmandu Post reports.. According to party leaders, the youth wing, National Youth Volunteers (NYV), is organising a protest programme on the Upper Karnali hydroproject on Thursday. The party will also hand over a memorandum to the government to scrap the contract as the first phase of the protests. A three-day national conference of the NYV, which concluded two weeks ago, had announced mass gatherings against the Upper Karnali, Arun III and the Saptakoshi multipurpose high-dam project from November 1-3. CPN-Maoist Politburo member Dharmendra Banstola said the protests will target "freeing the nation from Indian inteference in local water resources and thereby, freeing Nepal's national sovereignty." "These projects are more in favour of India than Nepal. We will block their implementation until the unequal agreements are scrapped and fresh ones signed," said Banstola at an interaction, 'Indian meddling in Nepal's Water Resources' here on Wednesday. Banstola claimed that the handing over of the Upper Karnali and Arun III projects to Indian developers was illegal as they were offered without the parliament endorsing them. "The handing over of the Upper Karnali and Arun III breaches Article 196 of the Interim Constitution," said Banstola. A total of 28 projects have been taken up by Indian developers. Banstola said his party was not against development, but that hydropower deals should be in mutual interests. He claimed that if given a chance, his party would generate 4,180 MW of energy from the Karnali river. "We have already formed a committee to initiate this process," he said. This new move is certain to discourage foreign investment, particularly from India, in the hydropower sector. Indian hydropower developers--GMR Infrastructure and Satluj Jal Vidyut Nigam--are currently in PDA negotiations with the government to develop the Upper Karnali and Arun III respectively. Meanwhile, a pre-feasibility study and soil testing has begun to develop the Saptakoshi high dam project. Nepal and India had in 1996 agreed to conduct a feasibility study on the proposed 3,000 MW multi-purpose high dam and the Sunkoshi-Kamala diversion project. Authorities, however, failed to expedite the work because of protests by Maoist-affiliated associations and local residents. nnnn PADDY PRODUCTION FALLS 14 PERCENT Kathmandy, 1 Nov : Acute shortage of fertilizer and prolonged drought during plantation season is going to inflict a loss in production of 563,000 tons of net edible foods this year, says a fresh report of the government, Prabhakar Ghimere writes in Republica. “Compared to last year, we anticipate the production of paddy and maize to fall by 14.2 percent and 10 percent respectively this year,” said Prabhakar Pathak, spokesperson for the Ministry of Agriculture Development (MoAD), disclosing the finding of preliminary projection report on food output for 2012/13. The report, which is still to be made public, suggests that the total paddy output is expected to drop by 720,000 tons this year compared to 5.07 million tons -- all time high production -- recorded last year. Likewise, maize production is anticipated to drop by around 164,000 tons due to insufficient rainfall during the farming season. “This loss in production of paddy by 720,000 tons (or 432,000 tons of milled rice) and maize by 164,000 tons (131,000 tons in edible state) will eventually lead to a loss of 563,000 tons of net edible foods this year,” Pathak told Republica. • Impact of shortage of fertilizers, drought • Paddy production to drop by 14.2 percent, maize by 10 percent • Food demand to reach 5.3 million tons • Key producer districts reported less than 65 percent plantation • Production area decline 140,000 hectares Officials attributed the drop to severe shortage of chemical fertilizers during plantation season and long spell of drought along with insufficient irrigation facility. Paddy and maize are the key cereals of Nepal. But some 46 percent of total agriculture land is rain-fed. And productions were hit because the country recorded average rainfall of just 61 and 87 millimeter in June and July this year, whereas it was 110 and 96 millimeter respectively last year. Owing to drought and fertilizer scarcity, the total paddy plantation areas itself shrank, said Pathak. According to the report, farmers planted paddy in just about 1.38 million hectares, which is a decline by 140,000 hectares compared to a total area in which paddy was planted last year. “Plantation was done in just about 91 percent of the paddy land this year,” it reads. The paddy plantation area declined mainly as Dhanusha and Siraha -- key paddy producing districts -- reported plantation in just 49 percent and 50 percent of paddy land. Similarly, plantations in Mahottari and Saptari were done in just 60 percent and 65 percent of paddy land respectively. Last year, the four districts reported almost cent percent plantation. As a result, total production of major cereals -- paddy, maize, wheat, millet and buckwheat combined -- increased by 9.8 percent to 9.45 million tons, enabling the country to enjoy a food surplus of around 886,000 tons in 2011/12. Contrary to drop in output, the report says demand for cereals could rise by 100,000 tons to 5.3 million tons this year. “We will not face food scarcity if the winter crops remain normal. But in the context of climate change we can´t rule that out. Even if situation is normal in winter season, at least 27 districts will face food deficit this year,” Pathak added. Nnnn ________________________________________